Silences in African History: Between the Syndromes of Discovery and Abolition
Jacques Depelchin
“Among those who have suffered enslavement, colonisation, steady and relentless economic exploitation, cultural asphyxiation, religious persecution, gender, race and class discrimination and political repression, silences should be seen as facts, because silences are indeed facts which have not been accorded the status of facts.” So states Jacques Depelchin in this powerful and elegant discussion, which encompasses an examination of dominant theories – political, social, economic, cultural and ideological – on Africa. The author analyses the influence of capitalism on the continent in relation to historical events over centuries. He castigates those who envision Africa solely through the eyes of colonialism. He systematically erodes misconceptions about Africa and the nature of the Black man, which have assumed historical status. Ibrahim Abdullah, who contributes the preface, remarks about the book: ‘this is a book about academic violence; collective intellectual denial; culpable erasure and deliberate omission. But it is also about emancipation and liberation; for it explores the complex linkages between historical knowledge and collective freedom.’ Jacques Depelchin is a historian from the DRC. He was the author of From the Congo Free State to Contemporary Zaire (CODESRIA, 1992). He has held posts at the University of Dar es Salaam and the Centre of African Studies in Maputo, and is now Executive Director of the Ota Benga International Alliance for Peace in the DRC.