Year: 2010
Type: article
Abstract: In the West', claims Molefi Kete Asante in his recent History of Africa, 'the ignorance of Africa is palpable, like a monster that invades our brains with disbelief, deception, and disinterest, yet is everywhere around us.We are victims of probably the most uninformed educated people in the world on the subject of Africa'. 2 It is hard to disagree, given many Western assumptions about the nature of life in any African country.So prevalent are these ideas that Binyavanga Wainaina, a Kenyan writer, offers in his essay 'How to Write about Africa', which struck such a chord with its readers it has since achieved iconic status, some sardonic tips to authors aspiring to write about the continent.'Always', he advises, use the word 'Africa' or 'Darkness' or 'Safari' in your title.Subtitles may include the words 'Zanzibar', 'Masai', 'Zulu', 'Zambezi', 'Congo', 'Nile', 'Big', 'Sky', 'Shadow', 'Drum', 'Sun' or 'Bygone'.Also useful are words such as 'Guerrillas', 'Timeless', 'Primordial' and 'Tribal'.3 * Susan Williams is a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London.Her recent books include Colour Bar.The Triumph of Seretse Khama and His Nation (Penguin 2006) and (co-edited) The Iconography of Independence: 'Freedoms at Midnight' (Routledge 2009).She is currently writing on the decolonisation of central and southern Africa in the context of the global power shifts of the twentieth century.
Source: Africa Bibliography
Author: Susan Williams
Language: English
Subfield: Anthropology
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2160246124