The Invention of Africa: Gnosis, Philosophy and the Order of Knowledge (African Systems of Thought)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.29 (796 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0852552033 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 256 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-03-05 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
A Customer said Interesting but not extremely groundbreaking. First of all, this book doesn't quite live up to its title - I expected Mudimbe to write about the invention of the concept of Africa, which he chose as a topic for his book 'The Idea of Africa.' It also doesn't really attempt to establish any sort of theory of how African philosophy has developed and exists today. Rather, he draws heavily on Foucault (as to be expected, of course) plus Levi-Strauss and others to critically examine eurocentric approaches to African philosophy and point out how African philosophy emphasizes the 'alterity of the subject' and 'the passion of subject-object that. political dreams and furiously evolving theology Mudimbe does philosophy like a talk-show host or a parliamentary speaker. His benches are packed with hundreds of religious leaders, political thinkers, anthropologists and philosophers who have moved African self-understanding. Their discussions are most eloquent, but unfortunately there is scarcely a woman in the auditorium.In these pages Carl Sagan undertakes to test Dogon cosmology. Zulu Chief Buthalezi and F. Eboussi-Boulaga debate the directions of African religion. The "Bantu Philosophy" of Belgian priest Placide Temples is chewed over by ethnophilosopher Alexis Kagame. Mudimbe himsel. El B said Four Stars. Academic but very enlightening.
- Bogumil Jewsiewicki an impressive demonstration of erudition with a balanced, frequently very perceptive, perspective on how intellectual constructs on Africa have developed and operate. JOURNAL OF AFRICAN HISTORY Mudimbe's historical anthropologyachieves the decolonisation of academic knowledge of Africa This highly sophisticated and provocative study should command the attention of every scholar. The Invention of Africa, joint winner of the 1989 Herskovits Award, has assumed a place as one of the important books of African studies. - William Freund in JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN STUDIES
North America: Indiana U Press. What is the meaning of Africa and of being African? What is and what is not African philosophy? Is philosophy part of Africanism? These are the kind of fundamental questions which this book addresses