Department of English and Comparative Literature, American University in Cairo

The Anthropology and Ethnophilosophy of African Literature /

‫ﺗﻮﺍﺷﺞﺍﻷﺩﺏﺍﻷﻓﺮﻳﻘﻲﺑﺎﻷﻧﺜﺮﻭﺑﻮﻟﻮﺟﻴﺎﻭﺍﻟﻔﻠﺴﻔﺔﺍﻟﻤﺤﻠﻴﺔ‬
Author(s): Archie Mafeje and ‫ﺃﺭﺗﺸﻲ ﻣﻔﻴﺠﻲ‬
Source: Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics, No. 17, Literature and Anthropology in Africa
/ ‫( ﺍﻷﺩﺏ ﻭﺍﻷﻧﺜﺮﻭﺑﻮﻟﻮﺟﻴﺎ ﻓﻲ ﺃﻓﺮﻳﻘﻴﺎ‬1997), pp. 6-21
Published by: Department of English and Comparative Literature, American University in Cairo and
American University in Cairo Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/521605 .
Accessed: 21/06/2014 00:10

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Department of English and Comparative Literature, American University in Cairo and American University in
Cairo Press and Department of English and Comparative Literature, American University in Cairo are
collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 185.2.32.86 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 00:10:28 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 TheAnthropology
andEthnophilosophy
ofAfrican
Llterature

Archie
Mafeje

Introduction

The relationbetween anthropology, ethnophilosophy, and

Africanliteratureencompassesa veryvast fieldwhichhas not yet
been systematicallyexploredwithinAfricanstudies.It is thusbound
to be controversial, especially in that it straddlesdisciplines.
Establishingcommon terms of referencebetween the different
specialisations
mightproveparticularly difficultbecause someof the
disciplines,such as anthropology and philosophy,are themselves
confronted withawkwardepistemologicalquestions.For instance,
thereis an ongoingdebate(UNESCO, 1984) abouttheexactnatureof
Africanphilosophy anditsaffinity toAfricanethnophilosophy. On the
other hand, the status of anthropology in Africa has remained
ambiguoussinceindependence.
Despitethefactthatthereis conceivablya logicalrelationship
betweenanthropology and Africanliterature, a greatdeal willdepend
on whatis understood by "anthropology." Colonial anthropology in
Africarepresented morethanone intellectual For instance,
tradition.
whereas the French and the few Americananthropologists who
workedin Africawere attractedto Africanethnophilosophy and
expressiveforms, theBritishanthropologists zeal to
in theirpositivist
establisha "science" of societyhardlypaid any attention to such
"nebulous"systems(barringreligionand ritualswhichwerethought
of as concrete).As would be expected,this gave rise to different
predispositions
towardsAfricanorature.
The secondpointwhichis worthnotingis thatin contemporary
discourseanthropology has lost its originalmeaning,as a studyof
"primitive"societies or cultures. The emphasis is now on
"ethnography,"which is often interpretedas "intersubjective
communication" betweenthefieldworker andhis/her informants so as

6 Alif 17 (1997)

This content downloaded from 185.2.32.86 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 00:10:28 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
to eschew the problemof "alterity"which characterised colonial
anthropology. This new point of view is clearlydemonstrated in
Ethnography and the HistoricalImagination by John and Jean
Comaroff(1994). In addition,the discussionhas reacheda point
where some writersno longerrecognisethe distinctionbetween
anthropology, ethnography, and literature or creativewriting. This is
bestexemplified by Writing Culture, a bookeditedby JamesClifford
and GeorgeMarcus(1986). The authorssaw thisas an excursioninto
the"poeticsandpoliticsofethnography," as is revealedbythesubtitle
of the book. This formatis an intellectual terrainin whichliterary
criticismshadesintoculturalcriticism, andculturalcriticism becomes
synonymous with ethnographic representations.In this
Weltanschauung (a termwhichfeatures in theirtext)anthropology is
redefinedbeyondrecognition.
The latteris perfectly comprehensible, if it is remembered that
thetextsreferred to above arepartof theintellectual rebellionagainst
colonialanthropology whichdatesback to thelate 1960s and early
1970s.Secondly,thereis an unmistakable convergence betweenthem
and what now passes as "deconstructionist" literatureunder the
influence of post-modern writers.BenitaParrymakesthisexplicitin
heressay "ResistanceTheory/Theorising Resistanceor Two Cheers
forNativism"(1994) and in her attemptto develop a decolonised
theoryof literature. If not intended, EdwardSaid's inquiryintothe
"culturaltopography" of imperialism in his Culture and Imperialism
(1993) has the same effect.It is apparentthatin the variousworks
mentioned so far terms such as "culture," "anthropology,"
"ethnography," and "literarycriticism"acquire new meanings.
Therefore,anthropologyand African literaturemight be an
unconsciousinvitation toan epistemological medleywhereeverything
willmix,butwillnotnecessarily cohereforsometime.
This essay is concernedwithneitherliterary criticismnorthe
reviewof Africanliterature, butratherwithits ontology.This effort
inevitably entailsa transposition fromhistoricaltermsto ontological
conceptions.For instance,thereis a palpable distinction between
anthropologyas a historicallydefined field of study and the
anthropology of Africanliterature at different historicaljunctures.
Similarly,thereis a conceptualdifference betweenthe studyof
specificAfricancultures, whether in literature or in anthropology, and
an attemptto comprehend Africanculturesin theirgenericsense.
Here, one mightexperiencethat confluencebetween historical

Alif 17 (1997) 7

This content downloaded from 185.2.32.86 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 00:10:28 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
imagination and ethnographic grasp,whichis so characteristic of the
French school of Annales . Fernand Braudel's Historyof The
Mediterranean (1949) could be read as the "ethnography" of the
Mediterranean without anyqualificationwhatsoever.
Fromthisperspective"contextuality" assumesa broaderand
moreprofound meaningthansimplya "setting"forparticular textsas
it is knownin literarycriticism.In this broadercontexthistory
becomesan aid to derivenewmeaningsin thepresentforthetruth is
notseenas residingin thenarrative itself,butratherin therenewalof
its meaning.Otherwise,such termsas "colonial anthropology,"
"culturaltopographyof imperialism,""poetics and politics of
ethnography," "colonial-construct,"
etc.in deconstructionistdiscourse
wouldsignify nothing.Likewise,inracistdiscourseanditsantinomies
in settlersocietiesin southern Africathereis morethanone African
ethnography. Indeed,thisis a live and hotlycontestedissue which
manifesteditself during the recent South African"non-racial"
electionsin a disturbing mannerto those who for one reason or
anotherhad confusedtextsbornundera different sky (to borrow
Fanon's metaphor) withethnographic representations.Whether or not
it is possibleforcreativewriting to sufferalienationis nota technical
but an ethnographic questionwhose connotationsare not simply
parametric, as is oftensupposedof"tribal"cultureswhicharethought
ofas "bounded."
The implicitpostulatethat thereis a relationshipbetween
anthropology andAfricanliterature willy-nillycommitsus to a search
forthefilaments whichinterlinkthetwo,withtheexpectation thatwe
willthusarriveat thicker meaningsthanwe arewontto indisciplinary
discourse.This searchwill requirea certainamountof historical
imagination, deconstructionof conventional notionsof anthropology,
a reconstructive senseofethnography, anda newontologyofbeing.It
is my beliefthatthiscan be achievedby re-reading old historical
analogies and anthropologicalmetaphors,by discoveringthe
underlyingethnographicironies in African literatureand by
developinga senseofappreciation ofthepoliticsofaesthetics, instead
of seekingsecurity by adheringto thetechnicaland by insistingon
pedantry. The approachhereshouldbe regardedas an expositionof
the anthropologyof African literatureand its diachrony(not
necessarilyits chronology).This is a different way of lookingat
Africanliterature and of using the term"anthropology." For those
who are lookingfor thinnerdisciplinary meanings,this mightbe
disturbing buthopefully notto thosewhoconceivedof theidea under
conslderatlon.
. .

8 Alif 17 (1997)

This content downloaded from 185.2.32.86 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 00:10:28 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 HistoricalAntecedents

The developmentof writtenAfricanliteratureis rightly

associatedwith the activitiesof Europeanmissionariesin Africa
duringthe colonial period.The greatestcontribution missionaries
made was to produce orthographies and dictionariesof African
languages.Secondly,theyintroducedtheirconvertsto what they
perceivedas the best European literarytraditions.Consequently,
missionary-educated Africanscholarsexcelled in Europeanliterary
forms.Some of themprovedthemselves in thebestcentresof higher
learningin Europe.The ironyof thisis that,so gained,theirgreat
achievements also becamea sourceof alienationand contradiction in
the colonial establishment.These feelings of alienation and
contradiction issuedintoa defiantspiritof "back to Africa" bornin
boththe New and the Old Worlds.Greatpressurewas exertedon
those Africanswho still had roots in Africantraditionsto make
authentic This tooktheformof Africancosmologies,
representations.
bardicpoems,folklore,and fairy-tales written in Africanlanguages,
butin Europeanliterary formssuchas proseandverse.Thesemadeit
easy to renderAfricantextsintoEuropeanlanguageswithoutlosing
theirrhetoric. This can be seen in the literatureby late nineteenth
centuryAfricanwriterssuch as Mofolo,Akiga,Vilakazi,Mqhayi,
Bokwe,and a few otherless well-known examples.It is interesting
that, accordingto record (Drachler, 1963), pioneers in African
languagesfeaturedmore South Africansthan any otherregionin
sub-SaharanAfricaand, yet,theywerethe most"westernised" and
continueto be fora numberof historical and socio-economic reasons.
Or was itbecauseoftheveryfact?
It is importantto notethatwhileAfricanpioneersweregiving
theirrendition of "Africanroots,"the missionaries were also doing
theirbest to fathomAfricanmysticalbeliefsand philosophy.The
resultsof this deep searchfinallygelled into what is now called
Africanethnophilosophy. Itsbestexponentis FatherPlacideTempels,
whose seminal studyBantuPhilosophy, firstappeared in 1945.
Indeed,a numberof theologiansbecameprofessors of philosophyin
African universitiesafter independence.What gave them an
advantageis that,over and above theirformalEuropeantraining,
through theirmissionary worktheyacquiredprofound knowledgeof
Africanreligionsand cosmologicalideas. Nonetheless,thisdid not
give thementirelyfreepassage. Ethnophilosophy became a highly

Alif 17 (1997) 9

This content downloaded from 185.2.32.86 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 00:10:28 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
controversial subjectamongmodernAfricanphilosophers. Thereare
those who perceivedthe passing of Africanethnophilosophy as
philosophy in theEuropeansenseas a formof condescension on the
partof Europeanethnophilosophers. On the otherhand,thereare
those who, while not rejectingAfricanethnophilosophy as source
material, questioned the authenticityof the missionaries'
representations.
Given the presenttopic, it would be easy to assume that
anthropology wouldbe thebackdropagainstwhichthisdiscoursewill
be conducted.Yet, as it turnsout,it will be necessaryto distinguish
between"the anthropology" or rootsof Africanliterature and the
contributionofanthropology, as a discipline, to theunderstanding and
development of Africanliterature. It is fairto say that, unfortunately,
anthropology in Africawas dominatedby Britishanthropologists, a
most unimaginative lot. Being confirmed pragmatists, they hardly
botheredabout the metaphysical or ethnophilosophical aspects of
Africanlife,withfew exceptionssuch as AudreyRichards'"The
Blind Singer"and "The Quarrel"(Drachler,1963). The nearestthey
cameto was thestudyofAfricanreligioussystems, rituals,witchcraft
and sorcery,and the influenceof Christianity- all of which was
coded in a staidfashionin AfricanSystemsof Thoughteditedby M.
FortesandG. Dieterlen(1965). In thisbookProfessor MeyerFortes,a
South AfricanJew, subtlypersecutedby the Anglo-Saxonsin
Cambridge,took pride in carryingwhat he described as "the
quintessence of thetraditional Africanway of life"to theUniversity
ofSalisburyinhatedwhite-settler Rhodesiawhichhe depictedas "one
of thenewestinstitutions dedicatedto extending in Africathevalues
and the knowledgethat are surelymost distinctiveof Western
civilization"(Forteset al, p. vii). This was twoyearsaftermostother
Africanstateshad gainedtheirindependence elsewherein Africa.In
contrast,Melville Herskovits,the founderof the AfricanStudies
Programat Northwestern University and the best Africanist in the
world,butwhose workin Africadid notgo down so well withthe
British anthropologists, in the same year as Fortes' imperial
affirmationwroteinthePrefacetoAfrican Heritage(Drachler,1963):

Moreandmore,Africanmodesofcreativeexpression are
thethinking
as we seekto understand
receivingattention
of Africans who are responsiblefor and support
developmentsin the continent.The African,long

Alif 17 (1997)
10

This content downloaded from 185.2.32.86 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 00:10:28 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 regardedas a lay figurein theAfricanscene,whoserole
was to be manipulated by thoseof presumedsuperior
cultureandprovedsuperior power,has suddenlycometo
life.The dynamicqualityofhistraditions,thesubtletyof
his skillin ordering
humanrelations,andhis adaptability
to change, are increasinglybeing recognized.These
remain mattersfor debate among only those who,
because of ignoranceor prejudice,will not see whatis
self-evidentfor those who view Africa realistically
(Drachler,9).

Melville and FrancesHerskovitswrotea book entitledDahomean

Narrative in 1931. A similarinterest had been exhibitedby some of
his Frenchcontemporaries, of whomthe mostcelebratedis Marcel
Griaule,the authorof Dieu d'eau (Conversations withOgotemmeli,
1965). The philosopher, Claude Sumner,could not help remarking:
"Herewe havethereflections of an African'Socrates,'an old Dogon
hunter,totallyilliterateand havinghad minimalcontactwithwestern
thought" (UNESCO, 152). What greater complimentcould
Ogotemmelihave expectedfroma Europeanphilosopher? Whether
his was a sapientialor criticalphilosophy is immaterial.Of particular
relevancehere is thatit is acknowledgedthathis synthesisof his
people's beliefscontainedphilosophicalideas as good as Socrates'!
The interest in themetaphysical ideas of non-western peoplesamong
the French anthropologists has a long lineage, startingfrom
Levy-Bruhl, Mauss,andDurkheim. It is, therefore,notsurprisingthat
the Frenchanthropologists, unlikethe British, in Africa,made a
directcontribution to the developmentof Africanliteraryforms
through theirownethnographic studies.
Whilethelattermightprovideevidenceof a directrelationship
betweenanthropology andAfricanliterature, itdoes notbyanymeans
represent a consciousintellectual effort to fathom theanthropologyof
Africanliterature in theway in whichJean-PaulSartretriedto in his
BlackOrpheus (Orphe'e Noir)as an introduction to theAnthologiede
la nouvelle poesienegreet malgachede languefrancaiseeditedby
Leopold Senghorin 1948. Sartresaw the pervasivepre-occupation
with"beingblack in the world"in Africanliterature at thetimeas
beinga specificdialecticalimpulsewhichwas destinedto transcend
bothblackandwhitein thefuture world.Sartremighthavebeenright
in hisdiagnosis,butnotin hisprognosis, fortheidea of"Africanness"

Alif 17 (1997) ll

This content downloaded from 185.2.32.86 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 00:10:28 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
or"Africanity" has persisted andis beingpursued
in Africanliterature
vigorously in Africanethnophilosophicaldiscourseby writerssuchas
V. Y. Mudimbein TheIdea ofAfrica(1994); Anthony Appiahin My
Father'sHouse (1992); OlufemiTaiwo in "Appropriating Africa:An
Essay on New AfricanistSchools" (1995) and by some
African-American literary/cultural HenryLouis Gates
critics,notably,
Jr.in TheSignifying Monkey:A TheoryofAfrican-American Literary
Criticism(1988).

The AfricanRoots

Althoughthe referentin the works cited above is written

Africanliterature,theirsubjectis theimplicitAfricanself-identity as
is portrayed in such representations. In spite of the fact thatthe
startingpointis modernAfricanliterature writtenmainlyin English
andFrench,thesearchforontologicalmeaningsgoes back to African
songs,praise-poems
narratives, and mythsin originallanguagesor in
translation.While this has become a bone of contention between
internalinterlocutorssuchas Mudimbeand Taiwo and theirexternal
counterpartssuchGates and otherAfrican-American literary/cultural
critics,Africancreative writerstake it for granted.The latter
inadvertently obliteratesthe distinction betweenAfricanoral and
writtenliterature.But some Africanwriterssuch as Ousmane
Sembeneand Ngugiwa Thiong'ohave soughtto do thisconsciously,
as is shown by theircommitment to ruraltheatrein indigenous
languages.Ngugi wa Thiong'o wentso far as to cease writingin
Englishand gave fulljustification forthisin his book,Decolonising
theMind:thePoliticsofLanguageinAfrican Literature (1986).
One wouldhavethought that,whether doneconsciouslyor not,
the affirmation of the Africanself-identity by going back to "the
roots" would include a returnto the early pioneersof African
whoseworkwas strongly
literature ethnographic, whether written in
nativelanguagesas amongthe black SouthAfricansor in foreign
languagesas among the returneesfromthe New World in West
Africa.Thisappliesparticularly to thewritingsof thelattersincethey
were accessibleto mostmodernAfricanwriters.One has in mind
workssuch as Blyden'sAfricanLifeand Custom(1883), Sarbah's
Fanti Customary Laws (1887), Casely-Hayford's Gold Coast Native
(1911), andRattray
Institutions ' s Ashanti(1923) andReligionand Art
inAshanti(1927). Some ofthesepioneershad actuallywritten literary

12 Alif 17 (1997)

This content downloaded from 185.2.32.86 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 00:10:28 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
workssuchas Casely-Hayford's EthiopiaUnbound, andRattray'sThe
LeopardPriestess(thoughScottishby origin,Rattraybecame a
naturalised Ashanti).However,theseauthors are betterknownfor
theirethnological workswhichprovedmoreusefulto anthropologists
than to later Africanwriters.Those aspects of theirwork which
concentrated on Africanculturalidentity insteadhad a directappealto
futureAfricannationalists such as Nkrumahand Kenyatta.This is
also reflectedin the protestliterature of the French-speaking black
diasporawhichhad a greatimpacton buddingAfricanleaderssuchas
Senghor.
WhereasthelinkbetweenAfricanliterature andanthropology is
extremely tenuous,the linkbetweenmodernAfricanliterature and
black nationalistpolitical ideology is very strongindeed. This
statementis meant in both the positiveand the negativesense,
depending on whether the point of reference is pre- or
post-independence. In thepre-independence periodall sangin unison
againstcolonialismand fortheliberation of theblack continent.No
soonerhad independence beengainedthan disillusionment startedto
set in and the heroesof uhuru(freedomin ki-Swahili) were being
indictedfortheirvenality.The beforeand the afteralso applies to
modern African literatureitself. African literaturein foreign
languagesis a post-World WarII affairandin factwas notestablished
untilafterindependence, of which 1960 is the symbolicyear in
Africa.
Whilethisis true,from1927untiltheendoftheSecondWorld
War literary and politicalactivityamongtheblack diasporain Paris
and Londonhad reachednewheightsand had a directbearingon the
development of Africannationalismand literature. Londonbecame
thecradleof Africannationalism, spear-headed by whatwas called
the "Negro diaspora,"featuring such illustriousfiguresas Edward
Blyden,Sylvester Williams,W. E. B. Du Bois, and GeorgePadmore,
whose genesis of Pan-Africanism and the concept of "African
Personality"was in turn inspiredby the ideas of Booker T.
Washington, MarcusAureliusGarvey,andtheeruditeDr. Price-Mars.
It was in thismilieuthatKwame Nkrumahand JomoKenyattain
particularacquiredtheirnationalist ideologies.Whenthetimecame,
theydid notproduceliterary butwhathas been describedby African
philosophers as "politicalandideologicalphilosophies."
In contrast to Anglophonepragmatism, theCartesianambiance
in Parisfostered thegrowthof literature and existentialist
philosophy

Alif 17 (1997) 13

This content downloaded from 185.2.32.86 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 00:10:28 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
amongtheFrancophone black diasporafromtheNew World.These
became the leading exponentsof "Negritude,"the mysteryof
"being-black-in-the-world." Amongthemthenamesof AimeCesaire,
Leon Damas,and FrantzFanonreignedsupreme.Theirworksranged
fromtreatiessuch as Aime Cesaire's Discourssurle colonialisme,
(1955) and FrantzFanon's The Wretched of theEarth(1963) and
BlackSkins,White Masks(1967) to verseand dramasuch as Aime
Cesaire'spoem,ToAfrica andhistragedy, AndtheDogs WereSilent.
Their work was greatly influencedby Camus' and Sartre 's
existentialist
philosophy. Sartreactuallybecamedeeplyinvolvedwith
them.This me'lange leftan indeliblemarkon Leopold Senghor,who
was a fellow-student of Aime Cesaire at the Ecole Normale
Superieurein the 1930s. But his philosophyof "Negritude"has its
originsin theworksoftheblackdiasporafromtheFrancophone West
Indies.Like his mentors, Senghor'sworkvariesfromtreatiessuchas
On AfricanSocialism,Negritudeen Humanisme, or Discours
prononcee' a I' Universite' d'Oxfordto prose and poetry as is
exemplified byProseandPoetry (selectedworks),andbypoemssuch
as BlackWoman, NightinSenegal,andTheHurricane.
Closelyrelatedto thediscourseon "AfricanPersonality" and
"Negritude"by such advocatesas Kwame Nkrumahand Leopold
Senghor is African ethnophilosophy,which also predates
independence. In spiteof itspassionateand ideologicaladvocacy,the
former sharedthesamephilosophical concernas thelatter,
namely,to
revealthemetaphysical essenceof beingblack and to regaina lost
dignitydue to humiliatingwhite colonial domination.The first
ethnophilosopher to undertakesuch an expose was the Belgian
missionaryFatherTempels in his classic workBantu Philosophy
writtenin 1945. Thereafter, one of his pupils, Alexis Kagame,
undertook a similarstudyentitledTheBantu-Rwandaise Philosophy
ofBeing(1953). Thisbecamemoreor less a fadamongFrancophone
Africansin CentralAfricain theperiodleadingup to independence.
Afterindependence, whenphilosophywas introduced as partof the
curriculumin the new African universities,things changed
dramatically. Both"Negritude" and ethnophilosophy weredenounced
mostvehemently by modernAfricanphilosophers. This extendedto
suchworksas JohnMbiti'sAfrican ReligionsandPhilosophy (1969)
and Kofi Busia's Africain Searchof Democracy( 1967). With
withering scorn,one ofthemembers ofthenewgeneration ofAfrican
philosophers, OderaOruka,has thisto sayaboutethnophilosophy:

14 Alif 17 (1997)

This content downloaded from 185.2.32.86 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 00:10:28 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Temples,a Belgianmissionary, claimsin his book that
Africans,or more specificallyBantus, also have a
philosophy.But he portraysthis philosophyas being
completelydifferentfromwhatpasses in theWest and
Europeansocietiesas "philosophy."The outcomefor
Tempelsis thatphilosophy in Africais somethingwhich
is almost identicalwith ethnology,religionand even
mythology. This philosophythen is treatedas being
clearly innocentof the logical and scientificspirit
pre-eminent inWesternphilosophy (UNESCO, 1984).

It was leftyetto anothermodernAfricanphilosopher,

Kwesi Wiredu,
toputthelastnailon Busia's andMbiti'scoffin:

Let me now give concreteexampleson thisquestionof

philosophicaldecolonisation. One of themostpersistent
characterisationsofAfricantraditional thought is thatitis
pre-eminently religious. Mbiti opens his African
Religionsand Philosophy ... with the statementthat
"Africansarenotoriously religious... Religionpermeates
all thedepartments of lifeso fullythatit is noteasy or
possiblealwaysto isolateit." Busia ... in his Africain
Searchof Democracy... goes even further:"... in
traditional Africancommunities it was not possible to
distinguish betweenreligiousand non-religious areas of
life.All lifewas religious."(UNESCO, 36)

Withgreatindignation, Wireduasks rhetorically,

"Whydo Mbitiand
Busia writeas theydo?" onlytoanswerhisownquestion:

The reasonis thattheysimplylumpAfricantraditional

beliefsaboutvariouskindsof"spiritual"forces "gods,"
fetishes,ancestors,etc.-together with beliefs about
SupremeGod, underthe rubricof religion.But how
applicableis the conceptof religionto beliefin those
spiritual
forces?(UNESCO, 36)

Finally,the unthinkable
also happened.In theirconsultative
meetingundertheauspicesof UNESCO in Nairobiin 1980 African
philosophers
wereunanimous in theirviewthat:

Alif 17 (1997) 15

This content downloaded from 185.2.32.86 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 00:10:28 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 of thereasoningof Africans
Negritude'scharacterisation
is notacceptable.Negritude it suggests
is notscientific;
It
falselythattheNegrois incapableofconceptualisation.
thatis to the
gives a privilegedpositionto intuition,
of the knowingsubjectwith the object
identification
(UNESCO, 250).

function,
Thus,forlackof a criticalandratiocinative Negritude
was rejectedas not philosophy.Secondly,despiteits ideological
importance,thereweresome qualmsaboutits apparentracism.Yet,
Senghor himself had described Negritude as an "anti-racist
racism" something whichevenAfricanphilosophers are notable to
avoid entirely,as is shownby theiraversiontoforeign (European)
influencesand by theirstrivingsto establisha peculiarlyAfrican
discourse.Whatis describedabove is a clash betweendisciplines;
namely, traditional anthropology/ethnology and traditional
philosophy. to thesubjectof
It is conceivablethatbothare irrelevant
thispaper,as is evincedby theirapparentlack of impacton modern
Africanliterature.

ofModernAfricanLiterature
The Anthropology

As is envisagedhere,the anthropology of modernAfrican

has nothingto do withanthropology
literature as a disciplinebut
ratherwiththe"contextuality," thesemiotics,and rhetoricof modern
Africanliterature which is otherwisewrittenin acquired foreign
languages,mainlyEnglishand French.The argument is thatit is not
thelanguageused whichmakesmodernAfricanliterature "African,"
but ratherthe symbols, therhetoric,and theethos invoked. These are
identifiable African.That does not mean,however,
as authentically
thattheyare fixed.They are changeableaccordingto thehistorical
and social context.For instance,a differenceis discerniblebetween
even contemporary modernAfricanwriterssuch as Wole Soyinka,
Chinua Achebe, and Okot p'Bitek on one hand, and Ousmane
Sembeneand Ngugiwa Thiong'oon theother.The former implicitly
accepted the classical European model of "gemeinschaft" versus
"gesellschaft" but could not fullycommitthemselvesto its logical
imperativebecause theyremainedloyal to the traditional African
ethosin conjunction withbourgeoisliberalvalues.In ourview,thisis

Alif 17 (1997)
16

This content downloaded from 185.2.32.86 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 00:10:28 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
vividlyreflectedin workssuch as Chinua Achebe's Things Fall
Apart,No Longerat Ease, A Man of thePeople, and Arrowof God;
Wole Soyinka'sInterpreters; and Okot p'Bitek's Song of Lawino,
notwithstanding the nationalistic rhetoricin theirtexts.In contrast,
Ousmane Sembene and Ngugi wa Thiong'o's works representa
critiqueof bothtraditional Africansocietiesand the perversions of
bourgeoisneo-colonialism in Africa.Sembene'sEitai,Mandabi,Xala
and Ngugiwa Thiong'o's Petals ofBlood and I Shall MarryWhenI
Wanttestify to this.Yet, neitherside couldbe accusedof losingsight
of whattheyperceiveas the "Africanness" or "Africanity"of the
landscapestheypaint.Contrasting perspectivesis whatis interesting
anddebatableabouttheirtexts.
The samedoes notseemto be trueofthesucceedinggeneration
of Africanwriters suchas CyprianEkwensi,T. Aluko,JamesNgungi
(not to be confusedwithNgugi wa Thiong'o),Ayi Kwei Armah,
OnouraEkwensi,Oswald Ntshali,Ijimere,and manyotherswho are
strikingly unanimousin theirdisillusionment withpost-independence
Africangovernments. Theirpre-occupation is withthe venalityand
authoritarianism of modernAfricanbureaucratic elitesand thepitiful
plight of the ordinarycitizens who had great expectationsat
independence. This is reminiscent of Oginga Odinga's catchytitle,
Not Yet Uhuru(freedomin ki-Swahili).This is, however,poetically
depictedin workssuchas AyiKwei Armah'sTheBeautifulOnes are
NotYetBorn,Aluko's His Worshipful Majesty,Nzekwu's Highlife for
Lizards;Ijimere'sTheImprisonment ofObatala,Ntshali'sSoundsofa
CowhideDrum,and manymore.To do justiceto thisgeneration of
Africanwriters, it would take a moreextensivereviewthancan be
undertaken in thisformat. Butsufficeitto say,thisis representativeof
the seventieswhich,the Sudaneseliterary critic,JamalM. Ahmed,
describedas "A Decade ofDespair"in 1982."Disillusionment" might
stillbe a betterwordbecauseunderlying theseworksmentioned, there
is a romantic visionof an abusedor perverted Africanessenceor,if
youlike,an "Africanness" or"Africanity" whichwillreassertitselfin
the fullnessof time.Thereis a certainforeboding in the perceived
betrayalby the uhuruheroes and now post-independence villains.
Thesesignify thebasicbeliefintheresilienceoftheblackspiritwhich
will sooneror laterburstintorevolutionary flamesand consummate
whathadbeendenied.
This spirit is shared by more than one generationof
disillusioned and yetoptimistic SouthAfricanwriters who havebeen

Alif 17 (1997) 17

This content downloaded from 185.2.32.86 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 00:10:28 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
obsessed with the iniquitiesand injusticesof apartheidin their
country.But it would be verymisleadingto assume thatfor this
reasontherewas a commonanthropological self-image or identity in
SouthAfricanliterature. While it would be easy to identify South
Africanwriterssuch as Ezekiel Mphahlele,lBlokeModise, Lewis
Nkosi,Mazisi Kunene,NjabuloNdebele,and representatives of what
is now knownas the"Soweto"generation as "Africans"politicallyit
wouldbe difficultto exclude from the same categorywriters suchas
Alex La Guma,PeterAbrahams,AlfredHutchinson, DennisBrutus,
Cosmo Pieterse,and other"Coloured"writers, some of whommight
even insiston writingin Afrikaans, e.g. Hein Willemse.Yet, one
knowsin advancethattheanthropology of theirliteratureis different.
to drawa lineofdemarcation
Likewise,itis difficult betweenNadine
Gordimer,who was broughtup in the Transvaal,and rebellious
Afrikaner writerssuch as Brink,Coetzee, Braytenbach, du Plessis,
and Cronin.The anthropology of theirworksmightall be thesame,
buttheirlinguisticheritagemightbe different. All thismightindicate
thatSouthAfricanwritersare a different kettleof fishand would
requirespecialtreatment. Racismin a settlersocietyhasver more
thanfourhundredyears-drawninvidiousdistinctions amongSouth
Africansof different colours. Consequently,while South African
writersmightmanifestunityof cause in theirliteraryworks,they
certainlydrawtheirinspiration fromdifferent anthropologies or sense
ofbeing.Thiscontrariety pervadestheirworks.
Authenticityfor black writerselsewherein Africa,relies on
specificethnographic textsthatareauthored bythepeoplethemselves.
For instance,Soyinka never forgetsthe fact that he is Yoruba,
Sembenethathe is Wolof,Ngugi wa Thiong'o thathe is Gikuyu,
Nuruddin Farahthathe is Somali,or Okotp'Bitekthathe is Acholi.
Nonetheless,all of themoperatein a muchwiderAfricancultural
environment. Therefore,theirselectionof particularethnographic
textscannotbe construed as strictly Forexample,when
particularistic.
theywant to studyparticularsocial relationsor phenomena,they
choose certainappropriatetextswhich are recitedby appropriate
subjectsin thenarrative.The anthropology of thisis thattheauthentic
voicesmightsay therightthingsaccordingto tradition which,likeall
takesitselfforgranted.
traditions, In otherwords,theymightnothave
a critiqueof themselves.Forthisto happen,thewriter himself/herself
mustintervene consciouslyand deliberately and, by so doing,extend
thecanvasbeyondtheparticular to something moregeneric.

Alif 17 (1997)
18

This content downloaded from 185.2.32.86 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 00:10:28 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 elites
For instance,it is one thingto indictAfricanbureaucratic
fortheircorruption and despotismanotherto offera texturedand
contextualisedalternative.Ngugiwa Thiong'oandOusmaneSembene
areprobablytheonlytwoAfricanwriters whodo thisdeliberatelyand
consistently.Perhaps,it is no coincidencethat they have both
developedtheidea ofruraltheatre in whichtheruralmassesaresubtly
encouragedto rebel against their traditionalas well as their
neo-colonialoppressors. ofthe
Thisis thefirststagein therenaissance
nativewriter,accordingtoFanon:

Finally,in the thirdphase,whichis called the fighting

phase,thenative,afterhavingtriedto lose himselfin the
people and withthepeople,will on thecontrary, shake
thepeople.Insteadof accordingthepeople's lethargy an
honouredplace in his esteem,he turnshimselfintoan
awakener of the people; hence comes a fighting
literature,a revolutionary literatureand a national
(Fanon,179).
literature

MbyeChamconcurs:

WhenSembenedecidesto putmoreemphasison filmin

local languagesthanon fictionin a foreignlanguageand
whenNgugichoosesto stageplaysand writesfictionin
Kukuyu,one is dealingwitha consciousartisticchoiceas
politicalactdesignedtorecapture
wellas a deliberate and
developthetraditionalconceptof artas partof societyin
thecontextofa "newrealityin action(Cham,10).

Nuruddin Farahis anotherexampleof an Africanwriter whoin

his Froma CrookedRib interrogated thegenderblindnessof Somali
ethnographic texts.He accomplishedthisby standingfora moment
outsideSomali societyand thusrunning theriskof beingaccusedby
fellow-Somalis of beingun-Somali.By thesame token,he joined a
widercommunity ofAfricanwriters.
The secondpointto make aboutthe anthropology of African
is unspecialised.Its authorscome
is thatAfricanliterature
literature
fromall walks of life and can reflectthismorespontaneously than

Alif 17(1997) 19

This content downloaded from 185.2.32.86 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 00:10:28 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
thosewho are subjectto restricted
or highlyformalisedcodes. As
Chamso eloquentlyputsit:

He is a scholarand philosopher-king(Leopold Senghor),

an academicianandpoliticalactivist(Ngugiwa Thiong'o
and Wole Soyinka)a veteranof imperial/colonial war
and former tradeunionactivist(OusmaneSembene),she
is a mother,political activist and women's rights
advocate(Ama Ata Aidoo,AminataSow-Fall,Mariama
Ba, Bessie Head) and a scholaractivistforcedintoexile
(MicereMugo),he is a former guerillaand head of state
(AgostinoNeto),a diplomatand politicalactivist(Alex
La Guma)anda former politicalprisoner(KofiAwoonor
andNgugi).(Cham,11-12)

The thirdand final point concerningthe anthropology of

Africanliterature
is the proximitybetweenthe artistand her/his
ethnographicsource.AlthoughFanonvisualisedone of his phasesas
follows:

In thesecondphase,we findthenativeis disturbed; he

decidesto remember whathe is ... Butsincethenativeis
not a part of his people, since he only has exterior
relationswithhis people,he is contentto recalltheirlife
only.Past happenings of by-gonedays of his childhood
will be broughtup out of thedepthsof his memory;old
legendswill be reinterpretedin thelightof a borrowed
estheticismand of a conceptionof theworldwhichwas
discoveredunderotherskies(Fanon,178-79).

Thismightbe trueof theWestIndiesbutcertainly notofblack

Africa.While it is truethata distinctioncould be made between
pre-colonialAfricain whichartwas oral and, therefore,could not
help being steeped in idiom, imagery,style and contentin its
immediatesocio-cultural environment, and post-colonialAfricain
which expressiveartistswork in foreignlanguages;it cannotbe
provedthatthe latterhas signifieda rupturein theoriginalorganic
link betweenthe artistand his/herethnographic context.African
writerswritein AfricanEnglishand Frenchand theirdiscourseis
rootedin Africanethnographictexts,whoseimperatives theyare not

20 Alif 17(1997)

This content downloaded from 185.2.32.86 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 00:10:28 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
able to ignorebecausetheythemselves arepartof thesituation. If this
were not the case, it would not have been necessaryfor themto
appropriateEnglishand French.Whether thisis theoppositeeffectof
imperialistdominationor a reflection of the resilienceof African
modesof ordering humanrelations,it cannotbe gainsaid.But if our
mainobjectwas theanthropology of Africanliterature,thenthelatter
mustprevailas theintrinsicexplanation. To thinkof it,it is possible
that what is called "sociology of literature"is in fact "the
anthropology in theontologicalsense.Mightnotthisbe
of literature"
a topic for deconstructionand reconstruction in an era of
post-modernism?

References

Ahmed,Jamal."A Decade of Despair: The SeventiesPortrayed by

AfricanNovels."Mimeo:Cairo,1982.
Bunn, D. and Taylor, J. From South Africa:New Writing,
Photographs and Art. TriQuarterly Magazine. Evanston:
Northwestern University, 1987.
Cham, M. B. "Artisticand Ideological Convergence:Ousmane
SembeneandHaile Gerima."Ufahamu, XI: 2 (1982).
"Artist, Artand Societyin Africa,"paperpresented at a
conference on StateandSociety inAfrica. Mexico: 1983.
J.(ed.). African
Drachler, Heritage.New York:CollierBooks, 1964.
Fanon,Frantz.TheWretched oftheEarth.Harmonsworth: Penguin,
1963.
Fortes,M. and Dieterlen,G. (eds.). African Systems of Thought.
London:OxfordUniversity Press,1965.
Mafeje,Archie."AfricanPhilosophicalProjections and Prospectsfor
theIndigenisation of Politicaland IntellectualDiscourse"in A.
Mafeje,In Searchofan African Alternative . Harare:SAPES
Books, 1992.
Parry,B. "ResistanceTheory/Theorising Resistanceor Two Cheers
forNativism."In Barker,Hulme,and Iverson(eds.), Colonial
Discourse/Post-Colonial Theory. Manchester: Manchester
University Press,1994.
UNESCO. Teachingand Researchin Philosophy: Africa.Paris:
UNESCO,1984.

Alif 17 (1997)
21

This content downloaded from 185.2.32.86 on Sat, 21 Jun 2014 00:10:28 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions