Valentin-Yves Mudimbe, Newman Ivey White distinguished professor emeritus of literature, is remembered as a groundbreaking scholar whose work redefined the perspectives and tools used to study Africa.

Born in the Katanga Province of the Belgian Congo, Mudimbe challenged others to explore African histories and perspectives through an intrinsically African lens instead of relying on colonial-era Western European constructs. Mudimbe is also remembered as a novelist, philosopher and poet -- among other descriptions -- as his interdisciplinary work drew upon ideas in fields from theology to anthropology.

Mudimbe, 83, died April 21 in a private care facility in Chapel Hill.

"Mudimbe was not just a famous historian of African religions and a philosopher, he was an exceptionally inspired and inspiring multi-talented thinker and author," wrote Jean-Paul Martinon, reader in visual cultures at Goldsmiths University of London, in an email to The Chronicle.

Mudimbe's work drew the attention of many literary scholars. His most well-known piece, "The Invention of Africa: Gnosis, Philosophy, and the Order of Knowledge," was published in 1988 and challenged the prevailing European accounts that had influenced existing historical and anthropological analyses of the African continent.

The book critically examined the effect of what Mudimbe called "the colonial library" -- a collection of European works that shaped perceptions of Africa into the 20th century. Mudimbe's book has been compared to Palestinian-American professor Edward Said's "Orientalism," published in 1978, which applied a similar framework to analyze past discourse on Asia and North Africa.

According to Pierre-Philippe Fraiture, professor at the University of Warwick, Mudimbe's work was influenced by a variety of disciplines, from the classics to philosophy and Marxist theory. His book drew criticism for its "complicated and unusual" level of interdisciplinarity, as some readers found it challenging to follow his ability to "jump" between modes of thought.

"Mudimbe was a polyglot, and his intellectual horizons were panoramic," said Professor Emeritus of Literature Kenneth Surin.

Grant Farred, professor of Africana studies at Cornell University and former professor at Duke, described Mudimbe's mind as "wonderfully capacious" and "generous to a fault" in its ability to identify goodness, even in ways that others may have seen as "too much."

"If you read his work, you will recognize an ongoing engagement, a drawing from across a range of thinkers, always generous, trying to extract a kernel of meaning," Farred said.

Mudimbe earned a doctorate in philosophy and letters from the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium in 1970. He taught in Belgium, France and later in Congo for nearly 10 years at the University of Lubumbashi, formerly known as the National University of Zaire, before leaving the country on a Fulbright fellowship to teach in the United States.

Mudimbe was invited by former Professor of Romance Studies Fredric Jameson to join the Program in Literature at Duke shortly after publishing "The Invention of Africa." According to Farred, Mudimbe joined an assortment of scholars who were "truly unique" and "open-ended," offering critical contributions within their respective areas of literary thought.

Mudimbe ultimately retired in 2014 after serving as a valued mentor and colleague within Duke's literature program.

"Violence in the Great Lakes region is the 'nightmare', the number of dead so shocking as to exceed any other in history, that compels Mudimbe to wear only black," Farred wrote in the introduction to the 2014 collection, "Violence in/and the Great Lakes."

Mudimbe observed such violence during his time as a monk. According to Farred's introduction, Mudimbe described previously witnessing a religious sister being "dragged off by some unidentified forces of repression" and who never returned.

"This man in black who mourns and protests and speaks out against the violence, for all of us to see, is a thinker haunted by death, by one death above all others, the one death that makes him mindful of (all) the others," Farred wrote.

Mudimbe joined a Benedictine community in pre-independence Congo and lived as a seminarian beginning at 9 or 10 years old. At the time, Mudimbe had zero contact with the world outside his monastery, and he committed to living a "Benedictine life" throughout his youth. He then became a Benedictine monk in Rwanda when he was 17 or 18.

Mudimbe left the Benedictine Order in his early 20s to attend Lovanium University in Kinshasa, Congo.

Mudimbe was an "amazing listener," Fraiture said. He recalled Mudimbe to be very gentle and attentive to the varying sensitivities of his colleagues, noting that he also offered "very relevant and helpful" advice.

Despite his time in the order, Mudimbe smoked heavily and matched his introspection with a dry sense of humor. In Durham, Mudimbe generously offered his intellect to students and colleagues. Surin also noted that he and Mudimbe occupied offices directly opposite one another, both keeping open doors. Surin recalled several instances of hallway conversations and other intellectual discussions.

Farred, on the other hand, reflected fondly on his own experience as a young scholar in both Mudimbe's and Jameson's presence.

"[The professors] would gather outside the old art museum ... now completely reconstructed ... with a flock of graduate students who were pretty much amazed, and they would smoke as though this were the Left Bank in Paris," Farred said.

Mudimbe remained connected to Congo through the end of his life. In 2019, he donated his personal library to the University of Lubumbashi where he taught literature and served as dean of the faculty of letters. The collection included over 8,000 publications and has since been transformed into a research center.

"This is a really interesting gesture, because one has been talking about the decolonization of knowledge and the issue of restitution," Fraiture said, adding that "in a small way" Mudimbe was able to give back to his native country.

Fraiture observed the lasting impact of Mudimbe's work at a 2024 biennale in Congo, which partially focused on Mudimbe's ideas and legacy. While there, Fraiture gave multiple talks and observed the eagerness of young Congolese to learn about Mudimbe.

"There was this desire and hunger to know about him because he's a sort of local celebrity ... I was quite touched by that," Fraiture said.

The dedication of "Violence in/and the Great Lakes" reads: "To V-Y Mudimbe: Friend, Colleague, Thinker."

A reception honoring Mudimbe was held April 26 at Walker's Funeral Home of Chapel Hill.