The African body as an ethico-aesthetic site

pp. 65-81

in: John Murungi, African philosophical Illuminations, Berlin, Springer, 2017

Abstract

Every human body tells a story, not always a story that is already there, but also a story in the making. In either case, the body authors its own story. The African body is not an exception. It is where the story of the sense of being African is constituted and where it is expressed. Prior to the constitution and expression, it is nothing. It is this nothing that makes constitution and expression possible. Even after constitution and expression has taken place, nothing remains as an ever abiding presence, always open to reconstitution and to other constitutions and expressions. This is illustrated in the manner in which the African's body presents itself to the African.