..". this is a remarkable book. It will occupy a significant
placein the critical literature of African Studies." --
International Journal ofAfrican Historical Studies "To read
Mudimbe is to walkthrough a museum of many exhibits in the company
of an erudite companion whoexplains, with much learned commentary,
what you are seeing." -- AmericanAnthropologist
"Mudimbe's sympathetic yet rigorous accountsof such
diverse Africanist discourses as Herskovits's cultural
relativism andcontemporary Afrocentricity bring to the surface the
underlying goals and contextsin which these were produced." --
Ivan Karp A sequel to hishighly acclaimed The Invention of Africa,
this is V. Y. Mudimbe's exploration of howthe "idea"
of Africa was constructed by the Western world.
