POSTCOLONIAL TRANSFORMATIONS IN AFRICA: DECOLONIZATION, KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION AND CONTRADICTORY IDENTITIES
POSTCOLONIAL TRANSFORMATIONS IN AFRICA: DECOLONIZATION, KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION AND CONTRADICTORY IDENTITIES

Summary/Abstract: A major motivation for this study is the urgent need to experiment, operationalize,and compare the myths and realities around the struggles and reactions of Africans and scholars againstcolonialism. A strong contradiction presently exists about “decolonizing” the “colonized” Africa and itsepistemological knowledge base, which is evident in artistic expressions, literature, and performancescholarship. Previous postcolonial studies have not paid adequate attention to this contradiction as a majorrequirement for understanding Africa and (re)-connecting it with its current realities in the context of culture,art, language, and identity. Therefore, this study investigates the “decolonizing process” in “postcolonial”theoretical contexts, thereby identifying the traits of split identity in Africa and African diaspora cultures. Italso observes the multiplicity of cultural contexts competing for the ownership of today’s hybridized Africanspace. Hinging on key comparative post-colonial conceptions by Ngugi wa Thiong’o, on the one hand, andAshcroft, Griffiths, and Tiffin, on the other hand, as theoretical frameworks, the study explores theconnections between the cultural politics of knowledge production and the psychology of post-colonialism.While using an anthropological research design, with a study population that includes participants in Nigeria,the United Kingdom, and other diasporas, the study employs In-Depth and Key Informant interviews (IDIand KII) as methods of data collection. Through content analysis, the findings reveal, conclusively, that theAfrican culture is still evolving as a hybrid of multiple identities traceable to recent theoretical fallouts ofAfrican and African diaspora studies.

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