Henry John Drewal
When African Arts/Arts d'afrique began in 1967, it published multiple perspectives—see its name—arts (plural) including “graphic and plastic arts, music and dance, cinema and theater, and literature” in two languages. Some articles were more “academic” and supposedly “objective,” while others were evocative, “subjective” works of art, whether the creative imagery of a visual artist, the evocative words of a poet, or a vibrant description of a theater, dance, or musical performance. In that era, academics were taught to write in the “third person,” separating ourselves from our narratives to give them an air of “distanced objectivity,” or a sense of “balanced neutrality.” We tried to minimize the fact that we are part of the stories we tell. Objectivity may be admirable, but it is, I believe, an unobtainable goal. We are subjective social beings, constantly shaping and being shaped by culture. Embedded in the complexities of culture,...