Western Civilization Essay Example for Free

Western Civilization Essay The themes dominating Netos poetry are quite indicative of the fact that the veracity and practice of luso-tropicalism, the idea that the Portuguese went to Africa to civilize and christianize Africans, and the notion that the assimilation project was a widespread one, were more myth than reality. The poems included in Sacred Hope illustrate well the oppression, apartheid, (un)civilization, and (un)Christianity brought to Africa by the Portuguese. The poem which in its English translation is called Western civilization (Civilizacao ocidental), constitutes a good example of that so-called civilization and Christianity brought to Angola (and other parts of Africa) by the Portuguese colonizers. The title of the poem might lead some readers to believe that what is to come is an apology for Western civilization and culture and for its good deeds in Africa. It could be suggested that such readers have fallen into what can be described as the Eurocentric trap that is, they went into the reading of the poem with the preconceived idea that Western colonizers did indeed go to Africa to civilize Africans. These readers will only be disappointed and even confused for what is to be painted in the poem is not civilization but rather (un)civilization. The poems title is in fact highly ironic: it is used by the poet to make the reader reflect about the true nature of Western civilization, see its many (un)civilized sites and make him/her question the motives behind the colonial enterprise. For example, in this poem, the houses of Angolans are described as Tins fixed to stakes / driven in the earth whose intimate landscape is complet[ed] by rugs (18). And these houses are full of cracks through which the sun enters just to awake its inhabitant, who is tired from twelve hours of slave / labour (18). The poet then proceeds to describe the endless hard work performed by the Angolan: Breaking stones / carrying stones / breaking stones / carrying stones (19). The repetition carrying stones / breaking stones, used three times in this stanza, is very successful in transmitting the intensity and never-ending hard work performed by the worker. The worker becomes a slave precisely because he never stops working; he works continuously without even being interrupted by harsh weather conditions; he works in the sun and in the rain (19). The poem ends by explaining and illustrating when, how and under what circumstances this slave worker dies: Old age comes early / A reed mat on dark nights / enough for him to die / thankfully / and of hunger (19). For even though the worker works very hard all his life, he ends up without the most basic necessities: no proper bed, no food and no light, and thus is grateful to die. Death represents freedom from a life of slave work; it represents the end of his physical and psychological oppression and immeasurable pain. This poem is indeed a good illustration of the (un)civilization, the (un)Christianity brought to Africans by the Portuguese: hunger, cold, physical and mental exhaustion, and alienation. To put it metaphorically, if the lights of the civilized did not reach the Angolans (as colonialists have claimed to be the case) before the arrival of the colonialist, they surely were not bright enough to illuminate the life of most Angolans after. The questions I would like to ask in relation to this poem are: will the reader feel enough revolt and disgust against Western civilization that he/she will want to work towards the independence of Angola? Will the sites of Western (un)civilization displayed in this poem be sufficient for the oppressor to see the true nature of the colonial enterprise and convince him/her to refuse to be part of such sordid business? Or will this poem just sound like the unfounded lament of an Angolan who is jealous of the so-called higher successes and intelligences of his colonial master?