Talk on Mudimbe's "The Invention of Africa"

V.Y. Mudimbe’s The Invention of Africa is an articulate interrogation of the assumptions and presumptions of the humanities and social sciences insofar as they sought to study various aspects of African cultures almost three decades after most African countries gained their formal political independence. Nevertheless, it is regrettable that a substantial number of scholars in so-called Anglophone Africa are unaware of this groundbreaking work.

Consequently, in this paper, I seek to answer the following three questions: Does anything remain of the concept of “African Studies” after Mudimbe’s critique of the essentially Western theoretical underpinnings of this field of inquiry? To what extent does Mudimbe’s The Invention of Africa contribute to the creation of meaningful links among Francophone, Anglophone and Lusophone scholarship in the African context? How can Mudimbe’s critique of scholarship on Africa illuminate future directions in the humanities and social sciences within the African context?