AFRICAN IDENTITY IN TRANSFORMATION: EXPLORING SOCIAL DYNAMICS
Isaac Chidi Igwe 1
Abraham Apereseimokomo Alfredh 2
Department of Philosophy, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria 1
Department of Philosophy, Niger Delta University, Amasoma, Bayelsa, Nigeria 2
Corresponding Email: ic.igwe@unizik.edu.ng 1
Abstract
This work is entitled ” African Identity in Transformation: Exploring Social Dynamics”. The issue of African identity has been one of the major concerns in African discourse. This concern is further heightened in contemporary time by the compelling demand for global standard and push for cultural uniformity as criteria for acceptance into the comity of civilized societies. In this way, attempts at calibrating African identity reflects the principle of existence which asserts that each entity is self-defined, unified with itself, and coherent in its nature. Differently stated. every entity exists separately from the others, with characteristics such as color, size, and shape differentiating it from other entities. The objective of the paper, therefore, is to challenge the position that the debate about African identity is long foregone, and irredeemably so. It demonstrates that the capacity of man to continue to engage in self-interrogation for the purpose of self-affirmation is one of the ontological characteristics of his being. In engaging the method of conceptual analysis. The study establishes a link between the African past, its present and foreseeable future. Finding reveals that the frantic efforts made towards reclaiming and redefining the African personality through social and ideological strides, has culminated into cultural and linguistic activism wherein there is more emphasis by scholars on the need to prioritize indigenous African languages in literature and intellectual discourse The outcome of the study shows that African identity is not a relic of the past but a living and evolving force.
Keywords: African Identity, Colonialism, Post-colonialism, Racialism, Self-affirmation, Reclamation.
