Ngure Ndiritu, Grade 12
UWCEA Arusha
How does social media today explore post-colonialism and African identity?
The Instagram account @mybeautifulafrica__ mainly focuses on portraying African beauty through traditional hair, makeup, clothing and art. Its beauty is in its simplicity. These aspects of African culture are fundamental aspects of African identity. The second Instagram account, @nigeria, similarly portrays this. The key difference with the second Instagram account is that it shows both sides of the African story; poverty and wealth. There is a stark contrast between how poor the underprivileged are and how rich the wealthy are; @nigeria balances the two. However, the third Instagram account is very different compared to the rest. @barbiesavior shows pictures of barbie dolls, edited into poor parts of Africa.
One of their photos that shocked me the most was a picture of Barbie edited onto a container filled with water dropped in a remote African village. This idea is connotated in so many other aspects of society that Africa ‘does not have water’ is simply not true. Similarly, there is a picture of a popular game called Cards Against Humanity, where you have to put one of the white cards into the sentence on the red card. As shown below, the statement on the red card is “Be the _ you want to see in the world”.
The responses in the white cards include ‘good old-fashioned colonial values’, ‘poverty porn’ and ‘barbie savior’. Poverty porn refers to the exploitation of marginalised communities by taking pictures of them and garnering online sympathy and donations worldwide. Poverty porn creates an idea that the poor are ‘helpless beneficiaries’, and the rich are wonderful saviours who have sacrificed so much to help these people (Roenigk et al.)
Venturing into other disciplines beyond the literary text helps us recognise the stark difference between how the view of African culture and Pan Africanism changed during colonialism and post-colonialism. In the text, we see a rejection of African culture by Papa, which is an idea that he learned from colonial missionaries. Furthermore, expanding our understanding of African culture and history before, during and after colonialism helps the audience understand its evolution.
The depth that this knowledge creates helps the audience understand Papa’s rejection of traditional African religions; he was taught that they were wrong and continued to believe so throughout his life. On the contrary, the depth that the knowledge creates helps us understand how out-of-the-ordinary it is for a family like Aunty Ifeoma’s to exist; Amaka and her brother are allowed to freely express themselves and choose the religion that resonates with them the most.
Without the background information and historical context that is not described in the book, it would be difficult for the reader to understand the mindset of the aforementioned distinctive families. The reader would not be able to recognise the effect of colonialism on African culture and particularly religion.
More recently, there has been an increase in the appreciation of authentic African culture. Understanding both sides of this story creates depth in the text, making the reader understand some aspects of it that are not explicitly mentioned.
The Instagram account @mybeautifulafrica__ mainly focuses on portraying African beauty through traditional hair, makeup, clothing and art. Its beauty is in its simplicity. These aspects of African culture are fundamental aspects of African identity. The second Instagram account, @nigeria, similarly portrays this. The key difference with the second Instagram account is that it shows both sides of the African story; poverty and wealth. There is a stark contrast between how poor the underprivileged are and how rich the wealthy are; @nigeria balances the two. However, the third Instagram account is very different compared to the rest. @barbiesavior shows pictures of barbie dolls, edited into poor parts of Africa.
One of their photos that shocked me the most was a picture of Barbie edited onto a container filled with water dropped in a remote African village. This idea is connotated in so many other aspects of society that Africa ‘does not have water’ is simply not true. Similarly, there is a picture of a popular game called Cards Against Humanity, where you have to put one of the white cards into the sentence on the red card. As shown below, the statement on the red card is “Be the _ you want to see in the world”.
The responses in the white cards include ‘good old-fashioned colonial values’, ‘poverty porn’ and ‘barbie savior’. Poverty porn refers to the exploitation of marginalised communities by taking pictures of them and garnering online sympathy and donations worldwide. Poverty porn creates an idea that the poor are ‘helpless beneficiaries’, and the rich are wonderful saviours who have sacrificed so much to help these people (Roenigk et al.)
Venturing into other disciplines beyond the literary text helps us recognise the stark difference between how the view of African culture and Pan Africanism changed during colonialism and post-colonialism. In the text, we see a rejection of African culture by Papa, which is an idea that he learned from colonial missionaries. Furthermore, expanding our understanding of African culture and history before, during and after colonialism helps the audience understand its evolution.
The depth that this knowledge creates helps the audience understand Papa’s rejection of traditional African religions; he was taught that they were wrong and continued to believe so throughout his life. On the contrary, the depth that the knowledge creates helps us understand how out-of-the-ordinary it is for a family like Aunty Ifeoma’s to exist; Amaka and her brother are allowed to freely express themselves and choose the religion that resonates with them the most.
Without the background information and historical context that is not described in the book, it would be difficult for the reader to understand the mindset of the aforementioned distinctive families. The reader would not be able to recognise the effect of colonialism on African culture and particularly religion.
More recently, there has been an increase in the appreciation of authentic African culture. Understanding both sides of this story creates depth in the text, making the reader understand some aspects of it that are not explicitly mentioned.
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