A train is heading toward a small, rural station in Southern Africa. The area around the station is impoverished, as are the people who live there. In the station, the station-master, the vendors, and the children prepare for the train’s arrival. The train, from the white, considerably more wealthy area of Rhodesia, approaches the station….
Tag: Africa
Heart of Darkness: Two Different Interpretations
Joseph Conrad’s novella is an encapsulation of the experience of colonialism from the point of view of Europeans. Based on his own seafaring voyages across the colonies, Conrad attempts to picture the dichotomy of civility and barbarity. Through the characters of Kurtz, Marlow, the Russian and the natives, a composite picture of colonial Africa is…
What are the many cultural, political & geo-economic challenges faced by organisations operating in a global environment. How could they be addressed?
The major cultural challenges facing a global enterprise is understanding and adapting to local business customs and norms. In the Real World Case we saw how business in Africa tends to go on at a leisurely pace – a practice that undermines the principles of efficiency and expediency that multi-national enterprises thrive on. Understanding cultural…
Summary & Themes in The African Child by Camara Laye
The novel was originally written in French and later translated to numerous other languages including English. Mostly autobiographical, the novel paints a colourful picture of life in Africa. There are the typical ingredients of African wildlife, traditional tribal culture, belief in hoodoo or black magic, etc. But each of these facets to the novel presented…
Whiteman by Tony D’Souza: A review
Tony D’Souza is one of the fresh young writers to have emerged in the American literary scene in the last decade. Born to an Indian father and an American Caucasian mother, his mixed racial identity makes a subtle appearance in his works. In his much acclaimed novel Whiteman, for example, the protagonist Jack Diaz, who…
Perspectives on the Scramble for Africa
In the readings, different perspectives were given regarding ‘the scramble for Africa’. Colonial scholars of the period propagated the idea that native Africans were somewhat barbaric and backward, and that they need guidance from a more civilized people. This assessment is not totally untrue, for Africa (then and now) remains technologically backward, although cultural backwardness…
Critical Analysis of Colleen Burke’s ‘Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness: A Metaphor of Jungian Psychology’
The article by Colleen Burke titled Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness: A Metaphor of Jungian Psychology is well written, insightful and instructive. The author draws on parallels between the works of two great intellectuals in the form of Joseph Conrad and Carl Gustav Jung. Although Conrad and Jung were not contemporaries, one could see striking…
Prospects for new Malaria vaccine
Malaria is one of the most deadly pandemics to threaten human health. It consumes tens of thousands of lives each year in sub-Saharan Africa, most of who are young children. For example, each year close to 400 million people are infected with the disease, of which a million succumb to it. Hence all efforts must…
The pros and cons of using development assistance/foreign aid to promote democratization and good governance
The granting of foreign aid/ development assistance to developing and underdeveloped countries can often is a challenging task. While these countries definitely need assistance from the developed world, charitable intentions doesn’t necessarily translate into desired outcomes. That is why the decision makers in government and other international financial institutions will have to weigh the pros…
Umar Faruq Abdallah’s and Tariq Ramadan’s views on the relationship between culture and religion in Islam
One of the misconceptions in the Occidental discourse on Islam is that the latter is a monolithic entity. Islam has spread far and wide across the planet. It has a significant presence from China in the East to Spain and Northern Africa toward the West. And through this broad range, there is considerable diversity and…