Shaka chooses instead the framework of Francophone cinematographic discourse that has dominated African cinema. In my opinion, his work is a mixture of progress and retrogression in African film scholarship. Modernity and the African cinema (2004), as a publication, makes no secret of the bones it has to pick with scars inflicted by colonialism and their lingering effects on Africans who still remain vulnerable in their dealings with foreigners (Shaka 2004, 9). What Shaka proposes strongly is a conscious effort to assess traditional African institutions in a bid to understand what has continually weakened them. He carries out his research on cinema as a medium, to assess what has changed of the African reality and what still remains as the unchanging substratum.
The author, Nwachukwu F. Ukadike supports the notion that Black African cinema did not develop under the same circumstances as the European or American Cinema because of the dominance by the western civilization to portray what they taught to be African, when it is not in reality. Using his book, “Black African Cinema” Ukadike informs the audience that there are multiple reasons why Adorno criticizes the film industries for mimicking the cultures without accuracy. In fact, Africans did not control the African cinema until the 1960s, the same decade that most African countries declared independence to receive a name although some of the countries were still dependent economically. In contrast, Fanon as a philosopher wanted to show the violence so that the audience would know what happened and try to prevent it during the
Fundamentally, Ukadike asks three basic questions which resonate with this research. Our differences lie in how we respond to these questions: “Even if this cinema is derived from Western technological invention, isn’t it also necessary to have a working definition that incorporates the meaning of the nature of black Africa cinema?” (ibid., 10) “How might we discover the way in which cultural identity is pursued in the film medium?” (ibid., 11) “How do we compare and contrast aspects of black cinema’s militancy with those of some other Third World cinemas?
The concept of African literature has been very polemical. Some writers even refute its existence and regard it as a utopia due to the linguistic and content challenges. In this context, Obiajunwa Wali, through his article the Dead End of African Literature, strives to bring an answer to the question “which language should be employed in African literature?”. Wali emphasizes the lack of creativity engendered by the use of western languages and on the promotion of African ones. Indeed, he mentions, “Until these writers and their western midwives accept that any true African literature must be written in African Languages, they would be merely pursuing a dead end” (1).
As a weak nation, Africa is still suffering from “indirect colonialism” and exploitation. These scars have traumatized Africa, and caused to become vulnerable, needing the investments of countries that wish to take advantage of its resources. Basically, imperialism is the influence over a certain region or
In the analysis of the three epic films that will follow, we will come to terms with how effort is being made on screen to bridge the chasm between the past and the present. Returning to the origins, a distinctive feature of African cinema in general as the scholar Manthia Diawara noted, is that penchant in many film makers to piece together images of Africa that is no more (Diawara, 1992, 159-166). Colonialism and globalization have had damming effects on the African identity that has always been subjected to Western or foreign manipulations.These manipulations result in situations in which Africans have little or no powers to define their strong sense of origin and identity (Mayer
If nothing serious however is theorized and systematically presented as a substitute, the putatively unsuitable ones will continue to hold sway. Judgments about the methods suitable for African film analysis and those that are not call for a little bit of reflection, and should not be left at the mercy of the myopic judgmental criterion of whether they originate from the continent or not. It is a supposition that is, not making sense, but creating more confusion. They are what Mhando calls an exercise of “pigeon-holing the problem” because the discourse on films in Africa limits itself only to comparisons with Western standards (2000). Film as a technique, its philosophical underpinning and even the tools used for its analysis are not indigenous to Africa.
The prejudices made by the Europeans are evident throughout Conrad’s novel, however, two books have counteracted that idea and tried to prove the well developed society that exists all over Africa. Cry, the Beloved Country, by Alan Paton and Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, both focus on debunking the stereotypes of Africa. Paton and Achebe both explore the concept that Africa does have culture but are slowly losing it due to the settlement of whites. However, Paton implements the idea of white savior complex which is the idea that only whites can help the blacks regain establishment. As Conrad creates the atmosphere that Africa is seen as limited, in contrast, Paton and Achebe criticize it by... Joseph Conrad primarily perceives the westerners’ attitudes towards Africans similarly like most Europeans who believe they are higher and more developed.
In another important essay response to Heart of Darkness Edward Said not only discusses the novella but responds to Achebe’s essay challenging whether or not Conrad’s words represent overt racism as Achebe states. Said claims that when writing about the natives and their incapability of independence is due to Conrad’s lack of view of the alternatives to imperialism; Conrad did not live to see what happens when imperialism came to an end (essay guy). Conrad allows readers today to see an Africa that is not made up of dozens of European colonies, even if he himself might have had a very limited idea of what Africa was like (Said
C.Achebe accused Joseph Conrad of being "a thoroughgoing racist" for depicting Africa as "the other world”, while other critics like E.Said defended him against this accusation.This debate led us to analyze the novella text and these critics reviews deeply to extract the writer’s Ideas toward the native Africans and their culture . In reviewing the novella we can see Marlow as an overwhelming character to show the western sight toward the natives. Achebe argues that the representation of Africans in Heart of Darkness was not satisfactory .In other words he expected a Great Artist like Conrad to be more benevolent toward the people who were colonized. He claims that Conrad propagated the "dominant image of Africa in the Western imagination" rather than portraying the continent in its true form (1793). Africans were portrayed in Conrad 's novel as savages with no language other than grunts and with no "other occupations besides merging