Why Was Africa Called the Dark Continent?为何非洲曾被称为黑大陆？

安杰拉·汤普赛尔/文　施慧静/译

The most common answer to the question， “Why was Africa called the Dark Continent？” is that Europe did not know much about Africa until the 19th century. But that answer is misleading and disingenuous. Europeans had known quite a lot about Africa for at least 2，000 years， but European leaders began purposefully ignoring earlier sources of information to justify colonialism and anti-Blackness.

对于“为何非洲曾被称为黑大陆？”这个问题，最老生常谈的答案就是欧洲直到19世纪才对非洲有所了解。但这样的回答是别有用心、颠倒黑白的。因为欧洲至少在两千年前就对非洲知之甚详，而欧洲的领导人却开始佯装不知，忽略早期信源，目的是为殖民主义和仇视黑人制造正当理由。

At the same time， the campaign against enslavement and for paternalistic missionary work in Africa intensified Europeans racial ideas about African people in the 1800s. White people called Africa the Dark Continent because they wanted to legitimize the enslavement of Black people and exploitation of Africas resources.

同时在19世纪，反对奴役非洲与支持阿在非洲强行传教的运动并辔而行，加剧了欧洲人对非洲人的种族偏见。白人称非洲为黑大陆，不过是为了合法地奴役黑人、盘剥非洲资源。

Exploration： Creating blank spaces

探险：制造未知区域

It is true that up until the 19th century， Europeans had little direct knowledge of Africa beyond the coast， but their maps were already filled with details about the continent. Initially， Europeans drew on the maps and reports created by earlier traders and explorers like the famed Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta， who traveled across the Sahara and along the North and East coasts of Africa in the 1300s.

19世紀以前，欧洲人对非洲除沿海地区以外的情况的确缺乏直接了解，不过他们的地图却已详尽地勾勒出非洲大陆。欧洲人起初通过早期商人和探险家创作的地图、游记来了解非洲，其中包括大名鼎鼎的摩洛哥旅行家伊本·白图泰，他于14世纪穿越撒哈拉沙漠，沿着非洲的北部和东部海岸旅行。

During the Enlightenment， however， Europeans developed new standards and tools for mapping， and since they werent sure precisely where the lakes， mountains， and cities of Africa were， they began erasing them from popular maps. Many scholarly maps still had more details， but due to the new standards， the European explorers—Burton， Livingstone， Speke， and Stanley—who went to Africa were credited with （newly） discovering the mountains， rivers， and kingdoms to which African people guided them.

然而在启蒙运动中，欧洲人发明了新的工具和标准来绘制地图。因为对非洲的城市、山脉与湖泊位置缺乏准确的认识，他们于是着手将相关信息从当时通用的地图上抹去。很多学术地图仍然标注详细，但是因为新绘图标准的施行，伯顿、利文斯通、斯佩克和斯坦利这些以非洲人为向导的欧洲探险家，还是被认为（新）发现了非洲的王国、山脉和河流。

The maps these explorers created did add to what was known， but they also helped create the myth of the Dark Continent. The phrase itself was actually popularized by the British explorer Henry M. Stanley， who with an eye to boosting sales titled one of his accounts “Through the Dark Continent，” and another， “In Darkest Africa.” However， Stanley himself recalled that before he left on his mission， he had read over 130 books on Africa.

诚然，这些探险家制作的地图增进了对非洲的了解，但同时也助生了“黑大陆”的错误说辞。这个说法本身其实就是英国探险家亨利·M. 斯坦利传播开来的，他为了自己的游记能畅销，便以此为作品命名，一本名为《穿过黑大陆》，另一本名为《在最黑的非洲》。然而，据斯坦利自己回忆，他在启程探险前就已经阅读了130多本关于非洲的书籍。

Imperialism and duality

帝国主义与二元对立

Imperialism was global in the hearts of western businessmen in the 19th century， but there were subtle differences between the imperialist demand for African resources compared to other parts of the world. That did not make it any less brutal.

19世纪，西方商人全心认同帝国主义是波及全球的，但是与世界其他地方相比，帝国主义者对非洲资源的需求有着细微差别。但这并未让其残忍性有丝毫逊色。

Most empire-building begins with the recognition of trading and commercial benefits that could be accrued. In Africas case， the continent as a whole was being annexed to fulfill three purposes： the spirit of adventure （and the entitlement white Europeans felt towards Africa and its people and resources they could then claim and exploit）， the patronizing desire to “civilize the natives” （resulting in deliberate erasure of African history， achievements， and culture） and the hope of stamping out the trade of enslaved people. Writers such as H. Ryder Haggard， Joseph Conrad， and Rudyard Kipling fed into the romanticized and racist depiction of a place that required saving by strong （and white） men of adventure.

多数帝国的建立以确认可增值的贸易与商业利益为始。对非洲而言，整块大陆的侵占是为了满足3个目标：冒险精神（欧洲白人觉得他们对非洲及其人民和资源享有权利，对此可以主张并予以利用），屈尊“教化原住民”的欲望（其结果是刻意抹去非洲的历史、成就和文化），和希望废除奴隶贸易。H. 赖德·哈格德、约瑟夫·康拉德和拉迪亚德·吉卜林等作家凭空臆想，以种族主义的笔触将非洲描绘为一方需要强壮的（白人）冒险家来拯救的土地。

An explicit duality was set up for these conquests： dark versus light and Africa versus West. Europeans decided the African climate invited mental prostration and physical disability. They imagined forests as implacable and filled with beasts; where crocodiles lay in wait， floating in sinister silence in the great rivers. Europeans believed danger， disease， and death were part of the uncharted reality and the exotic fantasy created in the minds of armchair explorers1. The idea of a hostile Nature and a disease-ridden environment as tinged with evil was perpetrated by fictional accounts by Joseph Conrad and W. Somerset Maugham.

這些征服体现出鲜明的二元对立：黑暗与光明，非洲与西方。欧洲人认定，非洲的气候环境导致了人的精神脆弱和身体缺陷。在他们的臆想中，非洲的丛林深不可测、野兽四伏，非洲的大河寂静凶险、鳄鱼出没。欧洲人认为这片未知的真实世界包藏着危险、疾病和死亡，也相信空谈冒险的作家笔下的异域幻想。约瑟夫·康拉德和W. 萨默塞特·毛姆妄加揣测，虚构出穷山恶水、疾病肆虐、又透着一丝妖邪的非洲印象。

18th-century Black activists and missionaries

18世纪的黑人活动家与传教士

By the late 1700s， British 18th-century Black abolitionists were campaigning hard against the practice of enslavement in England. They published pamphlets describing the horrid brutality and inhumanity of enslavement on plantations.

到了18世纪末，英国的黑人废奴主义者四处奔走、强烈反对英格兰的奴隶制度。他们印刷散发小册子，讲述种植园奴隶遭受的惨无人道的对待。

Once the British Empire abolished enslavement in 1833， however， Black activists turned their efforts against the practice within Africa. In the colonies， the British were also frustrated that formerly enslaved people didnt want to keep working on plantations for very low wages. To retaliate， the British portrayed African men not as human， but as lazy idlers， criminals， or evil traders of enslaved people.

而自從英帝国于1833年废除奴隶制后，黑人活动家将努力的目标转到非洲内部的奴隶制。英国殖民地的种植园也遭遇挫折，曾经的奴隶不愿为微薄的工资干活，英国人为了报复，不把非洲人当人看，将其描绘为游手好闲的懒汉、罪犯，甚至是邪恶的奴隶贩子。

At the same time， missionaries began traveling to Africa. Their goal： to convert as many Africans as possible to Christianity—at the expense of existing African religion， customs， and culture. The cultural erasure perpetrated by these European Christian missionaries caused significant damage to generations， while also attempting to distance African people from their own environment—which in turn left it even more vulnerable to damage and exploitation by imperialist interests.

同一时期，传教士开始前往非洲。他们的目标是尽可能让非洲人都皈依基督教，取代非洲现有的宗教、风俗和文化。欧洲基督教传教士推行的文化抹杀让几代非洲人历经浩劫，传教士还试图将非洲人与其生活环境隔绝，如此一来，非洲人更加经不住帝国主义的伤害和盘剥。

When decades later the mission- aries still had few converts in many areas， they began saying that African peoples hearts were unreachable， “locked in darkness.” Rather than acknowledging why African people might not want their history， culture， and religion overridden by foreigners， the missionaries followed a familiar playbook： retaliation. They portrayed the African people as fundamentally “different” from westerners and closed off from the “saving light” of Christianity， further propagating inaccurate and deeply racist stereotypes about Africa and its people.

几十年后，传教士在众多地区仍然拥趸甚少，于是他们便说基督教无法触动非洲人的灵魂，因为非洲人心灵“深陷于黑暗之中”。传教士不愿承认原因在于非洲人不愿外国人践踏自己的历史、文化和宗教，而是故技重施——打击报复。在他们的说辞中，非洲人与西方人本质上“不同”，与基督教的“拯救之光”绝缘，进一步散布关于非洲及其人民的极具种族主义色彩的错误论调。

The heart of darkness

黑暗的心

Africa was seen by the explorers as an erotically and psychologically powerful place of darkness， one that could only be cured by a direct application of Christianity and， of course， capitalism. Geographer Lucy Jarosz describes this stated and unstated belief clearly： Africa was seen as “a primeval， bestial， reptilian， or female entity to be tamed， enlightened， guided， opened， and pierced by white European males through western science， Christianity， civilization， commerce， and colonialism.”

欧洲探险家把非洲看成放荡而心硬的黑暗之地，而治愈的唯一良方就是直接施行基督教，当然还有实行资本主义。地理学家露西·雅罗什清晰表达了对非洲的这种或明或暗的观念：非洲被看成“一个原始的、兽欲的、卑鄙的，或雌性的个体，得靠欧洲白人男性来驯服、启蒙、引导、打开和戳穿，需要通过西方科学、基督教、文明、商业和殖民主义来实现”。

In reality， African people had been achieving great things in a variety of fields for thousands of years—often before Europeans did. Ancient African cultures were responsible for developing entire mathematical systems， charting the sun and creating calendars， sailing to South America and Asia long before Europeans did， and developing tools and techniques that even surpassed Roman technology. Africa was even home to its own empires （notably， the Zulu）， as well as enormous libraries and universities in countries such as Mali.

事实却是，几千年来非洲人在诸多领域取得了辉煌的成就，而且往往先于欧洲。是古非洲文明发明出一套完整的数字系统，绘制太阳轨迹来制订历法。远在欧洲人扬帆航海之前，非洲人就已经抵达南美洲和亚洲。非洲人还发明出超越古罗马的工具和技艺。非洲大地上也有自己的帝国（尤其值得称道的是祖鲁王国），非洲马里等古国拥有规模浩大的图书馆和大学。

By the 1870s and 1880s， European traders， officials， and adventurers were going to Africa to plunder， exploit， and destroy its people and resources. Recent developments in weaponry gave these men enough military might to enslave African people and seize control of raw materials. A particularly severe example of this is King Leopolds Belgian Congo. When things escalated， Europeans took no accountability and blamed Black people instead. Africa， they said， was what supposedly brought out the savagery in man. That belief is patently false.

19世纪70年代至80年代，欧洲商人、官员和探险家纷纷涌向非洲，他们掠夺、盘剥和危害非洲人民和资源。新的武器让欧洲人具备足够强大的武力奴役黑人和掠夺原材料。其中严重的例子当属比利时利奥波德二世治下的比属刚果。情况升级恶化后，欧洲人推脱责任并责难黑人。他们声称，或许是非洲唤醒了人性中的野蛮残忍。这种说辞显然是一派胡言。

The myth today

今日谎言依旧

Many people know the Dark Continent is a racist phrase but dont fully understand why. Race does lie at the heart of this myth， but it is not just about skin color. Calling Africa the Dark Continent further codified the association between whiteness， purity， and intelligence and Blackness as a pollutant that made one subhuman. The myth of the Dark Continent referred to the inferiority that Europeans convinced themselves was endemic to Africa， to further their political and economic agenda. The idea that its lands were unknown came from disregarding centuries of pre-colonial history， contact， and travel across the continent.

很多人都知道“黑大陸”是种族主义的说法，但往往不明就里。种族问题确实是这个谎言的核心，但不仅在肤色这一层面。称非洲为“黑大陆”进一步规定白色与纯洁、智慧相关，而黑色是污染物，是将人变成下等人。“黑大陆”的谎言，是欧洲人自己确信不疑的成见——认为其根源于非洲本土的低劣性，以此继续达成他们的政治和经济目的。对非洲大地一无所知的说法，是罔顾非洲殖民前的漫长历史、人员交流以及跨越该大陆的旅行见闻。

（译者为“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛获奖者；单位：上海工程技术大学）

1 armchair explorer指空谈冒险，并没有亲身经历的人。