The Masque of Africa by V S Naipaul

The Masque of Africa was written by V S Naipaul just ten years ago. He was exploring religious rituals in Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Gabon and South Africa. Since there is no introduction or foreword or preface to the book, it is not clear why he wrote this book. (Yes, I can go search on Google, but the book itself does not tell me.) His writing is jerky in parts and the perspective is quite “white saheb”. His genius comes through at times when he almost seems to see behind the facade of words that the leaders he meets recite repeatedly. 

I am so used to reading about the poverty, corruption and injustice in Africa; I suddenly realised that this is about the people themselves - not what is done to them. Naipaul does go for the exotic like any “white man” would. But then he kind of pulls himself back as if he realises he is doing that. That struggle within him is interesting to watch right through the book. In parts, the book read like watching a documentary film about, especially, West Africa. This is the kind of travelogue that I like to read - not merely going from place A to place B and using hyperbole about the sights, but talking about people you meet and describing them in-depth. That tells me a lot more about the country. His detailed description of how cats are killed in Ivory Coast will stay with me for some time. He repeats it thrice in the book, just to make sure you don’t forget. I guess it horrified him as much as it did me. 

His struggle is most evident when he is in South Africa visiting monuments and Winnie Mandela rather than forests and ceremonies. While in the other countries he steered clear of politics, he admits that it is just not possible in South Africa - everything there is about race. SA is one country where the issue of “race” has actually “united” people across colour. At least from Naipaul’s telling of it. His confusion in SA is evident from the vagueness of his writing about the country. It is like he couldn’t really understand what was happening there.

I would recommend this book to anyone who still thinks of Africa as one big country rather than the continent of 57 countries it really is.