"The book's construction should thus be understood as a progression from macropolicies to micropolitics -or better an exploration into the heart of darkness of everyday politics of life and death" (XVII, Fassin).
The phrase "heart of darkness is what struck me about this sentence. This semester in class we read Kevin Dunn's book "Imagining the Congo: The International Relations of Identity" and discussed the various representations of Africa created by the West. The "heart of darkness" representation pulled from the Joseph Conrad novel has had strong ties at least in the English speaking world with interpreting African politics, society, and culture in a certain way. The "heart of darkness" representation is problematic because it applies certain images and stereotypes about Africa as chaotic, corrupt, and ungovernable that are used used in media, politics, and disseminated to the public. So I was taken aback to see that it was invoked in Fassin's great book. I had a hunch though, that the translation might not be true to the original so I checked out the French version to see what was up...
The French Translation:
Sa construction doit ainsi être comprise comme une progression des macropolitiques vers les micropolitiques. Mieux comme une exploration au coeur des politiques de la vie et de la mort. (Fassin, 16)
Lo and behold (well for those of you who can speak French and English anyway) the original French version does not mention "heart of darkness," it was merely a literary flourish added by the English translator. For years I've been drilled on discourse, representations, and post-colonial theory, and finding this problematic phrase in an English version of a novel whose goal is to eradicate the cultural and political anesthesia that is all too common in the West was... shocking. I also felt as if I were like a real academic like the ones I read in class all the time, identifying representations and busting stereotypes. Oy Academia!
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