love/romance/eros are european concepts that come from a philosophical/political/artistic movement that stressed hightened excessive an unrealistic human emotions as a way to forward mankind socially spiritually an politically.

i have always wanted to research what traditional africans theorised 'love' as? how did they conceive emotions in general? what was some african philosophy on love? is there even a lingua franca for how we use the word love in the west to describe emotions in interpersonal relationships?

i know this post is slap dash an ting i jus wanna open some discourse.

Hey Reuben,

Good questionclp)I sometimes wonder about that when I'm hurting up my head with hubby LOL. Sometimes it's so long and it's much easier just thinking logically and leave the right side of the brain to chill....but you can't help what you feelconfused3. I do wonder how the wiseones dealt with thethings we go through that can seem trivial.I do think that a lot of it is a western way of thinking and acting because that's all we've had in our faces for so long even in our home lands:X.

It sometimes seems though feeling so much is a bad thing. Quite funny actually that we seem to be the only living entities that apparently have emotion yet try so hard toskirt overcertain parts of it's existenceconfused2...interesting...

Interesting thought..I have a couple of obvious questions.....

What is 'love'

How does AFRICAN LOVE differ from European love?

I always believed romance to be a western concept which isa spin-off from materialism. In todays society a mans love for a woman seems to be defined by wether he'd eat her fanny or not. Likewise many women seem to think once they gobble their bloke it's their sign of saying 'I'm yours' - notice how when things are sour the first thing to stop is the blowj.

Hey Reuben,

I'm not sure how you're getting on with this but I've just come across a book that may help. There could be some answers to your questions it's called "African Physcology in Historical Perspective and Related Commentary" by Daudi Ajani ya Azibo.

Happy Learning

Just check outCleopatra as retold by Hollywood Me personally I've been told I mentally torture women. If this means I strip them of their makeup and deal with them directly then guilty as charged. Had one woman who eventually called it a day...I think she was waiting aroundexpectingromance LOL

To methe main difference seems to be that European love is so defined and given to us as what they think it is.It's all external and based heavily on materialstic ways to express it.

I've noticed the same type of thing... Europeans seem to think systematically, almost robotically in regards to things people wouldn't otherwise think of in that way.

Notice how in the west children aren't, 'had' they're, ''afforded''. Its the same with marriage, its all by the system as though its nessary for their survival.Its, convinient to marry. The main one is their approach to having children how its not done with love at all but isleft to a convininet time so it dosen't disturb a workaholic robotic lifestyle and money matters. How economics are given precedence over family matters.

Systematic systematic systematic.

Where there is no system you'll find that things are diffrent, theres nothing to live by and so people have more children than they do where there is this systematic way of living. Children are raised by their families and villiage not caretakers and television programs in a place where paying the bills has mommy and daddy working all day and too tired to play when they get home preferring to buy pre packed food as time management seeps into everyday life... In my book a home cooked meal is supposed to be made with love itself not bought in some sterilized packet.

People are allocated time and affection for one another in European thinking.

LOVE in its commercial concept is probably the brain child of Western interpretation with some Christian ideals thrown in for good measure.

My views might be quite controversial but i am only reasoning from things I saw and learnt while growing up in Kenya & Tanzania.

The Traditional African view of LOVE may have similar threads but at the same time I think the concepts vary greatly. The "Love" between man and woman was probably subdued in my view. Bearing in mind many African Cultures subscribed to polygamy, I think that the ralationship was more practical than romantic in many ways. It must have been hard to not have fits of jealousy as your husband took his second or third wife....so LOVE as a ROMANTIC IDEAL was more of a distant value. Of course there would be some kind of LOVE but i think it is closer to understanding,tolerance and acceptance.....many people see these as virtures or aspects of LOVE. It may not be what people what to here but the concept of LOVE in Africa is really quite vague.

But there is an aspect to LOVE that is more or less universal and is prominent and highly celebrated in Africa and that is the LOVE between mother and child.

I have been documenting various folktales and proverbs from all over Africa for the past few years. I beleive that within these oral traditions lie many a key to understanding various aspects of African Philosophy. Our people before us were very practical and thus traditional philosophies were emulated from generation to generation through these mediums. If you like I would be happy to pass on a few examples........

rebel-lion says

Children are raised by their families and villiage not caretakers and television programs in a place where paying the bills has mommy and daddy working all day and too tired to play when they get home preferring to buy pre packed food as time management seeps into everyday life... In my book a home cooked meal is supposed to be made with love itself not bought in some sterilized packet.



clp)clp)clp)clp)

I was starting to think I was the only one left from this school of thought!!! Furthermore.....The British way of thinking makes a mockery of the concept of Community.

I have been documenting various folktales and proverbs from all over Africa for the past few years. I beleive that within these oral traditions lie many a key to understanding various aspects of African Philosophy. Our people before us were very practical and thus traditional philosophies were emulated from generation to generation through these mediums. If you like I would be happy to pass on a few examples........


Cool. Plz make a thread about it.