scholarly journals Demonizing Africa: A Bend in the River and Naipaul’s Comprador Intellectuality

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 595-604
Author(s):  
Muhammad Afzal Faheem ◽  
Nausheen Ishaque
Keyword(s):  
World View ◽  
African Culture ◽  
The West ◽  
Commercial Interest ◽  
Stuart Hall ◽  
Cultural Intermediary

This paper establishes V.S. Naipaul’s position as a comprador intellectual for his essentialist representation of Africa in A Bend in the River. The position (of comprador intellectual) has been ascribed by Hamid Dabashi to the array of highly feted non-Western writers who justify the Western orientalist (mis)appropriation of the East. The unrelenting orientalist bashing of the imperialized world (Africa in this case) legitimizes the civilizational responsibility of the West to mend the situation of the supposedly inferior Africans. The violent colonial intervention to provide order and stability to the place shows Naipaul’s orientalist world view regarding the colonized Africans. The alleged, all-pervading darkness of Africans can thus be illuminated by the White colonizer’s masterful exercise of power. Naipaul, as an author, functions as a comprador intellectual who appears serving the colonial commercial interest. The West needs to destroy all the cultures that may be potential sites of resistance, so, Naipaul offers a systematic denigration of African culture to sabotage the potential culture of resistance. The narrative of African demonization justifies the colonial machinery and its exercise of violence against the natives. The paper, therefore, calls into question Naipaul’s role as a cultural intermediary, since his 'point of enunciation' (a concept given by Stuart Hall) seems to be resting on an overtly colonial trajectory of the West.

scholarly journals Aesthetics and the African Women’s Lives Drama

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 99
Author(s):  
Edeh, Peter Daniel
Keyword(s):  
World View ◽  
Critical Examination ◽  
African Woman ◽  
African Culture ◽  
Peaceful Coexistence ◽  
The West ◽  
World Views ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Women's Lives ◽  
Other World

<p><em>The philosophy that deals with the theory of beauty and ugliness is called Aesthetics. It examines the creation, appreciation, evaluation, interpretation and critique of works of art. In the same vein African women’s live drama appreciates, creates, evaluates, criticizes, interprets and expresses her feelings with regards to the works of arts as it is viewed expressed in the live style of every woman. This paper identifies among others, crops of women, moderate and radical women as well as orthodox or traditional women who accept the traditional position of women but press for peaceful coexistence in spite of men and women distinction. It takes cognisance of the wind of modernity from the west as it affects the African woman. This paper is a critical examination of Aesthetics and the African women’s world view and in appreciation of other world views. While the paper identifies certain problems in women’s lives drama generally it concludes with possible suggestion as it lays much emphasis on African culture and tradition for African Aesthetics. </em></p>

scholarly journals THE N.A. GOLOVKINSKY’S FUNDAMENTAL FACIAL LAW — PROBLEMATICS AND NEW HORIZONS

2018 ◽  
pp. 17-23
Author(s):  
V. P. ALEKSEEV ◽  
E. O. AMON
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Process ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Lateral Displacement ◽  
World View ◽  
Scientific Work ◽  
Seismic Stratigraphy ◽  
The West ◽  
New Horizons ◽  
The Law ◽  
Over Time

Famous Russian geologist N.A. Golovkinsky published 150 years ago an important scientific work, where the phenomenon of lateral  displacement (movement) of homogeneous lithological layers  («slide» over time) was asserted. This created the most significant  prerequisites for the fundamental facial law: the layers, lying nearby,  were formed in the same sequence vertically. The law was  formulated a little later by A.A. Inostrantsev, and later  «rediscovered» by J. Wal- ter. The ideas, developed by N.A.  Golovkinsky, subsequently found the application in the study of  geological cyclicity, and currently in the booming seismic  stratigraphy. The creative improvement and continuation of  theoretical positions  contained in the Golovkinsky’s work allowed to  advance a method of facially-cyclic analysis, which has been  success- fully used in the study of many coal-bearing strata, and is  currently used for coal-free deposits of the West Siberian oil and gas  basin. Methodically, they develop an understanding of causality and  correspond to the principles of synergetic world-view. The main  content of these ideas remains relevant in the light of new realities  of cognitive process (nonlin-ear science, endovision).

scholarly journals MEDIA, STEREOTYPES AND MUSLIM REPRESENTATION: WORLD AFTER JYLLANDS-POSTEN MUHAMMAD CARTOONS CONTROVERSY

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 59-72
Author(s):  
Rūta Sutkutė
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
World View ◽  
Media Representations ◽  
Online Media ◽  
The West ◽  
Underlying Assumption ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Quantitative Content ◽  
Negative Images ◽  
The Media

In the 21st century media has become the dominant source of knowledge of Islam and Muslims and selectively decides what the West should know about Islam and what should be hidden. However, the underlying assumption is that, the media as an institution forming stereotypes depends on the local socio-cultural context. The goal of this paper – to find out how media (as the mediator) forms values, world view of a society, creates stereotypes in different cultural environments through analysis of Muhammad cartoons. The objectives are: to define the concepts of Neo-Orientalism, Muslimophobia and Islamophobia; to find out the connection between media representations and negative images of Islam and Muslims in the society; to reveal the main stereotypes of Muslims and Islam in online media in 4 different countries by analysing the case of Muhammad cartoons. The conducted qualitative and quantitative content analysis confirmed the hypothesis that in the specific cultures the same event is presented in different ways while forming value based orientation for a specific audience. Western media seeks to portray Muslims as terrorists / Islamists that are against West, their values and any possibility of integration in Western societies. Meanwhile, Lebanon and India (Kashmir) media does not portray orientalism and Islamophobic views, because audiences are dominated by Muslims. However there are noticeable manifestations of Occidentalism - resistance to the West and the Islamophobic portrayal of public in media. Moreover, information serves as a public mobilization function, so there are reasons to believe that violent protests in Kashmir and Lebanon could have been encouraged by the media.

African Culture and the West.

1964 ◽  
Vol 45 (525) ◽  
pp. 111-120
Author(s):  
ROLAND HINDMARSH
Keyword(s):  
African Culture ◽  
The West

On the Ecological Viability of Cultures

1982 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-244
Author(s):  
Chinweizu
Keyword(s):  
Absorptive Capacity ◽  
World View ◽  
Social Philosophy ◽  
The West ◽  
Value System ◽  
The Road ◽  
Folk Wisdom ◽  
Waste Load ◽  
Catch Up ◽  
On The Road

This paper starts from the premise that a species or society must adapt itself to, and live within, its ecosystem, or else perish. In the event of an ecological accident, the species must rapidly adapt itself to survive. In the event of ecological misbehaviour of a society – i.e. destabilizing the ecosystem beyond the ecosystem's recuperative capacity (e.g. by nuclear poisoning), or so changing itself that it becomes incompatible with the ecosystem (e.g. by genetic engineering), the society puts itself on the road to extinction. The paper then outlines the tests for judging the ecological viability of a culture. It goes on to show how, by its homo-centric world-view, by its social philosophy, by its value system, by its culture forms, by its economic system, by its folk wisdom, by the example and precept of the culture's high priests, the Western culture makes a resource demand far beyond the earth's finite yielding capacity, and discharges a waste load far beyond the biosphere's absorptive capacity. This is a warning clear enough to those non-Western societies which, under duress or blandishment or both, set out to imitate the West, ‘catch up’ with the West, ‘beat the West at its own game’ – all in the tantalizing name of ‘modernization’. It is a game not worth playing, because in such a game even victory will be total defeat.

scholarly journals Reconstruction of Cliché Image of Oriental Woman in Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
Kuğu Tekin ◽  
Zeynep Rana Turgut
Keyword(s):  
World View ◽  
Muslim Women ◽  
Muslim Woman ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Main Character ◽  
The West ◽  
Identity Reconstruction ◽  
Male Sex ◽  
The One ◽  
Western View

This paper attempts to hold a mirror to the existential struggle of an immigrant Muslim woman who is trying to survive on her journey to the west. Mohsin Hamid presents Nadia as one of the main characters in his 2017 novel Exit West. The paradox concerning Nadia is that while her preference for wearing a long black robe confirms the western misconstrued image of Muslim women, her actions, her view of the world, of life and of herself definitely refute the ingrained eastern notion of the suppressed, submissive, silenced Muslim woman. According to the dominant western view, oriental women are still under the strict control of the mechanisms of patriarchy. Among the control mechanisms of patriarchal order are traditions, norms, values and religion. However, Nadia does not fall into this western miscategorization of Muslim woman with her strong, rebellious character, and with her freethinking and insight. Indeed, it is Nadia, who safeguards, directs and in a sense, matures Saeed’s-the other main character-rather timid and naïve personality. What is unexpected in the journey of these two characters is that the one who is need of identity reconstruction is not the female but the male character, for Nadia does already have a firmly constructed identity and she has no intention to transform either her outfit or her world view for the sake of integrating herself into the western culture. In brief, through the character of Nadia, Mohsin Hamid reconstructs the cliché image of oriental woman. In Exit West, Hamid reverses stereotyped gender roles by attributing his female character all the dominant personality traits attached to the male sex.

Nettleford, Rex (1933–2010)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabine Sörgel
Keyword(s):  
Modern Dance ◽  
Folk Dance ◽  
African Culture ◽  
The West ◽  
Political Independence ◽  
Vice Chancellor ◽  
Theatre Company ◽  
Long Time ◽  
The University ◽  
Over 40 Years

In a dance career spanning over 40 years, Rex Nettleford was perhaps the most influential choreographer to shape Jamaican dance theatre as it is known today. Starting out as a member of Ivy Baxter Dance Group in the late 1950s, he and Eddy Thomas founded the National Dance Theatre Company (NDTC) of Jamaica, and the company’s inaugural performance, Roots and Rhythms, took place on Jamaican Independence Day in 1962. An eminent political sociologist and long-time vice-chancellor of the University of the West Indies, Rex Nettleford always connected his dance career to his scholarly pursuits in Caribbean cultural studies and historiography. Among his voluminous writings, two books – Dance Jamaica: Cultural Definition and Artistic Discovery (1985) and Dance Jamaica: Renewal and Continuity (2009) – document the ongoing history and development of the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica from its original inception as a celebration of political independence through its struggles for self-definition to its worldwide reputation today. All along, Nettleford’s choreography aimed to strengthen the Africanist legacy of Caribbean dance by promoting African culture as the grassroots expression of Afro-Caribbean identity and by incorporating Jamaican folk dance as integral to Caribbean modern dance.

scholarly journals Circumventing the Logic and Limits of Representation: Otherness in East–West Approaches to Paradox

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Chia ◽  
Ajit Nayak
Keyword(s):  
World View ◽  
Phenomenal Experience ◽  
Western Thought ◽  
The West ◽  
Truth Claims ◽  
East West

This chapter argues that paradox arises, not from our phenomenal experience, but from our efforts at conceptualizing it through the logic of comprehension dominating Western thought. It identifies an Aristotelian-inspired “Being” ontology and a corresponding representationalist epistemology as the primary underlying cause of paradox in truth claims made on empirical observations. Drawing on a Heraclitean-inspired tradition in the West, this chapter shows how paradox may be circumnavigated through an alternative logic of Otherness. Underlying this metaphysical outlook is an ontology of Becoming, which takes flux and change as pervasive and inexorable. Language and logic are thus seen as futile attempts to fix the unfixable. Embracing a Becoming world view of reality enables us to recognize the limits of logic and representation and hence develop more nuanced and oblique modes of communication and responses. A Becoming world view sensitizes us to a necessary Otherness always already immanent in representational truth claims.

Nehru's World-View: An Alternative to the Superpowers' Model of International Relations

1989 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 324-332
Author(s):  
Ritu Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
International Relations ◽  
New World ◽  
World View ◽  
World Order ◽  
New Order ◽  
Global Level ◽  
New World Order ◽  
The West ◽  
World Vision

Jawaharlal Nehru's keen sense of history and his intense nationalism played a key role in the evolution of his world-view which pioneered to give new direction to international politics in the post-Indian independence period. This world-view had developed gradually but formidably over a span of half a century entailing and synchronising the turmoil at the national and global level and finally leaving a profound impact on Nehru's mind.1 The vulnerable Western colonial domination of the world; the gripping struggle between the fascist and the liberal forces within the West itself and the confrontational poise between the Communist Soviet Union and the non-Communist Western countries were all considered to be the basic issues by Nehru, on the outcome of which would emerge a new world order. Nehru was ambitious enough to envisage top grading of India in the comity of nations following elimination of its colonial subjugation as a part of the well construed basis of the new order and it rhymed perfectly with the broad contours of his world vision.

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