The image of Pre-Colonial Africa in European circles

Abstract

Cultural relativism denotes the suspension of personal and moral or value judgments about other peoples and their ways. This is very essential for a successful and objective study of the past. It also enhances successful living in the modern, multi-cultural or racial world. It teaches that before forming an opinion, one should critically examine and understand the situation. It does not emphasize any requirement of embracing the beliefs or value systems of foreigners or giving up one’s own values. Contrarily, it preaches the granting of respect to a society, people, or country, trying to see their world and behaviour from their own perspectives, rather than simply rejecting all viewpoints but one’s own. European scholars who attempted to reconstruct the past of Africa did not take into consideration the tenets of the historical profession and wrote about Africa from their point of view. The result was that a whole lot of wrong impressions were created about Africa and its peoples. This study, using the multi-disciplinary approach, examines some of the wrong impressions Eurocentric scholars have created about Africa and Africans