Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Naipaul's Latest Book on 'The Masque of Africa: Glimpse of African Belief'

"The Nobel Committees of Sweden and Norway "promote puppets of
European imperialism" Come on.
Sweden and Norway are today arguably two of the World' most civilized,
non-elitist, non-imperialist, and peace loving countries. There is
hardly anything against the countries in recent history that roundly
suggests that they are imperialist countries or support "Western" or
other imperialism. The countries though monarchies, were never
colonizing powers. The countries have been in the forefront of helping
deprived and suffering victims of "Western" and other imperialism.
The Nobel Committees may not have done a perfect each and every time
job but they do try hard to. Is it not the case that the Nobel
Literature and Peace prizes' Committees are unpopular with "Western"
conservative politicians and right-wing political activists and
pundits? Why, one may wonder?"
..................................OA

OA

In my opinion, you were not really disagreeing with the opinion
expressed in my post you were trying to reference, even though that is
what you are trying to show here. It is more like; "why should I agree
with this guy, even if everybody does?".

You used the words "arguably", "hardly" and "roundly", these words are
suggestive of the subjectivity of your postulation. May I remind you
here that the cultural and other interests of surviving European
Monarchs are usually interwoven. I will like you to note also that the
United states of America(USA) was never a colonizing power in the
sense you meant it, but have over the years collaborated in advancing
European imperialism.

The differences between your western conservative politicians and
right wing political activists, if they actually exist would be
forgotten whenever an opportunity to promote and support European
imperialism to which they all subscribe to presents itself. You are
however, entitled to your opinion, I like to respect that.

Be well always Prof.

Chidi Anthony Opara

http://www.chidiopararesume.blogspot.com

On Sep 2, 6:54 pm, "Anunoby, Ogugua" <Anuno...@lincolnu.edu> wrote:
> The Nobel Committees of Sweden and Norway "promote puppets of European imperialism" Come on.
> Sweden and Norway are today arguably two of the World' most civilized, non-elitist, non-imperialist, and peace loving countries. There is hardly anything against the countries in recent history that roundly suggests that they are imperialist countries or support "Western" or other imperialism. The countries though monarchies, were never colonizing powers. The countries have been in the forefront of helping deprived and suffering victims of "Western" and other imperialism.
> The Nobel Committees may not have done a perfect each and every time job but they do try hard to. Is it not the case that the Nobel Literature and Peace prizes' Committees are unpopular with "Western" conservative politicians and right-wing political activists and pundits? Why, one may wonder?
> Naipal in my opinion is deserving of the Nobel literature prize. Are there other deserving writers that may be equally or more deserving? Yes there may be or indeed are. The fact that Naipal comes across sometimes as an angry and bitter man does not make him undeserving of that prize. He is rightly critical of India in my opinion. The issues that he raised in his criticisms have still not been addressed. India, for all its recent achievements still has some of the most cruel social and cultural systems and practices in the world. Anyone who believes that Naipal has misrepresented facts about African beliefs in a literary work, should rightly discuss the misrepresentations publicly or better still, write their own book.    
>
> oa
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Chidi Anthony Opara
> Sent: Thursday, September 02, 2010 7:44 AM
> To: USA Africa Dialogue Series
> Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Naipaul's Latest Book on 'The Masque of Africa: Glimpse of African Belief'
>
> What in Chukwu's name is responsible for our constant relapse into
> Nobel mania? That Prize was not established to promote and support
> cultural activism amongst Napaul's practitioners of "primitive"
> cultures. I have always believed and have said it to whoever cares to
> listen that the Nobel and other such prizes are used to promote
> puppets of European imperialism. Achebe for instance, in my opinion,
> does not need the Nobel or any of such Prizes. He has grown beyond
> that.
>
> Chidi Anthony Opara
>
> http://www.chidiopararesume.blogspot.com
>
> On Sep 1, 5:09 pm, kenneth harrow <har...@msu.edu> wrote:
> > dear cornelius
> > what country did you say you were living in?
> > i am still waiting for the brilliant nobel
> > committee to explain to me why a nobody like
> > golding gets the nobel while africa's great
> > writers have not: where is achebe on the list of
> > nobelists? why was borges not awarded? i would
> > put 10 african authors ahead of golding in a
> > flash, starting with the likes of farah, ngugi,
> > even okri, compared with le clezio; and without a
> > shadow of a doubt assia djebar.
> > explain that to me: golding over djebar????
> > it is pretty obvious to me that the 3d world gets leftovers, as the man said.
> > i am not sure what i would say in response to the
> > question, why do we still care? was sartre right in saying no to the prize?
> > ken
>
> > At 09:42 AM 9/1/2010, you wrote:
>
> > >Ogbuefi Cornelius:
>
> > >You are a total "a mo ran bi ni Oyo - asking
> > >rhetorical questions bordering on provocation
> > >like an Oyo man. You know the answer to the
> > >questions you are wahala-ing Ken about. And you
> > >are making Naipaul's racism, the worst kept
> > >secret in the literary world, sound like
> > >something that Ken alone has noticed ("Do they
> > >see this racism that you see..."!). Naipaul's
> > >racism is not Ken's making. Unlike Ken sha, I
> > >have never stopped reading Naipaul because one
> > >must keep the enemy close. Anyone who has been
> > >reading Naipaul should know that his
> > >skin-headism is irredeemable. I wonder why you
> > >lumped him with Rushdie? The Satanic Verses is
> > >not Naipaulian. Now to your questions:
>
> > >  But does the Selection committee of the
> > > Swedish Academy need to have their heads
> > > examined ? YES, for giving the prize to Naipaul.
>
> > >  Do they see the racism that you see in the
> > > unrepentant Naipaul ­ or  do you think that
> > > conscious as he is, he  is simply unaware of it
> > > ? No, the Nobel Committee did not see Naipaul's
> > > racism car il n'y a de pire aveugle que celui
> > > qui ne veut pas voir. Naipaul is aware of his racism.
>
> > >Was it a mistake to award him the Nobel Prize? YES
>
> > >and should we tolerate the Swedish Academy awarding such prizes to
> > >writers such as Sir Vidia? NO, but you can do
> > >natting about it. A lion's liver is vain wish for dogs.
>
> > >  or should the prize be withdrawn now or even posthumously? YES
>
> > >Pius
>
> > >--- On Wed, 1/9/10, kenneth harrow <har...@msu.edu> wrote:
>
> > >From: kenneth harrow <har...@msu.edu>
> > >Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series -
> > >Naipaul's Latest Book on 'The Masque of Africa: Glimpse of African Belief'
> > >To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
> > >Date: Wednesday, 1 September, 2010, 2:44
>
> > >dear cornelius
> > >i do not have time for deep reflections now as 2
> > >course preps for tomorrow are still to be undertaken.
> > >first, i read the early, trinidad novels of
> > >naipaul, and then on to bend in the river, among
> > >the unbelievers. after that i pretty much stopped.
> > >i will rely on your reflections to answer the
> > >question i posed: what would a racist author
> > >look like? i am not really interested in
> > >obtaining the answer from the nobel committee,
> > >but rather from the engaged scholars here on
> > >this list, and other experts in naipaul. you
> > >know his work much more than i do. enlighten us.
>
> > >he wrote of 3d world intellectuals as attempting
> > >to become civilized by imitating the real thing,
> > >english intellectuals who were not afraid to
> > >assert the primacy of their venerable
> > >civilization. he bought the crap lock stock and
> > >barrel, and those who were not up to the task
> > >were mere mimic men. africa then became the site
> > >for the feebleness of imitation, the failed
> > >assimilation policies of the colonizers who
> > >never really meant it, and of a barbarism closer
> > >to conrad's imagery than say achebe's. there is
> > >no humanity in the naipaul africans; the indians
> > >of africa were cynics out for a buck, making
> > >their way through the savages; naipaul opened a
> > >cynical eye onto the political scene, and that
> > >was enough for the superior tastes of europeans
> > >who don't know a thing about actual african people to be wowed by him.
> > >there was nothing left; no love, no beauty, no
> > >humanity, no possibility except to follow his
> > >own path to the hallowed halls of oxford, or was it cambridge.
> > >he was interviewed by an ayatollah in Among the
> > >Believers, and asked where he came from. he
> > >stated, the islands. but, he tells the reader,
> > >the real answer would have been england, oxford,
> > >the real home for an intellectual like himself.
> > >the islands were long since left behind.
> > >i could have continued reading his entertaining
> > >books, but my time was limited. was i to spend
> > >the valuable time on him, or on soyinka's
> > >latest, on the newest nigerian stars, on the
> > >latest senegalese film? stories of naipaul's
> > >horrific views of black people continued to be
> > >circulated, comments that a colleague from the
> > >netherlands relayed to me, confirming the worst
> > >impressions of racist beliefs. i do not have
> > >time to devote to him while i still have an
> > >unread assia djebar novel to read. i commend
> > >djebar to us all; she is beauty itself; he is the opposite
> > >ken
>
> > >At 06:37 AM 8/31/2010, you wrote:
> > > > Professor Harrow & Co,
>
> > > > I'm seeking some more direction from you.
>
> > > > At this very moment I'm strangely reminded of Ulli Beier of whom I
> > > > heard an anthropologist joke that he was he was leaving Nigeria for
> > > > Papua New Guinea, which he described as “ another area of darknessâ€
> > > > Some people see, have seen Naipaul and Rushdie as the Wild West's
> > > > literary attack dogs who in fiction and non-fiction peer into our
> > > > backwardness, to wage war on cherished religious and cultural values
> > > > and the life lived outside of  the pale of Western Civilisation, the
> > > > Western Civilisation of which  when asked, Mahatma Gandhi said “I
> > > > think it would be a good idea.ââ€
> > > > I erroneously referred to “Among the the Believers† as post -Salman
> > > > Rushdie, because itt has been around for so long; perhaps it even paved
> > > > the way for “ The Satanic Verses† and
> > > enjoenjoyed even greater popularity
> > > > after Rushdie's controversial novel.
>
> > > > We all agree that V.S. Naipaul is an engaging writer, perhaps a great
> > > > writer, one that we do not neglect and some of us seem to be forced to
> > > > read, just because he visits some of our natural habitats. Is that not
> > > > so?
>
> > > > The Nobel Prize committee awarded Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul
> > > > the Nobel Prize in Literature for largesse of spirit, not  for for
> > > > being a racist or for being “one of the great racist writers of our
> > > > t time “ but  "for having united
> > > perceptive narrativeve and incorruptible
> > > > scrutiny in works that compel us to see the presence of suppressed
> > > > histories".
>
> > > <http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2001/naipaul....>http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2001/naipaul....
>
> > > > After the award he has not rested on his laurels but suitably
> > > > encouraged and rewarded has continued in the same vein, turning his
> > > > lights on and exposing other areas of
>
> ...
>
> read more »

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com