Dignity and stereotypes

by Bruno Abarca (Spain).

Last week I read something rather interesting. An article titled 'How (not) to write about Africa', published in 'Developments' (Did you know you can have a free subscription of this quarterly magazine?). It is a magazine published by the Department for International Development of the United Kingdom.

It was interesting to recognize some of the traditional cliches many authors employ to describe Africa and Africans. I think that the way information is written and described also affects the way people understand society, culture, and even conflicts or development processes. How often do we see (or read) marketing campaigns, articles, TV programs, trying to show an image of Africa and African people that: 1) does not respect the dignity of people, 2) is not truly real, 3) forgets to show other aspects of the same issue, maybe less "comercial" or "culturally acceptable" here, in "the north".

How do you feel about it?