Congoism Congo Discourses in the United States from 1800 to the Present (original) (raw)
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Western representations of the Congo in twentieth-century fictional texts
2021
Through the close analysis of four Western texts set in the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, and Zaire, this thesis examines how representations of the Congo and its indigenous people changed over the course of the twentieth century. The intrinsic relationship between language and Western culture is best reflected through the term 'colonialist discourse,' which is based on colonisers' assumption of their own superiority, contrasted with the alleged inferiority of the indigenous peoples of the lands they colonised. The purpose of this thesis is to explore how fictional representations of the Congo in Western fiction both reinforces and undermines this colonialist discourse. The fictional texts analysed in this study are Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness (1899), Herge Tintin au Congo (1931), Graham Greene's A Burnt-Out Case (1960), and Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible (1998). In what follows, I examine the development of anticolonialism in European and...
The pioneering scope of the Congo Reform Movement as first international humanitarian campaign of the 20th century has been rightfully acknowledged by now, yet its commitment to racism and colonialism tends to be trivialized. This paper examines how the American and British reform movement opposed the Congo Free State largely due to the negative implications of the rubber atrocities for the white imperial community, which had invested immense symbolic expectations into the colonization of the Congo as so-called ›Darkest Africa‹. First, the open force of the rubber regime endangered an anticipated white hegemony in Central Africa and beyond, through inciting anti-colonial and anti-white resistance. Secondly, the cruelty of Congo colonialists shattered the philanthropic narrative of the ›civilizing-mission‹ as legitimation for imperial subjugation, as much as the implied claims of a superior white culture. Thirdly, the destruction of the Congolese workforce and the corrosion of the image of the ›white man‹ as heroic civilizing agent jeopardisedd both economic and symbolic wages of whiteness in the imperial societies. In illustrating how the Reform Movement understood Léopold's Congo colony as a menace to white supremacy as such, the racist and colonialist underpinnings of this influential and significant humanitarian discourse are exposed.
Reflections on the Recent Historiography of Eastern Congo
The Journal of African History, 2013
Considering the scale of violence that has accompanied the crisis in eastern Congo, the avalanche of academic writings on the subject is hardly surprising. Whether it helps us better understand the region's tortured history is a matter of opinion. This critical article grapples with the contributions of the recent literature on what has been described as the deadliest conflict since the Second World War. The aim, in brief, is to reflect on the historical context of the crisis, examine its relation to the politics of neighboring states, identify and assess the theoretical vantage points from which it has been approached, and, in conclusion, sketch out promising new directions for further research by social scientists. A unifying question that runs throughout the recent literature on the eastern Congo is how might a functioning state be restored or how might civil society organizations serve as alternatives to such a state – but there is little unanimity in the answers.
'Provisional notes on the postcolony' in Congo studies: an overview of themes and debates
AFRICA: Journal of the International Africa Institute, 2022
This article considers the uptake of Achille Mbembe's article 'Provisional notes on the postcolony' (1992), the book De la Postcolonie: essai sur l'imagination politique dans l'Afrique contemporain (2000) and its translated version, On the Postcolony (2001), in Congo studies. 'Congo' here is a shorthand for the current Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly known as Zaire. The article is concerned with the ways in which these two English-language texts (and their original French versions) figure in the social sciences and the humanities, specifically in the field of study relating to Zairian/Congolese society and culture. It becomes clear that the theme of mutual entanglements of commandement (power) and citizens not only influences political studies but also structures Congo scholarship on economy and governance, popular culture and erotics. The article ends with some reflections on academic writing about Congo, the limited uptake of 'Provisional notes' and On the Postcolony in religious studies, questions about ethics and scientific writing about political postcolonial cultures, and especially the necessity to historicize the postcolony. Résumé Cet article s'intéresse à l'utilisation faite de l'article d'Achille Mbembe « Notes provisoires sur la postcolonie » (1992), de son ouvrage De la postcolonie. Essai sur l'imagination politique dans l'Afrique contemporaine (2000) et de sa version traduite, On the Postcolony (2001), dans les études sur le Congo. Le terme Congo est ici l'abréviation de l'actuelle république démocratique du Congo, ex-Zaïre. Cet article traite de la manière dont les deux textes de langue anglaise (et leurs versions françaises d'origine) figurent en sciences sociales et en lettres et sciences humaines, en particulier dans le domaine d'étude concernant la société et la culture zaïroises/congolaises. Il apparait clairement que le thème des intrications mutuelles du commandement (pouvoir) et des citoyens non seulement influence les études politiques, mais aussi structure la recherche sur l'économie et la gouvernance, la culture populaire et l'érotique au Congo. L'article conclut par des réflexions sur les travaux universitaires sur le Congo, l'utilisation limitée des « Notes provisoires » et de l'ouvrage On the Postcolony dans les études religieuses, des questions sur l'éthique et les travaux scientifiques concernant les cultures postcoloniales politiques, et en particulier la nécessité d'historiser la postcolonie.
Uncommon Wealths in Postcolonial Fiction, 2018
BROADLY DEFINED, the Congo region of Africa might be considered a territory of the European or Western imagination. The ‘boundaries’ drawn by European treaty in the nineteenth century were products of European politics and European greed.1 They had nothing to do with any knowledge of the territory being carved up by Europe’s rulers, nor with the Congolese peoples themselves. But the area had been, and would continue to be, a place of European imagination in another sense: a ground upon which Western writers, many of whom had never set foot on the African continent at all, conducted often heated debates about conditions there.