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 | | Mistaking Africa: Curiosities And Inventions Of The American Mind by Curt Keim ISBN-10: 9780813335094 ISBN-10: 0-8133-3509-4 ISBN-13: 9780813335094 ISBN-13: 978-0-8133-3509-4 Paperback 1999-07-15 Westview Press Find Lowest Price |
Editorials | ||
Product Description For most Americans, the mention of Africa immediately conjures up images of safaris, ferocious animals, strangely dressed "tribesmen," and impenetrable jungles. Few think to question these perceptions, or how they came to be so deeply lodged in the collective American consciousness. Curtis Keim's Mistaking Africa: Curiosities and Inventions of the American Mind looks at the historical evolution of this mindset, examining the role that popular media play in the creation of our mental images of Africa. Keim addresses the most prevalent myths and preconceptions about Africa that Americans subscribe to, and demonstrates how these prevent a true understanding of the enormously diverse people and cultures of Africa. The book is not specifically about Africa, but about thinking about Africa. Mistaking Africa: Curiosities and Inventions of the American Mind is a fascinating look at our stereotypes about Africa, and where they come from. | ||
Reviews | ||
A must for anyone who wants to know what the real Africa is 'Spearchuckers' who dance around fires, elephants and lions trampling through Jungles, all are examples of the most obvious exaggerations Americans have come to believe in about Africa due to so many Hollywood movies and lurid novel depictions. Now in an updated and expanded second edition, "Mistaking Africa: Curiosities and Inventions of the American Mind" is a look at the myths, legends, and flat our lies that so many so often hear about the continent that holds the cradle of civilization on its shores. Covering all misconceptions to common myth to advertisement's use of Africa to move products, "Mistaking Africa" is a must for anyone who wants to know what the real Africa is. | ||
Annoying, but thought-provoking This is an annoying, but thought-provoking book. It raises a number of important issues that merit discussion, but typically fails to resolve them. He is ignorant of anthropology. Anthropologists and National Geographic, he says, both do ethnography; ethnography is the study of rural Africa; and rural Africa is not the "real Africa." Yet Keim never says where this "real Africa" is to be found. His message seems to be "everything you know about Africa is wrong." I try to get my students to laugh at his rants, but they seem to have lost all patience with him. | ||
Good, but needs work I picked this book up as a curiosity, to see what myths there are concerning Africa and if I might harbor a few of my own. For the most part, its successful in stating the many fabrications about the continent, the people on it, and how it all started. These points not withstanding, Mistaking Africa lacked much. To begin with, the author loses his objectivety in many points which seem to point to a tendency to placate rather than teach. In an effort to make the book non-controversial, he doesn't touch African history, glosses over modern racism involving black culture, and makes unsupportable assumptions as to African American views concerning Africa. He is a fence straddler and fence straddling leads to poor scholarship. He debunks some myths, but leaves enough to still make the subject seem inferior. I would suggest before reading this book, read more on Afican history. Introduction to African Civilizations is an excellent primer. Keim makes parts of this book laughable, such as when he does go briefly into history. He talks of the first people to populate the earth. He does state that they began in Africa, but says that they were not black Africans, but a very light people. This is one part of the book that he should state is opinion, since he doesn't give a resource for that particular information. As I stated earlier, please read up on African history before reading this book. | ||