V. Y. Mudimbe

Valentin-Yves Mudimbe (8 December 1941 – 22 April 2025) was a Congolese philosopher, academic 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. Quotes “Suddenly it becomes possible that there are just others, that we ourselves are an “other” among others.” “I was struck by a shallow figure of speech. . . . that Christianity is the handmaiden of capitalism.” “Isn't simplification sometimes impoverishment? How to convey the richness of the message with a poverty of symbols. If we oversimplify the form, don't we kill the content?” “Form betrays. Form can betray. What matter, if the eternal meaning retains its true value.” “Forget language. After all, it bores me. The senses. And this much is true: any communication must transcend the immediacy of solidarity, must be mediated by ideological and economic connections. And there the senses reappear. No use giving in to words.” “A liberation movement is doomed once it stops to haggle over nuances of good and evil.” “Even symbols decayed.” “I teased Fabrizio: "We're studying theology here.""How? Are you making fun of me?" "Not at all. Livy read historical chronicles. He interprets them by his own passionate views and freezes them for all time. . . . He wanted theoretical support for a conclusion he accepted beforehand. Isn't that theology?” External links V_Y_Mudimbe Category:1941 births Category:2025 deaths Category:Philosophers Category:Socialists from Africa Category:Revolutionaries Category:Pan-Africanists Category:Novelists Category:Essayists Category:Literary critics