Reinforcing Boaventura de Sousa Santos’ dicta

Meki Nzewi – [email protected]
  University of Pretoria

Has the Northern elitist knowledge metropolis that has for so long been manipulating global imagination of acceptable intellectuality in all spheres of contemporary life been endangering sustainable humanity as well as Earth environment?

Can the prodigious but unostentatious legacy of humanity conscience that underpinned Southern creative intellection be advanced to instill the inhumanity mentality that is currently obsessing technological, polity and business brilliance so as to halt the impending implosion of the Earth planet?

The two questions that situate humanity conscience in epistemological constructs are evoked by Santos’ ‘Public sphere and epistemologies of the South’ (2012) and ‘Theory, culture & society’ (2009):

In the paper, ‘Re-instating the epistemological logic of indigenous musical arts for humanity framed life education’ the persisting indiscriminate retention of elitist Northern hegemonic music education fiat in the vision, policy and design of classroom education in Southern hemispheric countries is queried with respect to particularly African countries. Conscious of Boaventura de Sousa Santos’ seminal depictions of the North-South epistemological disjuncture, the paper is an expository sampling of the unique intellection and humanity meaning of the musical arts lore of Africa. Santos identifies and queries five logics of ‘non existence’ contrived by Northern intellectual arrogance to impose a ‘Sociology of Absence’ on the profound, humanity ballasted knowledge episteme of the South that is baffling to flippant or prejudiced observers/researchers. These are: ‘ignorant, backward, inferior, local or particular and unproductive or sterile’ (2012:52), all inventions by ‘ignorant experts’ (Nzewi 2006) to camouflage jaundiced perceptions and mal-interpretations of knowledge logics that progressively sustained and advanced foundational intellectual genius from which celebrated current modernist thinking/inventions/ practices derive. Santos’ arguments in ‘Theory, Culture and Society’ Santos (2009) offer succinct historical trajectory of the poignant voices of sanity that exposed some aberrations of hegemonic Northern knowledge enclave, minted by the emblematic ‘Nebulous Seven Wizards’ (Nzewi 2003: 219) who spin and proclaim global epistemological canons to enforce a ‘Homogenized Human World’. The epistemologies sanctioned by the NSW stringently exclude sublime humanity wisdoms such as mark Southern knowledge practices. The unique features of Southern epistemologies have always eluded arrogant, narrow minded metropolitan knowledge intellects that then retaliate with outright rejection or mal-interpretation of the entrenched merits.

The soft science of African indigenous musical arts (integrated conceptualization and production of the sonic, choreographic, dramatic, and design arts components) is designed to proactively maintain salutary mind, enrich spirituality and organize polity in indigenous African societies’ rationalization and ordering of tangible and intangible cosmos. It thereby oversees equity and morality in communal living. The divine mandate of musical arts and science in indigenous African societies was to effectively police humanity consciousness in all societal affairs, as different from the fanciful entertainment objective of imported Northern musical arts sophistications currently imposed in classroom education. The valid and contemporaneously viable epistemological lore of indigenous musical arts and science is then projected to query contemporary realities with respect to reinstating:

• Sublime spirituality and creativity conscience in humanity upbringing and life education practices, which is eluding the world: Genetic intelligence was respected, nurtured and socialized in tradition from babyhood. It instilled experimental disposition (instead of consumptive mentality) in experiencing the world of ideas and facts as well as in cherishing the performance of individuality and spirituality
• Musical arts and sciences education underpinned by interactivity encoded and disseminated theory: Theory is then transmitted as entrained, embodied and affirmed performative knowing, instead of the modern hypothetical theory
• Conscientious research and scholarship temperament: Humanity conscious research and experimentation were procedural factors in indigenous knowledge formulations, practices and advancement. This fact contests modern elitist, ego-driven academic sophistications and research/interpretation regimens, which elicit and impose virtual truths about indigenous knowledge milieu; or totally aims to sideline the (non-perceived) fundamental humanity merits and contemporaneous viability of the indigenous. Modern copyright laws blatantly expropriate the indigenous people’s rights in their knowledge inventions and productions, and as well cede the profits appertaining to privileged scholars who report about them in writing. The query is: Why invest in field research, if you are already knowledgeable?
• Caution and accommodation in contemporary expressions and experiencing: The anomalies of globalization doctrines, industrial/technological productions and polity practices endanger sustainable humanity and nature – fantastic modern technology, for instance, disenfranchises human rights to employment, and assaults nature, although there are fewer virtuous exemplars. The North and South can inter-accommodate respective worthy episteme.

A practical re-orientation project which prioritizes indigenous African epistemological paradigms in consciousness of modern literacy as well as compatible knowledge imperatives is tendered to demonstrate that rescue action is possible in the line of the need and principles of “translation” advocated by Santos (2012). Respectful cross fertilization of cultural/regional knowledge integrities for mutual salutary advancements and humanity benefits is therefore desirable and possible given proactive polity/policy support as well as respectful, thereby cognitive research, transmission and literacy advancement initiatives.

References

Nzewi, M. (2003). African musicianship in the global thrust: Redemption for disorienting human pulse. In Sam Leon (ed.) Musicianship in the 21s century: Issues, trends & possibilities, (pp. 219-133). Sydney: Australian Music Centre.

_____ (2006). Growing in musical arts knowledge versus the role of the ignorant expert. In Minette Mans (ed.) Centering on African Practice in musical arts education, (pp. 49-60). Sommerset West: African Minds.

Santos B.S. (2009). A non-occidental west?: Learned ignorance and ecology of knowledge. Theory, Culture & Society, 26 (7-8), 103-125.

_____ (2012). Public sphere and epistemologies of the South. African Development, XXXVII (1), 43-67.