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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Cheikh Anta Diop: the search for a philosophy of African culture |
Author: | Okpewho, Isidore |
Year: | 1981 |
Periodical: | Cahiers d'études africaines |
Volume: | 21 |
Issue: | 84 |
Pages: | 587-602 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Subsaharan Africa |
Subjects: | African culture philosophy |
External link: | https://doi.org/10.3406/cea.1981.2292 |
Abstract: | The intellectual debate about the virtues of 'Africanity' has hardly ceased, and the nature of each treatise is to a large extent a reflection of the cultural and political climate within which it has been conceived. Some African scholars have been anxious to capitalise on the well-advertised grandeur of ancient Egypt and to trace the origins of the Negro race and culture therefrom. Others have preferred to see the Negro race as one of the lost races of Israel and to trace the African past back to Abyssinia, home of the ancient Coptic faith. The present article attempts a detailed treatment of the work of one of the most outstanding Egyptianists, Cheikh Anta Diop of Senegal, and a assessment of his place in the evolution of contemporary thought on African culture. In discussing Diop's contribution to an understanding of Black African culture, the author asks: how justly has Diop represented the roots of Black culture, and how valuable can his conclusions be in claiming for the Black man a firm footing in contemporary culture? Bibliogr., notes, French sum. p. 624. |