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Moses, You may already know, and this text might appear a bit bamboozling for undergrads. Still, provided you're patient and you want your class to really understand the genesis, Mudimbe's The Idea of Africa--first 1-3 chapters--can take you through that genealogy usefully. It takes the 'outside' origins of Africa from antiquity to the present, and forms the basis for understanding Mudimbe's claims in The Invention of Africa, viz., that the idea of Africa has not succeeded in shaking of the colonial referent. It is based upon the colonial library, hence also Mudimbe's hesitancy to accept what others have tried to call 'African philosophy' in preference of 'African gnosis'. Perhaps there may be other texts out there that simply the discussion Mudimbe is having, but I think the way Mudimbe chronologically lays it out is usable for teaching purposes with a bit more guidance from the professor. Clapperton Chakanetsa Mavhunga Assistant Professor of Science, Technology & Society Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) E-mail: clappertonm@yahoo.com
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