In love with Angelina Jolie

I.

I experienced my first “cultural crisis“ at age nine. This was in 2003 at my school in Northern Nigeria. One morning, at an assembly, my headmistress made a shocking announcement. She was banning all Nigerian languages from being spoken at school. She was also banning Pidgin English, a creole widely spoken in Nigeria.

To enforce this rule, our teachers began fining us whenever we were caught speaking our first languages or Pidgin English. When we couldn’t pay, they caned us. They also imposed on us corporal punishments. To evade these punishments, we sometimes spent all our lunch money on fines and went hungry. 

Paradoxically we weren’t punished for speaking French, also taught at school, even though it wasn’t the official language of the nation. Thus after a few years I became unable to think in my first language. And as I grew older, like most of my friends, I began to denigrate my first language and most of Nigerian culture, feeling it was inferior. For if my language Ososo wasn’t inferior, why did it lack many basic vocabularies such as “bread”, “radio” and “telephone”? How could I convey concepts such as ”transubstantiation“ in the language? 

Months afterwards another incident worsened my cultural and identity crisis. This took place one afternoon days before I received my First Holy Communion in the Catholic Church. That afternoon my mates and I were sitting in a classroom at our church. Our catechism teacher, Mr S., came in and began to speak. His voice was melodious, and indeed he was a gifted storyteller and orator. We all loved Mr S. We believed everything he said. We wished our parents were as charming and knowledgeable as he was. But that afternoon, Mr S. made a statement that affected the trajectory of my life.

”We had wronged God throughout our short lives. We would burn in Hell if we died that moment“

”It’s a sin to listen to worldly music“, he said. ”Most worldly music would lead you to Hell.“

We were shocked to hear this. Although we were little kids, aged seven to 10, we loved secular music, even if we mostly didn’t understand them. They defined our existence. We felt them in our bones. We sung and danced to them at home. At our birthday parties they were more important than food and drink. 

To ensure we weren’t offending God, my mates and I named our favourite artists, checking with Mr S. if their works were indeed sinful. Most of the artists we knew were Nigerian or African. So we named them – Lagbaja, Eedris Abdulkareem, Awilo. To our dismay, Mr S. branded their music as sinful. 

”Prostitutes dance to them“, he said. 

Moreover their music was poorly made, he said, sung in broken English, and featured dirty language. Such stuff would lead us to Hell. 

We were devastated. We had wronged God throughout our short lives. We would burn in Hell if we died that moment. 

Out of curiosity, some of us enquired about popular Western artists, such as Celine Dion, Abba and Boney M.

”No, their music is not sinful“, Mr S. said. Still he advised us against them. Although they were great compositions, sung in good English, they were still worldly and could lead us to sin.

That night I couldn’t sleep. Whenever I closed my eyes I’d see the flaming furnace of Hell. I hated myself for offending God. I felt dirty for enjoying Nigerian and African popular music, for finding them irresistible. I swore to stay away from them.

”At home with our parents, we were Nigerian: we ate Nigerian food and spoke our Nigerian mother tongues. But when we were alone, at school or with our peers, we were Western – American, British, French“

Days later I went to my white Irish priest to confess. I knelt beside him, my feet trembling. I whispered to him the many instances I’d lied and fought. But most importantly how I’d listened and danced to secular Nigerian and African music, Lagbaja and Awilo, the music prostitutes danced to. 

And as I grew older I stopped listening to most Nigerian music or watching Nigerian films. This was what my friends did. We obsessed about the tunes of Westlife, Lil Wayne, Eminem, Akon, Rihanna and Nicki Minaj. We considered classmates who consumed local popular culture as uncivilised, ”uncool“. For if Nigerian culture (films, music, books, clothing) wasn’t inferior, why wasn’t it as ”slick“, „refined“, ”cool“ and globally acceptable as those of the West? Why were there no Afrobeat songs on the Billboard charts? This was even though a good deal of the American music we listened to – rap, R&B, pop – had their roots in African music. 

Thus to fit in at school we had to love and espouse Western culture: WWE, the English Premier League, Nike and Adidas footwear, the latest James Bond, Tom Cruise or Marvel film. We exchanged pirated DVDs, chatted about the films for hours, even though we hardly saw people like us in them. We began to crave the men and women in the films, wishing we could date Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. As we soon realised, these experiences of Otherness weren’t unique to us. They were prevalent throughout our country, even across the continent.

Hence as children we began to cultivate a dual identity: African and western – the latter imposed on us – both selves in oscillation and collision with each other. At home with our parents, we were Nigerian: we ate Nigerian food and spoke our Nigerian mother tongues. But when we were alone, at school or with our peers, we were Western – American, British, French.

II.

I relocated to Britain in 2018 for my master’s studies. Instead of the homogenous Western society I thought existed, I found a multicultural one, especially in big cities like London. Indian restaurants, Chinese takeaways, African grocery stores. It was amazing to see that many patrons of these businesses were white. At my university I’d stare at white Britons buying Nigerian jollof rice from a food stand, sitting on benches and consuming every grain. The same society which for centuries disparaged our food and culture. Just last year the Nigerian chef Adejoké Bakare, who specialises in West African cuisine, became the first Black woman in Britain to be awarded a Michelin star. 

Also, remarkably, Afrobeat songs from my country were being played on BBC Radio, in supermarkets, gyms and nightclubs. These songs were soon charting high on the Billboard Hot 100 and even winning Grammys. The same music the West had rubbished for decades, and due to its influence, this music is still considered sinful and mediocre by many in my country. 

For a while I was tremendously ashamed of myself for rejecting my own culture as a child. Soon enough this feeling developed into one of ‘betrayal’ and annoyance at the double-dealing of Britain, of the West. For they benefitted from cultures they continued to belittle, cultures which they still condition young people in the non-Western world to reject. 

”Western societies have enormously benefitted from colonialism, thus they possess massive collections of artefacts looted from the non-Western world“

In fact Westerners usually enjoy privileged (even unfair) access to the world’s heritages, in comparison to many people from the non-Western world. On the one hand these Western societies have enormously benefitted from colonialism, thus they possess massive collections of artefacts looted from the non-Western world. On the other hand Western societies are becoming increasingly multicultural, thanks to their appealing socioeconomic status, with many heritages of the world represented in them.

Take for example Norwich, a small city in the east of England where I live. You can find a considerable chunk of the world’s heritages here. At the Sainsbury Centre, a beautiful museum, you can see sculptures from West Africa, Asia and the Americas. In fact the museum has an enviable collection of Nigerian art. But ironically, many cities in Nigeria don’t even have museums. When they do, they are usually in poor condition. 

Also in Norwich, if you care about popular non-Western cuisines – Chilean, Chinese, Cuban, Indian, Jamaican, Japanese, Korean, Mediterranean, Peruvian, Thai – you’d find their restaurants here. Again this is not the case in many cities of Nigeria, most of which are several times bigger than Norwich. For example you’d struggle to find a Vietnamese Pho restaurant in many Nigerian cities, though there are a few here in Norwich. And as a sign of how multicultural modern Britain has become, many British towns, even villages, boast of their Indian or Chinese restaurants, with the Financial Times estimating 12,000 curry houses in the country in 2016.

After centuries of imposing its flawed ideology, the West has finally realised the limits and defects of this ideology and of its ethnocentrism, and has begun to crave the cultural traditions of the non-Western world. So that, right now, a ”transculturation“ is silently taking place in many Western towns and cities.

This mutation has brought about an ”identity crisis“ in the West, long overdue, as Western ethnocentrism is beginning to fade. This makes the Right hyperventilate about the so-called ”End of the West“. When in fact the West as an ethnocentric system began its slow death the very moment the first Westerner set sail to the non-Western world to trade or colonise. 

”This Other identity of Westerners helps them to ‘extrovert’ benefit from other cultures, have their taste buds expanded, their ideas about music and art and entertainment remodelled, their understanding of their consciousness and humanity upended“

Thus the West is currently undergoing what may be loosely called a ”postcolonial process“, or more accurately, a “process of alterity“ (”Otherness“). Through this process the Western cultural order is being interrogated and enriched. Also daily Westerners are being stimulated and challenged to demonstrate not just a Western identity but possess an identity of the Other. 

For culture and identity are more anti-stasis than we usually assume. At work, school or parties, Westerners are encouraged to cultivate this identity of the Other when they interact with people from other cultures, encounter different accents, consume the food and drink of these cultures. 

For the very process of ingesting food from other cultures changes us, psychosomatically. Food constitutes the hallmark of a culture since it nourishes not just the body but also the mind. 

Thus this Other identity of Westerners helps them to ”extrovert“, benefit from other cultures, have their taste buds expanded, their ideas about music and art and entertainment remodelled, their understanding of their consciousness and humanity upended.

Postcolonial theories can in fact be useful in comprehending this cultural mutation of the West. They include appropriation, transculturation, hybridity and multiple identities. These theories are applicable because they concern how humans respond to and navigate change and alterity. Besides, the West has undeniably been impacted and altered by its colonisation of many territories of the non-Western world.

Appropriation is self-evident. Through hybridity structures such as identity, food, clothing, even society become reshaped into a ”dichotomising system“ (to use V. Y. Mudimbe’s phrase). As a result they thus comprise dualities: Western vs non-Western, white vs non-white, coloniser vs colonised, secular vs spiritual/religious, individuality vs communality.

The ”British curry“, rooted in Indian cuisine, is an epitome of transculturation and hybridity. Another example includes Chinese restaurants with dual menus. In this system one menu is in English (or other European language) and lists dishes that have successfully ”extroverted“ and have been tweaked for the Western public (such as being less spicy). The other menu is in Mandarin and meant for Chinese patrons, for it lists dishes Westerners are yet to embrace. 

”Many ethnic minority Britons had their businesses vandalised, looted and burnt. Some considered giving up their businesses entirely”

In the end multiculturalism arguably benefits the West more than its non-Western populace who drive and shape it. On the one hand these cultural pioneers must compromise their cultures and their authenticity for the benefit of the West. On the other once these elements of culture have been adopted, these pioneers usually don’t receive any lasting cultural plaudits and goodwill. Eventually their heritages become absorbed into a ”neo-Westernisation“, with Western businesses manufacturing and cashing in on these cultural products, while they themselves continue to face discrimination. 

And as the West lurches towards the Right, this discrimination will only worsen. Take for example the anti-migrant riots that occurred last year in Britain. Many ethnic minority Britons had their businesses vandalised, looted and burnt. Some considered giving up their businesses entirely. They included Mohammed Idris, a Sudanese café owner, whose business was set ablaze. He has lived in Britain for over 20 years. Feeling helpless and traumatised, he lamented, ”I will always be a foreigner here“.