Professor Morgan Nkululeko Ndlovu from the University of Johannesburg South Africa led the discussion of theorizing African Identities.. He is a trans disciplinary scholar who publishes on decolonizing knowledge and power indigenous knowledge systems, education rights and transformation with specific to Africa.
Prof. Morgan Nkululeko Ndlovu’s lecture explored the complexities surrounding African Identity in the context of tourism, coloniality and post-colonial thought. Using metaphors of the front stage, the in between and the back stage, he addressed how identities are socially constructed, performed, contested and politically framed across different historical and institutional spaces. The front stage represents spaces where African identity is performed to meet the expectations of external audiences. Here identity is often stylized, essentialized for example through cultural performances for tourism. The in between stage is a contested space where negotiation occurs. It reflects the tensions and dualities faced by Africans balancing their authentic self with imposed or expected identities. The back stage on the other hand represents the hidden or private realms where more authentic everyday expressions of Africans are lived out away from the gaze power. However even this space has been infiltrated by colonial legacies making the question of authenticity deeply complicated.
Authenticity according to prof. has become a powerful yet problematic concept. What is perceived as ‘’authentically African’’ is often a colonial invention, staged to satisfy external expectations especially in tourism and international development narratives.
Read the full article on: https://coeidentities.mak.ac.ug/news/theorising-african-identities-front-inbetween-and-back-stage-prof-morgan-nkululeko-ndlovu