What about Africa?
“We used their banana trees,” I responded to whether we had found a place to “faire les besoins.”[1] Our medical evangelical team was caravaning back to the city after a week in the interior. A few vehicles were delayed, so we pulled over and took advantage of the jungle around us. We had stopped in front of a home, and the women were invited to go behind the buildings into the banana tree grove to have privacy for our “needs.” Seeing the ladies of the home, sitting outside around a massive cooking pot preparing manioc by hand using ancient tools is fascinating. There was no electricity, vehicles, or visible modern conveniences on the property. It seemed as if we had stepped back in time. As I write this, I am in Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa. I am now in a big city. I just returned from shopping in an airconditioned grocery store, seeing Burger King, and I am now sitting in the air conditioning. Just a few hours away and even just a few neighborhoods away, people live as they have for centuries. It is ironic to me to write about postmodernism after seeing people still living out ancient customs and practices.
Stephen Hick examines the philosophy and ideology of postmodernism in Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault. Hick’s defines postmodernism as “an activist strategy against the coalition of reason and power.”[2] In the first few sentences of the book, he writes, “Leading intellectuals tell us that modernism has died and that a revolutionary era is upon us—an era liberated from the oppressive strictures of the past, but at the same time disquieted by its expectations for the future.”[3] I immediately thought of hundreds of people who visited our medical clinics this week. These are people that postmodernists would say are living in the confines of the past. It is what they know. It is their way of life. Is it our place to say it is wrong or oppressive?
Postmodern philosophy is deconstructing reason, truth, and reality. Hicks explains that postmodernists “believe that in the name of reason, truth, and reality Western civilization has wrought dominance, oppression, and destruction.”[4] He shares the inconsistency and contradictions in postmodernism, “Subjectivism and relativism in one breath, dogmatic absolutism in the next.” [5] As I wrestled with these philosophical ideologies, I kept thinking about the Ivorians I saw this week. Or the Mauritanians I have met who continue their nomadic traditions, moving their herds and families to find water. How does postmodernism affect these and others in Africa who continue to live in the ways of the past?
Since my current setting is Africa, I explored how postmodernism may affect Africa. Peter Takov and Ngoran Banlanjo address this in their double-blind peer-reviewed article in the Global Journal of Human-Social Science. Takov and Banlanjo argue that postmodernism “can cause radical but destructive shifts in traditional African cultures and the Indigenous values that these cultures define and uphold.”[6] The following are some specific areas in which they believe postmodernism will threaten African cultures.
Takov and Banlanjo confirm my concerns about postmodern ideology and its effects on Africa: “Postmodernism has deconstructive and eroding consequences on African Indigenous cultures, their belief systems and practices, as well as the norms and values that these Indigenous cultures uphold.”[11] In response to postmodernism, the authors believe African cultures can withstand the pressures through their centuries-old values and philosophies as they maintain their authenticity and integrity.[12]
What is my response as I navigate postmodernism in my context in Africa? Postmodernism is a philosophy founded on contradictions, a lack of reason, and no absolute truth. In contrast, the Bible tells us in John 14:6, “Jesus replied, I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me.” Henri Nouwen reminds me of what is needed for followers of Jesus to proclaim Truth to the World:
The gospel proclaims human freedom and dignity more than human enslavement and depravity. What is needed is a balance of biblical values and emphasis on the empowering quality of the gospel. The spiritual values of humility, long suffering, endurance, and obedience are to be affirmed alongside self-reliance, freedom, proclamation, mission, and authority. The gospel that proclaims the intrinsic worth, sacred value, and essential dignity of human beings encourages our work for equal rights, good housing, good medical care, and good education, and our fight for justice and peace in the world.[13]
[1] The discrete way in the Ivory Coast is to ask for an area for personal toileting needs.
[2] Stephen Ronald Craig Hicks, Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault (Roscoe, IL: Ockham’s Razor, 2011), 13.
[3] Stephen Ronald Craig Hicks, Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault (Roscoe, IL: Ockham’s Razor, 2011), 11.
[4] Hicks, 12-13
[5] Hicks, 200-201.
[6] Peter Takov and Ngoran Banlanjo, “Postmodernism Vis-a-Vis African Traditional Cultures: Rethinking the Pathways to Authenticity,” Global Journal of Human-Social Science: A Arts & Humanities- Psychology 21, no. 2 (2021): 33–43.
[7] Takov, 38
[8] Takov, 38.
[9] Takov, 38.
[10] Takov, 39
[11] Takov, 40.
[12] Takov, 42.
[13] Henri J. M. Nouwen, Discernment: Reading the Signs of Daily Life, Kindle Ed (New York, NY: HarperOne, 2013), 141.
About the Author
Kari
Kari is a passionate follower of Jesus. Her journey with Him currently has her living in the Sahara in North Africa. With over a decade of experience as a family nurse practitioner and living cross-culturally, she enjoys being a champion for others. She combines her cross-cultural experience, her health care profession, and her skills in coaching to encourage holistic health and growth. She desires to see each person she encounters walk in fullness of joy, fulfilling their God-designed purpose. “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” Romans 12:12 ESV17 responses to “What about Africa?”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Kari,
It is fascinating to think of postmodernism from an African perspective. I wonder how much language has to do with all of this?
In Kenya, I once asked about a sick person to a family member in English. The answer was, “They have a fever, malaria and need medicine.” Then, after an hour or so, I asked the same person the very same question. This time though I asked the question in Kiswahili. The answer was completely different, “They were cursed by a sorcerer and they are sick. They need to go to the witchdoctor for prayers and treatment.” The language used determined the worldview at the heart of the problem. It was fascinating.
Wow, that’s crazy, Adam!
Adam, I have seen similar situations as well. It is ironic that they are also open to both treatments–hoping one will work.
Hi Kari,
Thank you for you blog. What evidence do you see of postmodern worldview being manifest in the lives of people you serve or meet while in Africa?
Thanks Julie. The first thing I see is a universalistic way of viewing God. There is belief in God also the idea that all paths can lead to him; there is not a specific truth.
Hi Kari, Thanks for your post and the reality of your setting. I am wondering if influence from the rest of the world has brought postmodern ideologies to your area or are the area and the people insulated in some ways from it.
Hi Diane, You are spot on—it is a little bit of both! The cities are more globalized and technologically advanced. The cities and universities are definitely more liberal and have more postmodern influence. Those who live in the interior and are more strict with their families are able to isolate themselves from it to some level.
Kari,
I hope your trip was a good one.
As a nurse (an enlightened scientist) how have you seen Pre-Modern ideas (i.e. supernaturalism) holding fast in the African people you work with and clients you treat?
Thank you, Jeff. It was a great trip! There is a firm hold of folk Islam in my host country–charms, potions, and sand reading. In Côte d’Ivoire, there is open animism and spirit worship. Often, using witch doctors is the first treatment. Superstition is vast, especially with expectant mothers. A fall, eating the wrong food, or drinking cold water is often blamed for a child’s developmental delay. I will often see patients with cut marks at the area of their pain. They are “cutting the pain” and hoping to release the pain with the cuts.
Kari, I love this blog! Thanks for providing me with a window into life in Africa. It is fascinating to think of postmodernism in that context since Africa is quite diverse.
When you think about presenting what you do to an audience influenced by postmodernism, how might you need to adjust your message?
Hi Graham, Thank you for your kind comments. That is an excellent question about presenting my work to an audience influenced by postmodernism. One thing I find myself “adjusting” is giving a bit of context to the people I work with. Christian audiences are receptive to comparisons to Bible times. Secular audiences are more challenging for me; perhaps they are more influenced by postmodernism. I will comment that I have learned to judge less quickly as I realize their context idiffersfrom what we know as Westerns.
Thank you, Kari! It is fascinating to think of people living in a pre-modern lifestyle. With homeopathic medicine becoming more popular in America, what are your thoughts about it in Africa? Do you still prefer Western medicine over natural medicine, or could the two be balanced?
Hi Jennifer, I believe very strongly that Western medicine, herbal/homeopathic medicine, and Eastern medicine should be balanced together. Unfortunately, it is difficult to find providers who have a healthy balance. In my context, I strongly encourage natural things that have been used for centuries to help with chronic diseases. I also encourage medication when those natural things are not enough.
Hey Kari! I appreciate you looking through the lens of Africa. I think you bring home the point postmodernism looks different in various contexts, and as you mentioned, the negative consequences associated with it. Looking at Takov and Banlanjo, were there any other surprises that struck you?
Thanks, Daren. Rather than surprises, Takov and Banlanjo gave me a few things to wrestle with: African hierarchical systems and individualism versus community. I struggle with finding a balance in these areas. It is easy for me to say one or another is “better,” but is it?
Hi, Kari, thank you for your post. You make me think of my people as you talk about the people you minister to. You are right, some people are still living in the way the used to live for over so many years, should we say that they are living in the past? That is the point of reference used when we are in a society where the culture changes so rapidly. My people are the same, many of them are still living in their old ways, but we try dragging them into the changing culture to adapt. Sometimes, I felt unsure if this is a right thing to do. What do you think?
Hi Noel, You have a great point. The cultures that hold to more traditional views and lifestyles have still be greatly affected by globalization. With that in mind, they are not truly “living in the past.” However, they are still holding to certain past ways of thinking and doing things. There needs to be a balance between past ways and new ways of thinking. Look at how many lives have been saved through vaccines and medicine advances. Look at how many people struggle with identity and community connection because of foreign influence. What is a healthy balance?