African cosmology and the duality of western hegemony: the search for an African identity

Abstract

This paper attempts to deconstruct a myriad of negative images that denigrate the African continent as dark and seeks to place into proper context distortions of the original African creative intellect twisted by Western hegemony. It further attempts to invalidate the stereotypes that were pervasively consecrated as historical truths in literature, philosophy, religion, and politics. The denigration of African mental culture disfigures the African worldview by condemning it "to swallow the synthetic, even if not digestible" (Nzewi, 2007: 271). This work will also testify that African indigenous system and other human civilizations that were condemned as backward and relegated as irrational are still viable for human existence. Next, it seeks to inspire, create and produce a true and authentic African modernity by criticizing and demystifying the superiority of the white race. And in its final analysis, the paper becomes the magic fountain where readers can draw upon that which gives power and knowledge to the real dynamics of social change in Africa.