May | 2020 | Situationniste Blog

[DIANGANI, Lungela]. La Révolution dans les pays de l’Afrique noire. n.p.: n.p., n.d. [1966]. 4 p.; 21 x 29.5 cm.; black ink on white stock.

This little-known text constitutes Lungela Diangani’s contribution to the 7th congress of the Situationist International, held from 5-13 July 1966. Lungela was a member of the SI from July 1966 to late 1967. While his production was limited, he was respected by Debord (see, for instance, Correspondance vol. 3 p. 127)

The author begins by stating that he only learned about the SI 6 months before. He then argues that, while the underlying principles of revolutionary theory are the same across geographies, the applications of such principles may vary by region. He then goes on to explain Africa’s unique characteristics (e.g., lack of individual property, colonialism and anti-colonialism, etc.), but reaffirms that “struggles in underdeveloped countries are about class, not race” and lambasts the pan-Africanist movement. He concludes that “Nationalism, Panafricanism, Negritude, and African Socialism are concepts that revolutionaries must bury. They must also reject racial homogeneity of Sub-saharan Africa” (translations are mine)

The full text has been reproduced here. It was also reproduced and translated into English in The Other Country / L’Autre Pays (Ed. Vincent Meesen) in 2018 (pp. 52-55). This catalogue is structured around installations by Vincent Meessen which examine the influence of the Situationist International in Sub-Saharan Africa, notably through figures such as Lungela Diangani and Omar Blondin Diop. Of particular interest is Pedro Monaville’s text “Sur le passage de quelques congolais a travers l’Internationale Situationniste/ On the Passage of a Few Congolose Through the Situationist International” (pp. 57-65), where the author, a historian of modern Africa, describes how Debord got interested in the Congo and how Lungela became a member of the SI.

We locate one copy as part of the Debord archive at the BNF (see here)

M. Khayati and A. Becker at the 7th SI congress in 1966.

[KHAYATI, Mustapha] KHAYATI, Mustapha; LAKHDAR, Latif; et al. Adresse aux prolétaires et aux jeunes révolutionnaires arabes et israéliens contre la guerre et pour la révolution prolétarienne. Paris, May 1976. 12 p.; 21 x 30 cm.; staple white sheets with text in black

Text published as an addendum to the third issue of Francois Maspero’s periodical Khamsin: Revue des socialistes révolutionnaires du Proche-Orient. Signatories include Hakima Berada, Maroine Dib, Dany Diner, Avishai Ehrlich, Abdul-Kader El-Janaby, Emir Harbi, Lea Horowitz, Mustapha Khayati, Kamal Lahbadi, Latif Lakhdar, Eli Lobel, Moshe Machover, Mikhal Marouane, Moshe Speier, Khalil Toma et Abadhallah Zannan. The manifesto would later be partially reprinted in Jeune Taupe no. 10 (June 1976).

Adresse aux prolétaires et aux jeunes révolutionnaires arabes et israéliens contre la guerre et pour la révolution prolétarienne is a call for Arab and Israeli proletariat to join forces in the sole struggle that is worth their while:”the destruction of the capitalistic order and, from its ashes, the rise of a revolutionary society where the total liberation of each individual allows for the total liberation of all people” (translation is mine). The manifesto – which came out of a gathering on May 1-2, 1976 in Paris of left-leaning Arab and Isareli intellectuals – is believed to be the first joint revolutionary address by Arabs and Israelis. The tone and style suggest that Khayati played a significant role in drafting the text.

To our knowledge, this manifesto has never been reproduced in full online. Some excerpts are available here.

We locate a single copy on OCLC, part of Mustapha Khayati’s personal archive preserved at Yale’s Beinecke Library