If this is true, wow, it is really great. It makes feel good. But seeing things the way they are with the masses in black Africa now, I want to draw an inspiration from all this that can help me or us deal with the current challenges of human development in contemporary black Africa. Some would not equate Egypt with black Africa. The debate on this still persists in some quarters today. Late Basil Davidson highlighted this in his documentary film on Africa titled: "Africa: A Voyage of Discovery."
LIeft to me, I do not want this discussion to be like all nostalgia. Leaving it as it is is like an adult suffering from glaring challenges and constraints in life but decided to look back with nostalgia at his or her dynamism during the adolescent period.
Another issue of ethical concern is that many of these great artistic works of the past were still elite -driven consumption. The ordinary masses who were "on the other side" had different priorities because of their desperate struggle for survival. In this respect, I want us to establish a clear criterion for development so that it does not come across as though in an attempt to affirm or highlight past African achievements, we have to look in Africa for what was established as important originally by the eyes of western civilization. We know that western civilization itself at many historical junctures defined development from the perspective of elite interests and consumption. Many of the great works of art in the west were not geared towards promoting the welfare of common people.
Rousseau argues that the luxurious consumption of artistic works is sometimes done at the expense of addressing the painful needs and concerns of the masses. Voltaire believes in contrast that the consumption creates room for innovation, creativity and employment to which Rousseau says at what human cost? Many of these works were not part of even popular culture but elite consumption. I want to know what are the main priorities of the masses then in terms of the desire to live a dignified human life in Africa and whether such artistic achievements were committed or oriented to addressing such prioritie or totally ignoring them while trying to satisfy elite test or consumption.
Samuel
On Mar 4, 2018 3:24 AM, "Olayinka Agbetuyi" <yagbetuyi@hotmail.com> wrote:
--For those of us who have taught college world history for years its like putting the cart before the horse.
It is undoubted that Egyptian architecture influenced the architecture of the Renaissance.
The art of the dome was unquestionably copied from the tomb of Pharaoh Seti I and then spread through Europe by the trio of Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael. The last was credited with the mastery of pillar- less dome copied from the tomb of Seti.
The catacombs in Rome was unquestionably copied from Egyptian subterranean tombs some of which still bear the inscriptions of Romans who made pilgrimages there long before the Renaissance.
The Cretan labyrinths that gave rise to the Minotaur myth is also taught to have its origins in Egypt. Greek (and later American)names of cities like Memphis derived from Egyptian cities are well known.
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
-------- Original message --------From: "Emeagwali, Gloria (History)" <emeagwali@ccsu.edu>Date: 03/03/2018 07:25 (GMT+00:00)To: usaafricadialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com >Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - NIGERIA'S LITERATE ZOMBIES
--Good point but the Egyptians built their first pyramid around 2600BC and Rome emerged as a city state around 753 BC.
Can we say that the Romans influenced the Egyptians in their construction of the pyramids - when pyramid construction ceased around 1500 BC?
The Ionian Greeks were the first group of intellectuals that we know and they are a bit later than the Romans. The Greek philosophers like Plato, Aristotle, Hippocrates and Socrates emerge around 400BC. Can we say that they influenced people like Imhotep who were long dead and buried over two thousand years before? For example, Plato was born around 427 BC.
In the case of Mesopotamia, Persia and even China you have more contemporaneous interaction and there are areas of diffusion and borrowing using the model that you suggest, but some cases are clear cut.
Professor Gloria Emeagwali
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index. html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com .
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout .
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index. html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com .
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout .
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
No comments:
Post a Comment