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Jeremy Grieb
Professor Michael Day
20th Century World Literature
31 January 2015
African Literature: a Cultural Progression
Africa is a continent that has been embroiled with conquerors and conquests
since ancient times, but the advent of colonialism brought with it a new worldview,
and a profound shift in its cultural identity. Several noteworthy African scholars
contend, for the sake of posterity Africa needs to redefine the parameters of what it
means to be African today. In order to accomplish their goals they have embarked
together to bring about a renaissance and celebration of African literature. African
scholars have sought to replace literature that featured Africa in a negative light,
with titles that affirm the African identity and cherish traditional values. Instead of
allowing outsiders to label Africa a dark continent, these authors have splashed
vibrant colors throughout their pages, providing insights into their rich cultural
heritage. These scholars espouse a viewpoint in their work that uniquely upholds
what it means to be African and preserves African tradition in a way that has eluded
Africans for over a century. We review several of these African scholars works as
they seek a resurgence of art in African literature.
The ideology of colonization and the imperialists has had profound effects on
African society and its literature. Eurocentric and Arab centric values have spread
through the continent and have colored the perception of Africa and its heritage in
nearly irreconcilable ways. Influences have immersed the continent from nearly
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every possible direction and have the unfortunate effect of undermining much of
what remains traditional or relevant in “true” African culture. Any study of Africa
cannot fail to recognize the myriad of cultural influences during its development.
However, as many of our scholars contend, these cultural characteristics and the
traditional African identity threatens to be undermined by modern Western ideals
and radical Islamic clashes on the continent. “For the past thirteen centuries, Africa
has been invaded, conquered, and colonized by Arabs and Europeans” (Chinwiezu
143). War is being waged by proxy as Islam and the West clash for primacy in
African cultures. This tragedy unfolds as a rich linguistic history continues to perish
under this onslaught. These subversive violent influences previously threatened to
push Africa even further away from itself, exactly the outcome these authors
wielding words fight to stop.
English literature has been largely negative when it comes to Africa,
particularly when one reviews classical works that have historically been embraced
by the English canon. Ngugi Wa Thiong’o portrays classical foreign literature as a
tool for maintaining the status quo of “silence or ambivalence or downright
collaboration” (Thiong’o 153). Leopold Sedar Senghor and others pose potential
solutions to this negativity by writing lovely African works by influential African
writers; foremost among these works is Senghor’s Negritude, as I will describe later
in greater detail. These authors aim to spark a renaissance of African literature that
will reshape the continent on African terms, not only through their personal
example, but by redefining viewpoints on African literature in the future.
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My goal in this paper is to identify the mechanisms of colonialism that have
shaped culture on the continent today, discuss the primary obstacles to the
reestablishment of African culture, and ways to overcome while discussing the
alternative viewpoints that African writers have so eloquently provided. It may be
beneficial for the reader to review Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, as well as the African
scholars, Achebe, Thiong’o, Chinweizu, and Senghor in order to appreciate these
individuals’ contributions to African literature. We will explore the historical
context, ethnocide, and the challenges that technology and globalization present, as
well as linguistic and religious obstacles. Ultimately an African renaissance is
necessary to kick start a return to African culture and its ideals. We will engage the
African scholars I have mentioned and the obstacles that they must overcome to
accomplish their purpose. In order to do so, we must first take a look at what has
occurred in the recent past, before grappling with the ailments effecting African
literature today.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
Heart of Darkness
The most famous of the earliest depictions of “the horrors” that effected
Africa is arguably Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, published over a century ago.
Within this novel are stark descriptions of African natives that rang with
authenticity for Europeans at a time in history when mankind around the world was
not considered equal. At the time of it’s writing, the Congo was systematically being
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ravaged by corporations established by King Leopold II under the guise of
commercial, scientific, and humanitarian interests. King Leopold II procured favor,
was recognized sovereign of these lands by the Berlin Conference of 1884-5 and
placed the people of his newly founded and ironically named Congo Free State in the
hands of the Force Publique and other agencies to excise as much wealth as
possible. The people suffered extravagantly at the Belgians’ hands. Large shipments
of ivory and rubber were forcibly extracted, and the people were exploited and
subjugated. King Leopold II and Belgium amassed spectacular wealth while
hundreds of thousands of Congolese were slaughtered, maimed, and destroyed until
public outcry in the early 20th century forced the majority of these activities to stop.
This is a story that was repeated many times before and since with Joseph Conrad’s
Heart of Darkness and more recent titles such as Adam Hochschild’s King Leopold’s
Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa. From Morocco and
Algeria to Kenya and South Africa, colonialism wrought great devastation, and those
people living there have suffered lasting inequality to this day. Conrad’s novel did
much to improve the situation by provoking outrage and ultimately ending many of
these corrupt endeavors, but his words still linger darkly on through what Achebe
describes as stinging portrayals of Africans. The imperialist context of the times not
with standing, Achebe does not hesitate to counter Conrad’s description of natives
as brutes, dark, black, and generally behaving inhuman. Chinua Achebe is chief
among those that lay a centuries old legacy, of African’s portrayed as savages devoid
of humanity, squarely at the feet of Joseph Conrad.
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When Joseph Conrad wrote Heart of Darkness so many years ago he could
not have been aware of how influential his novel would be, nor how long it would
remain important to the Western canon. Indeed, nearly every African scholar must
come to terms with the various methods Conrad employs to draw distinctions and
similarities between Africa and Europe at that time. He uses light colors for
European development and sophistication while using dark colors correlate a direct
contrast with an impoverished, victimized, and primitive Africa. Conrad likens
Africa’s exploitation to Britain’s subjugation by the Roman Empire, but the
similarities with Africa seem to stop there. The Thames, was once dark, but is now
civilized, the Congo is a “dark” a foreboding place reminiscent of Britain’s past. Or
perhaps Conrad means to depict a measure of violence that occurred along the
Thames as similar to what is occurring along the Congo during Conrad’s time.
Conrad uses similar comparisons when he contrasts Kurtz’s African mistress as
“savage and superb” while Kurtz’s intended is “beautiful” with “fair hair” “fidelity”
and “a pale visage” (Conrad 83; 92-93). Kurtz’s intended is ignorant of life, dressed
as an ornament and protected from the outside world, while the other Kurtz’s
mistress is a more powerful incarnation, part and parcel to the violence taking place
in the real world.
Chinua Achebe attends that Conrad ascribes humanity to the European and
rudimentary mystery to the African. Achebe contends that Conrad’s racism didn’t
allow him to allot for humanity within the African “brute”. While there are hints at
shared ancestry and a shared beginning as a conquered people, the novel simply
provides a glimpse into the European mindset at the time. “The horror” that Kurtz
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speaks of when he dies, becomes much more clear as we advance through the story.
Themes of revulsion, disappointment, and distaste occur repeatedly throughout the
story as Conrad’s chief narrator Charles Marlow continues to witness the cruelty
wrought by the Europeans along the Congo. It may be argued that Conrad’s work,
while not directly humanitarian or egalitarian on its surface, provided important
clues to the rest of European civilization at the time about the barbarity that was
being conducted in their name. History may also support this opinion as Europeans
rapidly developed a distaste for the atrocities that were being committed there.
Achebe eschews these theories instead he focuses on the negative stereotypes
Conrad presents in his tale.
Imperialism
Chinua Achebe the renowned Nigerian novelist discusses the racism and
imperialist propaganda of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness in his piece An Image of Africa.
He claims that by portraying Africa as “the other world”, he lays it in direct
opposition to Europe, it was “the antithesis of Europe and therefore of civilization”
(Achebe 108). Anyone who has read Heart of Darkness cannot help but draw similar
conclusions from the parallels that Conrad draws. Yet, it is important to maintain a
contextual perspective of the time. Conrad saw a reflection of Congo in England’s
not so distant past. His characters allusions to the native while largely negative, may
have been used to describe the indigenous Britain’s if Conrad had instead been a
Roman visiting England a few hundred years earlier. However it is the negativity in
Conrad’s descriptions that resonates most with Achebe. These negative stereotypes
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that Achebe has to contend with in Conrad’s story are largely similar decades later.
While it might be argued that Conrad illuminated minds to the barbarity of the
Belgian enterprise, and in that perhaps his overt portrayals may have been more
forceful and useful for spurring self reflection.
Marlow, Conrad’s main protagonist, echoes the sickness Conrad may have
felt in these lines, “There is a taint of death, a flavor of mortality in lies- which is
exactly what I hate and detest in the world- what I want to forget” (Conrad 55). “The
conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a
different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing
when you look into it too much” (Conrad 39). Nor was it a pretty thing. As Conrad’s
character Marlow describes it, “It was reckless without hardihood, greedy without
audacity, and cruel without courage; there was not an atom of foresight or of serious
intention in the whole batch of them, and they did not seem aware these things are
wanted for the work of the world. To tear treasure out of the bowels of the land was
their desire, with no moral purpose at the back of it than there is in burglars
breaking into a safe”(58). Was Achebe correct in his allegation that Conrad was a
“bloody racist”? Taking a surface view of Conrad’s words Achebe may stand correct.
Regardless of whether or not Conrad’s novel was instrumental in establishing
empathy for the indigenous the novel itself lends several clues as to the relationship
of Europe with Africa that continue to have value for our reflection today. This is
illustrative of the point Achebe makes, and the importance that Achebe holds when
he discusses The Heart of Darkness with such obvious disdain. Achebe is angry at the
way that natives have been portrayed in literature, and feels that those same overt
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feelings continue to be held more today though with more subtlety. While many
other cultures have developed their own individual cannons of literature, African’s
speaking English must continue to grapple with Conrad’s descriptions from an
earlier era. Achebe and others believe that imperialism has changed its face, and
become more “progressive”, while retaining a heritage from its darker past. This is
one of the less desirable aspects of learning a new language while at the same time
grappling with its past. How does one grapple with one’s past in this context?
Eng. Lit. my sister
was more than a cruel jokeit was the heart
of alien conquest (31-34)
--------------------While history went on mocking
the victims of branding irons
and sugar-plantations
that made Jane Austens people
wealthy beyond compare (25-30)
Excerpts from Felix Mnthali’s “The Stranglehold of English Lit”
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A CULTURE OF ETHNOCIDE
The imperialism of the English, French, German, Portuguese, Christian and
Arab has continued today by overwhelming African culture at points while replacing
it with language and governance that would be prove to be unfriendly at times to
Africans. A close association with other cultures has thus provided obstacles difficult
for African’s to identify and overcome. The phenomena of globalization and the
ensuing indoctrination of new cultures has shaped the continent of Africa
profoundly. The elderly African population can scarcely see what remains of their
cultural traditions, despite having over 50 years of “independence”. The end result
of this exposure has brought about a massive departure from traditional African
livelihoods, such as farming, living off the land, and herding cattle. The younger
generation has in large part abandoned traditional communal life in favor of what is
believed to be a more conventional and higher quality existence closer to the city.
While cities continue to get larger, and competition to earn a living wage becomes
more fierce this belief has gained no less traction in recent years. This movement
away from traditional cultures that began forcibly through colonialism has only
continued through periods of imperialism, neocolonialism, and globalization with
the rising force of technology, languages, culture, and traditional lifestyles have
become in many ways a thing of the past, forgotten, and lost.
John H. Bodley, a prominent cultural anthropologist, and the writer of Victims
of Progress, expands on the phenomenon of systematic ethnocide. “Tribes represent
small-scale, classless societies, with decentralized, communal, long-term resource
management strategies, whereas states are class-based societies, with centralized
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management systems that extract resources for the short-term profit of special
interest groups” (Robbins 238). As Bodley points out, indigenous societies believe
that is “immoral not to share with one’s kin or those less fortunate” yet colonizers
set up exactly the opposite framework throughout Africa primarily for their own
gain (Id., 234). Colonizers and their corporations have incentivized leadership in
these former colonies in large part to secure personal financial interest over their
populations rather than consider the consequences to these disparate groups. Ngugi
Wa Thiong’o describes these organizations as “hostile governments with a colonized
mentality” (Thiong’o 155). By and large these leaders are known throughout Africa
as the Big Men, they have been known for enriching themselves at the expense of
their people through cultures of corruption. In many cases the people starved and
fought each other along ethnic lines as Big Men led lavish lifestyles for decades. The
colonial African mindset is one of the most significant threats to African culture,
second only to the dominance of alien cultures that have only grown in scope
through technology.
TECHNOLOGY AND GLOBALIZATION
The growing dominance of technology in Africa today has largely convinced
African’s to choose English, French, or Arabic in order to maintain competitive in a
globalized business world. Languages that were once widely used are rarely spoken.
Thiong’o accurately, if not prophetically, points out that “human beings who live in
space circle the earth within a few hours,” intimating that the pace of change on the
continent is only increasing with speed (Thiong’o 150). Thus as the adoption of
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technology accelerates, homogenization is occurring at a cyclic rate, streamlining
dominant languages worldwide in hundreds of different ways. Social media, mobile
phones, and dominant influences such as Hollywood, Virgin Records, Coca-Cola,
Apple and Nike have embarked on marketing campaigns that have systematically
conquered the world, and for Africa this new conquest has come with a cost.
The primary concern for authors such as Chinweizu, Senghor, and Thiong’o is
not for African’s to ignore all other languages and culture, but rather to evaluate
what they have learned and place it in an African context. They desire a departure
from Western concepts of philosophy, ideology, and superiority, and lobby instead
for the adoption of a selective decision making process to make choices that are
more beneficial for the entire African community. Rather than become participants
in a homogenous global culture, these authors are asking that African nations step
back and advocate policies such as the Chinese, Japanese, or any other country that
has made their language and culture a priority into the future.
Chinweizu cautions African’s to separate Eurocentrist propaganda from their
desire to modernize and industrialize. He explains, that the colonized African “ can’t
resist European imperialism if he believes Europeans are the sole owners of
paradise” (Chinweizu 144). For African’s are to maintain their resources, traditions,
and secure their vibrant linguistic culture for themselves, they must redefine what it
means to be African and separate themselves from their former colonizers
whenever possible. This means embracing the traditional concepts of community,
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language, music, dance, and history and reemphasize African values for future
generations to take with them into the future.
DECOLONIZING THE AFRICAN MIND
Chinweizu describes how Africans must retrain their minds, “The African
must free himself from the colonial mentality in every department, or from the
structures that maintain and reproduce that mentality” (Chinweizu 147).
"Decolonizing the African mind, freeing it from alien control, is a necessary
condition for such an initiative” (148). The African people have spent generations
serving others instead of themselves, and have gotten so good at it that they have
nearly forgotten what started them on this path. He continues, "The colonized mind,
like a well-conditioned slave, is incapable of initiative independent of his master”
(145). The problem as Chinweizu explains, is that the African has been trained in
ways that are counterproductive to African culture. He remarks “The historic
mission of present-day Africans is to effect a renaissance of African civilization in an
industrial mode so that Africa can henceforth defend itself from all invaders”
(Chinweizu 145). Thus the colonized mind must be reprogrammed for the benefit of
itself, in the face of Arabization, Eurocentrism, Christianity, and Western ideology.
Achebe would say the African mind must put Pan-Africanism to the forefront- Africa
first.
Religion and Culture
As we have seen recently with Baku Haram in Northern Nigeria, religion has
also become a threat for traditional communities as they are polarized between
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Islamic and Christian traditions. Islamic fundamentalists have taken a hard stance
preaching radicalism and subverting traditional communal structures in ways
similar to Christianity that have brought systemic changes to the continent. For
example, Christianity was originally used to promote a humanitarian purpose to
enter the Congo, to bring civilization to the native, but the end result for many in
Africa was exploitation. For all the good these religions have sought to enact in
Africa, proponents of these religions have acted destructively as radical entities
have fought for governmental control. Rather than breaking down walls, preaching
peace and attempting reconciliation, religions have been converted into political
vehicles for power and financial gain. The Nigerian Army recognizes only two
religions, Christianity and Islam. Currently, a war is being waged in the name of
these two religions that is destroying the populace creating a divide down the center
of the country. The Nigerian government hasn’t helped, as it chooses to fund
followers of these two religions to Jerusalem, Rome, and Mecca- but fails to support
religions originating in Benin, Ife, or Calibar (Chinweizu, 145). Organizations such as
the Islamic Conference, or British Commonwealth, espouse similar foreign values,
but their marriage to the African people has been less than overtly benign.
Chinweizu offers the following suggestion to change the way Africans
conduct their civil business: "Renovation calls for selectivity guided by the new
objectives. Elements from African tradition, no less than elements from non-African
traditions, have to be thus appraised. But such appraisal would be impaired, if not
entirely prevented, if a tradition exercises an intimidating authority over
Africans"(146). Thus Chinweizu and others do not advocate resistance from change
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or a reversal from it, but rather they prioritize the benefit of the African community
above the polarization that has been wrought by conflicting entities. Leopold Sedar
Senghor of Senegal offers a similar perspective by advocating a concept named
Negritude.
Negritude
Influential African writers such as Ngugi Wa Thiong’o wish to unite Africa
against the common present enemy- that of neocolonialist control- and the religions
we just described, Arabization and Christianization. He does not argue to dismantle
any current system of government or language completely, but asks African leaders
to rethink them in the terms along the lines of Senghor’s Negritude. Leopold Sedar
Senghor describes Negritude as “the sum total of the values of the civilization of the
African world” (Senghor 885). He has taken this term and redesigned it to clarify its
original intent. Negritude he attends must be conceived and designed as a “weapon
of defense and attack and inspiration rather than a weapon of construction” (885).
He calls Negritude simple, intuitive African reason, which projects “the communal
warmth, the image-symbol and the cosmic rhythm which instead of dividing and
sterilizing, unified and made fertile” (885). This rationale is what Senghor
advocates, recreating the African continent into a place that espouses African
identity and its most valuable principles. What Senghor is telling us is that by
embodying these principles, the African people can put forth an ideology all their
own, separate from Eurocentric ideology, and completely unique in its
characteristics. Negritude “is not racialism, it is culture” that appreciates the history
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of Africa, and its origins” (885). Senghor embraced this philosophy. His work is a
celebration of African beauty, and fine example of Negritude.
In his poem Black Woman, Senghor shares his African experience with
powerful and raw imagery. “Savanna of clear horizons, savanna quivering to the
fervent caress Of the East Wind, sculptured tom-tom, stretched drum skin Moaning
under the hands of conqueror Your deep contralto voice is the spiritual song of the
Beloved” (Senghor 886). He continues to celebrate African tradition in his other
works, such as his poem Prayer to the Masks. He writes “Masks! O Masks! Black
mask, red mask, you white-and black masks. Masks of the four cardinal points
where the Spirit blows I greet you in silence! And you, not the least of all, Ancestor
with the lion head” (886). Fred Kleiner comments on the importance of African
Masks and what they represent in his piece In Gardener’s Art Through the Ages: NonWestern Perspectives, a “Mask is worn by a dancer that then becomes “bearer” of the
spirit of the mask, a sort of a medium between the tribe and a spirit” (Kleiner).
Language must be the medium of the African spirit and be protected by its people to
survive.
The Battle over Preservation
Kiswahili has contributed words to the English lexicon, and this is an
important step for all African languages to gain legitimacy globally. The Lion King
taught children all around the world words such as simba for lion, pumba a word
that means absentmindedness, and hakuna matata a phrase that quite literally
means no worries, espousing a carefree philosophy of life.
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In order to keep the African renaissance alive languages must be projected
onto the world in their native form, providing the world a window into African
consciousness. Thiong’o cites Mohamed Ismail of Garce who accuses his educated
compatriots of treason against the Somali language, “the value of its words and
expressions are being gagged by its own people”….”it is weeping with deep
sorrow”….”it is being orphaned and its value is diminishing” (155). African’s must
protect their language from becoming forgotten and vanishing from the face of the
continent, and movies like Lion King are an apt continuation of this effort. African
linguistic heritage has to be practiced and understood by its people to remain alive.
"Language as a culture is the collective memory bank of a peoples experience in
history” (Thiong’o 150). Ngugi is not arguing to use the colonizers tools, but instead
to preserve and protect their memory of the past. In the case of Lion King, the
colonizers tools worked favorably to popularize African expressions and provide a
successful illustration of what can be achieved through a conscious exchange.
African’s are at the beginning of something great, something that could make
them cohesive and serve toward that ultimate goal of Pan-African Negritude. These
African authors are just a few of the many that have begun a work that continues to
create traction for an enormous continent. Literature, music, movies, and food are
valuable aspects of culture that have begun to systematically reintroduce to the
world what Africa means to Africans. The nuances of majesty in African literature
have already seeped into global pores and made a name for African celebration.
Africa needs more of this, more of Senghor, more of Chinweizu, and less the relic of
Conrad; more unity, and less violence. Despite a history steeped in exploitation the
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African man and woman stand with their futures in sight, a rich and vibrant culture
behind them. There are many hurdles between them and the summit ahead, but if
they can avoid the perils that threaten to diminish their identity or bury them in
ideology, there is a place of victory waiting for their children that is bright and
shining and peaceful.
Works Cited
Achebe, Chinua. “An Image of Africa.” The Bedford Anthology of World Literature: The
Twentieth Century, 1900 - The Present. Book 6. Boston: Bedford / St. Martin's,
2003. 107-117. Print.
Chinweizu. “Decolonising the African Mind: From Calibans v. Ariels.” The Bedford
Anthology of World Literature: The Twentieth Century, 1900 - The Present.
Book 6. Boston: Bedford / St. Martin's, 2003. 143-147. Print.
Conrad, Joseph. "Heart of Darkness." The Bedford Anthology of World Literature: The
Twentieth Century, 1900 - The Present. Book 6. Boston: Bedford / St. Martin's,
2003. 37-96. Print.
Eurocontrol. ELPAC- English Language Proficiency for Aeronautical Communication.
Accessed January 31, 2015, from
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http://www.eurocontrol.int/services/english-language-proficiencyaeronautical-communication-elpac
Hochschild, Adam. King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in
Colonial Africa. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston and New York, 1998.
Kleiner, Fred S. Gardner’s Art Through The Ages: Non-Western Perspectives. Boston:
Wadsworth, 2010.
Mnthali, Felix. “The Stranglehold of English Lit.” The Bedford Anthology of World
Literature: The Twentieth Century, 1900 - The Present. Book 6. Boston:
Bedford / St. Martin's, 2003. 148-149. Print.
Robbins, Richard. “The Nation-State in the Culture of Capitalism” Global Problems
and the Culture of Capitalism. Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA: Prentice Hall,
2011. Print.
Senghor, Leopold Sedar. “Negritude” The Bedford Anthology of World Literature: The
Twentieth Century, 1900 - The Present. Book 6. Boston: Bedford / St. Martin's,
2003. 885. Print.
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Thiong’o, Ngugi Wa. “Creating Space for a Hundred Flowers to Bloom: The Wealth of
a Common Global Culture.” The Bedford Anthology of World Literature: The
Twentieth Century, 1900 - The Present. Book 6. Boston: Bedford / St. Martin's,
2003. 150-157. Print.