British Indirect Rule in Ghana, Kenya and S. Africa Essay

British Indirect Rule in Ghana, Kenya and S. Africa - Essay Example This authoritarian nature of the indirect rule by the British often made chiefs in Africa abuse power in a way that was never possible in a traditional system and there was no innovation or conservation of traditional elements in the indirect rule. Significantly, a "type of indirect governance was found in early toeholds in West Africa, notably Cape Coast Colony in the Gold Coast (now Ghana) These colonies had Legislative Councils with nominated, non-official members who regarded themselves as a loyal opposition, as well as newspapers critical of governmentYet another version of Indirect Rule developed with respect to the loosely organized, so called stateless peoples of Southern Nigeria, Kenya, or Tanganyika, whose political institutions had either remained rudimentary or been destroyed by European military action. Here 'foreigners' or relatively unimportant individuals (such as the warrant chiefs in East Africa) were imported or raised above their former stations." (Louis, Brown, L ow, and Canny 1999 P. 239). These colonies had Legislative Councils with nominated, non-official members who regarded themselves as a loyal opposition, as well as newspapers critical of government†¦Yet another version of Indirect Rule developed with respect to the loosely organized, so called stateless peoples of Southern Nigeria, Kenya, or Tanganyika, whose political institutions had either remained rudimentary or been destroyed by European military action.(Louis, Brown, Low, and Canny 1999 P. 239)...One of the major consequences of the 'indirect rule' by the British in Ghana, Kenya and South Africa was the establishment of traditional rulers in these countries who wanted to conserve culture and tradition. The emphasis on traditional ruler vs. educated elite had an important impact on the nationalization process of these nations. In a profound analysis interrogating the reasons for the failure of African nationalism in the post-independent period, which is a challenging task, the impact of 'indirect rule' of the British on ethnicity and nationalism of the African countries becomes palpable. Significantly, the workings of imperialism in West Africa indisputably enhanced social cleavages between rural and urban classes, the elite and the masses, and made it difficult to form bonds that would survive the immediate transition to independence. While the manipulation of the communist threat turned aside the just grievances of the masses, cultivation of the moderate, bourgeois elite secured a constant base for Western financial interests. "The manipulation of ethnicity and 'tradition' under colonial rule also had important consequences. As the masses had been excluded from modernity under indirect rule, the nationalist intelligentsia appeared to ethnic as well as pan-African consciousness in building nationalist movements. The attraction of ethnic identity was that it cut across class lines and prioritized culture and 'traditional values' in a time of change. E thnicityis dynamic, not static, and thus may also be viewed as 'another form of popular consciousness' which emerged with the political struggles against colonialism." (Bush, 1999, P. 125-6). However, according to the progressive imperialists, such 'ethnic consciousness' or

Real Art as the Capacity to Make us Nervous Research Paper

Real Art as the Capacity to Make us Nervous - Research Paper Example For the Greeks, art was neither significant nor true. In short, what they were trying to say is that the painting of a chair is no good if someone is not going to seat on it. However, lie or no lie, art considerably has a certain value since it is a form of therapy. It has the capability to make people feel nervous and send their minds on a thoughtful journey depending on the object you are viewing (Sontag 1). With regards to the Greeks, the mimetic theory of art goes together with the view that art is figurative, all the times. However, they should not close their eyes to the fact that art is always abstract and decorative. The misleading notion that art is unavoidably a "realism" can be scrapped or modified devoid of ever going outside the issues surrounded by the mimetic theory (Sontag 1). This paper will discuss why art makes an audience nervous. It will base is on Sontags claim that real art has the capacity to make people feel nervous. It will also present its arguments using a number of performance art and the effects they had on the audience to dispute the Greek notion of art. Performance art has had its fair share of criticism over time. Most people deem that it is clearly weird, having heard rumors of bulls semen, dancing naked and even howling. A majority of individuals in the art world believe that since its halcyon days in the 60s and in the 70s, the medium has lost its power (Swan 1). No matter the side someone stands, chances are performance art makes them unbelievably nervous or maybe even cynical as some critics believe. The nervous feeling, a majority of the dramatists confirm is the proof of arts unique power to make people think afar and also feel something different. Performance art is live art and when it is really good, it creates a direct and overly personal effect on the audience (Heathfield 8). For  instance, in Lesbian National Parks and Services by Shawna Dempsey and Lorri Millan, Dempsey's knuckles are raw and bleeding when he eventually became tired to knock on the door. A majority of the audience has gradually frittered away, but some returned periodically to watch.