An Africological Excavation of Colonial Discourse

Abstract

This article argues that epistemologies are significantly relevant to the decolonial project and the advancement of discourse around human interactions. Moreover, it is asserted that the decolonization of the mind can only occur within the context of changing the framework through which we understand the world and its history. As a concept, decolonizing the mind is dependent upon correcting dislocation and disorientation that leads to confusion about reality. However, decolonial discourse is often vulnerable to assume its own colonial orientation and can still be entrapped in centering European and Arab experiences regarding African history; it is the interrogation of those elements that Africology promotes. This paper demonstrates an imperative for a restructuring epistemology that is, inclusive of a multiplicity of perspectives. From the Africological vantage, the universalisms of European and Arab centered epistemes are grounded in cultures that in reifying their own existence, are antithetical to the free existence of those who do not adhere to their beliefs and values.