National Culture And Liberation Amilcar Cabral Summary

In his article entitled, "National Culture and Liberation" Amilcar Cabral discusses the vital role the development of a collective cultural identity possesses in regard to national liberation, especially during the decolonization process of African countries. First, the author begins noting that colonialism requires the foreigners to "...practically liquidate the entire population of the dominated country, thus eliminating all possibility of that kind of cultural resistance; or to succeed in imposing itself without adversely affecting the culture of the dominated people, that is to say, harmonizing the economic and political domination of these people with its cultural personality" (Cabral 12). This quote exhibits the threatening nature of …show more content…
Primarily, he believes that the process of decolonization strengthens a nation rather than leaving it in disarray. This is because it forces the colonized people to contrive a singular identity for everyone residing in the corresponding territory. In doing so, it creates an independent, unified African nation-state. However, Cabral does not fail to remind his audience of the inevitable cost of this decolonization process. For instance, this is referring to the significant loss of cultural diversity that ensues the rejection of tribal ideologies in exchange for liberty. Subsequently, he implies that decolonization does not have an entirely positive impact on those affected by it. Furthermore, author unfortunately views this method as the only viable option for colonized people to escape the oppression of their European rulers. Consequently, Amilcar Cabral challenges the reader to contemplate whether the end result of decolonization justifies the dissolution of countless amounts of unique tribal cultures and then to devise alternate means of attaining