Africism

Africism: A Geo-Ontological Approach

For many years, the religious and thought system of Africa was perceived through the highly subjective and often contemptuous lenses of outsiders and failed to reflect the African reality correctly. The geo-ontological approach has as its goal the adequate naming of African religion and philosophy, the concepts behind the religious and thought system that is indigenous to Africa.

The components of the term geo-ontological are the prefix geo-, which means “Earth,” and onto-logical, an adjectival form of “ontology,” the branch of philosophy that studies the nature of being or existence. A geo-ontological approach to the naming of the religious and thought system of Africa, therefore, means naming it on the basis of the origin and relationship of its being, within the context of its geographical reference point. A name is a point of identification for the bearer of the name. Africism reflects a geographical belonging-ness to Africa because this is where the religious and thought system of concern here originates.

An etymologically clarifying note about Africa may be helpful. Africa is the name of the continent. It is derived from the people of North Africa, whose name was Afer (sing.)/'Afri (plur.). After the homeland of the Afri was colonialized by the Romans in 146 BC. the name of the homeland was changed from Carthage to Africa to mean “the land of the Afri.” Afric- stood as the root word to which suffixes are added to determine the meaning. The suffix-ca added to Afri-results in terra Africa, that is, “land of the Afri.” Originally, Africa signified what today is called the former Roman province in North Africa. In the course of time, through metonymy, the figure of speech consisting of the use of the name of a part for the whole thing, the term Africa was applied for the whole continent of Africa.

Similarly, the suffix -ism can be added to the root word afric-. Linguistically, it is sound to employ the suffix -ism in forming the name of a system, of a theory, or of a practice that can be religious, ecclesiastical, and philosophical depending on the situation at hand. Thus, the term Africism was coined. It is an umbrella term that, by essence, represents the oneness of African religion, as manifested in the diverse religious expressions observed in Africa.

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