Abstract
The phrase “this is Africa” is often used in order to indicate the different modes of living, politics, business, organization, etc. between Africa and the rest of the world. The term carries a cultural baggage that implies that “Africa is what it is” and there is no other way than accepting it and living by it. In this chapter, the movie Blood Diamond, in which “this is Africa” is heard loudly, is chosen to revisit the construction of Africa in popular movies. Focusing on especially the Melian Dialogue, the chapter argues that the construction of Africa and the construction of realism as an international relations theory go parallel in Blood Diamond. Showing Africa as a place where power politics cannot change, hard power is a must, pessimist human nature approach is proved itself repeatedly, international institutions, international society and even God do not care about, the movie tends to persuade the audience that it is not possible to think of Africa beyond a realistic perspective.
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Notes
- 1.
Dunn argues that the images of otherness are constantly in flux. Therefore, the images of Africa in the 2000s and, for example, in the 1920s, before colonialism ends, are to some extent different. For example, to see how Africans were portrayed before the 1930s, see Hammond and Jablow (1970).
- 2.
The movie can also be analyzed from different perspectives such as English School, constructivism, or post-colonialism, as they offer relevant concepts as well to discuss the movie.
- 3.
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Cankurtaran, B.S. (2019). “This Is Africa”: The Melian Dialogue in Blood Diamond. In: Hamenstädt, U. (eds) The Interplay Between Political Theory and Movies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90731-4_14
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