The Dark Continent
The initial symbolic of Africa in European literature was that Africa was a surrounding of unknown hostility as well as a place of inconceivable “Darkness,” as asserted by explorers such as Burton, Sir Richard Frances, and Henry Stanley. Watching the video music sang by Katy Perry called “Roar” recaps me of the picture of Africa, which was brought back to Europe and America by these initial explores as well as writers. The video of Katy Perry begins right after the crash of a plane in an unidentified jungle. Only two survivors make to move out of the plane crashes, who are Katy Perry, the singer together with unknown noblemen, whom from the depiction has no essential survival techniques that would maintain him surviving (Perry, 2013). The two actors in the video of “Roar” are dressed in similar light sandy brown khaki colors, which is linked with jungle exploration, and the gentleman dressed the safari hat, which majority of advanced men in Africa jungle wear. To summarize, I will apply the words of Joseph Cornered to portray the unidentified jungle that Katy Perry finds herself. “Forests were ruthless; crocodile together with beasts lay in wait, fluctuating in ominous noiseless on the great rivers. Death, as well as severe diseases, was a portion of the strange reality and the exotic fantasy” (Perry, 2013). Dark Continent is the term used to describe Africa and is an out-of-date misconception that contains racial and ethnic undertones.
The concept perpetuated in the video of Katy Perry is aligned with the representation of ten early westerns of Africa as the Dark Continent. The term came to be popular in the 19th century since several continents were familiar to Europeans as well; many had conception, which was misleading as well as disingenuous concerning the place (Perry, 2013). Explorer called Henry Stanley penned the initial description of the African Continent utilizing terms such as; Dark Continent. Stanley intended to lift sales for his book, describing the history of his exploration, thus applied names mentioned above (Stone, 2017). The video of Katy Perry called Roar depicts the jungle as a place that was romantic and may only be conquered by a healthy person who has both strong spirit as well as mind. Thus, the extra survivor from the crush of the plane in the Roar video is then swallowed alive by a tiger. Nevertheless, Katy Perry tames the Jungle, and finally, she became the authority figure in the wilderness, conveying tranquility to a thing that looked untamable.
The experience and achievements of Katy Perry in her video look like the attitude of the 19th century Europeans, which initially explored the depths as well as a breath of Africa. In their explorations, which they romanticized, these individuals set a division between Africa and the west. The west was the light, while Africa was the dark. Similarly to the jungle in the video of Katy Perry, Africa was an erotic as well mentally powerful place that required leading by strong men. Henry Stanley, an explorer, writes after making it through the Zambezi, that “I sensed my emotion suffused with the purest appreciation to Him whose hands had safeguarded us, as well that had enhanced us to stab the Dark Continent from east to west” (Stone, 2017). The medicine for Africa, as believed by the 19th century
Explores, might only arise from Christianity, through a white man bringing light into darkness and capitalism. According to Stone, (2017) who was a geographer, the west had faith that Africa was a primitive, degrading, reptilian or female body to be tamed, rational, directed and pierced by white European men via western science, commerce, Christianity, civilization as well colonization (Stone, 2017).
The critic on the Dark Continent stereotype
Chinua Achebe, who is one of the ordinary notable people, cries out against the romanticizing novel of Conrad, known as Heart of Darkness, concerning the portrayal of Africa in the book and its people. According to Chinua Achebe, The mindset of western Psychologists sets up Africa as a foil in Europe. Africa is a continent of negation, unlike Europe, where the spiritual grace of the European state is manifested (Achebe, 2016). The problem of Chinua achene on the book of Conrad is that the book presents Africa to be the other world, a contrast of Europe, which qualifies Africa automatically as a contrast of civilization. Similar to Conrad, application of adjectives is a problem to Achebe, Chinua asserts that “When an author, while fantasizing about recording scenes, events as well their effects, is in realism engaged in inducing hypnotic stupor in his audience via an attack of feelings words and different forms of deception much more is supposed to be at stake rather stylistic felicity (Achebe, 2016).
Conrad even repudiates the Africans and Achebe summaries that the writer is a bloody racist (Conrad, 1973). Conrad was writing concerning people with their way of life, and thus his writing damaged African and its people.
After a century prior to Conrad’s book, after years of the cold war, technological advancements, colonization as well exploration, which deemed the earth as a global village, African still holds its portion in the representation of western as the Dark Continent. When all missions concerning humanitarian in Somalia went sour, the majority of African seemed to fall from sight (Conrad, 1973). However, the pictures seen on television concerning Sub-saharan makes the African continent to be mysterious and shameful. The images consist of diseases, tribal conflicts, flies, bare-breasted ladies, and so on.
According to (Conrad 1973), the words applied to explain Africa are right out of the mouth of Conrad. In the article by Christopher Hitchens called “African Gothic” reviews reporting done on the African continent. For example, Robert Kaplan, who narrates that he only writes hard truth and he is familiar with his Atlantic monthly writes concerning his travel across West Africa. He tells that the streets are one long wet patch of floating garbage. Both flies and mosquitos were all over. Most kids have protruding bellies; they seem to be as many as ants. The choice of words of Kaplan when depicting Africa is similar to that of Conrad. Any person might see the method they are precisely selected to perpetuate negative stereotypes concerning Africa and its people.
The colonial rule of Europe in Africa represented both impositions of law as to form of government as well as a project of fundamental reordering in the societies. The colonial rule in Africa led to gender relations,, economic interactions, as well as social norms, integrating aspects from both indigenous Africa together with Imposed Europeans. The “Joys of motherhood ” written by Buchi Emechata criticized the method of mixture social system that they have impacted women in a pessimistic way as colonialism assisted in strengthening native patriarchy as well as introducing brand forms of sexism.
Despite vast differences across Africa, some similarities existed among several pre-colonial societies in Africa concerning gender relations, the technique of economic interaction as well as a political organization. The analysis of Jared Diamond on African geography depicts how the continent on the north and south axis along several climatic phases reserved the spread of progressive agricultural and therefore established low-density populace in some places. The parameters assisted in shaping socio-political firms across Africa. For example, the non-territorial nature of authority was traditional culture across most of Africa because of the relative abundance of land, unlike the individuals. Where there is the presence of large political units, powers submitted to emanate away from in the concentric cycles near the political core or capital. At the periphery, the authority is usually weak hence offering individuals a big deal of economic autonomy and political autonomy. Through numerous places that exist without the effects of a significant political force were reordered by both global and regional patterns of commerce, economic and political independence fail to extend further beyond the local level.
In conclusion, Africa is a strong continent with stable politics. Like Stanly and Conrad, the majority of western media accounts for Africa as overgeneralized as well as undifferentiated of the enormous and varied continent. Few information talks about the complexity of the continent, economic, political unity, democracy as well as security. Thus, if Africa will continue to be mistaken in the western media, then these reports will be reading from a similar place as Stanley and Conrad, and thus will always maintain the Dark Continent.
Reference
Achebe, C. (2016). An image of Africa: racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. The Massachusetts Review, 57(1), 14-27.
Conrad, J. (1973). Heart of darkness. Youth: A Narrative and Two Other Stories. London: M. Dent, 86.
Perry, K. (2013). Katy Perry–Roar (Official). Video file. KatyPerryVEVO. YouTube. Com. YouTube, 5.
Stone, R. M. (2017). The Garland encyclopedia of world music: Africa. Routledge.