Physical Coffle, Mental Coffin?

As uninterested as I usually am about all things African, or cultural for that matter, this picture changed my mind. When I look at this picture, the one thing that stirs inside me is surprisingly not the fact that there are women who are being enslaved(in this case by Portuguese). Sure this picture is a great example of the inhumanity of the Transatlantic Slave trade, especially to women, and also showing no visible mercy to children, as these women are obviously carrying babies on their backs. However, we already know that the slave trade was a brutal business. We obviously have seen the horrific pictures of slaves stuffed inside of a ship. But what we don’t ever contemplate is this theory that “Europeans and other slave trading intruders to pre-colonial Africa saw Africans as being primitive and without order or intellect”, yet we hear it all the time. Of course, judging by the evidence they provided (pictures, literature, and the like) of their encounters with various African natives (for lack of better terminology at the moment), the theory is valid. But what strikes me about this picture is that they’re making Africans do something they would normally do, minus the chains and whips and guns. They’re gathering to provide in a way they know how. However, instead of gathering to provide for their family, the Portuguese are using the Africans to gather THEIR OWN resources to provide for the enslavers. This, to me, is evidence that these people obviously knew that there was potential in the African society and that they were well capable of surviving where they were, or they would not have had them gathering goods as they are in this picture. I cannot let go of the idea (or argument) that maybe the Enslavers were not so ignorant of the potential of the African pre-colonial society after all. Maybe my point makes no sense, and I may be missing some important fact here, but it truly strikes the question in me, if they had not been previously performing this gathering –survival activity, the Portuguese would not know to force them to continue it (and they obviously did), so what is it about the African way of life they can't seem to accept? They obviously trust the method enough to benefit from it.

An Interdependent Trade In Africa Involving Three Groups of People

This painting by Alphonse Levy of a slave coffle in Western Sudan is indicative of just how complex the interdependence between people became as a result. The three groups of people involved in this picture are Sub-Saharan African slaves, Arabian soldiers (left and right), and Europeans, which although not pictured are the most influential group in why this picture, and its content, came to be.

    First, although descended from inhabitants of the Middle East, the Arab-African soldiers are capturing other Africans, showing how fractal and cutthroat the political situation was in Africa at the time; groups of people did not care about others outside their own, much as is the case today, where the geographical lines drawn up by European powers do not show where the allegiance of Africa's people lie. There is not a nation in Africa in which all its inhabitants identify as part of the same social group. You can see the women traversing harsh landscapes topless, with a rope around their necks and children at their side, which is probably one of the most humiliating experiences a woman can endure, coupled with what else these soldiers did that isn't pictured. 

    The Arab soldiers, on the left and right of the picture, show a great deal of information about the trade. In terms of character, the Arabs are no better than the Europeans who packed slaves into ships as tightly as canned sardines. These were men of despicable character and without mercy, sympathy or any sign of morality.

    One of the important, yet subtle components in this image are the rifles the Arabs are holding. They are evidence these Arabs had not only contacted Europeans, but had previously conducted business with them and were provided the means to continue their business with an increased level of efficiency that firearms provisioned. It cannot directly be proven in the image that these slaves were in fact sold to Europeans, but the information we can glean leads us to believe that was the case. It is very important to understand that Europeans at this time were greatly affecting the lives of two other groups of people in the heart of Africa without being present. This shows the incredible power and magnitude to which Europe's imperial nations influenced Africa.

   Last, to fully understand this image, we must look at why it was created, and was so because of simple marketing. Europe needed to sell this course of action as a viable economic process to its citizens. This is done twofold: by painting the Arabs wearing white which is no coincidence and by making the slaves' faces blurry and likened to those of primates, to dehumanize them as the slave trade did comprehensively throughout its history. 

King of Kongo Receiving Dutch Ambassadors

Early Europeans felt obligated to refine their images of Africa in order to protect the people who consumed them from culture shock. “Dutch Ambassadors Greeting the King of Kongo” is a beautiful Italian painting from the late 17th century that depicts a few Dutch men kneeling to the King of Congo and the his advisors in the background. It is a rendition or an older sketch of the scene called “King of Kongo Receiving Dutch Ambassadors”, which shows the same scene but more accurate to what was actually going on. The Italian version strips almost everything African about the scene.

The Italian rendition is very fancy and European dressing the king in flowing robes and boots. The building that it takes place in has fancy carpeting and a nice chandelier dangling from the ceiling. The Africans look very so relaxed and proper in the traditional European sense that the painting almost looks like it is depicting a religious ceremony. It is very rare to see white people kneeling to African people, so the painter of the Italian rendition had to make sure that the Africans were fit to deserve the respect of the Dutch. The only way to do so was to picture the Africans as European as possible.

Historically, the Dutch are asking the Congolese king to trade with them and in real life, he denies them and chooses to trade with the Portuguese instead. The Italian rendition was made for an Italian book about fashion from all over the world. It was made for arts sake and in order for the Italians to make them beautiful and acceptable in order to sell the most copies of their book as possible. The clothes that they wore were intended to look as exotic, but not too different from what the potential customers of the book were used to. They pictured them as European as possible because any other way would shock the audience.

A New Interpretation of Africa

Torment, torture, and abuse of black slaves are what are seen at first glimpse, but the detailed landscape is a representation of Africa in contrast to slavery. David Livingstone was an African explorer who enjoyed the beautiful scenery of Africa, but despised the ongoing process of slavery. His detailed portrayal of foreground and background presents a double-sided coin, a double perspective in other words, to what Africa really was. The fact of the matter was that slavery was occurring, it wasn't something to deny, but at the same time it was not the only thing that Africa had to offer. There were huge hills, gorgeous oceans, and tons of plant life in addition to the slave trade that was occurring daily.
The title, as you can see, of this piece if "Slavers Revenging Their Loses". The purpose of the painting, from the title, is to show the unequal treatment of slaves, but the landscape of both foreground and background is in great detail. Livingstone is educating us onlookers; he wants us to be aware of the tortures that are occurring, but not to lose sight of the beauty Africa has to offer.
The detailed portrayal of foreground and background is also a portrayal of slavery and freedom. Looking in the foreground you are shown slaves attached together and one even being killed for not being as fast as the others, this is a clear representation of slavery. In the background you are shown the ocean, hills, and birds soaring through the sky. The ocean looks closer than it actually is and the birds are bigger than they actually are, these alterations present the concept of freedom. Even when death and captivity is present in Africa, there is still good alive in the background. There is more to this picture; there is an interpretation and meaning this image for us to understand.