Africa - David Diop

 

Africa

-David diop

About the poet

David Diop was born in Paris in 1966 to a French mother and Senegalese father. He received the 2021 International Booker Prize for his novel At Night All Blood is Black as the first French author. He specializes in 18^th Century French and Francophone African literature. His poems are Vultures, Africa and Close to You.

About the poem

The poem “Africa,” also known by its first line, “Africa my Africa,” was first published in French as “Afrique” in David Diop’s only collection of poetry, Coups de Pilon (“Pounding”) in 1956. It was published by the Pan-African quarterly literary magazine Présence Africaine. This journal was highly influential in the Pan-Africanist movement, the decolonization struggle of former French colonies, and the Negritude movement. The translated poem is taken from the book “Hammer Blows and Other Writings” published in 1973.

In this poem, Diop, sitting in France, expresses his admiration for Africa. He became “the voice of the people without voice”, such as enslaved and colonized Africans. He was a prominent figure of the Négritude movement, which was in vehement opposition to colonialism. His Coups de Pilon poems, including “Africa,” kindle the hope for free Africa and show his detestation toward the colonizers. The pride in the African spirit, an assertion of African identity, ideas of home, and a sense of belonging are part of this piece.

Summary

            “Africa” is a free-verse lyrical ode to Africa and its people. It consists of a single stanza containing 23 lines. The tone of the poem is filled with the poet’s admiration and empathy for Africa and its people. His voice reflects a sense of nostalgia for its past. When the speaker thinks about the suffering of enslaved people, his tone turns sad yet reflects a sense of pride. Africa was colonized for an extended period. While Diop was writing this poem, imperialism was at its height in Africa. Protests and liberation movements were on the rise, and Diop, even being in France, showed his support for such revolutionary events through writing.

Africa my Africa

Africa of proud warriors in ancestral savannahs

Africa of whom my grandmother sings

Diop expresses his love for Africa. He is aware of his lineage and became familiar with the glorious past of his nation from the tales his grandmother used to tell. That had made him keep the essence of Africa alive. He evokes the spirit of Africa and proclaims his identity: Africa is his own, its people are his own. No matter how colonizers see his country, he still takes pride in being an African.  He also takes pride in the spirit of tribal warriors who bravely fought in the open savannahs and tried to obstruct the invasion of heavily equipped colonizers. Though they were under-equipped had traditional weapons, they still fought back to protect their soil.

On the banks of the distant river

 “on the banks of the distant river” is where Diop was born and brought up. His voice sounds sad and reverberates the aching of his heart. The speaker has never known Africa, having lived in France, but he is aware of the African “blood” gushing through his veins. Diop symbolizes the “blood” as his true African identity. Like blood caters sustenance to the body, the sense of cultural consciousness keeps his spirit alive. 

 Your beautiful black blood that irrigates the fields

The blood of your sweat

The sweat of your work

The work of your slavery

            Diop addresses Africa as a human being representing all colonized Africans who irrigated fields for their white masters by putting in back-breaking labor. The colonizers and their superiority complex subjugated them and their culture. Diop refers to the beauty of their culture as well as identity. The blood that flows in his veins is the same that runs through all the Africans, who toil under the scorching sun, work tirelessly, and serve under European slavers.

 Splendidly alone amidst white and faded flowers

            While the speaker thinks about Africa’s pain under colonial rule, a voice reaches out to him. She points towards a tree, “young and strong”, standing “amidst white and faded flowers”, to say that it is the Africa he is searching for. The phrase “white and faded flowers” portrays the colonizers’ culture in the dim light in order to contrast the glow of his own culture.