Kolonialistiese name van lande in Afrika voor en na uhuru

 

Colonial names of countries in Africa before and after uhuru

 

 

Johan Moll

Eenheid vir Taalbestuur, Universiteit van die Vrystaat, Bloemfontein molljc.HUM@ufs.ac.za

 

 

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OPSOMMING

Die belangrikste algemene motiewe vir naamsverandering word bespreek met tiponimiese veranderinge gesien en geanaliseer as 'n ideologiese daad deur diegene met mag beklee en in staat om 'n bepaalde status quo te wysig ten einde gesag, wettigheid en selfrespek te bevestig. Die kwessies wat aangeraak word is: die uitwerking van die "wedloop om Afrika"op die Kontinent; die oproep om uhuru en die aard van Afrikanisering en die daaruit voortvloeiende wegdoen met koloniale landname; en ten slotte die aard en oorsprong van die Afrika landname wat na uhuru weer in ere herstel is.

Trefwoorde: Motiewe vir pleknaamverandering, koloniale landname, kolonialisme, "scramble for Africa", imperialisme, rassisme, uitbuiting, uhuru, Afrikanisering, anti-kolonialisme, dekolonisasie, Afrika-landname, nasionale onafhanklikheid, bevryding, transformasie, Afrika-sentrisme

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ABSTRACT

This article inevestigates the most important general motives for name changing with toponymical changes being viewed as an ideological act by those invested with power to change a specific status quo in order to assert authority, legitimacy and self-esteem. Various concepts are touched upon: colonialism, imperialism, exploitation, anti-colonialism, decolonization and uhuru, the African word for freedom. During the period of decolonization this call for the shaking off of colonial oppression through the achievement of national independence echoed throughout the Continent.
After decolonization and as black governments progressed, more patriotic symbols and ceremonies made their appearance to establish the importance of African heroism and noble deeds. After decolonization words like liberation and democracy, transformation, racism, divisive past became prevalent. The feeling among blacks was one of "centuries of wrong" during which the voice of Africans was silenced and trampled upon while they were treated as nothing more than colonized peoples. The central issue became the repressive colonial heritage and its detrimental effects on African identities. Africa had to be freed from the odour of its colonial past and what better place to start than reclaiming the African names of countries? The traces of colonialism had to be removed and the suppressed Africans healed by rethinking and repossessing the names of their countries.
One of the questions that presents itself is the destabilizing effect of the European "scramble for Africa" when the Continent was carved up into political territories during the Berlin Conference in 1884-5. Britain and France acquired the largest possessions, but Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Belgium all took possession of regions in Africa. What becomes clear is that colonialism had a destabilizing influence on many ethnic groups. All this led to the disturbance of the local balances of power and ethnic separations where previously they did not exist and it also resulted in fierce enmity between African ethnic groups such as Ruanda, for example.
An important strand is the call for uhuru and the development of an ethos of Afro-centrism which was reflected in the riddance of the so-called "colonial hangovers" and the changing of the names of places, towns and cities, leaders and events in truly national terms. More than hundred decolonized states made their appearance worldwide after 1945 when Western actions and views on the history and culture of subservient peoples were seriously questioned. Black states wished to redeem their self-respect through reinstating the original names given by the inhabitants to African areas and countries. The manifold colonial name changes of geographical areas and countries are discussed such as the present Democratic Republic of the Congo, the name of which was changed no fewer than nine times, and the Kingdom of Benin, which changed names five times. It appears that personal craving for power, ethnic conflict and political faction differences became the driving force for manifold name changes.
A full list is given of the countries of which the names were changed after colonial occupation, the year of their independence as well as their present name. In conclusion, the nature and origin of the twenty six African land names re-instituted after Uhuru are discussed in terms of the topography of the particular area especially the presence of water: Zambia (the Zambesi river), Chad (lake "Tsade"), Malawi (lake "Malawi"), Togo (from the Ewe name for water "to" and beach "go"); references to kings and kingdoms (Ethiopia from "Ityopp", the founder of the city of Actum), Mali (from an antique Islamic kingdom), Mozambique (from the name of a sultan Musa Ben Mbiki); ethnicity (Equatorial Guinea from the Berber word "gnawa" for black man), Mauritania (from the Spanish word for Moor), Guinea Bissau (from the Berber equivalent for country of the blacks, "Akal-n-iguinawen"), Botswana (after the country's inhabitants, the Tswana).

Key concepts: Motives for changing place names, colonialist names for countries, colonialism, "scramble for Africa", imperialism, racism, exploitation, uhuru, Africanisation, anti-colonialism, decolonization, African land names, national independence, liberation, transformation, African centrism

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1 Letterlik "die eilande" met verwysing na die vier eilande naby die kus wat in 1525 deel van die hoofland geword het.
2 Van 'n Semitese woord met die betekenis van "stad" of "om te begin of te stig".
3 Arabies vir "die verste Wes".
4 Oorspronklik Joseph Désiré Mobutu totdat hy sy naam ver-Afrikaniseer het (Crystal 2002:1011).
5 Vergelyk Encyclopedia of the Nations, Benin: 1: Crystal 2002:165; Origin of African Country Names 2007:1.

 

 

Johan Moll was verbonde aan die Departement Geskiedenis, Universiteit Vrystaat, is 'n voormalige dekaan van die Fakultiet Geesteswetenskappe en is tans kontraknavorser by die Eenheid vir Taalbestuur aan dieselfde universiteit. Hy was intensief betrokke by kultuuraangeleenthede op die kampus, is die skrywer van twee omvattende kultuurverslae en was redakteur van Acta Academica, die Universiteit se geakkrediteerde tydskrif vir die menswetenskappe. Hy het opgetree as buite-evalueerder, eksterne moderator en keurkomiteelid vir verskeie universiteite, was raadslid vir die Nasionale Musem en die Oorlogmuseum en is die outeur van verskeie boeke en talle wetenskaplike artikels. Binne die SA Akademie was hy voorsitter van die Geskiedeniskomitee, redaksielid van die TGW en hoofredakteur van die Akademie se driekwarteeufees huldealbum. Hy is tans lid van die Internasionale Kunstetrust en raadslid van die Vrystaat Simfonieorkes

Johan Moll was formerly attached to the History Department of the University of the Free State; he was also dean of the Faculty of Humanities and presently he is a contract researcher at the Unity for Language Management at the same university. Apart from having been intensively involved in cultural issues on the campus, he is the author of two extensive cultural reports and a former Editor-in-Chief of Acta Academica, the University's accredited journal for the Humanities. He acted as external scrutiniser and moderator in his capacity as member of the panel of assessors of various universities; in addition, he was a member of the council of both the National and the War Museum and he is the author of various books and numerous scientific articles. At the South African Academy of Science and Arts he served as Chair of the History Committee, he was a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal for the Humanities and Editor-in-Chief of the Academy's festive publication in honour of its 75 years existence. Currently he is a member of the International Arts Trust and also a council member of the Symphony Orchestra of the Free State Province.