Philosophy of African culture - Essay Example

Philosophy The African culture has a special concern and regard for the cosmos and the humanity’s place in the cosmos. Most of the African stories are crafted concerning nature, animals , tricksters ad other themes with the common aim being explaining the existence of some occurrences that are perceived by the humanity to be controlled by the divine, and beyond the humanity control. Human identity is therefore very crucial in crafting and narrating African stories, in that some try to explain natural phenomena. The Asian stories to a large extend may be explained to explain the phenomena of the importance of God in humanity, and the need for a unified existence in all human beings. Family values are very important in the Asian stories, with families occupying a special place in the lives of all members. How the tortoise got its rough shell is one of the stories that define the relations between cosmos and humanity in the African culture. Though the story is a trickster, it has a good lesson on the role of humanity in the universe as characterized by the animals. This story is a characterization of animals that were going to the heavens to see God Eke in appeasing him to send forth rains to quench the scorched earth, and bring about produce. From the story, the tortoise had to attend but had no wings to fly, so the birds accepted to donate each a feather to help the tortoise (Uche, 2). As the story narrates, the animals agree on brotherhood and so should help one another (Uche,3). The animals agree to sacrifice in order to appease Eke to send rain and end starvation that had claimed many lives (Uche, 4). The story explains of selfishness (Uche, 7) where the eagle remarks that the tortoise stands better to be sacrificed and the tortoise shows his selfishness by tricking others into eating all the food offered (Uche, 8). From the story above the aspect of humanity in the universe is evident. Humanity has a role to play and appease a Deity, who in African culture is credited with the ability to send the both produce and hunger, and to take lives. The fear of death in African culture is evident as and the idea of sacrifice in African culture is well articulated to bring for the favors from a supreme being. The birds of god by Mia Couto is another African story that reflects the suffering that humankind has to undergo under the sun. Hard work with no visible goals leads Temba to recount his 30 years of hard work in his daily labor with nothing to show of it (Achebe and Innes, 67). Again in this story, the sun has scorched the earth and humans are hungry again as Temba’s family still count on him to deliver failure to which they might die. The presence of a deity or god who provides in times of difficulty and despair is clear as Temba is provided with a meal for the family after hunger bites hard with no fish to catch (Achebe & Innes, 68). As Temba monologue continues, he wishes that the humanity on earth appease the Gods to send forth rains to end the suffering. This narrative portrays a good relation between God, man and the interdependence of man on God, in times of despair. The strong faith in African culture is evident that enables Temba to get food form God to feed his family. Drought is seen as a punishment from God. Wake, is another African story that spells of despair and desperation in times of needs. The story is about the shootings of Soweto in South Africa and largely narrates of the ordeal of death and how it is viewed in the African culture. The signing choirs explain a religious nature of the African people and the respect that the dead are given in their last send off (Achebe and Innes, 33). Death is viewed with a lot of respect in the African culture with multitudes paying their last respects and God appeased through songs for the sake of the dead. The sanctity and belief in respecting the human life is clear (35) as the narrator curses the whites who she accuses of being responsible for the death of their daughters and sons. All the above stories portray a strongly religious people in the African culture, with God forming the central theme in most of the stories. The sanctity of life in all the stories is acknowledged and respected. The Indian story ‘A day with Charulata’ starts by portraying the religious nature of the Indian people, as the narrator elaborates about the temple and god Narasimba. The narrator introduces the audience to deep family ties and the importance that the family ties have (Dharmarajan, 15). Family unity even in poverty in this story is evident, meaning that the Indian families are unified and value their backgrounds. Generosity where a visitor gets food and water throughout her journey is evident in this story.’ ‘The Hijra’ is another Indian story that deviates from the norm in traditional stories. The story involves a tribe that is revered and treated with suspicion by all. The narrator tells of a tribe that seems disorderly and dirty with compounds full of dirt (Dharmarajan, 74). The queer behavior found in this tribe such as exposing their nudity whenever they are miserable tells of a tribe with degraded morals, and skewed customs that do not go along with the expected code of behavior. The tribe is portrayed as trading in buying babies or stealing them (75) a situation that makes the tribe be treated with suspicion. This story tells of an awkwardness that deviates from the normal expected code of behavior, more so as a narrative to warn against the effects of lunacy. The Guest is a middles east story that explains beliefs in witch doctors and other magical powers. The narrator tells of a community that deeply believes in the powers of witch doctors to solve their predicaments as well as foretelling the events that await them in their lives. The witch doctor has so much power that he can prevent someone from dying (Akademi, 20). The story in addition tells of rivalry and suspicion that exists between the Muslims and the Hindu. The story largely tells of taboos and the effect that witchdoctors have on the community. The story portrays the benefits and need to work in the gardens to get produce and the belief in God, whom they regard as the provider of bountiful harvest. The story is therefore a mixture of cultural beliefs with religion and the way the community is torn apart between the two. The above Asian stories define a certain code of ethics and behaviors that are expected in humanity, and deviation from this one treated like an outcast, such as the Hijra story. In the cosmos, in both the African and the Asian stories above, the belief in God is of utmost importance in the lives of humanity. Though in the Asian stories, some immoral cultural acts are condoned in some cultures such as Hijra, in African stories taboos are held with reverence, and as in the Asian stories anyone practicing these taboos is treated like an outcast. The importance of a family setting as the vehicle that defines existence in the universe in humanity is clear in both types of stories. Africans stories portray a higher regard in death while the aside stories portray a weak regard and even have a witchdoctor who can protect one from dying. All the same, in all the stories a view on human identity in the cosmos can be drawn through various similarities that define humanity across the stories. Work Cited Achebe, Chinua and Innes, L. Catherine. The Heinemann book of contemporary African short stories. Johannesburg: Heinemann., 1992 Akademi, Sahitya. Contemporary Indian short stories, volume 4. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 2004 Dharmarajan, Geeta. Separate journeys: short stories by contemporary Indian women. S. Carolina: U.S.C. Press, 2004. Uche, Greg. African folktales: exotic stories from Africa for children around the world. IN: AuthorHouse, 2006 Read More