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Paper short abstract

The theorisation of Africa, the writing of its history and its diverse cultures has been largely influenced by its encounter with colonialism.What we know about Africa's past and present is largely a reflection of European encounters and stereotypes about Africa

Paper long abstract

It was Mahmood Mamdani (2017) who argued that to develop theory one needs a reference point, the theorisation of Africa, the writing of its history and its diverse cultures has been largely influenced by its encounter with colonialism. It is not surprising then that what we know about Africa's past and present is largely a reflection of European encounters and stereotypes about Africa. To borrow from Chinua Achebe (2009:21) Africa 'like an ancient tree by the much used farm road, bears on its bark countless scars of the machete'. In our case, this machete is epitomised by countless marks left on Africa by its contact with Europe. There is now a growing body of literature which seeks to deal with the Eurocentrism inherent in the theorization of Africa, and our understanding of its history, its peoples and cultures. This scholarship seeks to among other things advance a 'decolonial' project whose aim is to challenge dominant narratives about Africa's past and the developmental challenges which confront its peoples. Following on Mamdani (1996), this scholarship (Wa Thiongo 1986 and 2013, Ndlovu Gatsheni 2013) presents a counter-hegemonic project which can potentially serve as a 'reference' point for the advancement of an epistemological project grounded in Africa's history and culture. The paper builds on an editorial written by the author introducing a forthcoming edited book on Africa, History and Culture to be published in early 2020.