‘I am well if you are well’: nervous conditions of African philanthropy in Tsitsi Dangarembga's novels

摘要

Tsitsi Dangarembga's novels provide us with ways of thinking about philanthropic practices in Africa and in the world by using the lens of the gift-as-charity in a self-help project. It becomes clear that the power structures which are animated in the act of charitable giving do create bonds of violence, instead of solidarity, where inequalities are exacerbated, instead of being lessened. Charity sometimes deepens these inequalities that bedevil any kind of project which assumes that philanthropy necessarily induces positive development. There are often clashes between the receivers and givers, all to do with largely overlooked aspirations and initiatives of the receiving as well as giving communities. The world view of the receiver is very important and more participatory and deliberative democracies need to be instituted so that the receiver of philanthropic aid does not feel insulted and disempowered ironically by the act of being upraised. A recognition that charitees might not necessarily want to develop in the ways devised by the giver is important, as overlooking that fact, and not devising ways of matching project to aspirations, creates alienation and frustration. This shows through the vindictiveness with which charitees, and even givers of charity, sometimes show to each other, when strategic interests in the gift clash. African folklore abounds with warnings about how to receive, and how to create cultures of giving and receiving that don't kill or create an abusive dependency. More than in any other cultural site, it is in the spaces of the excellently written novels of Tsitsi Dangarembga that complex African reactions to philanthropy-as-development are registered.View full textDownload full textKeywordsgift, charity, recognition, atonement, exculpation, bonds of violence, entrapment, misanthropy, retributive justice, African folkloreRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14725843.2011.614411