V. Y. Mudimbe facts for kids
Valentin-Yves Mudimbe (8 December 1941 – 22 April 2025) was a Congolese philosopher, professor, and author of poems, novels, as well as books and articles on African culture and intellectual history. Mudimbe was Ruth F. DeVarney Professor of Romance Studies and professor of comparative literature at Duke University and maître de conférences at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales in Paris.
Early life and career
He was born in the Belgian Congo, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As a young man, he joined a monastery, but left in 1962 in order to study the forces that shaped African history. He studied in Louvain (PhD, 1970), came back to Congo, and flew to the United States in 1979 for political reasons. He taught at Haverford College and Stanford University, and was until his death Professor Emeritus in the Program in Literature at Duke University. His work has had impact on many disciplines including African studies, Philosophy, Sociology, Anthropology, Linguistics, Literature, and History.
Work
Mudimbe's work is considered as highly influential for African studies, notably for his major book The Invention of Africa (1988). His writings transformed the intellectual history of Africa by challenging the dominant historic reconstruction of Greek philosophy which according to him was racialised. The influence of Mudimbe's writings for African studies was compared to that of Edward Said's book Orientalism for postcolonial studies. Mudimbe showed that without critiquing the epistemologies which were the basis of the discourses about Africa, critical approaches can become fruitless. He received the Herskovits Award given by African Studies Association in 1989.
Mudimbe focused most closely on phenomenology, structuralism, mythical narratives, and the practice and use of language. As a professor, he taught courses on these topics, as well as on ancient Greek cultural geography.
The University of Lubumbashi has built a library called “Mudimbe Library” where the works of Valentin-Yves Mudimbe can be consulted.
Death
Mudimbe died on 22 April 2025 at the age of 83 in North Carolina, United States.
Education
- Junior College Degree, Lovanium University, Leopoldville (Kinshasa), Congo (1962)
- Diploma, Lovanium University, Kinshasa, Congo (1964)
- BA, Lovanium University, Kinshasa (1966)
- Graduate Studies, University of Paris (1968)
- PhD with High Honors, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium (1970)
Books
- Novels
- Déchirures (1971)
- Entre les eaux (1973); trans. as Between Tides by Stephen Baker (1991)
- Entretailles (1973)
- L'Autre Face du royaume (1973)
- Les Fuseaux (1974)
- Le Bel immonde (1976); trans. as Before the Birth of the Moon by Marjolijn de Jager (1989)
- L'Ecart (1979); trans. as The Rift by Marjolijn de Jager (1993)
- Shaba deux (1988)
- Les Corps glorieux des mots et des êtres (1994)
See also
In Spanish: Valentin-Yves Mudimbe para niños
- African philosophy
- List of American philosophers
- Postcolonialism
