Silences in African History

Book excerpt: Among those who have suffered enslavement, colonisation, steady and relentless economic exploitation, cultural asphyxiation, religious persecution, gender, race and class discrimination, as well as political repression, silences should be seen as facts, because silences are indeed facts which have not been accorded the status of facts. So states Jacques Depelchin in this discussion, which encompasses an examination and analysis of dominant theories - political, social, economic, cultural and ideological - on Africa. He analyses in depth the influence of capitalism on the continent, in relation to various historical events through the centuries. He also castigates those whose only vision of Africa is through the eyes of colonialism, and systematically erodes misconceptions about Africa and the nature of the Black man which have taken on the status of history.