V. Y. Mudimbe
Encyclopedia
V.Y. Mudimbe is a philosopher, professor
, and author
of books and articles about African culture, poems, and novels. Mudimbe was a former assistant of Michel Foucault. He was born in the Belgian Congo, which became Zaire
and is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo
. As a young man, he joined a Benedictine monastery, but left in order to study the forces that shaped African history. He and his family left Zaire to escape the dictatorship of Mobutu in the early 1980s. After teaching at Haverford College
and Stanford University
, he now teaches at Duke University
.
Mudimbe focuses most closely on phenomenology, structuralism
, mythical narratives, and the practice and use of language. As a professor, he teaches classes on these topics, as wells as on ancient Greek cultural geography.
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
, and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
of books and articles about African culture, poems, and novels. Mudimbe was a former assistant of Michel Foucault. He was born in the Belgian Congo, which became Zaire
Zaire
The Republic of Zaire was the name of the present Democratic Republic of the Congo between 27 October 1971 and 17 May 1997. The name of Zaire derives from the , itself an adaptation of the Kongo word nzere or nzadi, or "the river that swallows all rivers".-Self-proclaimed Father of the Nation:In...
and is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
. As a young man, he joined a Benedictine monastery, but left in order to study the forces that shaped African history. He and his family left Zaire to escape the dictatorship of Mobutu in the early 1980s. After teaching at Haverford College
Haverford College
Haverford College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States, a suburb of Philadelphia...
and Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, he now teaches at Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
.
Mudimbe focuses most closely on phenomenology, structuralism
Structuralism
Structuralism originated in the structural linguistics of Ferdinand de Saussure and the subsequent Prague and Moscow schools of linguistics. Just as structural linguistics was facing serious challenges from the likes of Noam Chomsky and thus fading in importance in linguistics, structuralism...
, mythical narratives, and the practice and use of language. As a professor, he teaches classes on these topics, as wells as on ancient Greek cultural geography.
Education
- Junior College Degree, Lovanium University, Leopoldville (Kinshasa), Congo (1962)
- Diploma, Lovanium University, Kinshasa, Congo (1964)
- BA, Lovanium University, Kinshasa (1966)
- Graduate Studies, University of Paris (1968)
- Ph. D. with High Honors, Université Catholique de LouvainUniversité catholique de LouvainThe Université catholique de Louvain, sometimes known, especially in Belgium, as UCL, is Belgium's largest French-speaking university. It is located in Louvain-la-Neuve and in Brussels...
, Belgium (1970)
Books
- L'Odeur Du Père (1982)
- The Invention of Africa (1988)
- Parables and Fables (1991)
- The Surreptitious Speech, editor (1992)
- The Rift (1993)
- The Idea of Africa (1994)
- Tales of Faith (1997)
- Nations, Identities, Cultures, editor (1997)
- Diaspora and Immigration, editor (1999)
External links
- Duke University Department of Literature - Dr. Mudimbe's faculty page at Duke University
- University of Cambridge - lecture announcement which explains some of Mudimbe's beliefs (especially about the social sciencesSocial sciencesSocial science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
) and gives some biographical information - Electronic Review of French and Italian Literary Essays - review of Mudumbe's The Invention of Africa by a Northwestern University professor; touches on his philosophies