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Chapter 5 lesson 1 West African Culture and Daily Life
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Chapter 5 lesson 1 West African Culture and Daily Life
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The culture of Africa is impacted by the way that the West had total ignorance of sub-Saharan Africa. The West was unaware of sub-Saharan Africa because of the geographical, political, religious and economic differences. Africa is isolated geographically where early communication would have been a problem, but the West was still ignorant as of relatively recent times. A possible explanation to the West being ignorant of sub-Saharan Africa is because of the geography. With this part of Africa being fairly large and it not bordering any of the Western countries they could have easily been isolated. The few countries that would border Europe are isolated by a body of water that in early times was probably extremely difficult to across if it
In the 21st century, slavery and the Atlantic Slave Trade are viewed as immoral and quite possibly the most horrifying treatment known to man by society and foreign leaders but, was the same view regarded in the 17th century? The short primary sources, “Nzinga Mbemba: Appeal to the King of Portugal”, and “Captain Thomas Phillips: Buying Slaves in 1639”, enables individuals to identify how foreign leaders, specifically the kings of African nations, conducted the issue of slavery and the slave trade. In the words of Nzinga Mbemba and Captain Phillips, the kings of Congo and Ouidah both knowingly accepted slavery in their country but, had strikingly opposing views concerning the Atlantic Slave Trade; King Mbemba prohibited the trading of slaves whereas the King of Ouidah welcomed slave trading.
“The first great wave of Globalization was the migration of our ancestors from Africa in what is being referred to as the Africanization of the World” (De Blij and Muller 282). Africa is basically located in the heart of the world with countries closely
Africa was isolated geographically by the Sahara Desert. The isolation made by the Sahara Desert has affected trade, religion, and trade within Africa. Trade in Africa was impacted by the Sahara Desert because it prevented goods from civilizations residing under the Sahara Desert to reach North Africa. Religion was affected by Africa's isolation because new religious ideas could not reach part of Africa due to the Sahara Desert. The impact made by the affect on transportation was that it had caused interactions between North Africa and civilization under the Sahara Desert to be limited. The importance of the isolation made by the Sahara Desert is that it had set limitations on Africa both technologically and socially.
Africa is a continent with two fronts. First is the façade that Americans create with our misrepresentations and stereotypes. They tend to be negative and create a negative image for those who live on the continent. The other front is the truth. Although there are some truths in American connotations, it isn’t the full truth. The stereotypes make two people look bad – Africa and those who do the stereotyping. Misrepresentations are created from a variety of different things, but it is up to the ignorant to teach themselves the truths that lie in Africa.
Africa always had the short end of the stick when it came to its reputation. It all started when a German philosopher named Georg Hagel visited Africa and made a very miss informative statement about it in 1837. In his own unwitting words, Hagel basically suggested that Africa was worthless, had no history, and that the people were wild. Word of Hagel’s statement spread to the western world and that particular stereotype has been around for a very long time. Over a century later, in 1964, another philosopher named Hugh Trevor-Roper went on a trip to Africa. The statement that he made about Africa was almost the same thing that Hagel’s statement said back in 1837, except that Roper suggested that the only history from Africa is that of the Europeans and the rest was worthless for the topic of history. What each of the philosophers said about Africa was absurd. Georg Hegel was from Germany and Hugh Trevor-Roper was from Britain. How could they possibly know the history? Let alone the political, educational, and religious side of Africa. The continent is made up of fifty four states. For them to make these kinds of statements was quite ignorant; you cannot just go to a piece of Africa and make observations for the whole continent.
The African culture were changed by trade which created cultural diffusion. The african culture was changed by the Europeans that they traded with, this is cultural diffusion. Cultural diffusion is the movement of seen and unseen characteristics of culture between two or more societies.
Because it is easy for us to believe a general categorization of something, instead of having to do the work of researching about it or having a personal experience, we tend to settle for what has been put out there. In this case we will looking at the general misconception people have about Africa versus the reality.
The world powers helped increase infrastructure and technology such as building railroads and telegraphs as well as improving education throughout the continent as a whole. Although this was true and greatly helped Africa modernize and become slightly more developed, the great world powers still had a more negative effect because they came into Africa and held the Berlin Conference. This conference was held in order to settle disputes between European countries and the world powers, about the division of Africa. The countries were extracting resources from all over Africa. The Berlin Conference mainly impacted the citizens of Africa because they were consistently put in countries that they were not familiar with, as well a the European countries that ruled them didn’t practice their culture, making it hard on all the different ethnic groups within
From being an African Booty Scratchers to African print being worn on American clothing. The native wear has been a large fashion in today clothing. National Geographic shows Africa to be in desert. The way media portrayals Africa shows how Africa seem to be an only in poverty. The television displays on commercials that asking you to donate money a day to help needy African children who will starve. Media has a interesting way on talking about Africans
Why is there such a misconception about Africa? and how can the role of documentary practice make a difference about stereotypes throughout the African continent ?
According to the information in the Article “The Misrepresentation of Africa” many commercials, T.V shows, and magazines associate African culture with poverty, violence and HIV/AIDS. I initially believed that was accurate due to that being the only thing advertised in the media. Many people now believe the way I did before I started this research project. For someone who has never visited Africa a day in my life, could I really be the blame for my misinterpretation of the continent? Therefore, I thought this would be a different but yet stimulating topic for my research project. (Araya)
... literate and was educated about the world. These elites formed social organizations, independent churches, and newspapers. Once independence was achieved Africans struggled taking control of the economy because they had no prior training, but politically they had some success. Therefore, African poverty was a result of colonial exploitation by the capitalist west. They became very dependent on trade, specifically imports, many of which came from their previous colonizers. However, colonization and decolonization expanded connections between Africans and the world beyond its borders. After decolonization, Africans increased their mobility out of the continent, furthering the cultural diffusion and Westernization of their customs, traditions, and beliefs. They also have altered the cultures of other peoples by influencing aspects of culture such as music and sports.
African cultures are different from any other culture in the world. The languages of Africa are unique in their own way. The arts of Africa are beautiful and different from any other arts in the world. African people are creative and like to express their individuality. Africa is a very original continent with lots of culture.
European Culture vs. African: France occupied Africa and brought in the language and educational system, but the cultural traditions of marriage, living, and the place of woman is still under African traditions.
An overwhelming majority of African nations has reclaimed their independence from their European mother countries. This did not stop the Europeans from leaving a permanent mark on the continent however. European colonialism has shaped modern-day Africa, a considerable amount for the worse, but also some for the better. Including these positive and negative effects, colonialism has also touched much of Africa’s history and culture especially in recent years.