Africa/West Africa
Artifact One
[The results of an informal Facebook survey I performed, asking participants to summarize their perceptions of Africa in five words or less (although not everyone obeyed this rule). I got responses from people of three continents (Europe, Asia, & North America) and from people who have actually had direct contact with Africa in some way and from those who have not. I’ve started the list with bolded responses from those who have had direct contact with Africa (their relationship to the continent is in brackets), then italicized responses from people of non-Western background (their country of origin is in brackets), then Westerners.]
Beautiful, hard-working, friendly, always grateful [two adopted African sisters]
Everything was just slightly destroyed. [worked in Morocco for a few months]
Bustley, exotic, fun, welcoming, challenging [same as above]
Childhood home, wild, varied, bondage, dark [missionary kid from DRC]
Hot, strong, hard, rich though poor [Sri Lanka]
Safari, chocolate, rectangular, immigration, Obama, athletic [South Korea]
Animals, black, gold/diamonds, difficult [Syria]
Egypt then Islam then Colonialism
Evolving, tumultuous, full of possibilities
Hot, mysterious, ancient, adventure-filled, forgotten
Beautiful, diverse continent, mysterious, dangerous
Slavery, colonialism
Sudan, lions, AIDS, unfortunate, Tunisia/Arab Spring, Rwandan genocide
Diverse, misrepresented, the Lion King
Vast splendor and vast poverty
Joy in simplicity
Beautiful landscapes, misrepresented culture
Rich, poor, ancient, mysterious, deserts, tribal, culture
Large, diverse, powerful, untapped, stereotyped
Fertile (in the sense of people and the condition of their hearts), overlooked, catalyst, variety, beautiful, ready
I was surprised, given our class discussion, that words relating to political or economic hardship didn’t occur more often; only one person mentioned things like AIDS and genocide. I was also surprised to see Africa portrayed so frequently as misrepresented and full of potential. Perhaps not unexpectedly, given the circles I run in, many of my respondents looked at Africa in spiritual terms — either as a place of “joy in simplicity,” a sort of spiritual abundance in the midst of hard circumstances, or as a place of spiritual darkness.
I get the sense, reading through this list, that the general impression of Africa — at least for those respondents who have had no direct contact with the continent — is of a vast Other, whether that otherness is framed in terms of mysteriousness, history, natural beauty, size, or something else. I also get the sense that the majority of my respondents want to affirm Africa, as a way of coming to terms psychologically with the continent’s history of oppression and present state of economic and political instability — which is perhaps why these latter elements were not often mentioned. (They would have been at the top of my list, had I made one.)
Artifact Two
It’s very interesting to compare Lonely Planet’s travel description of Africa with its travel description of Europe. Despite occasional adjectives like “epic” and “dazzling,” the tone of Europe’s description tends toward the domesticated: Europe is for foodies, museum buffs, nature-lovers, cheap travelers, and those looking for vibrant nightlife. Africa, on the other hand, is “a place of the soul,” with deserts and plains “that speak of eternity”; “ a tangible and sometimes profoundly mysterious presence” that can reduce safari-goers to “ an ecstatic state of childlike wonder”; a place of “creativity and sophistication” as well as of “time-honoured ceremonies” and “spirit worlds never lost.”
For this travel company, anyway, Africa is very much a mysterious and spiritually vital Other. Lonely Planet is trying to package Africa as a place apart, an undomesticated wild where the tourist can experience in real life the wonder and excitement I felt as a kid reading King Solomon’s Mines (without any of the novel’s colonialist, racially-insensitive baggage, of course). Given my fondness for King Solomon’s Mines and for adventure stories in general, I am sympathetic to this project — but I wonder at what price it comes. As the epigraph to Gordimer’s “The Ultimate Safari” implies, a fixation with African adventure can blind Westerners to the continent’s true struggles, indirectly perpetuating those struggles as a result.
Can one have an adventure story that doesn’t descend into these sorts of harmful stereotypes?
Artifact Three
I have come back only to discover a different way to not belong.
Enuma Okoro reminds me very much of Obi Okonkwo from No Longer at Ease. Obi, however, was born in the country to which he returned. Okoro was born in New York City — yet even in America, the country of her birth, people treated her as though she were out of place, just as they do in the country of her heritage. The Americans say, “You’re one of them,” and the Nigerians say, “You’re one of them.” No one says, “You’re one of us.”
It is a difficult thing to be torn between two communities, neither of which accept you as a member. It is a problem with which I, a born and bred American, cannot fully empathize, but this course has at least opened my eyes to see it.
Bonus Artifact
I wanted to talk briefly about this video because I love its opening move: the stereotypical panoramic shot, silhouetted against the sunset; a sweeping “This is Africa” voiceover; a scene with artisans in traditional gear — and then suddenly one of them answers his cell phone, saying, “Africa is unexpected.” It’s a bit cheesy, but I like the way it’s working to undermine stereotypes to prepare its audience for the next spoken sentence: “Most of all, Africa is people.” The film emphasizes the cultural diversity and particularity of African peoples — and of African people — in a way I find really helpful. It’s not a fear-mongering portrayal of a dark, spiritually Other Africa,* but a humanistic portrayal of people, like us, who need Jesus, like us (at least in the views of the filmmakers, and in my own).
*I should note that given the survey response of my missionary kid friend who grew up in the DRC, I’m not willing to dismiss this perspective as untrue or unhelpful; it’s not necessarily incompatible with an understanding of Africans as people (like us).
