Teilhard de Chardin and Senghor on the civilization of the universal

III.2. NEGATIVE IMPLICATIONS

OF SENGHOR'S HUMANISM

Léopold Sédar Senghor's adaptation of Teilhard de Chardin's views on the Civilization of the Universal brings about some negative impacts. We consider these negative implications of Senghor's understanding of the Civilization of the Universal as side-effects because they are almost unavoidable in Senghor's adaptations. They are not the first objectives of Senghor's writings, but since these are negative implications, they have to be pointed out.

III.2.1. Ethnocentrism

Ethnocentrism is the belief in the intrinsic superiority of the nation, culture, or group to which one belongs. From our considerations of Senghor's adaptation of Teilhard de Chardin's views on the Civilization of the Universal, it appears that Senghor gives way to ethnocentrism. He considers that Africa is, from the point of view of her traditional value of communion of love, capable of leading all other cultures in the process of panhuman convergence. He thereby makes the African culture superior over all other cultures. Senghor gives us the impression that African culture is the best as far as relationships are concerned because of its characteristics of love and hospitality.

Is Africa actually the best example to follow as far as human relationships are concerned? What about corruption, the dishonesty in the management of the common good; superstition, the irrational behaviour that tears families up; the quest for power, which causes tribal and national wars, thus destroying human relationships in Africa? Perhaps the pre-colonial state was better than the present situation, as far as relationships are concerned, but this is no longer the case and instead of going back to the past to enjoy past glories, we urgently need to consider the present situation of Africa. What can Africa do to come out of underdevelopment in order not to be always at the receiving end; in order to have something to offer to the Civilization of the Universal, Globalisation? Answering this question will be completing what Senghor left undone and this will be the aim of our next general conclusion.

III.2.2. No Revolutionary Praxis

Senghor forgets the revolutionary praxis in his consideration of the Civilization of the Universal. In effect, he loses sight of the political situation in Africa in his days. The Négritude movement is supposed to be a global praxis, based on culture and accepting the political and the economic situation of Africa. It is the conclusion that Claude SOUFFRANT reaches when he asserts:

Le mouvement de la Négritude devrait être une praxis globale incluant le culturel mais intéressant tout autant le politique et l'économique. Un mouvement inspirant une politique orientée vers la promotion effective et non pas seulement affective des masses.^94(*)

The Africans in British settled territories for example, did not have the cultural hang-ups of their francophone brothers. They had managed to retain most of their cultural identity. Even today, in our country, we testify to the fact that there is a great sense of tradition and that many cultural and traditional values are being kept in the western territories of our countries. The problem of these British settled territories lay in their political independence and their economic self-sufficiency and justice. In other words, Négritude remains within the arena of ideas and theories, but it forgets the necessary revolutionary praxis which alone can change the situation in Africa.

The fundamental task today for Africans is their liberation and this is not going to take place only in speeches that proclaim the values of glorious past of Africa or the greatness of our African cultures. Africans are faced with neo-colonialism, they are highly indebted, they are poor and they need to come out from this underdevelopment. It is good and even dignifying to say that Africa has something to offer to the dialogue of civilizations, but this offering will never be substantial if the problems of Africans are not taken into consideration first of all by themselves through a constant effort to apply new technologies to their situations and secondly by the westerners who are called to lend a helpful hand by cancelling debts and sponsoring activities in view of development in Africa. Frantz Fanon stresses this fact when he says:

It is around the people's struggles that African-negro culture takes on substance and not around songs, poems or folklore...I say again that no proclamation concerning culture will turn us from our fundamental task: the liberation of the national territory; a continual struggle against colonialism in its new form; and an obstinate refusal to enter the charmed circle of mutual admiration at the summit.^95(*)

* ⁹⁴ Claude Souffrant cited by Aliou Camara, La philosophie politique de Léopold Sédar Senghor, Paris, 2001, p.51.

* ⁹⁵ Frantz Fanon cited in Ruch, E., (ed.), African Philosophy, Rome, 1981, p. 189.