The history of África viewed through their stereotypes

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze a concept based on its stereotypes about Africa, a concept that acts as a kind of classification, being negative or positive, based on certain characteristics of a collectivity. The research is a bibliographical review based on important works on the history of Africa. The relevance of the research lies in the importance of having an impartial and deeper view of the history of Africa, along with many prejudices that have been created from this history. The research is divided into four moments. In a first moment, we will analyze the genealogy of the word Africa, with its diverse possible origins. In a second moment, we will examine the Eurocentric-Portuguese gaze on the history of Africa, passing on the complex question of Eurocentrism and its myths and prejudices. In a third moment, we will also examine the afrocentric gaze on the history of Africa, passing through the concept of pan-Africanism and the important figures in this process. To conclude this research, we will conclude with a position on these visions of African history. We conclude that Africa is not only a definition, but a concept that escapes definitive conceptualization, with emphasis on the discrepancy between the Portuguese and African views on the history of Africa.