The Various Ways of Misrepresentation of Africans in Regard to the Work of Chinua Achebe - Essay Example

Perspectives on African Experience due: Perspectives on African Experience Introduction There are several ways in which Africa as a continent has been misrepresented by the West nations, both in the pre and post-colonial period. The misrepresentation and mistreatment of Africans has been on grounds of civilization, they therefore are regarded with little or no education. Their colonizers, the west nations value themselves more, treating the Africans like lesser beings. The misrepresentation of Africa is, however, misplaced since most of the Africans have acquired education and are well civilized. Despite what may be regarded as little education, the African culture is one of the richest, with people visiting them to learn more about the interesting culture. The Western media has drawn Africa as a place of misery, darkness and despair where evil resides. That is why Africa was once referred to as the Dark Continent, an idea which still pervades the Western thought. This understanding of Africa is inadequate and lacks the context to comprehend why many injustices occur. Colonialism and poverty plays a significant role in disrupting the pan-African culture. Joseph Conrad draws Africa as a continent without any hopes of pulling itself out of the mess. In Conrads novel, Africans were portrayed as savages without language other than grunts, and with no occupations besides merging into the evil forest. Conrad starts as one of the great stylists of modern fiction and a good storyteller. This paper seeks to discuss the various ways of misrepresentation of Africans in regard to the work of Chinua Achebe. Justification In the defense for Africans and their culture, Chinua Achebe wrote an essay, "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrads Heart of Darkness". Achebe draws the Africans as individuals capable of speech, and not just a massive block of natives. Their customs are regarded as norm-functioning, just like those of the Western. Their land is described as a mix of towns and farms, and not a mysterious battlefield breeding insanity. Achebe starts his essay by commenting that in Europes eyes, Africa is just a foil. He, however, attributes this to the lack of factual knowledge it is in the Western psychology to mark Africa as a foil to Europe, as a place of negotiations. This is in comparison with Europes state of spiritual grace manifesting itself in prejudice towards the African continent. Achebe notes that Conrads work is based on permanent literature. In the Heart of Darkness, Africa is painted as a place where mans vaunted intelligence and refinement are finally mocked by the triumphant bestiality. Achebe criticizes Conrads description of River Congo and River Emeritus as rendering no service and enjoying no old-age pension. Out of prejudice, Conrad states that going up the rivers is like traveling back to the earliest beginnings of the world. Conrad is insinuating that the two rivers are different, one good, and the other bad. Achebe dismisses the claims as lacking service and enjoying no old-age pension. The suggestive echoes of the rivers comprise Conrads famous evocation of the African atmosphere in the Heart of Darkness. Achebe brings to the attention of the reader, what is in the mind of a Western." What thrilled you was just the thought of their humanity…like yours…..ugly." Conrad goes ahead to give a rare description of an African, who is not just limbs or rolling eyes (Chinua 1988, para 13). Conrad uses narrator after narrator to intensify the level of implication in bringing out his prejudice. Marlow is the primary narrator though Conrad uses shadowy figure to give an account of the Africans in the eyes of the Europeans. Achebe however comments that if Conrads intention is to draw a cordon sanitaire between himself and the psychological malaise of his narrator, then his care seems to be wasted because he neglects to hint an alternative which may help judge the actions and opinions of his characters. Conrad does not bother making that provision, meaning he did not find it necessary. Achebe notes that Joseph Conrad was a thoroughgoing racist, from his writings about Africa. His work was purely racism against Africa, which Achebe refers as a normal way of thinking whose manifestations go completely unremarked. At a more close examination of Conrads remarks, Achebe is concerned that Conrads attention is not fully on Africa but with the deterioration of one European mind resulting from solitude and sickness. In connection to this, it seems the main point of Conrads story is to ridicule Europes civilizing mission in Africa. Achebe fails to understand how a novel written to dehumanize Africans can be called a great work of art. Achebe says that it is the high time Conrads racism is addressed. Achebe acknowledges the fact that Conrad was born in 1857 when Anglican missionaries were starting to set foot in Africa. At the time, Conrad could be forgiven since the reputation of the Africans then was at a particularly low level. It is, however, offensive or Conrad to continue with the defamation several years after the civilization. This according to Achebe, is pure prejudice and an expression a negative attitude towards the Africans, something which only Conrad peculiar psychology can explain. From his experience in the novel, Conrad seems to have had problems with niggers. His continued use of the word shows prejudice. His ordinate love of the word nigger sparks the interest of psychoanalysts. His fixation on blackness is also interesting, explaining his hatred for the blacks. At one instance he says, "A black figure stood up, strode on long black legs, waving long black arms…." This is a pure expression of irrational love and irrational hate jostling together in the heart of Conrad, according to Achebe. For a serious scholar like Achebe, Conrads book can only be described as among the half dozen greatest short novels in literature. In Achebes view, the book just parades Africans in the most vulgar fashion, prejudicing and insulting them. This is more like rejoicing in their atrocities and agonies which have faced them in the past and persists to do so in many ways and many places up to the present day. The humanity of the black people is called in question. Achebe notes that Conrad was notoriously inaccurate in the rendering of his history. Even though he traveled down the Congo long before Achebe was born, the latter affirms that he would not allow the tales of a traveler to be used against the blacks. Achebe challenges Conrads ignorance of not mentioning the other occupations the blacks held besides merging into the evil forest. Why does he fail to mention their artistic talent, which was incorporated in Europe, after a long period of artistic drought? Achebe poses the question. The point of this is to give a suggestion of how Conrads picture of the people of Congo is grossly inadequate even at the pinnacle of their subjection to the ravages of King Leopolds International Association for the development of Central Africa. Achebe focuses on some advantages the West could derive from changing their negative attitude towards Africa. He calls for the West to look at Africa as a continent of just people. People who are highly gifted and often strikingly successful in their enterprise with life and society. In his view, there is something totally wrong in offering bribes to the West in return for its good opinion of Africa. The end goal is abandonment of unwholesome thoughts that must be the only reward for Africa. In a 1975 lecture, Achebe declared that Conrad was a bloody racist. Achebe asserted that the "Heart of Darkness" gives a depiction of Africa as a place of negative things, in comparison with which Europes state of spiritual grace will be manifested. Conrads work dehumanizes and degrades the Africans, making them look like grotesques or as howling mob. They are either denied or are granted speech only as a condemnation of their mouths. Africa is seen as setting and a backdrop which eliminates the human factor. It is seen as a metaphysical battlefield lacking all recognizable humanity, and in which the wandering European enters at his peril. In Achebes eyes, the book promotes racial intolerance and should be condemned by all means ((Bloom, 2009, p.86). Achebes lecture had a powerful impact, and its text was repeatedly reprinted and discussed widely. Achebes work succeeded in neutralizing the ‘Heart of Darkness which had seemed to be bold and astute in its attacks on imperialism. Achebes work was seen as pro-imperialistic in its endorsement of racial prejudice. Achebe had seen the Africans as marginalized and demeaningly stereotyped; other feminist critics joined him after feeling the tale by Conrad similarly belittled women. The feminist critics included Nina Pelikan Straus, Bette London, Johanna M. Smith, and Elaine Showalter all who claimed that besides the book being imperialistic it is also ‘sexist (Bloom,2009, p.86). A text that once appeared to be ahead of times, now seemed to be outstripped by recent advances. The text that had so often been praised for its political radicalism now looked politically reactionary. The problems raised by Conrads work were merely not about the reading but also about the basis of evaluation of literary texts and the relationship between literary appreciation and moral, political judgment. Based on Conrads career as an entertainer, and not a political writer, Achebe challenges his work as one lacking credibility. Achebe insinuates that he might have written to please his readers at the expense of the poor Africans. The pleasures generated by the ‘Heart of Darkness have many sources. As a result of Achebes questioning of the ‘Heart of Darkness, its reputation now remains a matter of controversy, and its standing may decline. Its complexity, however, guarantees that it will prove fruitful to many readers for a long time (Bloom 2009, p.88). Achebe describes Conrad as a thoroughgoing racist who induced a hypnotic stupor in his readers through a bombardment of emotive words and various forms of trickery. Achebe describes Conrads racism as a white one whose normal way of thinking is misguided. Achebe describes Marlow, the narrator, as literary device. Conrad cleverly distances himself from the narration and uses Marlow as if he is the one making the sentiments. Achebe states that the Conrads attempt to insulate himself is not successful. Achebe also addresses the women in Conrads text, although briefly. The native African woman is referred as Kurtz mistress, even though Kurtz already had a white fiancée back home. Achebe notes that the main difference between the two women is the one displayed by the author as keeping a mistress in Africa, while not revealing he had another wife back in his homeland. Achebe writes to the colonialist writers in an attempt to correct their mistaken views of Africa. Conrad has been accused of rendering the Congo and its peoples as more primitive than they were at the finale of the nineteenth century. Conrads failure can however, be derived from the fact that his narrator, Marlow, lacks the vocabulary and linguistic resources as well as precise vocabulary to describe what is seen, such as plants, trees, animals, topography, peoples and cultural institutions (Begam & Moses 2007, p.54). The tribesmen of Kurtz are described as conversing in a dialect close to human language. In Achebes view, this racism since all humans must have their language in which they communicate. Because they do not communicate in Conrads foreign language does not mean they lack a language of their own. Marlow insists on his common humanity with the African natives, which only underscores his radical linguistic estrangement from the immediate cultural environment he is living in. Marlow is not justified in linking his systematic imperial violence and exploitation with the linguistic and representational crisis he shares with his fellow European imperialists. Achebe uses a standard procedure to judge Conrads tale of Africa, according to whether its inferred political outlook matches with that of the critic. The procedure assumes general validity of the critics outlook. In Achebes view, the tale ‘Heart of Darkness seems to excessively ambush its adversaries. Marlow appears to have been changed by the experiences in Africa and continues to be changed. The tale, however, contains the subtlest features which include dramatization of his uncertainties, of his tentativeness, of his search for affirmations that even his narrative questions (Begam & Moses 2007, p.86). The pleasures generated by ‘Heart of Darkness have many sources, mainly from the authors experience of Africa. As the text moves through time, it loses value as the discussed society in Africa changes some cultural practices. The cultural circumstances will variously increase and reduce its cogency (Begam & Moses 2007, p.87). Achebe argued that Conrad used the book to incorrectly depict Africa as an antithesis of Europe. Conrad draws the Africans as people who do not even know the meaning of civilization, leave alone embracing it. Conrad deliberately uses Africans residing along Congo River Basin. Achebe acknowledged that Heart of Darkness is a work of fiction which had no real obligation to please the Africans. The book only promoted and continued to promote a prejudiced image of Africa, and should not, therefore, be considered as a great piece of art (Conrad 2014, p.30). In Achebes eyes, Conrad showed too little sympathy for the oppressed to warrant his high standing in the western literature. His diatribe has provoked many spirited responses, and the continued interest generated by the Achebes controversy, which serves to confirm the relevance of the story on post-colonial discourse. Achebes critics goes beyond misrepresentation of the Africans but also the silencing of Africans as depicted by Conrad. The book is only important in ways about imperialism and racism, as portrayed by Achebe. Achebe appears to appeal to the Europeans to take a tour of the described places such as Congo, for them to prove that what is in Conrads novella is the product of racism. A lot of positive aspects can be written about the continent, such as their rich cultures and traditions as well as their unity. The novella remains a controversy. Conclusion Chinua Achebe takes a firm position on Africa continent, using the pen to neutralize the bad image as drawn by Joseph Conrad in his novella, Heart of Darkness. Achebe uses his position as one of the most influential African writers to defend his continent. His argument is purely based on Conrads sentiments of demeaning African peoples and ignoring the complexity of their cultures, thus drawing them as savages and an uncivilized lot. Marlows failure to comprehend the African cultural realities and assimilate them to more familiar set of European social norms is nonetheless essential to the discussion. Conrad, in his book, has succeeded in devaluing the Africans, using some facts such as the trip he took down the River Congo, where he claims to have witnessed a lot from his interaction with the natives. If Conrads limited European perspective is illustrative of racism, paradoxically it is thereby all the more productive of his subversive representation of Western colonialism. From his recollection of the book by Joseph Conrad, Chinua Achebe described it as an offensive and biased book. Bibliography BEGAM, R., & MOSES, M. V. (2007). Modernism and colonialism: British and Irish literature, 1899-1939. Durham, Duke University Press. BLOOM, H. (2009). Joseph Conrads Heart of darkness. New York, Blooms Literary Criticism. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=274110. CHINUA, A. (1988). Achebe: An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrads "Heart of Darkness" Retrieved March 24, 2015, from http://kirbyk.net/hod/image.of.africa.html JOSEPH CONRAD (2014). Heart of Darkness. Snowball Classics Read More