Tempels’s well-meaning text nonetheless failed to represent African interests

Evidence

Bantu Philosophy, as a founding text of modern African philosophy, represents the tragedy and prospect of African philosophy and maybe of the continent itself. Bantu Philosophy is a book that is filled with all the characteristics of what is synonymous with Africa: colonialism, Christianization and the presentation of African traditional thought to a bemused Western audience. As a text, Bantu Philosophy’s historical lesson is more important than its philosophical lesson. It shows how the history of Africa has been interfered with and how even those who professed to have the interests of Africa at heart and in mind actually ended up failing to represent Africa’s interests. Tempels also shows how Africa, as an idea, has always been prone to the fate of being castigated as a different place – a place that deserves either special attention or special consideration in order to be fully understood. — Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 467

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Edward Said’s critique of Orientalist scholarship representing its object to a Western audience.