Said, Orientalism, polarizing West and "East" (that is, everything outside of Western and Central Europe and the U.S.), the trouble of inherent bias of perspective.
To get down to the more obvious and direct relevance in looking at the Middle East, though - the conflict arising between desire to modernize (in accordance with the typically biased thought process, read: "Westernize") and desire to maintain one's original culture is not specific to any one region of the world. This conflict, furthermore, can not only inspire divisions within the country - as seen in our readings of Ottoman and Egyptian histories - but can also inspire divisions within the individuals themselves, having been so inculcated with the notion that their native language and culture is somehow inferior.
Admittedly, I think most of Ghana in cases such as this, and it was one of the most upsetting and angering features of my two months there this past summer. Ghanaians themselves constantly bemoaned the laziness, inabilities, and lack of trustworthiness, among other unfortunate epithets, of other Ghanaians - "that's Ghana," they'd say. What's more, as a Caucasian and, therefore, rarity, I was not just gawked at - I was quite blatantly seen as superior, ideal, even more beautiful (not incredibly surprising when one notes billboards and commercials advertising skin lighteners).... and thereby hit on, complimented, proposed to, and made the object of declarations of love on numerous occasions, but that's besides the point.
The frustration is, because they'd been so torn between European imperialism and Westernization and their own historical background, they'd ultimately come to the conclusion that they must, indeed, be inferior, and how upsetting it is that some are still so stuck in their "backward" ways, unwilling to modernize. At the same time, though, everywhere - even in the textbooks I busied myself editing - were cries for national pride and warnings against the dangerous and corroding impact of Western influences.
A quick side note regarding Egypt and Ismail's determination to no longer be considered African: from what I've heard, he succeeded at least in that (though at a heavy cost). All conversations I had with Africans and any recent readings on the matter have yielded similar if not identical results - Egyptians don't seem to consider themselves African, and other Africans readily agree with them.
...and it's time to be off yet again. A bientot.
Nasser, the avatar of Arab Nationalism, actually attempted to reverse Ismail somewhat by saying Egypt was at the confluence of three circles - Arab, Muslim, and African. But the emphasis on Arabism (and activism in the Non-Aligned Movement) tended to put the other elements in the shade. Some African states active in the NAM had reasonably strong ties to Egypt in the 1960s. But at the popular level, certainly, most Egyptians do not seem to consider themselves African.
ReplyDeleteI knew Nkrumah's son in Cairo, though.
Ah, logical.... yes, it was interesting to be meet with a near guffaw from Ghanaians any time Egyptians came up in the context of Africa as a whole. Even Algerians, ie during the World Cup, somehow just didn't seem as "African" as the likes of Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, etc... often forgotten in listing the status of African countries in the World Cup and whatnot, on the everyday level.
ReplyDeleteAnd very interesting (though somehow I'm not surprised... ha) - which son?
A lot of times I find myself thinking, wow, what if I hadn't been born into a middle class, white, Protestant family in Small Town, America. What a different person I would be and how differently I would see the world. It was really interesting to read about your experience in Ghana (skin lighteners?? I'd gladly trade in my pastiness). In Germany, it's a little different. Some people I met were really convinced that we in America were doing things all wrong and that the European way, or even the German way, was superior. I think it's probably just as hard to be in a culture where they look up to and try to emulate America as it is to be somewhere where they're more disenchanted with the American way.
ReplyDeleteIt was Gamal I knew in Cairo. He was working as a journalist, so I got to see him professionally every now and then. I'm reasonably sure he was named after Nasser.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting (which brings to mind another question, I suppose; namely, what exactly were you doing in Cairo? I don't believe I ever heard the story behind that...).... and a reasonable understanding (or assumption), I'd say- Nkrumah's wife was Egyptian, of course, and "Gamal" is certainly more Arabic than Ghanaian... as opposed to the traditional Akan names like Kwame- or Yaa, which I generally answered to. ha
ReplyDelete