The definition of “Classical Civilisation” I knew as a boy, when I was told the revered Professor A.A. Kwapong was a scholar in that field was: “Classical civilization is the study of the culture, history, language and literature of ancient Greece and Rome.”
I was stunned, therefore, watching Chinese TV, to see the “World Conference on Classics”, had taken place in China; this week, this month, this year.
A televised and moderated conversation between four renowned Professors in the field – two from China, another from Greece (Athens), and the third, an American scholar in the field, was captivating for me. It taught me a lot, but also built a curiosity and hunger to understand more.
The central importance of the study and proper understanding of history, has never been lost on those serious about revolutionary change. Only Neoliberals think the short-term is what matters.
The field of Classics used to be described as focusing on: “Classical antiquity, also known as the classical era, classical period, classical age, or simply antiquity, is the period of cultural European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the interwoven civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome known together as the Greco-Roman world.”
Today, across the world, the definitions have been made to acknowledge the role of Asia as foundational. The core definition of the field has morphed: “The Eurasian empires of the classical era—those of Persia, Greece under Alexander the Great, Rome, China during the Qin and Han dynasties, India during the Mauryan and Gupta dynasties.”
As an African, the questions that arise are obvious: Where are we? Is all the world again being taught that we contributed nothing classical to history?
Is this not the sort of thing our Academies, and universities, and scholars, must repudiate, forcefully? So that another generation of Africans does not have to fight for human and historical legitimacy, the way the immediate post-independence scholars did?
I listened in a mixture of awe and concern, as the bearers of the intellectual traditions of Europe and America, confessed that: the digital revitalisation of the study of history they had encountered in China was world-best. It is beyond my capability to understand it all, therefore there is no intention to encroach on the territory of scholars, on my part.
But the professors in the conversation spoke about being spectacularly impressed by what they regarded as, the massive investments in digital capabilities of Chinese museums; the widespread use of state-of-the-art MRI technology to advance the study of history. And more.
The scientific basis of the study of history in Asia is world class. In parts of Africa the subject is no longer even taught at primary and secondary level! People who know their history, well and scientifically, are better placed to reach the future as winners. This subject must not be left to superstitious retelling by Marabouts and Shamans.
In that approach lies the danger Professor Michel Foucault pointed out – the document becomes the monument. Whatever has been written/recorded is accepted – uncritically, uncontested, not properly interrogated and challenged. Any word thus becomes the word of God; even if it says Africa is descended from the cursed Ham.
It is obvious to me that with many of our compatriots unable to keep body and soul together, the place of scholarship and thinking is considered a luxury by many policy makers. So this kind of reflection is considered esoteric.
Yet, the society that stops thinking will die before the one that stops praying; and that may just be much of Neoliberal Africa today. Plagued by Buffoon states.
One of the things that bothers me most about the absence of development in Africa, is the collapse of systemic and serious thinking. Which is why the discussion on reversing the decline of educational/intellectual standards (at all levels), is one that must be given the utmost priority.
More to do, for sure. But before that, we must think. And think properly, scientifically, and seriously.
