Africa’s Reductive Images, Contesting the Sources, and New Generations as Passive Victims: A Reflection on Historical and Global Representational Practices

Afrika'nın yaygın indirgemeci imajı yeni nesil Afrika kuşakları üzerinde giderek artan bir endişe yaratmaya devam etmektedir. Afrika'nın tamamının aynı yapıda olduğu indirgenmezse bile "Afrika imajı" diye klasik ve meşhur bir söylem bulunmaktadır. Oluşturulan indirgemeci imajın 'pasif kurbanı' olan şimdiki Afrika kuşakları üzerinde oluşan zararlı etkilerden dolayı düşük imaj algısı endişe verici olarak değerlendirilmektedir. Yeni Afrika kuşaklarının, imajın büyük bir önem kazandığı uluslararası dinamik sahnede düşük bir 'benlik' ve 'rol algılamaya' gitme riskleri oldukça fazladır. Bir başka ifadeyle, düşük imaj algısının yarattığı kaygı ve pasif tutum, Afrika ve Afrikalıların küresel siyasal, ekonomik ve kültürel paylaşımda dışlamasına sebep olmaktadır. Afrika imaj konusunda 'gerçek ve imaj' ve 'eleştiri ve yanlış temsil' gibi tartışılabilir konular olsa bile, Afrika'nın indirgemeci imaj inşasına neden olan tarihi ve devam eden küresel fenomenler sorgulamalıdır. Bu bağlamda, Afrika'nın indirgemeci imajların tarihi kölelik ve sömürgecilik dönemlere kadar geri döner. O zamandan bu yana, hiçbir coğrafik ya da kültürel grubun imajı Afrika'nın kadar kolay-kolay ve acımasızca zarar verilmedi. Bu makale Afrika karşı indirgemeci imaj inşasına katkısı olabileceği zannedilen tarihi ve devam eden küresel fenomenleri değerlendirmektedir. Bütün bu imaj endişeleri yaratmasına katkısı olabilecekleri varsayarak sömürge sergiler, misyoner koleksiyonları, oryantal ve Avrupa-merkezci anlatılar, dünya enformasyon ve iletişim düzensizliği, dünya haritanın inşası, kalkınma ve insani müdahale gibi pratikler üzerinde genel bir değerlendirme yapmaktadır. Afrika'nın kalkınmasına olumsuz etkilemesinden dolayı bahsedilen tarihi ve küresel temsili pratikler sorgulaması gerekir. İmaj restorasyon ve promosyon odaklı karşı -stratejiler gerektiğini de bu makalede vurgulanmaktadır

Afrika’nın İndirgemeci İmajları, Kaynakları Sorgulamak ve Pasif Bir Kurban olarak Yeni Kuşaklar: Tarihi ve Küresel Temsili Pratikler Üzerinde Bir Değerlendirme

The impacts of African ‘reductive images’ on the new African generation has become a growing concern. Though the entire Africa cannot be condensed into a homogenous feature, there has been a classic subject matter commonly discoursed as ‘African image’. This subject is worrisome for its undesirable impact on contemporary African generations as bearers of negative images and ‘passive victims’. There is a growing risk of pushing these generations into reduced ‘self-conception’ and ‘role-perception’ in the international spheres of dynamics where reputation matters a lot. In other words, such anxieties and acts of passiveness would lead Africa and Africans to be sidelined in global socio-economic shares. While this subject inscribes several arguable themes including ‘reality versus image’ and ‘criticism versus misrepresentation’, it sounds vital to discover and challenge its historical and global basis. In this regard, the hi/story of African ‘reductive images’ goes as far back as the start of slavery and colonialism. Since then, perhaps no image of a geo-cultural region has been as simply degraded as African one. This article attempts to make a reflective review on historical and global representational practices that, directly or indirectly, contribute to the reductive images of African continent. It mainly considers the practices of colonial exhibitions, missionary collections, Oriental and Eurocentric narratives, world information and communication dis/order, world mapping and spatial imagery, as well as developmental and humanitarian interventions. The article comes to confront these mis/representational practices and phenomena for their collectively injurious effects on the pace of African development. Essentially, there is urgent need for counter-strategies aiming at image restoration and promotion

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ISSN: 2147-8473
Yayın Aralığı: Yılda 3 Sayı
Başlangıç: 2012
Yayıncı: T.C. Gençlik ve Spor Bakanlığı Eğitim, Kültür ve Araştırma genel Müdürlüğü