Illuminating Africa: Commemorating and Reassessing the Work of Chinua Achebe (1930-2013)

摘要

The nineteenth century German philosopher G.W.F. Hegel's dismissive pronouncement that 'Africa ... does not have a history as such' (1975:231-34) remains unfortunately apt to the way the continent is thought of by a majority of non-Africans. Africa has the dubious distinction of having been 'written off innumerable times in the past and present, and the international habit of blanket condemnation or dismissal of this enormous and diverse area is still prevalent. Frantz Fanon, the Martinican psychiatrist who became a leader in the Algerian anti-colonial struggle and an inspiring and lucid analyst of African liberation efforts, articulated the necessity of 'do[ing] battle for the creation of a human world - that is, a world of reciprocal recognitions' (Fanon, 1970: 155). A principled activist, Fanon nevertheless understood profoundly how deeply Africa and its peoples had been humiliated by the colonial conquerors and administrators and how urgent the need was (and is) to re-establish the sense of self-worth in those whose lives and value systems had long been controlled by outsiders.