Brazza of the Congo. Richard West.

(Gabon, Kongo)

W języku polskim próżno szukać książek na temat Konga-Brazzaville, Gabonu czy w ogóle całej Francuskiej Afryki Równikowej. W języku angielskim jest ich już więcej, a po francusku stworzono chyba najwięcej dzieł. Pomimo faktu, że Richard West napisał i wydał tą pozycję w 1972 roku, to jest ona bardzo ciekawa i w większości aktualna i dziś. Myślałem, że będzie to wnikliwy życiorys Pierra Savorgnana de Brazzy, ale jednak jest to coś więcej. Autor przy okazji opisywania życia tego wielkiego odkrywcy, prześledził historie Konga i Gabonu, a także zarysował sylwetki innych postaci związanych z tym regionem Afryki. Poznamy tutaj Paula du Chaillu, Malamine Camarę, Mary Kingsley, Stanleya, Schweitzera i kilku innych, którzy, jakby nie patrzeć, przyczynili się do kolonizacji przez Francję Konga i Gabonu, poświęcając często dużą część życia na eksplorację (albo pomoc) tych terenów. Abstrahując od faktu, że pochłonąłem tą książkę w mgnieniu oka, gdyż lecę za kilka miesięcy w te rejony, to jest to naprawdę rzetelnie opracowana analiza życia Brazzy i opanowywania i poznawania Gabonu i Konga przez Francję. Cytaty:

“Du Chaillu has not been given his due place in history as the man who discovered and popularized the gorilla”.

“Du Chaillu, of course, had an advantage that Burton could not guess at: he liked Africans, he put his trust in them and was treated by them with loyalty in return. Burton, who used to set up a whipping post by way of impressing hisporters, was always hampered in Africa by mutiny, theft and desertion”.

“Although France governed the Gabon coast, it was England, during the nineteenth century, that took the wealth of the Gabon trade”.

“Meanwhile, the Minister of Foreign Affairs considered giving the Gabon to England, in return for the Gambia colony”.

“Brazza’s third expedition had established a loose authority over what are today the Republics of Gabon and Congo-Brazzaville”.

“The only important difference now between the two Congo regimes was that France, not holding an interest in the concessionary companies, would not provide the army that alone could make them profitable”.

“…Gide wrote: ‘The less intelligent the white man, the more stupid the black man seems'”.

“One does not feel, as one feels with Du Chaillu, Kingsley and Brazza, that Schweitzer could think of an African as a friend. This famous scholar spent fifty years at Lambarene without learning the two main local languages, or taking an interest in the local folklore. His attitude to the Africans was dutiful but detached. He may have loved them but I do not think that he liked them”.

“Schweitzer was often accused of arrogance towards Africans. He never invited an African to sit with him at a meal or even to sit in his presence. The famous scholar of ancient religions and languages spent fifty years on the Ogowe without taking an interest in the local religions, or learning the main local languages. None of his black hospital orderlies or asisstants, however able, was offered help or encouragement to qualify as a doctor. Indeed, Schweitzer was wont to address all Africans as servants, using the uncourteous ‘tu’. Although, by the end of his life, Schweitzer was shy of discussing race, Cameron quotes him as saying that Dr Malan, who introduced the apartheid system, was a salutary influence on South Africa. Even Schweitzer’s apologists sound defensive and embarassed when writing about his relations with the Africans”.