City Libraries, City of Gold Coast

The masque of Africa, glimpses of African belief, V. S. Naipaul

eng

no index present

non fiction

The masque of Africa

V. S. Naipaul

glimpses of African belief

For my travel books I travel on a theme. And the theme of this book is African belief. I begin in Uganda, at the centre of the continent, do Ghana and Nigeria, the Ivory Coast and Gabon, and end at the bottom of the continent, in South Africa. Moving beyond travelogue, this book considers the effects of belief (in indigenous animisms, the foreign religions of Christianity and Islam, the cults of leaders and mythical history) upon the progress of African civilization. Beginning in Uganda, at the centre of the continent, Naipauls journey takes in Ghana and Nigeria, the Ivory Coast and Gabon, and ends, as the country does, in South Africa. Focusing upon the theme of belief though sometimes the political or economical realities are so overwhelming that they have to be taken into account Naipaul examines the fragile but enduring quality of the old world of magic. To witness the ubiquity of such ancient ritual, to be given some idea of its power, was to be taken far back to the beginning of things. To reach that beginning was the purpose of this book