Looking Back, Looking Forward

Abstract

Consider for a moment a rather different way of conceiving of design. Chinua Achebe’s quote in the epigraph continues as follows:

Those who secure this privilege for themselves can arrange stories about others pretty much where, and as, they like.

Narrative, for Achebe, is a form of political domination. It was a form that was used by English writers during the race for African colonization to depict Africans in ways which precluded Africans’ ability to ethically present themselves in any form outside of the canon set forth in the narrative. Narratives promoted by English and European writers were used to justify the subjugation of Africans. Since Africans could not control this narrative, they were unable to control their own identities.