Dr. Szlyk's Blog for ENGL 190: congo

As it turns out, there are more than two hundred ethnic groups or tribes in the DR Congo, so this entry will do much less than scratch the surface. However, I thought that this topic would complement today's class and Chinua Achebe's lecture nicely.

Let's begin with a link to historian John Henrik Clarke's article on the ethnic groups *before* colonization:

http://www.africawithin.com/clarke/LumumbaCongo.html

The Encyclopedia of the Nations has a brief overview of the Congo's ethnic makeup.

http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Africa/Congo-Republic-of-the-ROC-ETHNIC-GROUPS.html

This index from Wikipedia is simply a list, but it is a fairly specific list:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Ethnic_groups_in_the_Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo

Let's begin with a few links about the Kongo (or Bakongo) after whom the region was named. The Kongo Kingdom extended from what is now the DR Congo to what is now Angola.

http://www.uiowa.edu/~africart/toc/people/kongo.html

http://countrystudies.us/angola/5.htm

This site includes more specific information about their art.

http://www.zyama.com/kongo/pics..htm

The figure pictured above is a power figure. For more information, see this article:

http://www.uiowa.edu/~africart/toc/chapters/kml/KME5.html

This article concerns the Kongo's original religion:

http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/sub/kongo.html

After 1491, the Kongo were Christian. The crucifix below is in New York's Met Museum.

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/acko/hd_acko.htm

The DR Congo has a number of pygmy ethnic groups such as the Mbuti and the Mbenga. They may be the original inhabitants of this region. Blogger Rashid Faridi has written up a fairly comprehensive overview of these groups. The picture above is of a Ba Aka family.

http://rashidfaridi.wordpress.com/2009/02/06/pygmiesafrican-peoples-of-the-rainforest/

For more information about the Ba Aka, see this site:

http://tiki.oneworld.net/features/survival/survival_2_ba-aka.html

http://www.baka.co.uk/baka/

Another group is the Efe:

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2003/11/26/entertainment/art/11_25_0312_31_09.txt

National Geographic has recently published an article on the Mbuti. The picture below is not from that article but from Yale University's Tropical Resources Institute. One of its students worked on a project with the Mbuti.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0509/feature5/

For more information about Ellen Brown's project, see this link:

http://www.yale.edu/tri/fellows2004/Africa.html#ellenbrown

Not suprisingly, the Mbuti are known for the bark cloth that they make:

http://www.indigoarts.com/gallery_africanart_textl7.html

Or you may prefer music:

http://www.tower.com/mbuti-pygmies-ituri-rainforest-various-artists-cd/wapi/106408965

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW2lv7_2KQg

However, the pygmies have been victims of outrageous cruelty recently:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2933524.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3869489.stm

To add insult to injury, logging companies have devastated the rainforests where the pygmies live.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/congos-pygmies-take-on-world-bank-to-save-rainforest-from-loggers-396903.html

I'll move on to a little bit about the Chokwe:

http://www.uiowa.edu/~africart/toc/people/Chokwe.html

http://www.zyama.com/chokwe/index.htm

http://www.rebirth.co.za/chokwe_mask_history.htm

Below is an image of one of their masks. This was used at a king's coronation.

The Chokwe are also known for their chairs and stools:

I'll conclude with some information about the Kuba Kingdom. The picture above is of a Bwoom mask from that group.

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/kuba/hd_kuba.htm

These links contain information about this kingdom's art:

http://www.clemson.edu/caah/history/faculty/Miller%20Kuba/Kuba%20Site/kuba_home.html
http://www.zyama.com/kuba/pics..htm

http://www.randafricanart.com/kuba_Bwoom.html

http://www.marlamallett.com/kuba.htm

Below is a picture of the Kuba's raffia cloth:

There is so much more that I could post, but I think that I will stop here for now.

How does this information add to your understanding of Heart of Darkness?

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Reading Heart of Darkness (Historical Background)

This evening I'd like to put together a quick entry on the history of and current events in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire, formerly the Belgian Congo and the setting of Heart of Darkness). I've posted a current map from Lonely Planet above; here is a historical map from the 19th century. (Conrad worked in the Congo around 1890.) I was able to find a map from around that time! It is a little oversize, but look for the "Congo Free State."

More importantly, here are some links about the history of the DR Congo.

The US State Department's site is very comprehensive. Scroll down the page to find historical information that predates the arrival of Europeans.

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2823.htm

On the other hand, the BBC's historical background is more readable:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1120825.stm

Historian John Henrik Clarke has written this article about the history of the Congo *before* colonialization:

http://www.africawithin.com/clarke/LumumbaCongo.html

The University of Pennsylvania's African Studies Center brings together a number of disparate but relevant sites on the DR Congo:

http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Country_Specific/Zaire.html

For a change of pace, here is Lonely Planet's information about the DR Congo:

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/democratic-republic-of-congo

Here is a picture of Kinshasa, the nation's largest city.

This picture of a village is also from the BBC:

As is this collage of scenes from the recent elections:

I do want to include some more detailed historical background about Belgium's occupation or colonization of what is now the DR Congo. The first article is from Yale's Genocide Studies Program:

http://www.yale.edu/gsp/colonial/belgian_congo/index.html

Here are history professor Wallace Mills' notes on this topic:

http://husky1.stmarys.ca/~wmills/course317/5Belgian_Policies.html

CNN's website from 1997 provides useful information about what happened after the DR Congo (then Zaire) became independent in 1960.

http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9704/02/zaire.essay/

Howard W. French's 1997 article from the NY Times focuses on Mobutu Seso Seke, Zaire's dictator from 1965 to 1997:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B05E6D61338F934A25756C0A961958260

A Wikipedia entry on Mobutu is more blunt, stating that "his name [was] synonymous with kleptocracy [rule by theft] in Africa" (par. 1).

This BBC profile is about the DR Congo's next ruler, Laurent Kabila, who was assassinated in 2001:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1121068.stm

Currently, his son Joseph is the president, having won the election in 2006.

Here are some more recent articles about the country and its current situation.