Xala

Has anyone else had trouble logging in? I had to change my password, but here are my long overdue posts...

Xala, by Ousmane Sembene, takes a peak at life in post-colonial Africa. The Africans were successful in driving out the colonizers, but the damage had already been done. The novel portrays the idea of neocolonialism beautifully, as it shows how influential the Europeans were and how they reshaped life in Africa. In fact El Hadji eventually realizes that the powerful Europeans still have control over himself as well as the rest of his business group.


I think the curse of the xala that was placed on El Hadji served as a symbolic warning against becoming "too European," or losing touch with their African roots. Yay Bineta blames the xala on El Hadji's refusal to participate in pre-wedding traditions. But El Hadji seems interested only in following traditions that seem beneficial to him, such as polygamy. His main concern was his own well-being; in particular, his wealth and reputation. He was physically attracted to N'Gone, but he was not in love with her and had no intention of marrying her prior to the persistence of Yay Bineta. He then threw a lavish wedding which showed just how much money he had, and taking on another wife was a huge monetary commitment which further proved his financial stability. In pre-colonial Africa, money was unimportant and for the most part did not even exist. But post-colonial Africa mean that Africans had to be just as concerned with money as the rest of the world, as they could no longer survive on their system of bartering.

The Effects of Colonization in Africa

Pre-colonial Africa was full of numerous individual tribes, most of which had their own language and customs. There was no currency; Africans grew and made what they needed, and what they couldn't produce they would attain through a barter system. Post-colonial Africa is... a different story. Many Africans still trade with others for necessities, but they are also dependent upon European forms of currency, even though most don't have the means to attain any. The majority of Africans speak whichever European language the country that colonized them spoke. The ancient tribal religions and cultures and practices and languages have almost all been lost.

Sembene Ousmane takes a look at post-colonial Africa in his novel, Xala. There are many differences in the cultures. The older characters still follow traditional Muslim and African beliefs and customs, such as the practice of polygamy. They also believe that El Hadji's "xala" is the result of a curse placed upon him by either one of his other wives or one of his business associates. Yay Bineta encourages El Hadji to participate in the traditional pre-wedding customs, although he refuses. She blames his "xala" on his refusal to follow tradition. However, the youthful characters seem to be a lot more modernized, or more influenced by European culture. Rama and Pathe, in particular, are the two youths closely followed in the novel. Rama is strongly opposed to polygamy and wishes her mother were able to divorce El Hadji. She and Pathe have pre-marital sex with her boyfriend/fiance. Pathe is a young doctor who believes El Hadji's "xala" is purely psychological. The registrar, while speaking to Pathe abour El Hadji, defends this conclusion, but says, "we are in Africa, where you can't explain or resolve everything in biochemical terms. Among our own people it's the irrational that holds sway." He realizes that the older community clings to traditional customs and beliefs, even though the more scientifically-inclined youth views this as somewhat foolish, or "irrational." However, Rama, one of the most modernized characters in the book, refuses to speak French and instead speaks Wolof, which is puzzling.

I found a quote from Sembene Ousmane while browsing the web: "As far as I am concerned, I no longer support notions of purity. Purity has become a thing of the past. . . I constantly question myself. I am neither looking for a school nor for a solution but asking questions and making others think."

Post-colonial Africa struggles to find its identity in a world torn between tradition and modernization. Rama is one of the most European-influenced characters in the book, yet she clings to her traditional African language. El Hadji is one of the more traditional characters, yet he refuses to participate in traditional pre-marital rituals. Each individual character mimics their countries struggle with identity. The novel was very interesting, and incredibly amusing.

Neocolonialism

"Neo-colonialism is... the worst form of imperialism. For those who practise it, it means power without responsibility and for those who suffer from it, it means exploitation without redress. In the days of old-fashioned colonialism, the imperial power had at least to explain and justify at home the actions it was taking abroad. In the colony those who served the ruling imperial power could at least look to its protection against any violent move by their opponents. With neo-colonialism neither is the case."
-Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana post-independence.

Neocolonialism is a loose term which defines the economic and political relationships between newly independent countries, which had been colonies, and their former countries of rule. As we saw in King Leopold's Ghost and Heart of Darkness, Africa was literally robbed of not only its valuable natural resources, but also of its labor force, and essentially its independence. Pre-colonization, African tribes used bartering and trading instead of any real currency, like dollars or pounds. That all changed during their period of colonization. And since all their possessions had become obsolete, it would be hard to revert back to their former lifestyle (or, more appropriately, their former culture.)

Many scholars would agree with Nkrumah in his accusation that "neocolonialism is the worst form of imperialis." In fact, it doesn't take a scholar to draw that conclusion. As we learned in class on Tuesday, the only roads and railroads lead to the coast, as opposed to linking the country together. This symbolizes not only the economical connection between African countries and their former rulers, but also the colonizing countries' refusal to invest money in developing new roads and railroads. They are also dependent on European countries for phone service. Not to mention the entire tribal culture of Africa has been completely obliterated. Yes, there are still tribes in modern-day Africa who still cling to their traditional tribal values and practices. But they are the ones barely surviving on less than a dollar a day. It is just not practical anymore, but how fair is it that they should have to give up their anscestral culture just because Europe ruined them?

Perhaps if the former colonizers would lend real a hand, Africa would be better off. Sure, you hear about missionary and humanitarian efforts in Africa all the time, but it's nothing compared to all the bad that occurred in that same country. It's like a big slap in the face from Europe - "Now that you are no longer our colony, we will not try to undo the damage we have done."

Cultural Oddities

First off, let me say that it really bothered me that Marlow seemed to be so disgusted by what he saw happening in Africa, yet he did not object to having 60 barefooted Africans carrying "60-lb. load[s]" accompany him on his trip. But now that that's out of the way...

I will be the first to admit that I never realized the racism present (save for the above-mentioned issue) in Heart of Darkness until Chinua Achebe opened my eyes to it. And no, I don't agree with everything that I read. But the evidence seems relevant, as well as prominent. And, I have to agree - how can you judge another culture for their "unusual" customs, when every culture has their own? What were the "odd" customs that Conrad came across in Africa anyway? I agree that cannibalism is a little odd. But since the Company refused to give their African slaves any sort of nourishment, it was perhaps the only option. And in the grand scheme of things, cannibalism is not the worst, or even the grossest, occurence in history. I highly recommend reading "Of Cannibals," by Michel de Montaigne. "They howled and leaped, and spun, and made horrid faces." Well I can almost guarantee that some of the faces the white people made would have been considered horrid to the natives. In fact, I see people making horrid faces every day. Tha dancing, the drumming, the chanting - all of these things that were considered to be unusal or "savage-like' behavior were completely normal to the Africans. So I guess what I'm getting at, and what Achebe was as well, is that "unusual" customs are actually just unfamiliar customs.

Let's think about some of the customs or superstitions that we, as in Americans, find perfectly normal and acceptable;
-Making a wish and blowing out candles on a birthday cake.
-Shaking hands when you meet someone for the first time.
-Opening an umbrella inside is bad luck.
-Flipping a coin or playing rock, paper, scissors to make a decision.
-Not wearing white after Labor Day

The list goes on and on. None of these things really make sense, but they are believed to either bring good luck or to ward off bad luck. The same thing could have been said for the Africans' "unusual" customs. The had chants and dances and songs to help grow crops, to keep away evil spirits, etc. it's basically the same concept, but it was apparently acceptable only for Europeans to have their own customs.

Will the Real Kurtz Please Stand Up?

After reading Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, I found it almost impossible not to compare the characters in the novella to the actual people that we read about in Adam Hochschild's book King Leopold's Ghost. The character, Kurtz, was particularly interesting, and not just because he seemingly lost his mind in the end.

Kurtz could have very well been modeled after the officer Leon Rom. At one point, someone explains to Marlow that Kurtz believes himself to be a god to the natives, going on brutal raids in search of ivory, and he displays severed heads along the fence posts. Rom was known to display a row of severed heads around his garden. Also, a Russian man confides in Marlow that recite poetry - his own - to him, which seems odd for such a violent fellow. However, Rom was also known to partake in "gentle" activities, such as painting and butterfly collecting.


Guillaume Van Kerckhoven was also very Kurtz-like; or rather, the character Kurtz was comparable to the Force Publique officer by the name of Guillaume Van Kerckhoven. Kerckhoven didn't necessarily display a collection of severed heads, as did Rom and kurtz, but he was most certainly rumored to have a collection, and he even bragged about paying his black soldiers for every head they brought to him.


Of course, no one, save Joseph Conrad himself, knows for sure if Kurtz was modeled after any of the people he met in the Congo. But he certainly had quite a few candidates that would make wonderful models for fictional villains, seeing as how there were so many real villains present in Africa when he visited.

Not Without Heroes

King Leopold's Ghost, by Adam Hochschild, was a chilling, historical recount of the atrocities which occurred in the Congo. It was, at times, hard to read, especially knowing that it is non-fiction and that all of these things actually happened. But, even though it was non-fiction, the story did have its share of heroes.


George Washington Williams was one of these heroes. Upon meeting King Leopold, he was "dazzled by the man" (p. 106) and believed him when he said he was not acting out of his pocket but rather his "Christian duty" (p. 106). He wrote the Open Letter, in which he revealed all of King Leopold's and Stanley's atrocious behavior toward the Africans. He was the first person to do so, and, understandably, King Leopold was furious. And because of Leopold's charm and power, he was able to persuade most people that Stanley was a liar. Of course, Williams was not a pure hero, as he abandoned his family in the United States and failed to mention that to his fiance. Such is usually the case in non-fiction - even the heroes have been touched by the corruption of humanity.


Joseph Conrad was another one of the heroes of the book; so much so that Hochschild dedicated the entirety of Chapter 9, "Meeting Mr. Kurtz," to Conrad and his novella, Heart of Darkness. And, having previously read an excerpt from Heart of Darkness, it sickens me to have learned that it is quite possible that the evil Mr. Kurtz was most likely modeled after the murderous, and very real, Leon Rom.



And there were other heroes mentioned as well, such as the British journalist E.D. Morel, who, upon further investigation of cargo being shipped in and out of Africa, determined that all was not well and devoted his life to destroying the evil practices taking place in the Congo. And there were numerous Africa tribal leaders who refused to sell the people of their tribe, and there were always Africans rebelling and refusing to give in, even if it meant they would be brutally murdered.

This book... definitely can move you to tears. The pictures especially got to me, because even when reading about everything that went on and knowing the book is non-fiction, I still felt disconnected somehow. Seeing the pictures of real people chained together naked, or looking at the severed limbs of their 5-year-old daughter... that's powerful. That's not something that can easily be forgotten.

The First 100... (long overdue... sorry!)

What words are there to describe the first one-hundred pages of King Leopold's Ghost, by Adam Hochschild? At times I found myself amused, oftentimes brought on by one of Stanley's ridiculous tales and the following commentary explaining why these tales were most likely invented. And of course, I never knew the origins of the well-known phrase, "Dr. Livingston, I presume?" and the many variations of it. Of course, in the beginning, you are inclined to feel sympathetic for Stanley and his horrible upbringing. Although, call me a bad person, but I found the fate of his two serious relationships to be rather amusing. It was most likely all for the better though, because could you imagine what kind of a life Stanley's life would have lived? Then to contrast Stanley's life came the story of King Leopold. Of course, Leopold didn't have the easiest life growing up either. His father refused to show any sort of affection, and Leopold even had to "apply for an audience" (p. 34). And he was always seen as a bit of an oddity. But the tales of both boys was amusing.

Of course, not all of the first hundred was so cheery and light-hearted. Almost as soon as Leopold comes into power, we get to see what a cunning and slimy character he is. He convinces the leaders of several other European countries that they needed to explore Africa for scientific reasons, assuring them that he would acquire no personal gain, the European explorers would be unarmed and would teach the natives useful skills, etc. He was brilliant, indeed, but his brilliance was put to shame in the evil way in which he used it. It was also disturbing to read about the way he treated his daughters. Of course it was custom to marry off the daughters to gain political fervor. But to have them married off so young, to much older men who didn't treat them well, and then to have no feelings of sorrow or sympathy, just seems so beyond the realm of humanity. Of course, if he could treat his own felsh and blood as property, then it makes sense that he had no problem doing the same to the Africans.

So the first one-hundred pages? They were exciting, amusing, disturbing, and eloquently written. They definitely leave you longing to hear the rest of the history of King Leopold's and Stanley's African expedition.