Herder’s Ideas for a Philosophy of Human History (1784-1791), or: the Anthropological De-struction of “Africa”

In his work Ideas for a Philosophy of Human History (1784-1791), the preacher and philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder deals critically with the philosophy of Enlightenment, in which he sees the seed of a racial and cultural classification that considers peoples outside Europe as inferior. This centrally included Africa and its inhabitants as represented by German philosophers. Such a way of imagining Africa, widely shared amongst thinkers of the Enlightenment, echoes still today in various representations in the Western media, and could even serve as an explanation of the current migration drama in the Mediterranean. Herder, who was well informed of these representations in his own day, attempted, in Ideas, to deconstruct the then prevalent image of Africa and its peoples, and thereby entered into an intellectual dispute with his philosophical contemporaries, whose position was to reaffirm the supremacy of European culture and soe justify slavery and colonialism. This paper first focuses on Herder’s context, then explains his positions and his work, and shows how his attempt ended in a de-construction of the «Africa» of the Enlightenment

Herder’s Ideas for a Philosophy of Human History (1784-91), or: the Anthropological De-struction of “Africa”

18 pagesIn his work Ideas for a Philosophy of Human History (1784-1791), the preacher and philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder deals critically with the philosophy of Enlightenment, in which he sees the seed of a racial and cultural classification that considers peoples outside Europe as inferior. This centrally included Africa and its inhabitants as represented by German philosophers. Such a way of imagining Africa, widely shared amongst thinkers of the Enlightenment, echoes still today in various representations in the Western media, and could even serve as an explanation of the current migration drama in the Mediterranean. Herder, who was well informed of these representations in his own day, attempted, in Ideas, to deconstruct the then prevalent image of Africa and its peoples, and thereby entered into an intellectual dispute with his philosophical contemporaries, whose position was to reaffirm the supremacy of European culture and soe justify slavery and colonialism. This paper first focuses on Herder’s context, then explains his positions and his work, and shows how his attempt ended in a de-construction of the «Africa» of the Enlightenment

Cultural Memories : War and Concentration Camp in the Movie of Ousmane Sembene "Camp Thiaroye"(1988)

Was war und ist heute die Rolle der Griots im alten Afrika? Es besteht darin, über das Leben der Gemeinschaft durch die verschiedenen historischen Begebenheiten zu berichten. So begreift auch Sembene Ousmane seine Bestimmung als Filmemacher. Er soll ein "Griot der modernen Zeiten sein". Diese Rolle als Vertreter der eignen Gemeinschaft in den modernen Medien, wie z. B. dem Kino, entspricht auch Djibril Diop Mambetys Auffassung, jenes Filmemachers aus dem Senegal, der den Film als revolutionäres Vehikel begreift. Aber was wäre der afrikanische Film, fragt sich Signer, hätte man nicht Regisseure wie Idriss Ouadreogo oder die regionale Institution des FESPACO, die jährlich Preise für afrikanische Filmemacher vergibt. Dies bedeutet, dass der afrikanische Film seit der Unabhängigkeit präsenter geworden ist und versucht, selber als Vehikel realer oder fiktionaler Faktenin Afrika zu sein. So verspricht es auch der 1988 gedrehte Film Camp "Thiaroye" von Sembene Ousmane und Thierno Faty Sow, der kolonialgeschichtliche Geschehnisse in Afrika möglichst authentisch zu erzählen.Cultural Studies has become over the years a growing multidisciplinary field of research and study that focuses on cultures and their related traumas. Memories are embedded in the literary or media works of artists, writers, and filmmakers who consider themselves, in the African context, to be modern times "Griot", the former historian of traditional societies. One of them is Ousmane Sembene who produced in 1988 a movie entitled "camp Thiaroye", in which he brings to light all the traumas and disillusionment that were rife in French-colonized territories in West Africa during the Second World War, in which they were forcibly involved. In fact, Thiaroye, the name of a historic town in Senegal, situated in the suburbs of Dakar, serves as a setting for Sembene to bring out in the movie the story of West African soldiers who were designated by the term "Trailleurs sénégalais", most of whom died under unclear circumstances, thus making of the former military barracks "Camp thiaroye" the symbol of the massacre that occurred there on the night of 30 November to 1 December 1944. This paper analyzes firstly the way local cultures deal with memory, secondly why the presence of Germany and of the concentration camp was so important in the movie, and how this is (mis)represented, depending on the viewer, in political and diplomatic relations between France and its former colonies