Primitivismus und Afrikanismus: Kunst und Kultur Afrikas in der deutschen Avantgarde (review)

Is there anything praiseworthy about a movement that mystified Africa as the antinomy of Europe, that celebrated Africans as idealized expressions of irrationality, the savage, the sensual, and sexual? Béchié Paul N'guessan wants us to consider the German avant-garde precisely in this way, namely as a current that—while essentializing Africa—nevertheless positively identified with the image created of the continent. The author begins with a discussion of basic terminology, such as primitivism and exoticism, and sketches relevant aspects of the historical context, for example, the impact of anthropological and colonialist writings. He then turns to specific instances of African themes in different arts, and also considers the end of the enthusiasm for Africa under the Nazi regime. Two final sections add a dimension betraying the author's approach: he discusses the cross-fertilization between African and European art beyond the period at the focus of the study and, in conclusion, evaluates the interrelatedness between the avant-garde and the Négritude movement. N'guessan stresses the performative aspect of the Négritude movement and considers notions of essentialized Africanness as strategic moves of resistance. Ultimately, he believes that the use of an essentialized Africanness functions similarly in the German avant-garde; here, the African becomes a vehicle for the artists to formulate their critique of bourgeois, capitalist, and decadent Germany.

The equation is thought-provoking but questionable. First, the German avant-garde movement was not monolithic; the use of African themes was formulated distinctly in the different arts (with an often-congenial reception in painting and sculpture, but much more controversial instances in literature), and individual artists displayed varying attitudes toward the African material. While some of the provocative articulations of the Dada movement suggest consciousness about the image-making process itself, the Africanness that was constructed by many avant-garde artists often reified Africa's otherness, an effect that the Négritude movement also produced and which made it subject to criticism for similar reasons. More important, the self-representation of Négritude artists and the projections of German/European artists differ in their respective motivations and goals. Both groups of artists and intellectuals made their statements based on fundamentally different levels of knowledge about African histories, but most of all they pursued distinct trajectories. While Négritude writers and artists engaged critically with the image of Africa itself, the avant-garde's appropriation of African themes reflects—for the most part—not an expression of a dialogue with Africa, but rather the utilization of Africa in order to articulate notions of modernity. N'guessan's analysis is also complicated by the fact that it often seems as if he himself embraces the association of the African with irrationality, the subconscious, and primitive; a more consistent use of the subjunctive might have clarified this aspect.

Detailed case studies, an exploration of the reception of the avant-garde's use of African themes, and an elaborate connection to the German historical context might have succeeded in highlighting the range of meanings Africa had and continues to have for the German audience. Noteworthy also is the lack of reception of critical scholarship coming out of the anglophone world; the last twenty years of debates regarding the ideological functions of culturalist and racist discourses is almost entirely missing. Nevertheless, the study is welcome for the wealth of material it brings together, and the overview presented should inspire further investigations of the topics addressed in this work.