Why Africa must become a center of knowledge again | Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Winston Szeto

What stands between Africa's current prostrate condition

對於非洲長期受苦受難的人民而言，

and a future of prosperity and abundance for its long-suffering populations?

從落後的現狀到繁榮富足的未來， 阻礙是什麼？

One word:

一個詞：

knowledge.

知識。

If Africa is to become a continent that offers the best life for humans,

如果非洲想要成為 為人類提供最佳生活的大陸，

it must become a knowledge society

就必須要轉變成一個知識型社會，

immediately.

並且迫在眉睫。

This is what I have called "Africa's knowledge imperative."

我將此稱為「非洲的知識重塑」。

Our universities must reduce emphasis on producing manpower

我們大學應該少花些精力在

培養能夠管理社會、

for running our civil society,

經濟和政治制度的人才，

our economy

and our political institutions.

They should be dedicated mainly to knowledge production.

而應該將主要精力放在知識創造上。

What sense is there in producing civil engineers

如果培養出來的土木工程師

得不到土壤學家和地質學家的支持，

who are not supported by soil scientists and geologists,

who make it their business to create knowledge about our soil

無法以創造出關於土壤 和岩石的知識為己任，

and our rocks?

那又有什麼意義？

What use is there in producing lawyers

如果我們只是培養出來律師，

without juries who produce knowledge

卻沒有陪審團

來解釋司法體系背後的 哲學基礎及相關知識，

of the underlying philosophical foundations of the legal system?

那有什麼用？

We must seek knowledge.

我們必須要探求知識。

We must approach the matter of knowledge

我們必須在處理知識問題時，

with a maniacal commitment,

帶著近乎瘋狂的執著，

without let or hindrance.

沒有任何妥協或者遲疑。

Though we must seek knowledge to solve problems we know of,

我們必須要探尋 解決已知問題的知識，

we must also seek knowledge

我們更要去探尋知識，

when there is no problem in view --

在沒有發現問題，

especially when there is no problem in view.

尤其是在沒有發現問題時。

We must seek to know as much of what there is to know of all things,

我們必須要探尋 所能知道的萬物之知識，

limited only by the insufficiency of our human nature,

除非因為人類天生的不足而受限，

and not only when the need arises.

而不是只在出現需求時 才想到要探尋知識。

Those who do not seek knowledge when it is not needed

在沒有需求時就不探尋知識的人，

will not have it when they must have it.

書到用時方恨少。

The biggest crisis in Africa today is the crisis of knowledge:

非洲現今最大的危機就是知識危機：

how to produce it,

如何創造知識、

how to manage it,

如何管理知識，

and how to deploy it effectively.

以及如何高效地利用知識。

For instance, Africa does not have a water crisis.

譬如，非洲並沒有用水危機，

It has a knowledge crisis regarding its water,

卻存在水知識危機。

where and what types it is,

哪裡有水、什麼類型、

how it can be tapped and made available where and when needed to all and sundry.

如何管理它，以便隨時隨地 供給一切有需要的人。

How does a continent that is home

作為世界上水資源 最為豐富的大陸之一，

to some of the largest bodies of water in the world --

非洲如何因地制宜，發揮優勢。

the Nile,

擁有如尼羅河、

the Niger,

尼日河、

the Congo,

剛果河、

the Zambezi

尚比西河、

and the Orange Rivers --

奧蘭治河等，

be said to have a water crisis,

為什麼還被認為存在水資源危機？

including in countries

包括這些河流流經的國家都是如此？

where those rivers are?

And that is only surface water.

而且那些只是表面水而已。

While we wrongly dissipate our energies fighting the wrong crises,

當我們把精力誤用在 對抗錯誤的危機時，

all those who invest in knowledge about us

所有那些給我們做知識投資的人，

are busy figuring out how to pipe water from Libya's aquifers

卻忙著解決

如何將利比亞地下蓄水層的水 用導管輸送走，

to quench Europe's thirst.

以解決歐洲的口渴問題。

Such is our knowledge of our water resources

因為我們對水資源的知識是這樣，

that many of our countries have given up

我們有許多國家已經放棄

on making potable water a routine presence

不再嘗試將自來水 變成非洲日常生活的必備品，

in the lives of Africans,

rich or poor,

無論是富有還是貧窮，

high and low,

上層還是下層，

rural and urban.

郊區還是都市。

We eagerly accept what the merchants of misery

我們急切地接受著這樣的信息，

and the global African Studies safari professoriat

那些無良的商人、 全球非洲研究陸地遊獵專家，

and their aid-addled,

以及他們的支持者，

autonomy-fearing African minions

分佈在政府部門、大學和社會上的

in government, universities and civil society

害怕自治，毫無主見的奴隸，

tell us regarding how nature has been to stinting towards Africa

告訴我們大自然對於非洲這片土地，

when it comes to the distribution of water resources in the world.

在水資源分配上是如何的吝嗇。

We are content to run our cities and rural dwellings alike

我們滿足於在城市 和鄉村的住所附近打井鑽孔，

on boreholes.

How does one run metropolises on boreholes and wells?

僅憑打井和鑽孔 如何規劃治理大都市？

Does Africa have a food crisis?

非洲有糧食危機嗎？

Again, the answer is no.

答案同樣是否定的。

It is yet another knowledge crisis regarding Africa's agricultural resources,

這又是另一個知識誤區， 關於非洲的農業資源、

what and where they are,

農業資源是什麼？在何處？

and how they can be best managed to make Africans live more lives

如何管理好這些農業資源？

讓非洲人民過上他們應該的過的、 更有質量的生活。

that are worth living.

Otherwise, how does one explain the fact

不然，要如何解釋

that geography puts the source of the River Nile in Ethiopia,

大自然將尼羅河放在衣索比亞，

and its people cannot have water for their lives?

而那裡的人民生活卻沒水可用？

And the same geography puts California in the desert,

同樣，大自然賦予加州沙漠地貌，

but it is a breadbasket.

而那裡卻糧倉殷實。

The difference, obviously, is not geography.

很顯然，差別並不是在地理。

It is knowledge.

而是知識。

Colorado's aquifers

科羅拉多地下蓄水層

grow California's pistachios.

能讓加州盛產開心果。

Why can't Libya's aquifers

為什麼不能讓利比亞的地下蓄水層

grow sorghum in northern Nigeria?

滋養奈及利亞的高粱？

Why does Nigeria not aspire

為何奈及利亞不立志於

to feed the world,

向全世界，而非僅為自己供給糧食﹖

not just itself?

If Africa's land is so poor, as we are often told,

如果非洲的土地真像 我們聽說的那樣貧瘠，

why are outsiders,

為什麼那些

from the United Arab Emirates all the way to South Korea,

從阿拉伯聯合酋長國 直到韓國的外鄉人，

buying up vast acreages of our land,

要大量購買我們的土地

to grow food, no less,

來種植糧食

to feed their people

供給他們的人民，

in lands that are truly more geographically stinting?

而且是在地理環境 更加受限的地區種植糧食﹖

The new landowners are not planning to import new topsoil

新的地主並沒有打算 要進口新的地表土

to make their African acquisitions more arable.

使他們在非洲取得的土地 更適於耕種。

Again, a singular instance of knowledge deficiency.

這又是知識匱乏的又一明顯例證。

In the 19th century,

在十九世紀，

our predecessors,

我們的前輩，

just years removed from the ravages of slavery and the slave trade,

僅僅在從奴隸制度和奴隸貿易 解放出來數年，

were exploring the Niger and Congo Rivers

就在探索尼日河和剛果河資源，

with a view to turning Africa's resources to the advantage of its people

他們的願望是要把 非洲的資源轉成人民的，

and to the rest of humanity,

甚至是整個人類的利益，

and their 20th-century successors were dreaming of harnessing

在二十世紀，他們的後代夢想著要

the powers of the River Congo

利用剛果河發電，

to light up the whole continent.

來照亮整個大陸。

Now only buccaneer capitalists from Europe

而現在，只有來自歐洲的資本家

are scheming of doing the same,

在策劃著做同樣的事情，

but for exports to Europe and South Africa.

但卻是為了將電出口到歐洲及南非。

And they are even suggesting

他們甚至暗示

that Congolese may not benefit from this scheme,

不許剛果人從這計畫受益，

because, according to them, Congolese communities are too small

因為據他們所言，剛果地方太小，

to make providing them with electricity

以至於供電給這些地區

a viable concern.

並不是切實可行的重要事項。

The solution?

怎樣解決呢？

Africa must become a knowledge society,

非洲必須要變成一個知識型社會，

a defining characteristic of the modern age.

這就是現在這個時代的主要特色。

We neither are, nor are we on the path to becoming,

對於成為知識型社會這條路，

革命尚未成功， 我們甚至都沒有在路上，

a knowledge society.

Things have not always been this way

事情並非一直如此，

when it comes to knowledge production and Africa.

尤其是涉及到非洲和知識創造時。

In antiquity, the world went to Africa for intellectual enrichment.

古時候全世界都會去非洲尋求智慧。

There were celebrated centers of learning,

那裡曾有著名的學習中心，

attracting questers from all parts of the then-known world,

吸引來自當時世界各地 充滿疑惑的追尋者，

seeking knowledge about that world.

探索關於那個世界的知識。

What happened then has implications for our present.

那時發生的事， 對我們的現狀有很多啟示。

For example,

譬如，

how Roman Africa managed the relationship between settlers and natives

在二世紀到四世紀期間，

統治非洲的羅馬人如何管理 當地人和外來定居者的關係，

between the second and fourth centuries of our era

might have something to teach us when it comes to confronting

這對於我們現今面臨類似問題時，

not-too-dissimilar problems at the present time.

有很強的參考性。

But how many classics departments do we have in our universities?

但在我們的大學中有多少 古希臘羅馬文學系所？

Because we do not invest in knowledge,

因為我們不投資在知識上，

people come to Africa now

現在人們來到非洲時，

not as a place of intellectual enrichment,

不是把它當作吸收智慧的地方，

but as a place where they sate their thirst for exotica.

而是當作滿足新奇感的地方。

Yet for the last half-millennium,

但是在上半個世紀，

Africa has been hemorrhaging and exporting knowledge

非洲一直在流血並輸出知識 到世界其他地方。

to the rest of the world.

Regardless of the popular description of it as a trade in bodies,

儘管被廣為描述為人口販賣血淚史，

the European trans-Atlantic slave trade and slavery

歐洲跨大西洋奴隸貿易及奴隸制度

was one of the most radical and longest programs

仍然是歷史上最激進也最長久的

of African brains export in history.

非洲智力出口活動。

American slave owners may have pretended that Africans were mere brutes,

美國的奴隸主可能認為 非洲奴隸僅僅是牲口，

beasts of burden,

是造成負擔的野獸，

almost as inert and dumb as other farm implements

在他們的帳簿中

幾乎將奴隸和其他無生命 且笨重的農具歸為一類，

they classified them with in their ledgers.

And that's what they did.

那就是他們的做法。

The enslaved Africans, on the other hand,

而另一方面，作為奴隸的非洲人，

knew their were embodiments of knowledge.

知道他們是知識的化身。

They were smiths, they were poets,

他們是鐵匠、詩人，

they were political counselors, they were princes and princesses,

他們是政治顧問、王子和公主，

they were mythologists, they were herbologists,

他們是神話學者、草藥學家，

they were chefs.

他們是廚子。

The list is endless.

這清單是無限長的。

They, to take a single example,

舉個簡單的例子，

brought the knowledge of rice cultivation

他們把耕作稻米的知識

to the American South.

帶到美國南部。

They created some of the most original civilizational elements

他們創造了一些最原創的文明元素，

for which the United States is now celebrated.

都是美國現在競相傳頌的。

They deployed their knowledge, for the most part,

他們通常無償地運用他們的知識。

without compensation.

For the last half-millennium, beginning with the slave trade,

上半個世紀，從奴隸貿易開始，

Africa has been exporting brains

非洲就一直出口智慧，

while simultaneously breaking the chains of knowledge transmission

同時打破了非洲大陸本身的 知識傳送鏈條，

on the continent itself,

with dire consequences for the systems of knowledge production in Africa.

造成非洲的知識生產制度 相當悲劇性的後果。

Successive generations are cut off from the intellectual production

後代與其先輩 具有的智慧生產連結被切斷。

of their predecessors.

We keep producing for external markets

我們一直為外部市場生產，

while beggaring our own internal needs.

卻不能滿足我們自己的需求。

At present,

目前大部分關於非洲的頂尖知識

much of the best knowledge about Africa

is neither produced nor housed there,

並不由非洲創造或收容，

even when it is produced by Africans.

即使它的生產者可能是非洲人。

Because we are dominated by immediate needs

對於我們所需要掌握的知識，

and relevant solutions when it comes to what we should know,

由於我們受到眼前需求 以及相關解決方案的支配，

we are happy to hand over to others

所以我們很樂意把

創造知識的責任交給其他人，

the responsibility to produce knowledge,

including knowledge about, of and for us,

包括關於我們的、我們擁有的 以及將要使用的知識，

and to do so far away from us.

並且在這條路上越走越遠。

We are ever eager to consume knowledge

我們迫切渴望消耗知識，

and have but a mere portion of it

哪怕是只有一小部分

without any anxiety about ownership and location.

不用擔心受所有權或使用地的限制。

African universities are now all too content

非洲大學現在都太心滿意足了，

to have e-connections with libraries elsewhere,

滿足於可以連接到 世界各地的圖書館，

having given up ambitions on building libraries

已經不再有野心建立自己的、

to which the world would come for intellectual edification.

能讓世界各地人前來 尋求啟迪的圖書館。

Control over who decides what should be stocked on our shelves

誰來決定書架上要放什麼，

以怎樣的方式連接到其他資源﹖

and how access to collections should be determined

只有取得了這些事情的控制權，

are made to rest on our trust in our partners' good faith

才能建立起我們 和合作伙伴間的真誠與信任，

that they will not abandon us down the road.

他們才不會在半路就拋棄我們。

This must change.

這點必須要改變。

Africa must become a place of knowledge again.

非洲必須要再次成為知識之地。

Knowledge production actually expands the economy.

知識生產實際上會拓展經濟。

Take archaeological digs, for instance,

用考古發掘及其對遊客的影響為例，

and their impact on tourism.

Our desires to unearth our antiquity,

我們如果想挖掘出古代遺物，

especially those remote times of which we have no written records,

尤其是那些遠古時代、 沒有書面記錄的文物，

requires investment in archaeology and related disciplines,

就需要投資在考古學及相關學科上，

e.g., paleoanthropology.

譬如古生人類學。

Yet, although it is our past we seek to know,

雖然我們是在追尋過去， 了解過去，

by sheer serendipity,

透過純粹的機緣，

archaeology may shed light on the global human experience

考古學也許可以 用來解釋全球人類經驗，

and yield economic payoffs

產生出經濟效益，

that were no part of the original reasons for digging.

這些都不是最初考古發掘的理由。

We must find a way to make knowledge and its production sexy and rewarding;

我們得要找到一種方式，

來讓知識及知識生產 變得迷人並且有回報；

rewarding, not in the crass sense of moneymaking

這裡說的回報，並非單指賺錢，

but in terms of making it worthwhile to indulge in the pursuit of knowledge,

而是讓沉迷於知識探索這件事 本身變得有價值，

support the existence

支持那些創造知識的團體或傑出者，

of knowledge-producing groups and intellectuals,

ensuring that the continent

以確保非洲大陸

becomes the immediate locus of knowledge production,

能變成知識生產、傳播 以及利用的大本營和根據地，

distribution and consumption,

and that instead of having its depositories

而不是讓知識儲藏在 非洲大陸邊界之外，

beyond Africa's boundaries,

people once more come from the rest of the world,

而要讓世界各地的人再一次來到非洲

even if in virtual space, to learn from us.

來向我們學習，即使是用虛擬空間。

All this we do as custodians on behalf of common humanity.

我們是代表整個人類， 以管理者的身份在做這一切。

Creating a knowledge society in Africa,

在非洲創造一個知識型社會，

對我而言，

for me, would be one way to celebrate and simultaneously enhance diversity

是提倡並且強化多樣性的一種方式，

by infinitely enriching it with material and additional artifacts --

具體的做法是永無止境地 用素材及工藝品充實它，

artifacts that we furnish

我們自己裝飾這些工藝品，

並且盡我們所有的努力，

by our strivings

致力於知識世界。

in the knowledge field.

Thank you very much.

感謝各位的聆聽。

(Applause)

（掌聲）