Negritude and Pan-Africanism: Towards a Paradigm for the Unification of Africa

Abstract

In their manifest perspectives, Negritude and Pan-Africanism constitute reactionary undertones to misrepresentation of African heritage and the denial of Africans’ capacity to exercise the basic and, by far, the overall essentials of humans, such as rationality and logicality. This denigration stems from the views held by some Europeans scholars like Hegel and Kant. While the Pan-African ideal signifies the template for the continent to ‘repair’ its bastardised image by colonial masters, Negritude is a consideration of the mannerism that embodies the psycho-cultural build-up of the black race. Much like the term ‘Pan-Africanism’, Negritude has emerged as some kind of response to unwarranted segregation that has traumatized Africans. This paper examines the relationship between Negritude and Pan-Africanism, showing areas of convergence and divergence, with an attempt to identify their place in addressing the perennial challenges plaguing Africa.