African Cultures

Russell Shernoff

As we learned in Segu, traditional African cultures do not equally value men and women. Therefore, in the modern Uganda presented in Tropical Fish, as well as the modern Cameroon of Sisters-in-Law, comparing women and men is strongly linked to comparing tradition and modernity. The film documented the first time Cameroonian women flexed their legal muscle and demanded fair treatment. The defenses of the offending men were often flimsy and were based on suspicions stemming from traditional religion or culture. Tropical Fish, meanwhile, takes place in a country that does not seem to know what place women occupy. The country seems to want to think it is fully Westernized and progressive, but women are still not viewed as being on the same level as men.
Furthermore, if Africa has a history of repression, repression can be equated with tradition. As freedom is a fairly new concept to Africa, it can be associated with the new, modern Africa. Using the transitive property, we can thus equate women with freedom and men with repression; as inconsistent as it is to apply math to literature and theoretical politics, Sisters-in-Law certainly confirmed the idea that women represent freedom, liberty, justice, and the new, better African state. A Thank-You Note, from Tropical Fish, also seems to affirm this. Here, a woman is seeking to remedy society’s problems – to address Africa’s paralysis and unproductive shame in the face of the AIDS epidemic – where her boyfriend has been silent and missing.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200810300398.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7679459.stm

The launch of Orange Uganda Ldt. is just one of many current African events which is indicative of neo-colonialism. Although France has allowed its colonies to become independent, it is interesting that Orange – a brand controlled by the French company France Telecom – operated in ten African countries before Uganda, and is considering opening a Tanzania branch in the very near future. It also operates in the Middle East and the Caribbean, often in countries France once controlled.

At the same time, France Telecom is not a monopoly in any of these countries, and cannot be compared in any way to the British or Dutch colonial companies. France Telecom is a capitalist enterprise, which is taking advantage of a developing market which shows signs of growth. Like the “Mom and Pop” stores being put out of business by Wal-Mart in the United States, African telecommunications providers simply cannot compete with the gargantuan French Telecom. So although they are playing by the rules, since Orange does offer better services and rates than any competitors in the region, they will most likely become the strongest telecommunications provider in the country.

To avoid Neo-Colonialism, Africans must ask themselves how much they are willing to sacrifice for the sake of full independence. If they want the fastest, cheapest, and most reliable products available, they should allow corporations like France Telecom free-run. But if economic self-reliance is something that means a lot to a country – like Tanzania under Julius Nyerere – they will take the long road with, hopefully, the better outcome. Reconciling the important goals of self-sufficiency economic growth, pan-Africanism, and positive foreign relations is not an easy task. How does a country maintain a capitalist outlook while being free from Neo-Colonialism?