The Image of the White Man in the African Popular Imagination: An Analysis of Literary Texts and Myths that Documented the Arrival of the European and the Formation of the Image of the Other

Abstract:
This study aims to highlight the image of the «white man» in the African popular imagination by tracing its representations in oral myths, early literary texts, and postcolonial writings. It does not regard this image as a neutral historical reflection, but rather as a symbolic and cultural construct that embodies the dialectic of self and other, while revealing the dynamics of power and identity within the African context. From the earliest encounters, whiteness in the African imagination was associated with the realm of spirits and death; Europeans were depicted as ghosts or returning ancestors (vumbi / yumboes), while prophecies anticipated their arrival, such as the prophecy of «Mugo wa Kibiro,» which portrayed them as bearers of «fire-spitting sticks» and builders of the «iron serpent.» With the development of the colonial era, the image shifted from metaphysical strangeness to a realistic representation of domination and oppression, as recorded in texts such as Batouala by René Maran, which exposed French colonialism and presented the white man as a destructive force against local traditions. The image of the white man in the African imagination is characterized by multiplicity: it combines fascination and estrangement on the one hand, and rejection and resistance on the other. Moreover, it did not merely represent the other, but also served as a mirror for redefining African selfhood and affirming dignity in the face of marginalization. Through the adoption of the “imagology” approach, it becomes evident that the image of the white man in the African imagination shifts with changing contexts, remaining a testimony to the long struggle between domination and resistance, between strangeness and identity ■