1. What are the presenters saying about the African diasporas in general?
In general, the presenters are saying that the African diaspora played a fundamentally bigger role in global history than the often “America centric” (Zeleza 2010) view of history acknowledges and that our understanding of this history needs to be re-evaluated.
The viewpoint that the African diaspora is often studied through only tells us half the picture. It tends to highlight the affect that assimilation had on African slaves but leaves out the affects African slaves had on colonial society. According to Zeleza, this viewpoint also places too much emphasis on the African diasporas that ended up in North America and does not address the fact that the majority of African slaves ended up in South Africa (Zeleza 2010).
This understanding of history suggests that Europe and America were the only forces that began and drove globalization to what we see today. While Europe and America were in control of the slaves they transported around the world, those slaves had arguably just as big an affect on society as their slave-masters. Ideas, concepts, identities, belief and cultures spread with the African diaspora wherever they landed.
These ideas, concepts, identities, belief and cultures have played a huge role in the development of modern creolized societies in and around the Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean and are important in the understanding of their modern descendants.
The most important thing they are saying about the African diaspora is that there is still much to work to be done for anthropologists and that this work will continue to challenge our view of Africa and the view of Africa’s interconnectivity in the world.
2. What are they saying about the studies of the Africa diaspora?
Zeleza say that studies of the African diaspora are important to Africa because it repositions Africa in world history and reconnects Africa to the globe (2010). In the short-run, the euro centric view of Africa sees it as a continent exploited and abused. Zeleza says that this view needs to be re-evaluated and Africa studies need to be looked at in the long run (2010). Only once Africa is studied in the long run can one see that Africa’s role in world history is an influential role. The effect of this universalizes Africa and shows that Europe has not always been the center of the African experience.
Zeleza also goes on to speak about the manner in which Africa is studied and how this differentiates with different geographical and institutive perspectives (2010). Institutes outside Africa tend to study Africa through the imperial imperative. If the institute tends to sympathize with Africa, they can also study Africa with the solidarity imperative. They identify with the African experience. Institutes within Africa study Africa with a different imperative. They tend to study Africa with the liberation imperative (2010). Studies of the African diaspora cannot be the same around the world but Zeleza does say that the imperial imperative must be removed when non-African institutes study Africa.
Alpers believes that in terms of the African diaspora in the Indian Ocean, the study of them is very much focused on the western Indian Ocean and that the east Indian Ocean is seen as separate but connected. The studies of the African diaspora in the Indian Ocean are fuelled by interest stemming most from academic in Africa (2010).
In the past, studies of the Indian Ocean African diaspora were byased by the fact that many scholars from the east coast of Africa were Muslim and thus has the view that Indian Ocean studies were separate from Africa as it was not truly part of Africa.
Alpers say that an orientalist approach to studies of the African diaspora changed the way in which we view them. Indian Ocean territories are now seen as part of Africa which had the effect of highlighting overlapping newtworks especially when it came to marooned slaves.
3. What do I learn from Africans and globalization from these presentations?
I have learned that Africa has played a fundamentally huge role in globalization as the early periods of African slavery can arguably be seen as the start of globalization.
As Africans were exports as slaves around the world, their ideas, beliefs and identities were transported with them. The influence on the societies they entered was huge and spread over the far and wide.
The role of Africans in globalization is not acknowledged because of the overwhelming euro centricity. This is changing as more scholars change the impetrative with which they study Africa.
This tendency is changing and Africa is being beginning to be view in the global context that it should be viewed int.
4. What have I learned about Capoeira from the movie screened this week?
Capoeira is a form of dance that has its roots in African. It involves dance and is a form of martial arts (Bartlett, 2010). African slaves that were imported from Africa started Capoeira. In modern times, Capoeira is found is found throughout Brazil.
During Brazil’s period of slavery, slaves would practice Capoeira in their spare time. Capoeira serves several purposes. It was a form of resistance against the oppression of their masters. It also serves as a form of political and spiritual expression (Bartlett, 2010)..
During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, Capoeria was threatened under the tyranny in Brazil. It was officially prohibited but nevertheless was practiced discretely underground. Through Capoeira, oppressed Brazilians found a united voice (Bartlett, 2010). Eventually Brazilian society accepted Capoeira as a valid form of expression and this allowed the art form to grow to become one of Brazils biggest cultural symbols.
A very important aspect of Capoeira is the music that is involed in it. Capoeira music is usually made by playing the Berimbau instrument (Bartlett, 2010). This instrument originates from Africa. Capoeira is sometimes fused with Candomble, which is a religious practice in Brazil that also originates from Africa.
Capoeira is serves many purposes for the millions of people in Brazil that live in poverty. It is an exercise that keeps them busy in their spare time. It is a spiritual escape from conditions of dire poverty (Bartlett, 2010). Capoeira promotes discipline, unity and a sense of identity that has its roots in Africa.
List of References:
Alpers, N. 2010. Episode 32: Africa and the Indian Ocean. Podcast[Online]. [Accessed 2 October 2010]. [Available]. http://afripod.aodl.org/tag/history/
Zeleza, P.T. 2010. Episode 40: Africa’s Global Past. Podcast[Online]. [Accessed 2 October 2010]. [Available]. http://afripod.aodl.org/tag/history/
Bartlett. D. 2007. O Zeleador: A Story of Capoeira. England: Bantam
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