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by Panjam 2889 days ago
This is the most fascinating article I have read this month, if not year. Thanks to the author, if you find your way to these comments. What I found particularly interesting:

1. The insight into Igbo culture and its complexity. We rarely see this in articles published in the West about African culture, in part because many African writers care not to disclose (not just because of existing narratives into which western writers place lazy stories).

2. The nuance in the response to the past: guilt and pride. Many people feel this I suspect. I wonder if knee jerk reactions such as that by the commenter (1996) at the top of the comments is a reaction to that discomfort, rather than the perceived accusations of historical injustice.

3. The way in which traditional belief systems, curses etc, gave rise to such a mature and measured response to the sins of the past. There is a parallel to German acknowledgement of past sins; I'm fairly sure roooted in their traditional Catholic belief systems.