negritude and history - senghor's argument with frobenius

8/10/2019 Negritude and History - Senghor's Argument With Frobenius

1/14

Negritude and History: Senghor's Argument with FrobeniusAuthor(s): Michael J. C. EcheruoReviewed work(s):Source: Research in African Literatures, Vol. 24, No. 4, Special Issue in Memory of JosaphatBekunuru Kubayanda (Winter, 1993), pp. 1-13Published by: Indiana University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3820249.Accessed: 29/08/2012 15:51

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2/14

Negritude

andHistory:

Senghor's

Argument

with

Frobenius

MichaelJ.

. Echeruo

T

he "influence"fFrobeniuss one that eopold . Senghorimselfas

acknowledged

n

rather

rofuse

erms.

Etnous

ortons

ncore,

ans otre

sprit

t

dansnotre

me,

es

marques

u

maitre,

omme es

atouages

xecutes

ux

eremo-

nies

'initiationans e bois

acre"

"Les

Lecons"

98).

And

we till

arry

he

mark

of hemasternourmindsnd

pirits,

ike

formf

attooing

arriedut n

he niti-

ation eremonies

n

the acred

rove

"Lessons"

ii).]

This

acknowledgment

as

usually

een ead s a

gesture

f

dependence;

s

positive roof

f he

ncorporation

of

enghor

nto he

otality

f

Western

iscourse..Y.

Mudimbe,

specially

nThe

Invention

fAfrica,

as tried o both

how

how

arnestlyenghordopted

what

Mudimbealls he

Western

atio"ndto

explain

ow,

n

the

process,

enghor's

Negritudeasbecome text onstructednthe ody f larger esterniscourse,

and iable

o

collapse

utsidet

Invention3ff.).

enghor

s thus

uite imply

he

efficient

ractitioner

f

Western

erformance;

is wn

ontribution

eing

o

give

a local urno a

grand

uropean

ance.Whence he

uggestion,lways,

hat en-

ghor

seither

arrot

r

protester:arrot

othe

xtenthat e

propagates

view/sys-

temwhich

s

ultimately

xteriorohis

own

being,

nd

herefore

for

ll ts

ense),

meaningless

n

his

ontext;

nd

protester,

econdly,

ince is

desires

obviously

o

save

his

racial/cultural

eing

romhe

gony

f

ndifference

nd

denigration

hat

had

dogged

t

s

"nigger."

FrobeniussSenghor's eaponf pportunityithinWesterniscourse,he

text hat

xposes

he

vulnerable

eel

of

hat

mighty

chilles. s

if

rom

farce,

Senghor

s able o

oke

his

way

nto

ictory

y

s

t

were

masking

ith

he

nemy:

"We et

urselvese

seduced

y

eo

Frobenius'srilliant

hesis

ccording

o

which

the

Negro

oul

nd he

Germanoul

were isters"

"Message"

3-84;

td.

n

Hymans

64-65).

he

underlyingrgument

n

hese

ositions

sthat

hose frican

iscourses

which re

ontingent

n

those f he

West re

lways

nd

necessarily

ominatedr

"colonized."

he

colonial

ibrary

s

he chool rom hich

very ost-

r

x-colonial

African

ubject

raduates.

robenius's

estinyf

ivilizations

hus

ecomes

nother

canonical

ext,

parmi

es

ivres

acres,"

enghor

ays,

de toute

ne

generation


3/14

2 I

Research

n

African

iteratures

d'etudiants

oirs"

"Negritude"

3)

[among

he acred

exts

f whole

generation

f

black

students].

From he

perspective

f

the

twentieth-century

umanism,

ew

pages

have

convincedme as

thoroughly

s

those

n

Frobenius's

estiny f

Civiliza-

tion""Revolution" 7).

I

want to re-read

enghor

n

Frobeniuswith view to

showing

hat

these

assumptions

oncerning

ow

"Others" ead and use

Western iscourses

may

need

serious

evision;

nd that

enghor's pparentlyenerous ppropriations

f he

West,

farfrom

eing

evidence of

subordination,

oint

to a common

African iscursive

practice

f

"accommodation,"

mode for

negating

hat

kind

of

obsessive

oncern

for

ifference hich s so central o

European

hought

nd

(justifiably)

o the

Fou-

cauldian

method

dopted y

Mudimbe

n

hisefforto

"unmask" heWestern

atio

n

the African

iterary

anon"

(Diawara 80).

This African

mode substitutes

he con-

ceptforANOTHER forONE andOTHER, thence reatingheALL, theconcept

of he

universal" hich s

Senghor's hallenge

o

Western

iscourse. nd

this snot

to

contradict he

point

f

Abiola Irele's

onclusion

in

The

African

xperience)

hat

Senghor's egritude

liesoutside

hehistorical

rocess.

t s

firstnd

foremost dis-

tinctive

mode of

being

nd of

xistence,

articular

o the

black

man,

which an

be

deduced from

is

way

of

ife-and

which constitutes

is

identity,

n

the

original

sense

of heword"

Irele

70-71).

It s

rather o

argue

hat

European

oncept

f dif-

ference" ooted n

the idea of

the absolute

Other"

s,

n

Senghor's

ext,

eplaced

with

different

oncept

of

differenceased on a

necessary eriality

f

dentities.

Because

there s

ONE,

there s

ANOTHER;

hence

OTHERS. The

UNIVERSAL is

ALL. There s nomore

elling

eminderfthis ccommodationist

pproach

nd of

the

particular

cuity

f

enghor's esponses

han

comparison

ith

hecomment f

Nnamdi

Azikiwe

n

My

Odyssey: By

delving

nto

various choolsof

philosophy"

under

he

tutelage

f

Alain

Locke,

Azikiwe ecalls:

...I

was

onvinced

hat

lthough

he

western

ystem

asmore

ystematic

han

the

African,

everthelessfrican

hilosophy

as

practical

n

the

ense hat

people

idnot

waste ime n

ogic

ndfrivolous

rguments.

heir

hilosophy

wasmore

ragmatic

n

hat t

was elatedo

he

ractical

roblems

f

veryday

life

which

hey

olved

y

dapting

hemselves

o

he

ogic

f

eason

nd

xperi-

ence. 120)

Mudimbe

has drawn

ttention o one

complication

rising

rom

he

fact f

African

ndebtedness

o

European

deas,

namely

hat we fail to

appreciate

he

nature

f

the

"Africanization"f

foreign

deas

which

results. n

Mudimbe's

iew,

those ritics

especially

African

ritics)

re

wrong

who

ee

Senghor

s a

promoter

f

"some

famous

ppositions

which,

ut of

ontext,

ould

appear

o

embrace

erspec-

tives

roper

o certain

acist

heoreticians"

ncluding

robenius

94).

But

Mudimbe

equates

Senghor's

use"of

Western

hinkers ith n

appropriation

f

them;

nd

so

constructsn

immense onflict

etween

method nd

theory;

or

nstance,

etween

Marxism s

method nd

Marxism s a

"theory

f

knowledge":

It sone

thing

ouse

Marxism's]

chemesor

nalyzing

nd

understanding

he

complexity

f ocial

ormations,

nd nothero

ccept

he dea

hat ocial

om-

plexities

niversally

it nto he

oncept

f

he lass

truggle

nd

express

he

need o

deny eligion.

94)

For to

consolidate his

opposition

s to

seek to

harmonize he

totality

f

one view

into

the

totality

f

he

other;

o

harmonize

heory

nd

method,

uropean

nd Afri-

can in

another

mperial

rder.

enghor's

ebtto

Marx,

s

to

Frobenius,

s

fraternal,

contingent,

nd

parallel:

We are

ocialists

ecause

we

accept

Marx

nd

Engels

nd

believe n

the

usefulnessf heir

nalysis

f

ocieties"

qtd.

n

Mudimbe

3).


4/14

Michael

.

C.

Echeruo

1

3

Hence,

here

s an

Africaniew f

discourse

ccording

owhichll

primary

texts

alpha-discourses)

re

fraternal,"

hat

s,

hey

re elatedoone nother

cross

time nd

culture;

ith

achone

sustaining

crucial lement f he otal

inheri-

tance" fthebenevolentather,he ymbolicLL.Every thersAnother-a

serial

atherhan n

oppositional

oment

f

ifference.

enghor's

Universal"ext

is,

hus,

ot he

mperial,olonizing,

ominatingmpulse

hich

bsorbsther

exts

into ts wn

particular

eing,

ut

quilt

f

djacent

ndrelated

exts,

exts

hich

make

ense

ecause,

ogether,

hey

accommodate"-makeoom or-themselves

and thers.his

oncept, y

irtuef

which lltextsre

xpropriable,

s lien

o

he

kind

f

otalizing

hich

nforms

he

uropean

iscourse odel.

Fewof thetheoriesnd

strategies

f

reading

hich

avebeen

applied

r

invokedn

the

tudy

f

African riters

ndthinkers

ave

dequately

onsidered

this spect fbeta-discoursend tsmplications.t sobviousnough,orxample,

in

reading

f

Hegel

hat e

has

n

argument

ith ant. ut

hat

rgument

s n

fur-

ther

laborationf he

ommon

ask f

making

ense

any

ense)

f

sharedden-

tity.

egel

s

not

eading

f

imself

n

Kant's

ext,

ut

eading

ant,

s

f

e

himself

were ant. ifference

xists,

ut he

margins

f uch

ifferencere

not

bliterated;

they

re

hemselves

ounded

y

he

onvergence

f

dentity,

hat

s,

y

he act

hat

neithers he

ubject-matter,

n

ssence,

f

he iscourse.

oundaries

f

hat

ind,

n

fact,

elp

make

or

omposite

ense,

n

accumulationf

nstances

hich,

ogether,

constitute

he

urrent

tatement.

n

this

ense,

egel's

s

not

beta-,

ut

dialectical

intra-muraliscourse.nthe ame ense,lso, artre'seadingfMarx rFrobenius

is

differentrom

enghor's;

s is

Senghor's

use" fMarx nd

Frobenius

ifferent

from

artre's.

he

"original

in" f

Negritude

such

s

Mudimbe,

iting epestre,

postulates),

he rait hich

ventually

destroyed"

t,

may

ndeed erive

romhe

omni-presence

f

Western

nstitutional

ractices,

he

techniques

f

deological

manipulation,"

specially

n

anthropology,

atherhan

rom

ny

ntological

tatus

of

white rblack.

ut

o

ay

o n

"universal"

ermssto

uppose

hat

nthropology

meant

he

ame

hing

o

Senghor

s

it

didto

theFrench

ntellectuals

Mudimbe

87).

When

eopold

.

SenghoritesHegel orFrobenius),herefore,he vent snotdialectical.

enghor's

ntentionsnotto

ncorporateegel

ntohis

ystem

f

thought,

or ven

o

ntegrate

imself

nto

he

Hegelian

raditionf

hought.

e

uses

Hegel

s

a

signifying

vent.

Hegel"

s

thus

lways

o

be

considereds a

brack-

eted r

framed

a

quoted)

xpression

nd tands

ohim n

the

ame elation

s the

French

anguage

tself

oes

to

a

Senghor

sing

t,

namely

s a

language.

n

other

words,

egel's

thernesss

an

instrument

owards

he

reation,

rthe

manifesta-

tion,

f

what s

ssentially

n

underlying

eed/obligation,

amely,

he

rasuref

if-

ference ithoutoss f

dentity.

Differencef

hekindwhich

enghor

adto

deal

with

ame

directly

nthe

nineteenthentury.thad odowithhe ise f he ultsf

Organicism

nd

Progress

in

he

wake f

philosophical

ositivism

hich,

n

pite

f ts

mphasis

n

Reason,

was

essentially

eterministic.istoriansf

the

history

f

hese

deashave

docu-

mented

uguste

omte's

dea hatmen

o

not

t

all times

hink

n

the ame

ways,

that here s a

development

n modes f

thought

rom

he

heological

r

fictive,

through

he

metaphysical

othe

ositive

r

cientific,

nd hat

ach f

hese

modes

of

houghtevelops

istorically,

preading

uccessively

o

differentieldsf

nquiry

(Mandelbaum

69).

This

organic

elationship

fhuman

eason o

a

structuref

epochs,

n

evolutionary

rocess

s twere f

hehuman

mind,

ould

ead o

or

t


5/14

4

I

Research

n

African

iteratures

least e

subsumed

n)

the oftierdeathat he

history

f

ndividualormsf

on-

sciousness ould e

dentical

ith he

history

f he ormsf

onsciousness

n

the

race.

his, oo,

was

he

rucial

egelian

ormulation;

hat ach

person

s the on

of

hisNation... heSonofhisAge," a child fhisown ime"who annot ossibly

"overleap

is wn

ge"

Mandelbaum82-83).

In

his

ssay

nFrobeniusnd

heRevolution

f

1889,

enghor

rgues

hat

he

dialectical

ationalismf

Hegel

was

part

f traditionf

European

ationalisms,

including

artesian nti-Hellenic

ationalism;

nd

that,

ven

o,

Germany

as

never

eally

atisfied

r

content ith artesian alues. he traditions

ssociated

with

German omanticism

n

the

chlegels,

n

Novalis nd

n

Fichte

Senghor's

instances)

ere

nly

re-enforcementsnd often

egradations

f

quintessential

European

ationalism

"Revolution"9-80).

Hence,

Hegel

was he

orerunner

f

new ialectic hich everthelessetainedome f he ssentialsf he ld radition

ofdifferentiation.n this

ense,

egelianism

hared he

ame radition

ith ous-

seau

nd

Montaigne,

tradition

hich

nder

ressure

rom arwin

nd

Nietzsche,

would

in

due

ourse)

ive

haracter

o

modem

uropean

otions f

ifferencend

so

also

hape

he

nature

f

Africa's

esponse,

n

ts wn

eason,

o

he

ealizationsf

themind f

urope.

hat

esponse,

s

read

t,

s

Negritude

n ts

most

eneric

ense,

a

movemento

dentify

nd

ccommodatelacknessn

theALL of

human

istory

and ivilization.

That hat

nti-Hegel

mpulse

salsobehind

enghor's

egritude

s

manifest

inhis

reference

f robeniusver

evi-StraussndDurkheim

s

nterpreters

f is-

tory.hatpreferences, ndeed, ery

eavily

eflectivefthe nfluencefPaul

Rivet,

imself

disciple

f

robenius,

s

Senghor

imselfdmits

"Revolution"

2).

It s

n

nterpretation

hich,moreover,

rovides

continuumrom

enghor's

ead-

ing

ofhis

earliest

xperiences

t the

Catholic

eminary

n

Senegal

o

his ater

understanding

f the

history

f

Cartesian,

ositivist

nd

romantic

hought

n

Europe.

lthoughenghor

oesnot

laboraten

this,

we

cansee

the

onnection

between

hese

ositions

nd

those

deas,

hemselves

ntegral

o

the

ntellectual

mood f

he

eriod,

hich

uguste

omte riedo

laborate.

Comte's ositivism

peaks

o

he ssue f he

otality

f he

human

erson

s

a

conjunctionf ympathy,ntellect,ndaction. hetask,he missionllottedo

the

ntellect

n

the

positiveynthesis,"

omte

sserted,

is hat t

hould

e conse-

crated

o

he

ervice

f

he eart"

Comte

25).

Essentially,

omtewas

e-designing

the

equences

nd he

tructuresf

European

ntellectual

ndeavors

nd

ssigning

an

uncharacteristically

ajor

ole othe

mpathic

aculties.

ccording

o

Comte,

"the

ruth,

nd

t s

mportant

o

recognize

t,

s

that

houghts

ust

e

systematized

before

eelings,eelings

efore

ctions.t

s,

doubtless,

wing

o a

confused

ppre-

hension

f

his ruthhat

hilosophers

itherto,

n

framing

heir

ystems

f

human

nature,

ave

ealt lmost

xclusively

ith ur

ntellectual

aculties"

Comte

24).

That easoning,ppliedo he ssuesf oncernoSenghor,ould ave ed o

a

valorizationf

African

ystems;

r,

n

n

alternative

ormulation,

o

heir

enigra-

tion. or

Comtewas

nxious o

re-establish

system

f

orrespondences

etween

periods

nd

modes

f

hought.

hus,

isdivision

f

history

nto

ncient,

edieval

and

modem,

orresponds,

s it

were,

o

the

tages

f

philosophical

hought

rom

"theological

magination"

hrough

metaphysical

iscussion"o

"positive

emon-

stration."

hence,

omte

oncludes,

by

means f

this ne

general

awwe

are

enabled o

take

comprehensive

nd

imultaneousiew f

he

past,

resent,

nd

futuref

humanity"

Comte

29,

328).

Unfortunately,

omte

idnot

provide

name or

he

iscipline

emanded

y

his

heory.

ndeed,

lthough

e

speaks

ften


6/14

Michael

.

C. Echeruo

I

5

of

society"

nd

f"practical

ife,"

e

never

ategorically

onceives

f,

r

names,

he

science

f

ociology

n

the

way

n

which robenius

among

thers)

ould n

the

next

entury.

hus

een, ositivism,

s

early

ocialScience: the

bject

f ll

true

philosophys oframesystemhatwill omprehendumanife nderveryspect,

social s well s ndividual.t

embraces,herefore,

he hree inds f

henomena

f

which

ur ife

onsists-thoughts,eelings,

nd

actions"

Comte 20).

Like ll

rationalists,

owever,

omte's

analysis"

as

entirely

nti-romanticnd

conse-

quently)ssentially

till

neo-Cartesian

roposition.

So,

also,

n

ts

wn

way,

as

ArthureGobineau'sssai ur

'Inegalite

es

Races

Humaines.

obineau's

acism as

not,

n

mid-19th-century

urope,

onsidered

o

be the berrationeknow t obe.Gobineau's as rationalist's

econstruction

f

both he

new

biology

nd the

newer ellenismfwhich

Nietzsche's

heBirth

f

TragedyndThus pakearathustraould ecome culmination.obineau'sacism

workedna

logic

s

thorough-going

s

Hegel's.

Nation"

nd

Age"

ecome Race"

and Culture."he

nequality

f

he aceswas he

roduct

f

function: atterver

mind. he formula

emained

onstant;

ut

ecause he

mind

s the reasoner"as

deficient

or

at east

ifferent)

n

some

aces,

he

product

f he

play

fmind nd

matteraried

astly

cross

aces.

f

ourse,

lso

Gobineau

rgued),

he aces

might

indeed

othave

been

uniquely

erived,

hat

s,

have volved

oly-genetically;

nd

that

would

uggest

hat

n

original

hape

or

mis-shape)

f

matter

ight

ave lso

shaped

or

mis-shaped)

he

functioning

f hemind

tself,

ndso

determinedts

quality.But bove

ll,

Gobineau as

working

romirst

rinciples.

he

primacy

fdis-

cursiveeasons

given,

ven

hough

as

thework f

Auguste

omtewas

eginning

to

how,las)

feelings

ad ohave heir

ue

place

n

he

nalysis

f

humanife.

ob-

ineauwas hus

working

ut he

ogic

f

his

prior

alorization

f

European

ociety.

His

theory

fRacerested

ntirely

n the

ropriety

f

n

ntrinsic

and

qualitative)

difference

etween

urope

nd he

est

f

mankind.he

point,

urely,

f

ontempo-

raryuropean

thnographic

tudies asnot o

elebratenew

omparative

nthro-

pologypart,

n the

vent,

f

Frobenius's

chievement),

ut o

categorize

and

o,

confirm)

theology

f

difference;

n

erecting

structuref

easoning

y

which he

"inferior"aceswould e understoodntheir roperondition.obineau's,hus,

was

easoned,

nductive

xplanation.

It

was

Senghor's

nderstanding

hat

Frobenius's

chievement

ay

n

his

breakingway

rom hekind f

tructural

nthropology

f

which laudeLevi-

Strauss as he hief

dvocate,

n

approach

hich

merelypplied

he

ositivism

f

an earlier

rench

ge

to the

tudy

f henew

social

hilosophy"

alled

ociology

("Revolution"

2).

Frobenius asthus

nlike oth

evi-Straussnd even

Durk-

heim. n

Senghor's

iew,

robenius as

not

nterested

n

the

perpetual

ccumula-

tion

of

facts" ut

n

establishing

hat

enghor

alls"a

global

erspective"

nd

elsewhereermsuniversalulture."robenius'sew pproachequiredherejec-

tion

gain

f

discursiveeason

nd

a

(proper)

eturno

feeling

r ntuition

as a

means

f

aining

nsight

nto

alues,

ot

acts r

uantities."

t

was

robenius'sask

to reatea new

ivilization

y

econciling

ll

peoples

f he

arthn

universalia-

logue,"

ringing

nto

lay

gain

hose

chievementsf

African

istory

nd

iviliza-

tionwhich rom

erodotuso

AntaCheik

Diop

had

beenknown

o

have

haped

Western

ulture

hrough

gypt

ndthe

Mediterranean.

t was

his

robeniushat

Senghor

redits ith

he

hree enets f new

thnography:

he

xistencef ul-

tural reas

verywhere

n

he

world,

he

nity

f

Negro

ulture

n

ll

continentsnd

the

ffinitiesetween

eutonic

eoples

"Revolution"

3).


7/14

6 I

Research

n

African

iteratures

This s

not, ndeed,

he

ustomaryay

f

eading

he

vidence. n the

on-

trary,

robeniusas

usually

een ssociatedn African

nterpretations

f

Western

thought,

ith he

predictable

ver-determinismf he

uropean

Other,"

ith

he

celebrationf hemiraculousaradoxf putativeigh African"ulturenan

otherwise

egradedhysical

ndmoral niverse.s

Wole

oyinka

ut

t,

o

dmire

the

ntique

ronzef he fe nd

idiculehe

very

eople

whose andiwork"t

s,

s

a

"directnvitationo free-for-all

ace or

ispossession,

ustified

n

the

rounds

f

the

eeper's

nworthiness"

Soyinka

6-17).

n

the

work

f ierre

eilharde

Char-

din,

uch

aradoxes

ere

o

be

expected,

ndwere

sually

nderstood

n

he

ontext

of n

over-arching

eo-Catholicism

hichwould

ladly

ndorse

uch

entiments

on

theological

rounds.

r,

o

Comtewould ave

rgued,

inceCatholicism

ave

"an

mperfectepresentation"

f

he

heory

f

human

aturend

ailed omake he

"sympatheticnstinctsreponderates far s possiblever he elfishnstincts"

("Revolution"

37).

But

enghor'sxplicit

ndorsementf

Frobenius's

rgument

was

notbased

olely

r ven

trictly

n this ut

athern

ts

ffinity

ith hat

ew

romantic

treak

n

Western

hought

hich

enghor

dentifies

ith

ietzsche,

erg-

son nd

Rimbaud,

nd

which e

dissociatesrom

he

nglish

mpiricists;

rom

ant

and

Hegel

and

indeed rom

uguste

omte nd all

Cartesian

ationalistsnd

idealists.

Senghor's

elight

n

Frobenius,hen,

s not

one

more nstance

f

generic

worship

f

he

West.

n

the

ontrary,

t

riginates

rom

rejection

f

certain

uro-

centrism

Senghor

alls t

"albino-centrism")

hich

nthrones

ationalismf

he

"factual,-materialistic,ookkeeping,ntellectualist"ind"Revolution"3).Fro-

beniuss

a

champion

ecause e

rejected

or

thought

e had

uccessfully

ejected)

the

self-constructs"f

"mechanistic

uropeanogic

which

ays

ttention

nly

o

'material

acts'

levatedo he

tatus

f'objective

ealities',"

hereby

lacing

he

iv-

ilizationf

Africa

n

the

ame

eague

s those

thers

hich

developed

enetically

by

assinghrough

he ame

tages

f

nfancy,

dolescencend

maturity"

"Revolu-

tion"

3,

84,85).

This

formulation

s a clue

to

Senghor's

ifficulty

ecause

robenius,

nlike

Nietzsche,

as

not

eeking

o

re-makehe

Darwinian

volutionary

odel

o twill

fit hehistoryf he oul, omakeHistoryerve,ot he ocial rganismasHegel

had

magined)

ut he

uman

rganism

tself.

ietzsche

osited

momentf

ransi-

tion,

ven f

ranscendence

eyond

mere

volution,

o

the

Age

of

he

uperman.

Frobenius ould

ot

go

that ar. e

was

uite

ontento

use

Nietzschean

omanti-

cism o

accommodateis

basic

proto-Darwinian

oncept

f

cultural

volution.

Infancy,

dolescencend

maturity

ere he

key

oncepts:

he

eriods

f

rt nd

re-

ativity,

f

harmony

etween

eeling

nd

discursive

eason

nd

will;

nd

inally,

f

he

triumph

f

discursive

eason

ver

ntuitive

eason,

practical

pplication

ver

re-

ation,"

exploitation

f

ife

ver he

iving

f

ife."

ather

han

egard

his s

the

highmomentf he volutionaryrocess,robeniusegardeduch nage, ndeed,as oneof

decadence. r so

Senghor

nderstoodim

s

saying.

t s

this

onclusion

which

mplicitlylaces

he ulturesf

Black

eoples

t

the

tage

f

nfancy

ithout

degrading

hem s

primitive

r ven

merely

volving/developing.

Here

gain,

lthough

enghor

either

ays

or

dmits

t,

robenius

ashim-

self

till

e-reading

nd

re-writingegel,

arwin

nd

Nietzschetthe

east. n

that

sense,

s

Mudimbe ould

ay,

robenius

ad

with

im

he

odor f

his

ancestors

about im.

ut hat

enghor

laced

reat remium

nthe

mystical"

nd

magical"

attributesf

what

robenius

as

happy

ocall

Ethiopian

nd

Hamitic

ivilizations,

respectively,

eant hat

ecould

ot

gnore

he ther act

hat,

ven

or

robenius,


8/14

Michael

.

C. Echeruo

1

7

the

esultingompliment

o

Africa,

uch

s t

was,

ad

strictly

hetorical

haracter

to t.

Andherein

ay

n

important

tate

f

ffairs.or

enghor,

hat

ompliment

wasnot hetoricaln he east. he "truth"f robenius'seaningas n he ext f

Book

I

ofThe

History

fAfrican

ivilizations,

ot

n

Frobenius'sntentions.or

he

point

f

Senghor's

xtended

ommentary

n

themovements

f

hought

etween

France nd

Germany,

etween reece nd

Alexandria,

etween ationalism

nd

romanticism-allhat ffortas

part

f

larger

ommitment:o

explain

he

his-

tory

f

white ivilizationndat the ame ime o find

place

within

he

grander

scheme-and

good lace,

oo-for

he

ivilizationf heBlack

eoples.

use

Black

ratherhan

African

nthis

ontext

ecause

enghor

asnot s nterested

n

Africa

in

the

ggregate

ense

s

he

waswith

he

articularhenomenon

f

Black

Negro)

civilization.nd n curiouslyantalizingay,robeniusfferedperfectlyarmo-

nious

xplanation.

y eparating

amitic rom

thiopian,

ystical

rom

agical,

Senghor

as lso enabled o

separate

orth

Africa rom

quatorial

nd

tropical

Africa

although

e

was

to

oin

Frobenius

n

excluding

he

Hottentotsnd

the

Bushmenromhis atter

ivilization).

It

has

not ften

nough

een

ecognized

hat

n

espousing

robenius's

hesis,

and n

hus

ostulatinghistory,

lbeit future

ne,

or

egro

eoples,enghor

as

enabled o

ndulge

isAfricanelf

y

ejecting

rance

as

the oul f

uropeanism)

and

hailing ermany

s

the ude

ut

merging

pirit

f

renewed

urope.

hus,

s

thoroughly

renchs his

ducation

as, enghor

as

nevertheless

eo-Germanic

inhis

eepestllegiances.

rmore

xactly,

e aw nFrobenius's

heory

f he lter-

nationsn

the

history

f

man etweenhe

thiopian

nd

heHamitic

correspon-

dencewith he

lternations

etween

Gallic,

artesian)

ationalism

nd

German,

Herderian)

omanticism.

ndeed,

enghor's

ntire

roject

eems o consistn

the

recognition

f

he

irreplaceable"

ruthf achof

hese

omponents

f

hese ivili-

zations. efore

robenius,

o

Senghor

eld,

ivilizations

scillatedromne

pole

o

another.

ermany

having

ttainedts

maturity

ith German

mastery

n

the

manipulation

f

acts' was oon oreturn

owhat

robenius

quoted y

enghor)

called "sense f

he

eal,

which

lways,

ltimately,riumphs

ver

acts"

"Revolu-

tion" 8). Moder culture asneither allicnorGermanic.wentieth-century

European

ivilization

as,

n

fact,

n

aberration:

a

civilizationhich

as

destroyed

the

elebrated

quilibrium

nd

despiritualized

uro-America

y

ausing

t o ose

ts

Gemut,

ts oul"

"Revolution"

7).

f

he

urrentad

was

Germanic,

t

nly rought

into

ocus hat

enghor

elt he

Negro-African

lready

ad:

true alance

etween

the

wo. he

challenge

f

Negro-African

ivilization

as n ts

ffirmationf

the

equilibrium

etween

eeling

nd

will,

oul

nd

mind"

"Revolution"

7,

88),

a fea-

ture hich

enghor

oted hat

imbaud

ad

rhetorically

pprehended

n

A

Season

in

Hell.

There,

enghor

ays,

imbaud

turs

his

ack

n

blind

ositivism,

nd ele-

brateshe iscoveriesfhisnew rt""Revolution"2).

The connection

ith

imbaud as

not

gone

nnoticed,

ut t

hasnot

been

used o

re-construct

enghor's

eading

f

Frobenius.

anet

.

Vaillant as

noted

that

mong

heFrench

oets

opular

ith he

ntellectualsf

his

generation,

en-

ghor

referred

laudel,

imbaud,

nd

Baudelaireo

"themore

erebral

allarme,

Valery,

r

Verlaine,"

lmost

uggesting

hereby

hat

his

reference

as

ue

o

kind

of

ntellectual

ncapacity

n

the

part

f

Senghor

nd

his

generation

f

Africans

(75).

It

would ave

beenmore

o

the

point

o

relate

enghor's

references

o

his

anti-rationalist,

ro-Romantic

sdistinct

rom

ny

nti-intellectualist

nclinations.

Rimbaud'slaims o

n

"African

ssence,"

ven tface

alue,

would

ave een

uite


9/14

8

I

Research

n

African

iteratures

irrelevant

o the

"essence,"

o to

speak,

f

Africa

tself,

ust

s

Senghor's

German-

ness" o

Germany.

fRimbaud startled

ourgeois

rance

f he

ate

nineteenth

en-

tury

ydeclaring

imself

Negro

nd

eaving

rance

withmuch anfareo

spend

he

rest fhis ifenAfrica"Vaillant75),he was ndulgingimself,otprovidingval-

idating

heory

f

Hamitic

civilization.

n

this

merging

fthe

iteral nd

the meta-

phoric,

fthe iberation fthe

poetic

oul nd the

physical

eparation

rom

urope-

we should ense the

kind

of

difficulty

nherent

n Rimbaud's

wn

words

nd

faiths,

and ofwhat

enghor

wouldhave made

of

t.That is to

say,

herewasno

way

engh-

or's

Negritude

ouldhave made

noble

avage

ofhis

own

being

o himself.

To

say

as

Rimbauddoes

in "A

Season in

Hell"),

"I am an

animal,

nigger"

was

not

to love

Africa r

African

ways,

r to be

an

apostle

of

Negritude.

enghor

knew

that

Nigger

was

a

convenient

wear-word,

term

n

whichwas

perpetually

inscribed cultivated,anguinebutvicarious estialization f theEuropean elf.

Rimbaud

might

ave said ofhimself hat

he was brother nd kinsman o

Beelzebub

and

meant

t in

the same sense that

he

would

peak

of

himself

ntering

the

true

kingdom

f

the sons

of

Ham"

(Complete

Works

96;

"Je

uis

une

bete,

un

negre...

J'entre

u vrai

royaume

es

enfants e

Cham,"

Oeuvres

193).

Rimbaud

makes t

clear

thatthe new aesthetics

would

"determine he form

nd movement

f

every

consonant,

nd

by

means

f nstinctive

hythms,

I would]

latter

myself]

hat

had

invented

poetic anguage

ccessible o

all the senses."That

system,

o which

he

held

the reserved

ight

f "translation" as

actually

parodic

ssertion

f a

deep-

seated

elf-disgust:

The oldtricks

f

oetrylayed

n

mportant

art

n

my lchemy

f

heword.

accustomed

yself

o

plain

allucination:

uite rankly

used

o ee

mosque

in

place

f

factory,

school f

rums

ade

y

ngels,

arriages

n

the oads

f

heaven,

salon t

the ottom

f

lake;

monsters,

ysteries;

ballad itle aised

up

horrorsefore e. hen

explained y

magicalophistries

ith he alluci-

nation

f

words.

ended

y inding

he

isorder

f

my

mind

acred."

Carre

11

And

yet,

enghor

aw n

thatribald

onversion

n

indirect

utwelcome

cknowl-

edgment

f

hisessential

African ifference.

To

the

extent,

f

course,

hat

Rimbaud's

elf-corroding,

urope-flagellating

posturewas seenasa comment nthedeclineof heEuropeanMan,tothat xtent,

paradoxically,

as

Rimbaud's

hrasing

nderstood,

n

the sense

n which

Europe

usually

read"

hegemonic

discourses,

s

an

implicit

ndorsement f

the value

of

HamiticMan. Francewas

correct

n

reading

lluminationss a

testament

f

protest,

as

implying

validation f

hevalues

nd

essenceswhich t

thought

thad

ascribed

to

the

Negro,

he

non-European

man.

But

to that

xtent, lso,

Rimbaud's

hetoric

still

oncedes

o

Europe

he

first

laim

to

Reason and

Order.

xile,

n

fact,

ecomes

the

simplest esture

f

his

disappointed eproof;

n

index of

his

frustration

ith

France's

and

Europe's)

failure,las,

to live

up

to its

destiny.

urope

etains

itle o

theprovince fReasonand Order.The Europehe wasrejectingmaybe fake.The

civilization fFrance

n

which

he

businessman,

he

udge,

he

general

nd even

the

emperor

re all fake

niggers,

o to

speak,

may

ndeedbe also

fake;

ut ts inwas

the

price

o

pay

for hecult

of

Reason,

he

price

f

being

Man,

n

theold

rationalist,

og-

ito

ense

of

heterm.

Rimbaud's

egrophilia,

hen,

was a

farcical ut

welcomedrama fhis

escape

from

aradise nd his

hankering

or

Hell,

Satan's

paradise,

he

region

f

thirst

nd

hunger";

f"shouts,

rums,

nd

dance,"

f"Dance, dance,

dance,

dance "

The

cele-

bration s

really

n

anti-masque,

s

Jonathan

gate

has

demonstrated

Ngate,

pas-

sim).

The

language

remains rench nd

Catholic.

Rimbaud's

oetry

f

escape

is


10/14

Michael

.

C. Echeruo 1

9

laced

hrough

nd

hrough

ith he

anguage

f

Christian

edemption.

isGod

s

always,

n a

sense,

he

riginal

udaic

od,

lthough

is

Hamitic

eaven,

ow

parody

f

aradise,

s

play

lace

or hildren.hereGodwill o

ongerregret

he

age f motionnd eeling,"here vilwill xpresstselfn he bligationimposed

by

white

men)

o be

baptized,et

ressednd

go

o

work"

Complete

orks

97; Je

ne

regrette

as

e

siecle es oeurs

ensibles...."

Les lancs

ebarquent.

e canon

l

faut

e

soumettreu

bapteme,

'habiller,ravailler,"

euvres

93). ndeed,

nd

at

heart,

lluminations

s

closer

o

ThePreludehan asbeennoticed

see

rele

0-71);

and s a

furtherndication

hat

his

Romanticism,

or

ll its ense frevolt

rom

Europe,

or

ll

its

hankering

fterhe

wisdom

fthe

Orient,

or ll

its

fascinated

interest

n

thechildren f

Ham,

was

a

variation

n

an

old

European

rope:

n

invertedelebrationf he

reatness

hatWAS

Europe.

Vaillantays f llthis hat clearly,imbaud asnotpre-occupiedithhe

actual

elationship

etween realAfricand

real

urope,

rwith he

rue ature

of

he

African. e

used he wo s

geographicalymbols

o

express

n

inner

trug-

gle."

n

theworld hus

reated,

nd n certain

oods,"

the

oet ejected

he

and

conventionally

ssumed

o

be

superior,

rance,

or

hat

onventionallyespised,

Africa"

77).

Butwhile

aying

o,

Vaillant

oes

not

eparate

wo

ssues:

imbaud's

use

of

Africa nd

Senghor's

ttachment

o it.

For

Rimbaud

as

not,

xcept

n

a

demonstrably

hetorical

ense,

ayingnything

ositive

bout

Africa.

imbaud's

text

was

nly gesture:

t ouldnever e read

t face alue.

ssentially,

n

fact,

he

surface

ext

fA SeasonnHell

ays

hat ne an

get

o

fed

p

nd o

dissatisfied

ith

the tate fEuropeanormorepecifically,fGallic)civilizationhat newould

wish newere

othing

ut

mere east.

WallaceFowlie's

udgment

n

this,

hough

peaking

o

Rimbaud's

roto-

Freudianism,

s

till

pposite.

owlie

peaks

f

he mother'somb"

s

the first

os-

mos

f

child"

ust

s the

paternal

ouse" s

the econd

osmosn

which

athers

"phantom"

r law"

ndmothers "the

ne

person

e

hasthe

ight

ndthe

gift

f

understanding

nd

oving

ecause e feels o

shame n

her

presence"

15).

The

poetry

f

Rimbaud's

eventh

ear,

owlie

rgues,

as

hat f

"primitive

ite"

nd

the hild

Rimbaudresembled

he

Negro

nd

pagan

f

his

eal

oems

f

ifteen

nd

sixteen"14).Rimbaud'sevolt as kind f reudianomingf ge,markedy he

formal

illing

f he

French ather

o

he

can

become man

assume

esponsibility

forife":

This

rama,

hichs

change

f

iving

nd

mind,

elebrated

y rimitive

ribes

as

the

olemnite f

uberty,

nd

assed

vern

ilence

y

he

ivilizationsf

our

ime,

s ne

f he

mysterious

f llhuman

ramas.

16)

Hence,

Rimbaud's

ejection

f

rance

s well s his

spousal

f

Hamitism,

ere

ut

gestures

f

he

pirit,

struggle

o

discoveris

rue

spiritual

eing"

n

n

age

which

had

destroyed

is

hree

osmoses:

the

aternal

ouse

which

hould

ave

been

he

love f motherndwhich asnot; evolt hich hould avebeen he ove f er-

sons nd

whichwas

not;

he

pirit

hich

hould

ave

been he

oveof

God

and

whichwas

not"

25).

Deconstructed,

owlie's

rgument

ould

mean,

s s

actually

the

ase,

hatRimbaud

as

uffering

rom

heneurosesf

familial

lienation;

nd

from he

frustrationn

never

aving

he

prospect

f

resolving

is

crisis

ither

througharricide

r

ncest. is

protestations

otwithstanding,

imbaud as

nei-

thern

ove

with frica

orwith

fricans.

Senghor's

egritude,

hen,

was

not

a

matterf

Freudian

meta-speak.

is

claim o

the ove f

blackness as

he urface

ext;

s

ndeed

ashis

pride

n

being

a

Hamite.

nd his s

why enghor's

onnection ith

imbaud

ecomes

venmore


11/14

10

I

Researchn

African

iteratures

important.enghor's

ommenthat

imbaud as

visionarydiscovering

heval-

ues

fNegritude,"

ouches

n/addresses

hat

art

fRimbaud'statementhatwas

f

interest

o

he

African

n

Senghor,

amely,

he elebrationf

form

ndmovement"

andof instinctivehythms,"f newkind f estheticsotnegotiatedrunder-

stood

withinhose onventions

fArt

o

which

urope

sually

aid

ittlettention.

Senghor

elished

n

that

oncept

f

a

poetic

word

accessible,

t

one time

r

another,

o all the

enses,"

hat

would,ndeed,

efine

the

stheticsf

Negro

Art"

("Revolution"2).

But heRevolution hich

enghorpeaks

f nhis

ssay

s,

ll

said,

ot

he

Frobenian,

ut he

Bergsonian

ne.

This

needs

mphasizing

n

this

ontext.en-

ghor

wells

n t

specially

ecause

f he

ontrast

t

nables

im omake

with he

Nietzscheanvent n

Germany.

oth

Bergson

nd

Nietzsche,

nthis

eading,

ere

re-interpretingristotle.escartes adearliere-interpretedhe ripartismf he

Nichomachianthics

y ettingp regime

fMind

nous)

nd he ubordinationo

it

of

hefacultiesf ensation

aisthesis)

nd

desire

orexis).

escartes's

evolution

then

ay

n ts

eplacing

f

Aristotelian

ripartism

ith

he

ystem

f

duality,

he

opposition

f

discursivend ntuitive

eason,

fdianoia

nd

theoria,

s

Senghor

points

ut.Nietzsche

dopted

his

artesiancheme ut et t

up

on a

foundationf

Schopenhauerianessimism

o

produce

hat

enghor

alls

"symbiosis

f

eeling

and

ntuition,

iscursiveeason nd

will"

"Revolution"

0).

The Revolution

f

1889,

he

Bergsonian

vent

rising

rom

he

publication,

as

Senghorpecifies,

f ssai ur es

onneesmmediatese a

conscience

Time

nd ree

Will),wasnot o much revoltgainst eason sagainst ationalism'sisplace-

ment

f

ntuition

s

an

analogous

aculty

o

Reason. rmore

xactly,

ergsonpoke

out

against

what

enghor

alls rationalism's

intellectualist

eviation"nd its

"materialistic

ositivism."

n

place

f

heCartesian

uality

f

discursive

nd ntu-

itive

eason,

ergson

et

p parallelsymbiosis

f

eeling

nd

ntuition,"

henew

(and

in

Senghor's

iew,

he

"true")

meaning

f

Aristotle'sous. n

that

ense,

although

he

Bergsonian

evolution

ought

o

supplant

he

Cartesian,

t

was

not

altogether

or

primarily)

ntended

o

reject

Reason,

but

in

contrast o

the

Nietzscheanism,

ut n

the

pirit

fthe

humanism

fthe

French

evolutionf

1789) o ffirmhe values f ifendfreedom"hilelikeNietzsche's)ultivating

"man's

reative

otential"

"Revolution"

1-82).

There

was,

hen,

nthe

nviron-

ment

f

1889,

oth

strong

nti-humanist

German)

momentum

in

Nietzsche)

and

deeply

elt umanistic

French)

mpulse

in

Bergson)

hich,

ogether,

ade

the

poetic

evolt

f

Rimbaud

n event f

ome

momentor

enghor.

t

was

his

moment

hich,

n

hindsight,

ade he

laims

f

Frobeniusn

Destinyf

Nations

compelling.

hat robenius

id

was

o

onsolidate

he

tate

f

mind

isposing

en-

ghor

ndhis

lack

olleagues

o

the

ssertionf

heir

articular

ivilization.n

Sen-

ghor's

atherxact

hrasing

f

hematter:

Wehad

no ack f

rguments

ith

hich

to ttractur ellowfricansndNegroesf he iasporao he enaissancefBlack

Culture....

Yet

we

began

o seek

other ven

more

triking

rguments

fter e

encounteredrobenius"

"Revolution"

7).

In

many ays,

hen,

enghor

ighlights

ome

ronic

moments

f

history.

he

revolutions

f

889 nd

1936had

onsecrated

wo

rucial

momentsn

he

history

f

European

scendancy.

n

both

evolutions,

urope

ad

created

Caucasian

model

of

progress

rom

hat

may

e

termedhe

ommon

istory

f

hemankind.

pecifi-

cally

he

Surrealist ovementn

Art

which

urope

aw

s itsown

definitionf

excellence

ecame

symbol

f

Europe's

wn

imitations.f he

Revolutionf

1889

was a

returno

Romanticism,

o was

the

Surrealist

ovement

ndeed lso

an


12/14

Michael

.

C. Echeruo

I

11

acknowledgment

f

Africa.twas

oubly

ronichat

urope

as

e-defining

tself

n

terms

f

curiousombinationf

lements,

fricanndGerman.

imbaud's

ejec-

tion f

Gallic ivilizationhus

ecame

variant

f

he

ejection

fDescartes

nd he

Greek raditionsowhichtwas ssociated.twas lso nembrace,y mplication,

of

German

xpressionism

nd he

dentical

ife f he

aideuma,

r

he

oul,

oth f

Africand

f

Germany,

hich

robeniusad

laimed ad

merged

romis

tudy

f

the

ocietiesnd ultures

f

Africa.

Senghoruotes

robenius'sefinition

fpaideumaas

a

psychological

otion

which

esignates

he

piritual

tructure

f

people

o

he

xtenthat t smanifested

in ulturalehavior"

"Revolution"

6).

t s n

his

oncept

hat

enghor

and

Fro-

benius)

ome losest

othe dea f validatable

wentieth-century

odernism.

or

in

their

cheme,

egritude

ot

nly

llowed or

he efinition

f

thiopian

ulture

asbelongingoNegroes,"ut above ll"thedefinitionf he deaofpaideumas

applied

oour

wn

entury.

n

retrospect,enghor's

raise

fGerman

xpression-

ism

mplied

n his

rejection

fFrench ationalismas

doubly amning

ecause t

was

Germany

ndeed hich

n

hose

ery

ears

as

cting

ut he nner onclusions

which treached romts

elf-appointed

ask

f

estoring

he

glory

fGreece nthe

guise

f heGermanoul.

n

ts ask f

ppropriating

reece,

ermany's

ontempt

for he

plebeian

mpiricism

f he

English

nd he ffete

ationalism

f

France id

indeed lso ead othat

egradation

f

he

negro/Africanerson

hich ad

hitherto

been imited

n German

hought

o theAfricanontinent.he

grand

istory

f

Hegel ecame he randeracismf ven robeniusnd heGermanrain-weighers

and

geneticists.

ate eems omehow o have found semiotic

ropriety

n his

adopted

irst

ame,

eopold.

t

hasnotbeen

ufficiently

oted,

enghor

ays,

hat

Frobenius

puts

he

Germans,

long

with he

Negro-Africans,

nto

thiopian

ivili-

zation,

hereas

he

rench,

he

nglish,

nd he

Americans

re

laced

ntoHamitic

civilization"

"Revolution"6-87).

Of

ourse,

or

enghor,

robeniusasnot acist.Ithasnotbeen

ufficiently

noted,"

enghorays,

that robeniusnsists

pon

ulture,

ot ace"

"Revolution"

86).

Indeed,

enghor

ctually

ays

hat

robenius

asa

"consistent

nti-racist"

(85).

And twould o more

avematteredhatasJohannesabian asrecently

suggested)

robenius

poke

with hevoice f he

Herrenmensch,

he ace hatwill

enslave nd utilize he labor

ower"

f

the

Negro"

Fabian

0).

Frobenius as

anti-racistecause e subscribed

o

the

dea

of

the

unity

fhuman

ivilization"

(84),

a

unity ruly

ormed

romhe

diversity

f

ts

many

ormsr

styles,

ach of

which culture

kultur)

f ts wn. There reneither

rimitive

eoples

or

rimi-

tive aces"

85).

What

hey

ll

shared

n

was

history;

ore

xactly

morphology,

character-of-beingnalogous

othat f

hehuman

rganism

tself.

his tructuref

being

was

volutionary,

ot n theDarwinian

ense

y

whichMan

wasnot

really

Manuntil

e

hadevolvednto

Man,

but

nthe

developmental

ense n

which

he

child, heyouthndtheMan are lltruly en houghmanifestingachone the

style

r

piritppropriate

o ts

istory

nd ts oul.

Ethnic

haracterology,"

henew

sciencewhich aul

Grieger's

amous

ork

ad

naugurated,

as,

n ts wn

way,

furtheronfirmationf

robenius's

nalysis.

or t

rgues

or common

raitf mo-

tivity

etween ermans

nd

Africans,

wo

thno-types

alled

fluctuants"nd

"introverts"ecause newas

slower"han he thern

reactiono motional

tim-

ulus"

87).

Senghor

as

ery

much aken

y

his

hought.

robenius's

laborate

ypology

of

nfancy,

dolescence,

nd

maturity

ecame

or

enghor

ot he

igures

f idicule


13/14

12

I

Research

n

African

iteratures

and

mockery

hich

hey

ssentially

ere utmomentsf

high

raise

nd

pprecia-

tion. he

"kingdom

f hildhood" hich

enghor

peaks

f

n TheRevolution..."

is

heworld f ulfillment

nd

ulture.

nthat

ingdom,ong

eforeis ontact

ith

his rencheachers,

enghor

ad xperiencedpriorand ntuited)ejectionf he

lessonwhich

is eachers

rged

n him. n the

village,

e had

mbibed

he three

essentials

f

Negro-African

esthetics:he

ymbolicmage;

he

melody

f ormsnd

movements,

ounds

nd

colors; nd,

inally,

he

rhythm

f

symmetricalarallel-

ism"

"Revolution"8).

The

maturity

f

hildhood,

ike

he

ationality

f

motions,

markedhe

ogic

fboth robeniusnd

Senghor.

t was

learly

he

point

hat or

Senghor

s for

many

ther frican

hinkers,

he

uggestion

f

nfancy

as

not

yn-

onymous

ith henotion f hildishnessnd

naivete,

utwith

hat

f

romise

nd

innocence.

frica,

s other frica hinkers

nd

writersontinued

o

say,

was

he

continentf he uture.twas continent

rowing

nto ts wn uture

aturity.

he

image

f

nfancy

erved

lso

o

ustify

t

the

lobal

evel he ase

for

he ecadence

of

urope.

For

enghor,

hen,

othing

ould avebeenmore

ystematic

nd

non-racial

than

scheme

hich oth

cknowledged

he

ntiquity

fAfricanultures

well

s

its

promise

f

uture

evelopment.

robenius ade t

possible

o ove he

past

nd

hope

or future.

t

especiallyut

ther

hings

ntheir

lace, ncluding

he

attern

he was

lready

ttachedo s a

history

f

uropeanhought,amely

he

teady

nd

destructivenfluencefrationalism.o claim oul ndemotionorNegroAfrica

was

nly preliminary

tatement;

he ull ssertionas hat oul nd motion ere

the

principal

haracteristicf he

Negro-Africaneoples.

n

that ense

eeling

nd

emotion,

ot reason nd

ogic,

were he essential haracteristicf

negro-Afri-

canness,

f

Negritude.enghor

oes

peak

f

robenius'sorks a

project

ocreate

"a

new ivilization

y econciling

ll

peoples

f he

arth na universal

ialogue."

But he

phrase,

universal

ialogue,"

omes,

otfrom robenius

imself,

ut rom

Teilharde

Chardin,

he

hilosopher

hose

atholicism,

atherhan

e-incarate

the

rationalism

f

Senghor'seminary

urriculum,

pened p

new

possibilities

o

Senghoror he ull mbracefEuropetogetherithtsnon-Cartesianlements)

("Revolution"3).

Senghoroints

ut,

hough,

hat

robenius

resages

eilhard

e

Chardin

nd

his

vision f "Civilizationf he

Universal'

(87).

But,

s

o

often

n

para-discourses

ith

urope,

he

Africanabit s o

ccom-

modate

make

oom

or)

lementsf ther

ystems

atherhan oabsorb

or

olo-

nize)

hem.t s

this eaturef

ccommodation,

re-eminently,

hat

ives

his

uch

an

mportant

ut

mbiguous

mportance

o he

igure

f

Bergson

round

hose rev-

olution"

enghor

hus uilds is

regime.

n

an

important

dentificationith

nd

departure

rom

ergson's

IntuitionS

method,"

enghor

eems obe

affirming

is

own African)ssertionhat ntuitions ALSO methodsee Deleuze, h. 1;

Grogin).

ntuitions

not he

Other,"

ut

Another."Black"snot

he Other"

o

"White"

ny

more han Reason" s

the Other" o

"Emotion."

he

problems

f

dualismnd

monismrise

irectly

nd

nevitably

ven romhe

Bergsonian

ormu-

lation.

hey

re

endered oot

y

enghor's.

ergson

nd

Frobenius,

lthough

till

European,

ade

enghor'segritude

anifest.


14/14

Michael

J.

C. Echeruo

1 13

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