Analysis of “Africa” by David Diop

Africa
Africa my Africa

Africa of proud warriors in ancestral savannahs

Africa of whom my grandmother sings
On the banks of the distant river
I have never known you
But your blood flows in my veins
Your beautiful black blood that irrigates the fields
The blood of your sweat
The sweat of your work
The work of your slavery
Africa, tell me Africa
Is this your back that is unbent
This back that never breaks under the weight of humiliation
This back trembling with red scars
And saying no to the whip under the midday sun
But a grave voice answers me
Impetuous child that tree, young and strong
That tree over there
Splendidly alone amidst white and faded flowers
That is your Africa springing up anew
springing up patiently, obstinately
Whose fruit bit by bit acquires
The bitter taste of liberty.
David Diop, a Senegalese poet, uses his poem entitled “Africa”, to lament the
state of the African continent and also valorize it despite its long-suffering
experiences with colonialism and neo-colonialism. Following in the footsteps
of the well-known African writer and former president of Senegal in his first
twenty years (Léopold Sédar Senghor), Diop utilizes the trope of Africa as
woman. This poetic male tradition is upheld through allegorical means where
Africa is conceptualized as a mother to the Black populace born from her
landscaped body. Although the Mother Africa trope has its shortcomings,
David Diop’s poetic vision comes through: He is able to communicate the
plight of the colonized/postcolonial continent through the skillful use of
language and structure. His metaphorical body of work offers a depth of
meaning and concludes with a message of hope, reminding Africans that they
can rise above the colonial system.
Within “Africa”, the poet addresses the land as if it is a real person, and this
denotes the use of apostrophe. Apostrophe allows for an interesting
dramatization which holds the readers’ attention and allows them to identify
with Mother Africa’s human experiences. It almost gives us the sense that the
earth itself is not a lifeless thing but is somehow alive. The representation of
Africa as an animate female is a long standing colonial tradition; however, the
damaging image is subverted (to some extent) in the poem. Africa is
epitomized as a strong and beautiful nurturer who endures and reproves her
‘impetuous’ children with warm proverbial advice. The poem begins with the
poet’s possession of Africa through the designatory diction of ‘my’. The
placing of the word ‘Africa’ at the beginning and end of the phrase
‘Africa my Africa’ is also repeated in lines 12 and 21, creating the poem’s
refrain which not only emphasizes the persona’s supposed ownership[1] and
control of Africa [2] but balances the rhythm of the piece. This choral effect is
also typical of apostrophic poetry which is usually a kind of invocation. The
musical quality of the poem is additionally increased through assonance which
is essential in a free verse poem. Within this loose form, similar to “And If You
Should Leave Me” by Ben Okri, an external pattern is imposed and this allows
the poets to appeal to the “human instinct for design [and] our love of the
shapely” (Perrine, 771). For Diop, the repetition of vowel sounds enable him to
make the beginning lines sound hoisted and spiritual. It is in tune with Africa
who has reared ‘proud warriors’ that are a testament to her pre-colonial glory
in the time of ‘ancestral savannahs’ (2). It is an Africa with a tradition of orality
where the praise-singing grandmother tells the tale of the land’s greatness to
her grandson, supposedly the poet. These lines refute the “assumption
underlying the French policy of ‘assimilation’ that Africa was a deprived land
possessing neither culture nor history” (Britannica.com). Perhaps the distant
river bank the grandmother sings on suggests the far-removed location of the
African generation from its hallowed cultural source where it can never go
back to. Or the poet could simply be remembering his dead grandmother who
he believes extols Africa from the distant, mystical land of the ancestors, only
linked to the real world through a river journey. One might even draw another
conclusion by examining the poet’s background: Diop, has ‘never known
[Africa]’ and her struggles firsthand in the way that his predecessors did since
he was born in France and lived there for most of his life. Nonetheless, his
father and mother were Africans, their ‘blood flows in [his] veins’ which is why
he spent significant time living and teaching in Africa. The blood is not only
representative of his familial ties to Africa but the cause of the people which
pulses within him. He then goes on to line 7 which utilizes alliteration to add
forcefulness to his conviction that Mother Africa’s
‘beautiful Black blood…irrigates the fields’. It is through the struggle and hard
work of black people that the encountering nations like France were able to
reap the harvest (financial, infrastructural profits) and build domains. Thus,
Mother Africa is represented as a slave that was physically abused and
exploited economically. Her oppression is continuous and exemplified through
parallelism with the run-on lines from 8-11 which keeps the reader anticipating
what comes next:
…The blood of your sweat

The sweat of your work

The work of your slavery

The slavery of your children…

The lines become memorable and emphatic as they give off a sonic effect and
signify the buildup of colonialism in African history. Even the organization of
speech sounds reinforce meaning as the lines move from monosyllables
(sweat, work) to trisyllables (slavery) and disyllables (children). The tempo of
the lines eventually become slower as articulation becomes as leaden as the
colonial transition of the African people.

The poem shifts from a praise and observation of Africa’s situation to a

questioning of her decision to yield to colonialism. The speaker demands that
Africa tell him if this is her, ‘…this back that is bent/ This back that breaksunder
the weight of humiliation…(13,14). These lines utilize alliteration which
conveys the enquirer’s forceful presumptuousness. This interrogation is
additionally buttressed by the insistent repetition of ‘this back’ and the internal
rhyming of ‘break’ and ‘weight’ which calls our attention to Africa’s
subjugation. Here, Diop’s anthropomorphic inclination is greatly expressed
when Mother Africa’s back is ‘trembling with red scars [as she says] yes to the
whip under the midday sun’ (15, 16). The personal suffering of the mother is
symbolic of the trepidation of the African continent, traumatized by colonial
experiences. The lines could even foretell the disastrous and exploitative
consequences which arose from the 1958 Referendum when Senegal
became a neo-colonial territory, that is, maintained cultural and economic ties
with France, under the leadership of the nation’s first president, Léopold
Senghor. Some may argue that the persona addressing Mother Africa is
displeased with her character which was once proud and resistant to western
culture. Many feminists might argue that through his male gaze, she embodies
the speaker’s “honour and glory or his degradation as a citizen” (Stratton, 51).
Even more unfortunate is that women’s persecution becomes a metaphorical
medium through which poets cast their vision. This adversely gives license to
the stereotype of women as compliant towards domination. However, in a
similar reading, I could add that Diop does not romanticize Mother Africa
which would contradict the actual struggling, marginalized position of women
in Africa. Also, Africa’s true condition may not have been distorted as she
corrects the male’s assumptions about her experience. She replies in a ‘grave
voice’ which could be the feminized conscience of the poet himself.
Regardless, the speaker is labeled as ‘impetuous’, he makes rash
assumptions without thought or care. She additionally alters the way he
envisions her, she assigns the image of redemption to a pomological entity
where Africans are symbolic fruits that develop, adapt, diversify and evolve
even while faced with threats to their ecosystem:
The lines may indicate that the poet does not truly perceive what Africa is; the
constant use of demonstratives tells the reader that Africa (Tree of Life) is far
removed from the female speaker. The answering female suggests that
Mother Africa is not a burdened or super woman but a flourishing being, or
rather, an ever-growing metaphysical tree which slowly renews itself, with the
aid of a resourceful generation, after being hacked by colonial forces. The
parasitic flowering plant of white domination will see its end and the continent
of Africa will rise, unwavering, to bursting greatness.

The poem ends with interlaced rhymes and a rising cadence which gives a
pleasing effect, indicating that the poem has finally arrived at a thoughtful and
substantial conclusion. The ending lines are paradoxical as you would not
associate liberty with bitterness, yet, a deeper truth is implied through the
contrast: Independence is often a goal achieved through sacrifice, coups,
chaos and hard work. Nonetheless, the poem ultimately communicates that
the fight is worth it; the African mind must exercise both continental and state
optimism and turn away from colonial resignation in the walk towards socio-
cultural and economic freedom.