Khadija Magardie
AFRICAN RENAISSANCE edited by Malegapuru William Makgoba (Mafube/Tafelberg)
This collection of conference papers makes a surprisingly refreshing departure from the “Timbuktu glory days” rhetoric of the “African renaissance” idea. To its credit, the book does not confine itself to waxing lyrical about the revival of vague categories like moral values and African culture, but rather addresses several creative ways of achieving the rebirth of the continent.
The book is not without its utopians, though – Barney Pityana’s mediocre chapter on the renewal of “African moral values” devotes substantial space to describing customs of the elders of yore in dealing with, among other things, witches. But the greater part of the collection promises refreshing and challenging reading.
Like the conference which preceded it, the book makes extensive use of the voices of giants of pan-Africanism such as Kwame Nkrumah, Marcus Garvey and WEB du Bois to develop the idea of tradition and continuity in an African rebirth. This proud tradition is carried through in several chapters which emphasise that the idea is not a new one, but rather the extension of a debate that took root after colonial rule.
One of the major shortcomings of the collection is that few of the papers adequately explain in black and white the exact meaning of “African renaissance”, and those that do do not depart from the now mundane and predictable calls for the reclaiming and rewriting of history.
In one of the most lucid, probing chapters, the University of the Western Cape’s Kwesi Kwaa Prah asks the inevitable question: how can one conceive of a renaissance when warlordism and conflict are rife on the continent? Like many others, his piece cautions against what has been called Afro-pessimism, but is unique in that at the same time it says that the architects of the renaissance should not lose sight of the realities of the African situation.
This well-known polemicist also delves into the controversial territory of the definition of an African, which in his chapter he describes as being essential to address when contemplating African unity. His definition is that Africans are “people whose origins, cultures and history derive from the African continent”, but he also goes on at length to explain that culture, like ethnic identity, is both fluid and intermittent, and subject to social processes. The question of African identity is in a constant state of flux, and can be both added to and subtracted from.
Lamenting the obscurity surrounding the idea of “African renaissance”, Kwaa Prah says the term has “become the buzz term for all and sundry, and its prerequisites are often poorly defined”. Content, he says, has been thin, if not absent. He elaborates: “This opens the idea up for insidious obfuscation and, I dare say, opportunism. Making it a political slogan is the surest way of ensuring a jaded future for the idea.”
Academic Ibbo Mandaza’s chapter on reconciliation and social justice in Southern Africa opens a can of worms in the context of the current situation in Zimbabwe and the rounding up of the Truth and Reconciliation hearings in South Africa. His paper examines the frustrations and social demands of the populations of the two countries as being the inevitable outcome of a process where reconciliation was, in his words, “the forgiveness of a small elite that inherits state power without the fulfillment of social justice for the majority”.
His thesis is that as a pre-emptive condition reconcilitation and the removal of accountability and punishment for the former oppressors is a powder keg that is ignited when the frustrations of the oppressed boil over.
Mahmood Mamdani tackles the issue of South African “exceptionalism” – the notion held by many South Africans that though the country many be part of Africa geographically, it is not, politically, culturally or economically.
There is no substantial analysis of the role of women in the “renaissance”. Beyond passing mention of gender distinctions in traditional African societies, women are given scant mention.
Some of the book’s chapters focus on the question of rewriting history, and “reclaiming the past”. But they are often reduced, in typically romantic fashion, to authors listing the accomplishments of African civilisation, and indulging in extremely pedestrian banter over whether medicine, astronomy and the like originated in Africa or in Europe. The oft-used clich that Africa was a torch of light whilst Europe was in the Dark Ages permeates these chapters.
By far the most interesting parts of the book are those that are devoted to a way forward, instead of remaining at the point of reclaiming antiquity. Particularly good reading are those devoted to political and economic transformation. Reuel J Khoza’s chapter on institutional structures attacks the victim mentality in Africa, and calls for an overhaul of attitudes towards economic integration and self-sustainability of regional economies. Wendy Luhabe’s chapter offers a refreshing outlook on promoting the spirit of entrepreneurship in Africa.
On the whole, the book’s diversity is its strength. One can choose to skim through the predictable chapters, organised under equally predictable headings, and spend more time on those that offer practical and novel approaches to a question that has, by and large, been masked by obscurity.