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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Christianity and Westernization in Africa |
Author: | Nyang, Sulayman S. |
Year: | 1985 |
Periodical: | Current Bibliography on African Affairs |
Volume: | 18 |
Issue: | 1 |
Pages: | 43-54 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Africa |
Subjects: | culture contact Western culture African culture missions Bibliography/Research Religion and Witchcraft Ethnic and Race Relations |
Abstract: | Working on the assumption that the establishment of European power in Africa gave rise to the transplantation of European cultures and religions, the author argues that the Christian churches were to a large extent responsible for the promotion and popularisation of Western values and material cultures in African societies. Willingly or unwillingly, many of them worked for the colonial power of the day. The Westernization process was accelerated by those Africans who had already been exposed to Western languages and cultures during their enslavement in Europe or America. These Africans were eagerly recruited because native pastorage was a necessary factor in the wider dissemination of the Christian message. In addition to teaching the alphabet, missionary schools also created the conditions for the secularisation of African society. The de-westernization of missionary education is an intrinsic aspect of the problem of decolonisation. - Notes, ref. |