'Masquerade'

Masquerade may seem an insensitive term to associate with the Congolese social tragedy. But as this book will reveal, it is a title that makes sense. Masquerade refers to situations of disguise, trickery and concealment where actors make a show of being what they are not, where they can be both themselves and their opposites. Hypocrisy and the art of the unsaid are key characteristics of masquerade.

Masquerade hides the true human nature of personal and political intrigue. It is synonymous with the hidden agendas of development experts and political actors who have mutated into reform avatars. They are the forces that are contributing to the definition of Congo’s still uncertain process of becoming.

Congo is indeed on the move. But do we know where it is heading? Unlike the masquerade of the European Renaissance that contributed to comic reversal of social order, the masquerade being played out in Congo today appears far more tragic than carnivalesque...