Ward Paschal

5/1/11

Renewed Views on Africa: Correcting the Misconceptions

Many people in America have misconceptions about Africa, and I was one of them. I had many

incorrect ideas about the people, the countries, and the culture in Africa. The continent of Africa has a

lot more to it than AIDS, malnutrition, and blood diamonds. These things are indeed there but for the

most part it is a continent filled with beautiful music, people, and great food. The ideas that Americans

have planted in their head that Africans are savage and illiterate is nonsense and needs to be put to bed.

The people have a lot to offer to the world, but we are unable to see it due to the veil we put over our

eyes.

I hadn't the slightest idea of what African literature really was until I read The Beautyful Ones

Are Not Yet Born by Ayi Kwei Armah. I had never really thought of what African literature might be

like and I didn't really think that literature from third world countries could truly compete with the

literature we have in America. I couldn't have been more wrong. The novel had a such a tone of

cynicism and was so dark about the future of Ghana. There was very little light at the end of the tunnel,

which is a theme that we rarely see in American literature. This theme made me realize that African

literature is something special and isn't something to be overlooked. The descriptions used in the novel

are some of the most in depth descriptions I have read thus far. The detailed imagery of the excrement

stained banister really opened my eyes. At first it sort of reinforced my views about Africa being this

extremely filthy place, but after you read these in depth descriptions and how well the language is put

together, it makes you wonder how someone from there could put it that together without being

sarcastic. The language may have been describing Ghana as extremely filthy and disgusting, but the

way the descriptions are written, the reader is forced to realize that there is no way all of Ghana is like

this. If everything is so filthy and nasty, how could someone from Africa write so well and with such

depth. The novel itself is so dark and cynical about the life in Africa, but again it is very hard to
overlook the literature itself and it forces you to realize that there really are great writers that come

from Africa. The descriptions in the novel Sardines by Nuruddin Farah are almost unreal in their depth.

Farah's style is so different from Armah, but it gave me the chance to see the antipodal African writer.

Armah's style is so dark in its theme and description, but Farah is almost poetic in his description of

African people. Farah uses lots and lots of conversation in his text, and the characters speak so

elegantly it is almost surreal. The misconception I had previously was that Africans don't speak well

and elegant speech just isn't something that is a part of African culture. After reading Farah, I realized

that this fallacy I had previously just isn't true. Farah creates these in depth characters that speak so

well and it really helped to prove to me that Africa does have beautiful literature and characters within

that literature. Farah's main characters are all female and the ideas the female characters have really

helped to prove wrong what I had originally thought about women in Africa. My original views on

women in Africa was that the women had children, cooked the food, and carried water on their heads. I

have come to realize that this is simply not true. The women in Farah's novel are so well spoken, and

are interested in issues concerning Somalian government. I also realize that not all women in Africa are

like Farah's characters, but it forced me to realize that there is more to African women than just cooking

and child bearing.

I hadn't the slightest idea what African films would be like, and all the films I had seen before

about Africa were animated and had no actual African people in them. The movie O Heroi really

proved to me that Africa is capable of films of American caliber. The movie's plot wasn't the best I'd

ever seen, but it surprised me at how great the acting and cinematography was. I had gone into the

movie with the notion that the technology that would be used in African films would be sub-par and

noticeably terrible. The movie was actually extremely well done and could be shown without a doubt in

theaters in America. O Heroi also had themes of falling in love and living life with a happy marriage. I

hadn't thought of Africa as being the place to fall in love or as being a place where people could truly

be in love. Vitorio, the war veteran, falls in love with a hooker and they move in together. They seem to
be extremely happy together. The idea of falling in love with a prostitute happens in a lot of American

film, and it really surprised me that it would happen in an African one. Overall the film did a great job

of portraying African life, and showing me that there is a lot more to Africa than huts and tribal life.

The Firestone video was not an African film, but it was a film by Firestone to show what “really goes

on” in Liberia. I watched this film objectively and realized that a lot of the misconceptions about Africa

were being reinforced in the video. The idea of Africans living in huts with a tribal leader was a part of

the video. The idea that Africans don't mind do manual labor all day long and enjoying was a part of

the video. The video even went so far as to show how Africa can't do much for itself and that Firestone

is the reason Liberia is on the map at all so to speak. These misconceptions were probably something I

thought to be partially true before I took the class; however as I watched I realized how ridiculous these

ideas about Africa actually are. Why in the world would all Africans enjoy doing manual labor? And by

this point in the world how could all Africans still be living in huts? The video was trying to enforce

these fallacies, but when watching it after having read some African literature and discussed what really

happens in Africa, I realized the terrible truth about Firestone and its place in Africa. Firestone was

purposefully enforcing false ideas and putting themselves in a good light so they could continue to take

rubber from Liberia free of charge. I hadn't really thought that American companies played a part in

these misconceptions nearly all Americans believe, but the Firestone video showed that to me. All of

the American movies, and things we see on TV about Africa are purposefully false. A lot of American

companies want us to continue to believe these things so that they can continue to use Africa for its

natural resources such as rubber, oil, and (the resource in cellphones). I hadn't really put much though

into the way we see Africa, but after watching Firestone Liberia video I realized that all of the

propaganda we see about Africa is heavily influenced by American companies.

I had many misconceptions about African culture prior to taking the class. I hadn't thought of

there really being a culture in Africa. The thought never really crossed my mind, but after class

discussions, the literature and the movies, I realized that Africa has an extremely vibrant and diverse
culture. Anthony Bourdains' No Reservations show really gave a great look into the culture and what

African life is really like. Bourdain shows the market place of Ghana and shopping that goes on. The

shopping is of course quite different from American shopping, but there is definitely a variety of

clothing and items to choose from and the place is buzzing with activity. The food in Ghana looked

amazing. They had a lot of food that was specific to Africa such as kenke and the hearty soups and

stews that were served over rice. They also had their own alcoholic beverage called (?) which is a wine

made from trees. It is extremely strong, but seems to be delicious. The portion sizes were also huge,

and before the class I had thought of most Africans as being malnourished and extremely skinny. This

just isn't true, most of the people in the No Reservations video are extremely healthy. They are all

skinny, but not malnourished at all. I also had the misconception that nearly all Africans are unhappy

and jealous of Western life. This is also just not true. All of the people who Anthony Bourdain meets

are extremely friendly and seem to enjoy their way of life more than most Americans. Prior to the class

I had the misconception that Africans are savages that give guns to kids and drug them up. This does

happen in Africa in some places such as Somalia, but I have found through class discussion and the

literature that this the exception to the rule and not the rule itself.

I had many misconceptions about Africa prior to taking this class. This class has allowed me to

see into the literature, films, and culture of African life. There is life in Africa, beautiful life that is

filled with music, great food, and great people. Most Americans are missing out on beautiful cultures

that they could be seeing, because of all these fallacies that have been created. AP African Literature

has allowed me to see past these fallacies and has put Africa into a good light. Its forced me to realize

that Africa isn't a continent filled gun wielding black savages, it is a place that filled with its own

culture and life that is waiting to be seen.