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Samenvatting History of Modern Africa
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- Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
Samenvoeging van de lesnota's en de slides.
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20202021
History of Modern Africa
, INHOUDSOPGAVE
Introduction........................................................................................................................................ 3
Course objectives.......................................................................................................................... 3
Is Africa forever the “HEart of Darkness”? .............................................................................. 3
A short historiography of Africa: What is “Africa”? .................................................................... 4
“Modern Africa”? .......................................................................................................................... 5
Periodizing Modern African History ............................................................................................. 5
Is “modern” African history “different”? ................................................................................. 6
Sources of African History: written documents .......................................................................... 6
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 10
Part 1: Power ....................................................................................................................................... 11
1. From “Houses to Empires”: PRE CONOLIAL-POLITICAL organisation ................................. 11
Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 11
Gold trade and empire building in the Sahel .......................................................................... 11
Gold trade in the Sahel .......................................................................................................... 11
Power in the Sahel ................................................................................................................... 12
The Empire of Mali ................................................................................................................... 12
The Gold Coast in the early Atlantic world .............................................................................. 13
The Kongo kingdom .................................................................................................................... 16
Christianity in Kongo................................................................................................................ 17
Rainforest politics ......................................................................................................................... 19
Challenging two key concepts: ............................................................................................ 19
Central African tradition is based on 3 units ........................................................................ 20
The House ............................................................................................................................. 20
The Village ............................................................................................................................ 21
The District ............................................................................................................................ 21
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 21
2. Racism, Violence and agency: the colonial experience .................................................. 23
Colonialism in a nutshell ............................................................................................................. 23
Conceptualising colonialism ...................................................................................................... 24
Gatekeeper states .................................................................................................................. 24
Nervous states .......................................................................................................................... 24
Racial anxieties ........................................................................................................................ 25
The beginnings ............................................................................................................................. 25
Ruling Africa ................................................................................................................................. 26
Colonizing the environment ....................................................................................................... 28
Colonizing bodies ........................................................................................................................ 28
Elites & Intermediaries ................................................................................................................. 30
Making sense of colonialism ...................................................................................................... 30
Resistance & agency .................................................................................................................. 31
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 32
3. Decolonization: between Pan-Africanism and nationalism .............................................. 33
Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 33
The global context of decolonization....................................................................................... 33
“Second colonial occupation”: late colonial development................................................. 34
Africa in the Cold War ................................................................................................................ 35
Political and economic continuities.......................................................................................... 36
Economic ................................................................................................................................. 36
Political ..................................................................................................................................... 37
CASESTUDY 1: Contesting citizenship in the French Empire ................................................... 37
1
, CASESTUDY 2: Kwame Nkrumah and the Pan-African option ............................................... 39
From Congo to Zaire (1955-1975): towards neo-patrimonialism............................................ 41
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 44
Part 2: Connections............................................................................................................................ 45
1. Syncretism in the “Black Atlantic”: music and beliefs ......................................................... 45
Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 45
The Middle Passage .................................................................................................................... 45
African diasporas ........................................................................................................................ 46
The Black Atlantic ........................................................................................................................ 46
From Vodun to Voodoo ............................................................................................................. 47
Rastafarianism and reggae ....................................................................................................... 49
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 50
2. African Modernism: activists, artists and intellectuals ......................................................... 52
Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 52
“Primitive” arts and modernism ................................................................................................. 52
Harlem Renaissance ................................................................................................................... 53
Négritude ..................................................................................................................................... 54
The life and works of Frantz Fanon (1925-1961) ....................................................................... 55
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 56
Part 3: Peoples .................................................................................................................................... 57
1. A Gender(ed) history of Africa: women, men and sentiments ......................................... 57
Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 57
“Modern” love in Africa .............................................................................................................. 58
Women in modern Africa ........................................................................................................... 59
“Modern” African masculinities ................................................................................................. 61
Queering Africa ........................................................................................................................... 62
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 63
Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 65
African Contributions to global modernity............................................................................... 65
Economic ................................................................................................................................. 65
Political ..................................................................................................................................... 65
Intellectual................................................................................................................................ 65
Cultural ..................................................................................................................................... 66
The making of African modernities ........................................................................................... 66
2
, INTRODUCTION
Evaluation:
Written, online exam (50%): 3 random questions:
- A transversal question, covering different modules: when studying, pay
attention to the red threads tying different sections of the course together
Ex: How did the Atlantic slave trade impact the history of Africans and people
of African descent between the 15th and the mid-20th centuries? Take into
account political, economic and cultural aspects.
- Definition and contextualisation of one underlined word in the slides: you have
to be able to replace the concept in its broader topic and/or to illustrate it
with examples
Ex: What does legal pluralism mean? Replace this concept in its historical
context and explain its social and cultural consequences.
- Reflect on this quote by Achille Mbembe: “The world is catching up with
Africa, not the other way around”. Do you agree? Base your answer on at
least three examples seen during the course
o It is not (necessarily) a yes or no answer. Feel free to provide a nuanced
take on Mbembe’s assertion
o You won’t be evaluated on your opinion, but on the relevance of the
examples you choose
o You can add arguments that were not seen in class, but will be
evaluated on those taken out of the course
o Try to clearly structure your reflection/demonstration
o You are welcome to discuss this question together, but make sure to
provide personal answers. Plagiarism will be sanctioned
COURSE OBJECTIVES
IS AFRICA FOREVER THE “HEART OF DARKNESS”?
In European imaginaries Africa has been a place marked by poverty, wilderness,
illnesses, violence, diseases, etc. A place characterised by exceptional nature.
à best summed up by expression “Heart of Darkness”
Heart of Darkness (1899)
- Book by Joseph Conrad (inspired film Apocalypse Now)
- Based on his experiences as a captain of a steamship on the Congo River
during time of Congo Free State
- Depicts central Africa as a place of violence and savagery with an
untameable nature. It will make the white man, as well as the natives, go wild
under the direct influence of the nature.
- One of the best-known books that created the idea of how ‘outsiders’
perceive Africa and its past. It still influences us today.
3
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