Racial alienation in Africa: A post‐colonial reading of Doris Lessing'sNo Witchcraft for Sale

Abstract

The colonial administration in Africa aimed to institutionalise racial peripheries in the continent in an effort to perpetuate separation. This meant eternising racial boundaries in African societies to underpin segregation. In the pre-colonial times, African kingdoms were enshrined in equality, peace and unity, which the advent of colonialists moulded. The colonial assignment of division demonised African natives and still does in the post-colonial age. Despite the colonial monarch being defenestrated by African movements of independence, its brainchild, racial discrimination continues to wreak havoc in the post-colonial period. Therefore, this qualitative article sought to explore the height of racial tension in African societies from a literary perspective. It employs post-colonial theory to underpin the exploration of Doris Lessing's No Witchcraft for Sale. Lessing's post-colonial narration reflects on the painful experiences engendered by the deteriorating racial division in the post-colonial African societies. It points out the impacts of racial spells upon the social development of the continent.For instance, the story does not only unearth hatred amongst diversified races in African societies but also the stereotypes against Afrocentric identities and talents. Thus, the researcher has sampled the above narration as a neat fit for the post-colonial reflection of racial disparities in Africa.