ПЕСНА НА ЦРНАТА ЖЕНА ОД АЦО ШОПОВ ВО КОНТЕКСТ НА ДЕКОЛОНИЈАЛИЗМОТ И ПОСТКОЛОНИЈАЛИЗМОТ / THE BLACK WOMAN SONG BY ACO ŠOPOV IN THE CONTEXT OF DECOLONIALISM AND POSTCOLONIALISM

Abstract

This paper offers a reading of the poetry book The Song of the Black Woman regarding
Africa’s colonial past. It is known that the maintaining of imperialism and colonialism was
possible partly because of the negative narratives about the colonized nations. Those
negative narratives have shaped the perception of black people for centuries and it is
not surprising that the negative stereotypes have affected the self-perception of black
people as well. Because of that a critical stance is needed whenever one encounters a
text in which there is a representation of black people and their culture. The paper brings
together the thoughts of a few different postcolonial critics and thinkers. Šopov’s poems
are situated in a broader cultural context. Regarding the central position of the figure of
the black woman in the poems, the focus is on the representation of the female subject.
The paper emphasizes the fact that Šopov does not accept the typical Eurocentric model
which used devaluing the Other(s) and their culture as an alibi for colonizing. In the
poems we read a complete affirmation of the Senegalese and African culture. Thereby
we can conclude that The Song of the Black Woman belongs to the political move for
decolonization even if that was not a conscious and leading intention of the poet.