STUDY GUIDE
African Literature AFL721S
Namibia University of Science and Technology Centre for Open and Lifelong Learning
STUDY GUIDE
Course Writer Dr J. Pasi
Content Editor Prof. S. Krisnaumurthy
Instructional Designer Jacqueline Bock
Language Editor Julius Lukas
Quality Controller Aletta Mweneni Hautemo
Copyright Published by the Centre for Open and Lifelong Learning, Namibia University of Science and Technology, Windhoek, 2021. © Centre for Open and Lifelong Learning, Namibia University of Science and Technology.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publishers.
Namibia University of Science and Technology Centre for Open and Lifelong Learning 13 Jackson Kaujeua Street Private Bag 13388 Windhoek NAMIBIA E-mail: [emailprotected] Website: www.nust.na
African Literature AFL721S
Contents About this study guide
6
How this study guide is structured ............................................................. 6 Course overview
8
Welcome to African Literature AFL721S ....................................................... 8 African Literature AFL721S—is this course for you? .......................................... 8 Course objectives ................................................................................. 9 Timeframe ....................................................................................... 10 Need help? ....................................................................................... 10 Assignments ..................................................................................... 10 Assessment....................................................................................... 10 Getting around this study guide
11
Margin icons ..................................................................................... 11 Unit 1
12
Introduction to African Literature............................................................ 12 Introduction .............................................................................. 12 1. Introduction to African Literature ................................................. 13 1.1 What is African Literature? ................................................. 13 2. The History and Types of African Literature...................................... 16 2.1 History of African literature ................................................ 16 2.2 Types of African literature.................................................. 20 3. Colonial and colonialist literature ................................................. 21 3.1 Colonial literature ........................................................... 21 3.2 Colonialist literature......................................................... 21 3.2.1 3.2.2 3.2.3 3.2.4 3.2.5
Shakespeare’s Tempest (17th C) ................................... 22 Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (18th C) ......................... 23 Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (19th C) ..................... 23 Coetzee’s novel Foe (1986) ........................................ 23 Karen Blixen’s Out of Africa (1937 ................................ 24
3.3 Literature of revolt or protest literature ................................. 24 3.3.1 Achebe’s Things Fall Apart......................................... 25 4. Themes in African Literature ....................................................... 27
ii
Contents
Unit summary ................................................................................... 31 Unit 2
32
The African Short Story ........................................................................ 32 Introduction .............................................................................. 32 1. Defining a Short Story ................................................................ 32 1.1 What is a short story? ........................................................ 32 1.2 Elements of a short story ................................................... 35 2. Historical Context of The Thing Around Your Neck .............................. 39 3. Analysis of Stories .................................................................... 39 3.1 Cell One ....................................................................... 39 3.2 Imitation ....................................................................... 40 3.3 A Private Experience......................................................... 40 3.4 Ghosts .......................................................................... 42 3.5 On Monday of Last Week .................................................... 42 3.6 The Arrangers of Marriage .................................................. 44 3.7 Tomorrow is Too Far ......................................................... 45 3.8 The American Embassy ...................................................... 46 3.9 The Thing Around Your Neck ............................................... 47 4. Symbolism ............................................................................. 48 5. Themes ................................................................................. 50 5.1 Anxiety and Lack of choice ................................................. 51 5.2 The American Dream ........................................................ 52 5.3 Racial discrimination ........................................................ 53 5.4 Marriage, Women’s Roles and Gender .................................... 54 5.5 Corruption ..................................................................... 55 Unit summary ................................................................................... 57 Unit 3
58
The African Novel ............................................................................... 58 Introduction .............................................................................. 58 1. Introduction to Prose ................................................................ 59 2. The Basic Features of a Literary Prose Text ...................................... 61 2.1 Title ............................................................................ 61
African Literature AFL721S
2.2 Setting ......................................................................... 61 2.3 Characters ..................................................................... 62 2.4 Story ........................................................................... 63 2.5 Plot ............................................................................. 63 2.6 Themes ........................................................................ 63 2.7 Style ............................................................................ 64 2.8 Tone ............................................................................ 65 2.9 Mood/Atmosphere............................................................ 65 3. A Study Plan for Reading and Analysing Literary Text .......................... 66 3.1 Author.......................................................................... 66 3.2 Character ...................................................................... 66 3.3 Themes ........................................................................ 67 3.4 Style ............................................................................ 67 4. How to Study The Uncertainty of Hope ........................................... 67 4.1 Author of The Uncertainty of Hope........................................ 68 4.2 Summary of the text ......................................................... 72 4.3 Setting ......................................................................... 72 4.4 Background to Operation Murambatsvina................................. 73 4.5 Plot ............................................................................. 73 4.6 Characters ..................................................................... 74 4.7 Themes ........................................................................ 78 5. How to Study The Book of Not ...................................................... 82 5.1 Summary of The Book of Not ............................................... 82 5.2 Author of The Book of Not .................................................. 82 5.3 Setting ......................................................................... 85 5.4 The Plot........................................................................ 85 5.5 Themes in The Book of Not ................................................. 86 5.6 Characters in The Book of Not ............................................. 88 Major characters................................................................. 89 Minor characters ................................................................. 89 6. How to Study The Lie of the land .................................................. 90 6.1 Summary of the text ......................................................... 90 6.2 Author of The Lie of the Land .............................................. 92 6.3 Background of Herero Nama genocide .................................... 93 6.4 Characters ..................................................................... 95
iv
Contents
6.5 Themes in The Lie of the Land ............................................. 98 Unit summary .................................................................................. 102 Unit 4
103
African Poetry .................................................................................. 103 Introduction ............................................................................. 103 1. Introduction to Poetry .............................................................. 104 1.1 Different definitions of Poetry ............................................ 104 1.2 The origin of poetry......................................................... 104 2. Analysis of Poetry.................................................................... 107 2.1 What to look for in a poem ................................................ 107 3. Guidelines for Analysing a Poem .................................................. 109 3.1 Using Mnemonics ............................................................ 109 4. How to study Song of Lawino/Song of Ocol ...................................... 112 4.1 Background of the poet .................................................... 112 4.2 The Setting of Song of Lawino/Song of Ocol ............................ 113 4.3 Introduction to SOL and SOO .............................................. 114 5. Song of Lawino (SOL) ................................................................ 114 5.1 Summary of the poem ...................................................... 114 6. Song of Ocol (SOO) .................................................................. 131 6.1 Summary of SOO............................................................. 131 7. Characters in SOL and SOO ......................................................... 135 7.1 Main/major characters ..................................................... 135 8. Key Themes in SOL and SOO ....................................................... 137 8.1 Arrogance and prejudice ................................................... 137 8.2 Cultural alienation .......................................................... 137 8.3 Hypocrisy ..................................................................... 139 8.4 Conflicts ...................................................................... 140 Types of Conflict ................................................................. 140 8.4.1 8.4.2 8.4.3 8.4.4 8.4.5
Intrapersonal conflict .............................................. 140 Political conflict .................................................... 141 Family conflicts ..................................................... 141 Cultural conflicts ................................................... 141 Religious conflicts .................................................. 142
9. How to analyse Mazisi Kunene’s Poems .......................................... 144
African Literature AFL721S
9.1 About the Poet .............................................................. 144 9.2 Mazisi Kunene’s Poetry ..................................................... 145 9.3 Mazisi Kunene’s Poetry in The Ancestors and the Sacred Mountain (1982) .............................................................................. 146 9.4 Analysing Kunene’s Poems ............................................... 147 10. Steps in Analysing Poetry ......................................................... 160 Unit summary .................................................................................. 162 Unit 5
163
African Drama .................................................................................. 163 Introduction ............................................................................. 163 1. The Origins of Written Drama...................................................... 164 1.1 Drama in African societies ................................................. 164 1.2 Drama in Ancient Greece and Rome ...................................... 164 2. The Beginnings of English Drama .................................................. 165 3. Analysing ‘The Trial of Dedan Kimathi’ .......................................... 167 3.1 Bio-Literary Perspective of Ngugi Wa Thiong’o and Mĩcere Gĩthae Mũgo ..................................................................................... 168 3.2 The Preface .................................................................. 168 3.3 The Summary of Dedan Kimathi ........................................... 169 3.4 Context of The Trial of Dedan Kimathi .................................. 170 3.5 The dramatist techniques in The of Dedan Kimathi .................... 171 3.6 The title of the play "The Trial of Dedan Kimathi" ..................... 173 3.7 The characters ............................................................... 176 3.8 The themes in The Trial of Dedan Kimathi .............................. 178 4. Analysing “MASTER HAROLD” … and the boys by Athol Fugard ............... 180 4.1 Athol Fugard’s biography................................................... 180 4.2 Summary ...................................................................... 181 4.3 Study plan .................................................................... 182 4.3.1 4.3.2 4.3.4 4.4.5
Setting ................................................................ 183 Influence of the apartheid on the play .......................... 183 Themes ............................................................... 189 Imagery............................................................... 192
Unit summary .................................................................................. 195
6
About this study guide
Introduction to African Literature
About this study guide African Literature AFL721S has been produced by the Centre for Open and Lifelong Learning, Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST). All study guides produced by the Centre for Open and Lifelong Learning (COLL) are structured in the same way, as outlined below.
How this study guide is structured The course overview: The course overview gives you a general introduction to the course. Information contained in the course overview will help you determine: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
If the course is suitable for you What you will already need to know What you can expect from the course How this course fits into the learning programme as a whole How much time you will need to invest to complete the course
The overview also provides guidance on: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
Study skills Where to get help Course assignments and assessments Study guide icons
Units
We strongly recommend that you read the overview carefully before starting your study. The course content: The course is broken down into units. Each unit comprises:
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
An introduction to the unit content Unit objectives The prescribed readings for the unit Additional readings for the unit Core content of the unit with a variety of learning activities References Self-assessment activities (if any) The unit’s key words or concepts A unit summary
Resources For those interested in learning more on this subject, we provide you with a list of additional resources within each unit of this study guide; these may be books, articles or web sites. Please note that these resources are optional rather than prescribed readings. The prescribed readings are listed at the beginning of each unit.
African Literature AFL721S
Your comments After completing African Literature we would appreciate it if you would take a few moments to give us your feedback on any aspect of this course. Your feedback might include comments on: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
Course content and structure Course reading materials and resources Course assignments Course assessments Course duration Course support (assigned tutors, technical help, etc.)
Your constructive feedback will help us to improve and enhance this course.
7
8
Course overview
Introduction to African Literature
Course overview Welcome to African Literature AFL721S This course covers the three genres which are the African novel, African drama and African poetry. It helps you to develop a clear understanding of the issues and concerns of 20th century African writers. The course aims to equip you with the requisite analytical tools to analyse genres of literature. Further, it provides an overview of African Literature written in English from three main regions: The West, the East and the Southern African region. Grounded in a theoretical framework which is both colonial and postcolonial, the works studied in the course are representative, and deal with common themes.
African Literature AFL721S—is this course for you? This is a 3rd Year course in the Bachelor of English and Linguistics degree, and it is intended for people such as you, who want to study African Literature and culture from the late fifties, through representative texts in all genres with a view to stimulating you to taking specialist African Literature courses in later years or in your postgraduate studies. The African Literature module contextualises the development of literature within the paradigm of responding to colonialism and will also highlight that Africans had oral forms of literature before the advent of colonialism. The module also locates the pioneering writers within the tradition of cultural nationalism which was a form of resistance to colonial domination and its ramifications. It outlines the ramifications of colonialism on African identities, i.e., identity crisis, alienation, emasculation of male Africans etc. There is also a need to explore economic marginalisation and how African politics and nationalism emerge out of all this. For a clear understanding you need to refer to scholars as Fanon, Achebe, Cabral and others who will provide the theoretical grounding in understanding African literature. The course also focuses on Africa's postcolonial condition through employing relevant texts and it will in addition, address issues of gender. All courses studied up to Semester 4 are a prerequisite for this course. The assumption is that you have studied Literature before, for example, Introduction to Literature, Literary Prose, Literary Drama, Theory and Practice of World Poetry and Namibian Literature.
African Literature AFL721S
Course objectives
Objectives
Upon completion of this course you should be able to: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
demonstrate understanding of the main issues that writers from different parts of Africa grapple with; evaluate the complex relationship between the coloniser and the colonised and their expression in different literatures; compare the literatures of the different regions; evaluate the various genres of African literatures, and demonstrate analytical and critical essay writing skills while appreciating literature.
The African novels: Prescribed reading
Tagwira, V. (2008). The Uncertainty of Hope. Cape Town: CTP Book Printers. Dangarembga, T. (2006). The Book of Not. London: Ayebia Clarke. Utley, J. D. (2017). The Lie of the land. Windhoek Namibia: University of Namibia Press.
Short stories: Adichie, C. M. (2009). The Thing Around Your Neck. New York: Alfred A. Knopf
African drama: East African: Thiong’O, N. (1976). The Trial of Dedan Kimathi . Nairobi: Africa Publishing group. South African: Fugard, Athol, et. al. (1982). Master Harold … and the Boys. New York: Alfred A. Knopf
African poetry: East African: P’ Bitek, O. ( 1966.) Song of Lawino. Ibadan: African Writer Series (extracts). South African: Kunene, M. (2007). Echoes from the Mountain. New and Selected Poems by Mazisi Kunene. Johannesburg: Malthouse Press.
9
10
Course overview
Introduction to African Literature
Timeframe You have one semester to complete this course.
How long?
Need help?
Help
If you need any academic support, please contact the Tutor-Marker for this course. Contact details for this person can be found either in the first tutorial letter for this course or the student Distance Education Manual, which you receive at registration. For administrative matters, please contact the Student Support Officer (SSO) for this course. Details of the SSO can be found in your student Distance Education Manual.
Assignments All assignments must be submitted via the eLearning platform.
Assignments
Assessment The assessment for this course is two assignments and one examination.
Assessments
The due dates for these assignments can be found in the First Tutorial Letter. Normally, you will receive feedback from your tutor-marker as expeditiously as possible. You will write an examination at the end of the second semester, sometime in October and November. This examination is exactly the same as the one that will be written by Full-time and Part-time students. It is a three-hour examination and carries 100 marks. Once again, please refer to the First Tutorial Letter for more information on Assessment and Evaluation. http://www.bu.edu/africa/outreach/teachingresources/literaturelanguage-arts/getting-started-african-literature/
African Literature AFL721S
Getting around this study guide Margin icons While working through this study guide you will notice the frequent use of margin icons. These icons serve to “signpost” a particular piece of text, a new task or change in activity; they have been included to help you to find your way around this study guide. A complete icon set is shown below. We suggest that you familiarise yourself with the icons and their meaning before starting your study.
Objectives
Activity
Time
Feedback
Prescribed reading.
Additional reading
In-text question
Group activity
Discussion
Case study
Reflection
Tip/Hint
Study skills
Note it!
Keywords/ Concepts
Help
Audio
Recommended website
References
Summary
Refer to the assessment
Refer to the assignment
Video
11
12
Unit 1
Introduction to African Literature
Unit 1 Introduction to African Literature Introduction This unit introduces you to African literature, and the four main genres, which are the novel, short story, drama and poetry. An understanding of these genres will help you to answer critical questions such as: What is African literature? Who is, and who is not an author of African literature? What literary terms are necessary for discussing African literature? Is there a link between African history and African literature? In addition, you will be given a short historical overview of African literature in general. Let’s start by looking at the objectives of this unit. You must make sure that at the end of this unit, you can achieve these objectives.
Upon completion of this unit you should be able to:
Objectives
▪ ▪
define African Literature; discuss the connection between history and literature in
▪
African Literature; identify the themes of African literature.
Take note of the prescribed and additional readings. In order to better grasp the African literature concepts, you are encouraged to read further from the recommended textbooks.
Prescribed reading
Chapman, M. (2003). Southern African Literature (2nd ed.) Pietermaritzburg, South Africa: University of Kwazulu Natal Press. Gikandi, S. (1987). Reading the African Novel. London: J. Currey. Irele, A. (2009). The Cambridge Companion to the African Novel. Cambridge: CUP.
Soyinka, W. (1976). Myth, Literature, and the African World. Cambridge: CUP. Thiong’O, N. (1981) Writers in Politics. London: Heinemann.
Additional reading
Thiong’O, N. (1986) Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature . London: J. Currey
African Literature AFL721S
It is in your best interests to buy your own copies of the prescribed texts because you cannot claim to be a student of African Literature when you do not even have the literature books you are studying. You do not need to buy the prescribed list of texts for this introductory unit, but you are strongly urged to familiarise yourself with what other people, especially those with vast knowledge on African Literature, have said about this subject. Nobody expects you to read all these books that have been recommended here, but you will benefit a great deal from reading bits and pieces from some of them.
1. Introduction to African Literature Before we define African literature, I would like you to watch the Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Adichie’s TED talk entitled “The Danger of a Single Story”. You may access it on the link:
http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html
Recommended website As you go through this Unit, think about the significance of the different texts you will study in this course and their story or stories about Africa. Adichie believes that the single story is incomplete, and it usually creates stereotypes. In other words, having a single story of anything does not give you a true and holistic picture, hence it is incomplete. I would also urge you to reflect on each Unit and the story or stories you learn about Africa.
What is a stereotype?
Reflection Let’s proceed to the next section in which we will try to define African literature.
1.1 What is African Literature? African literature means different things to different people. For instance, at a Conference of African Writers of English Expression held at Makerere University in Uganda, in 1962, a number of questions were raised in an effort to answer this question. Some of the questions raised were: Was African literature, a type of literature about Africa or about the African experience? Was it literature written by Africans? What about non-Africans who wrote about Africa − did their work qualify as African literature?
13
14
Unit 1
Introduction to African Literature
Do you find it easy to answer the above questions on African literature?
In-text question Yes, it is not easy to answer the questions because people can come up with different answers. For example, Wali (1963), in his essay, “The dead end of African literature”, argues that literature written in European languages is not African literature? In fact, African writers who used English were accused of excluding African readership and directing their messages to a Western audience. This means that they expressed used the English language to express their ideas about Africans.
Do you think these writers were wrong to express their ideas in English? What do you think? Reflection We have tried to define African literature, but to define African literature, you also need to answer the critical question; who is an African writer? To begin with, I would like to know if you are familiar with Chinua Achebe? If so, what are your thoughts about his works? Do you agree that he should be referred to as the father or grandfather of African novels? Explain why. Let’s look at Chinua Achebe and Nadine Gordimer’s definition of African writing below:
“African writing is writing in any language by Africans themselves and by others of whatever skin colour who share with Africans the experience of having been shaped mentally and spiritually by Africa rather than anywhere in the world” (cited in Vale, 2010, p.11). Do you agree with this definition? How would you define an African author?
In-text question If we were to define Commonwealth Literature as literature by members of the Commonwealth, or Australian Literature as literature from Australia, Japanese Literature as literature from Japan, and so forth, we should have no problem defining African Literature as literature from Africa. In the same way, an African author is anyone, of whatever skin colour, whose literary works are shaped mentally and spiritually by Africa. The above definitions echo Achebe’s views about what an African novel is, and who an African novelist is. He says that the African novel has to be about Africa. Achebe goes on to explain that Africa is not just a geographical expression; it is also a metaphysical landscape, and by this he means that for one to qualify to be called an African writer, one must write from an African point of view. The question of colour does not arise at all. As long as one comes from any one of the 54 member states of the African Union, one is an African.
African Literature AFL721S
Look at the following examples of writers:
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
Nadine Gordimer (South Africa), Nuruddin Farar (Somalia), Nawal el Saadawi (Egypt), Doris Lessing (Zimbabwe) Jane Katjavivi (Namibia).
The above authors are not ‘black’. Do they qualify to be called authors of African Literature? In-text question Following what we have said above, they are Africans by virtue of being citizens of African countries. The colour of one’s skin is immaterial when we talk of authors. The important factor is that these writers write from an African perspective. Even if someone may no longer live in an African country (such as Doris Lessing who lived in England; Adichie Chimamanda who now lives in the United States), that does not mean they are no longer African. As long as someone lives or has lived in Africa, and his or her creative works are written from an African perspective, with an African consciousness, s/he is an African author of African Literature. There are many examples of authors who have left the African continent, for a variety of reasons, and have gone on to live in other continents, mainly Europe or the United States, or even Canada, Australia, New Zealand, or wherever. During the apartheid era, many South African academics and literary artists such as Lewis Nkosi, E’skia Mphahlele, Dennis Brutus, to mention only three, were based outside their country of birth. They continued to write creatively about their experiences as South Africans. The Namibian author, Brian Harlech-Jones, was born in South Africa, lived in Namibia for over twenty years, but now lives in Pakistan. He is still an African author, as long as he writes from an African perspective. The following activity will also help you in your effort to define African literature.
Activity 1: African literature Time Required: You should take about 10 minutes to complete this Activity
activity. Write five key points that will help you to construct your own definition of African Literature.
How long?
15
16
Unit 1
Introduction to African Literature
Writing from an African perspective, about Africa Writing with an African consciousness Writing in any language sharing the African people’s experiences Writer can be living in Africa or anywhere in the world Writer can be of any race
Feedback
Now that you understand what African literature and African authors are, let’s have a look at how African literature and history are connected.
2. The History and Types of African Literature All the definitions of African Literature take into account the link between African history and literature. This is to say that these definitions are informed by what several African creative writers and critics say about the genesis of African Literature. Let’s now look at the roots of African literature.
2.1 History of African literature Any serious study of African Literature must, of necessity, include African oral literature (oral narratives, proverbs, riddles, etc.). This means that, even before written literatures, Africans had their own forms of literature which were spoken. So, you need to know that oral creative expression in Africa predates written literature and that several African writers “have engaged in the transfer of styles from the oral tradition to the written text” (Olaniyan & Quayson, 2007, p. 65). It is important to note that this oral literature is/was for the consumption by all members of society, both children and adults, and is/was for both entertainment and for educational purposes, that is to say, it is/was for both pleasure and inculcating societal values.
Do you know any forms of oral literature in your culture?
Reflection In addition, we also note that Africans have been producing written literary works from as far back as the 10th century BC. For example: ▪
▪
▪ ▪ ▪
Makeda, Queen of Sheba (Ethiopia) wrote an account of her travelling to see King Solomon of Israel. In 1922 this was translated into English and published by Sir E. A. Wallis Budge under the title The Queen of Sheba and Her Only Son Menyelek. And then Queen Hatsheput of Egypt (15th Century BC) also wrote poetry in honour of her earthly and spiritual fathers, and these poems appear on the sides of the obelisks she erected at the temple of Amon in Kasnak. In West Africa, records show that Sundiata, the epic poem recounting the founding of the early 14th century Malian Empire was published in Paris in 1913. On the east African coast, Swahili poetry was largely inspired by Arabic poetry, and in southern Africa, the Bantu composed ritual/religious literature (Larson, 1971). Because of its links to the western coast slave trade, early African literature is largely West African in origin, and one of
African Literature AFL721S
the most significant pieces of writing is by Olaudah Equiano , a former slave who had been captured as a child from the Kingdom of Benin. This man later became free, whereupon he published his autobiography in 1789 under the pseudonym
Gustavus Vassa. ▪
Closer to home, a South African Olive Schreiner, published The Story of an African Farm in 1883.
Simon Gikandi states that modern African literature was produced in the crucible of colonialism. Gikandi (2007) further proffers that:
“What this means, among other things, is that the men and women who founded what we now call modern African writing, both in European and indigenous languages, were, without exception, products of the institutions that colonialism had introduced and developed in the continent … Not only were the founders of modern African literature colonial subjects, but colonialism was also to be the most important and enduring theme in their works. From the eighteenth century onwards, the colonial situation shaped what it meant to be an African writer, shaped the language of African writing, and over-determined the culture of letters in Africa” (Gikandi, 2007, p. 56). Another way to demonstrate that there is a close link between African history and literature is to look at what Achebe himself gives as his reason for writing. Achebe starts by mentioning that while in school, he read many English books such as Oliver Twist, Gulliver’s Travels, Treasure Island and many others. He enjoyed these books, but things changed when he read colonialist texts such as Rider Haggard’s King Solomon’s Mines and John Buchan’s Prester John.
“At the university I read some appalling novels about Africa (including Joyce Carey’s much praised Mister Johnson) and decided that the story we had to tell could not be told for us by anyone else no matter how gifted or well intentioned” (Achebe, 1988, p. 25). Achebe goes on to cite an incident in which his wife’s pupil had chosen to write a composition about the English winter instead of about the harmattan. On being asked why he chose to write about the winter instead of about the harmattan (a season he knew so much about) the boy replied that he feared the other boys would call him a bushman if he did such a thing. The point Achebe is making is that Africans needed to be helped to regain belief in themselves after developing an inferiority complex as a result of the years of denigration and selfabasem*nt under colonialism. He puts the matter very clearly:
“the writer cannot expect to be excused from the task of reeducation and regeneration that must be done. In fact he should march right in front. For he is after all the sensitive point of his community. … I for one would not wish to be excused. I would be quite satisfied if my novels (especially the ones I set in the past) did no more than teach my readers that their past -- with all its imperfections -- was not one long night of savagery from which the first Europeans acting on God’s behalf delivered them” (Achebe, 1988, p. 30). 17
18
Unit 1
Introduction to African Literature
It’s now time for an activity to apply what you learned. Please attempt the following activity on your own before checking the feedback.
Activity 2 Link between African literature and history Time Required: You should take about 50 minutes to complete this Activity
activity. Read the excerpt below. Cite examples from the extract below to show that African literature relies on its history: pre-colonial, colonial and postcolonial periods.
How long? The African novel at the time of independence (1957-1962) is characterized for the most part by straightforward realism. It deals with the detail of contemporary life: with festivals and rites, with demands of striking polygamists for family allowances, with the "been-to's" who are sent to universities in England and France and return, according to Lenrie Peters of Gambia, like "the wind-swept seedlings of another age." There Perhaps the first task to confront African authors was that of revaluing Africa's past and creating a history in which real people lived in real situations. An author needs a background − a past to refer to − as well as a future when his work will become, for a new generation, part of the resonant tone of the past. In 1958 Chinua Achebe began that process in English-speaking Africa with the novel, Things Fall Apart. Achebe's clear desire to teach his people to understand themselves better by becoming conscious of their historical background reveals how deeply the idea of the author as teacher is rooted in his readers: a novel is seen as a school book, among other things − preferably with exercises at the end. The novel is an instrument of self-discovery for Achebe as well as for many of his contemporaries. The African defines his identity and finds his historical roots by writing. This function of the novel is particularly important for the post-colonial authors whose upbringing in a European culture has tempted them to look down upon traditional values. Thus, it is hardly surprising that the autobiographical novel dominates modern African literature. Even more important, however, than its role in evaluating past experiences is its potential for analyzing possibilities for future action: the need to understand one's present identity is followed by a need to define what one can be or do. Achebe's artistic purpose is to help African society regain its faith in itself and to eradicate the unfortunate attitudes it acquired during years of negation. His subject is the tragic consequences of Africa's meeting with Europe: African society was in repose when white society broke right into it, producing a crisis in African identity. Nevertheless, Achebe warns against seeing the precolonial past as "a long idyll in technicolor." Achebe himself has pointed out that his first three novels reconstruct the situation of people like himself, whose grandfathers resisted the European influence, but whose fathers went over to the side of the conqueror. Achebe is obsessed in all of his work by fellow-travellers and collaborators. Things Fall Apart (1958) portrays a world which is being consumed from the inside by superstition and from the outside by the assault of the West. Okonkwo, defender of tribal values, sacrifices his personal life for his sense of communal duty, and is driven to suicide. Nwoye, on the other hand, puts personal feelings and relationships before
African Literature AFL721S
social responsibility. His movement away from tribal values sets the stage for those of Achebe's generation to be brought up in a Western manner. Ironically, in portraying the depth and beauty of the Ibo culture, Achebe uses tools he has gained only as a result of its destruction. No Longer at Ease (1960) deals with what happens when the universe of tribal powers has been broken up. Public morality is a front like a clean white collar, and there is a profound gap between what is said to happen and what actually happens. Obi, the hero, finds himself unable to unite his communal responsibilities with his personal life. He is as anxious to appear liberated from the traditions of the tribe as his grandfather Okonkwo was to defend them. He remains uneasy with his individualistic values, however, for they do not satisfy his need to identify with the past. Unlike the Western novel where the characters are often responsible for what happens to them, the characters in Arrow of God serve as arrows which gods shoot at each other. A fatalistic choir of old proverbs translated directly from Ibo provides background for the antics of two rival tribal gods and the Christian god. Achebe is filled with wrath over the fact that Ibo society was ravaged by foreigners who believed that they brought the light of civilization, but who − unlike Ezeulu, the chief priest of the village − could not see the darkness within themselves. The tragedy of the novel is the inability of some Africans as well as Englishmen to experience the life of the other as real, or to understand the decisive difference between their ways of life. In Achebe's writing, man is captured in a vision, a profession, or a social situation, and never gets free. In A Man of the People (1966), Odili Samalu tells his story in an effort to defend himself. Despite his good intentions and his efforts to follow up his ideal, however, it is clear that he is caught up in self-deceit and hypocrisy. He is tragically innocent and unconscious of his double bookkeeping. At a time when most people saw Nigeria as the stronghold of democracy in Africa, Achebe foresaw the coming disintegration, the betrayal of the leaders, the Biafra war. Politics in Africa is deadly serious even when it lends itself to description in comical turns of phrase. People die. There was even an element of the old-fashioned tragic epic in the Congo struggle around 1961. Like the capricious gods in the Iliad, Westerners flew in and out, always sure of themselves, manipulating strings in a war fought by ordinary people. Source: Adapted from: Wästberg (1974)
19
20
Unit 1
Introduction to African Literature
Precolonial: ▪ ▪ Feedback
literature focused on realism. At independence it focused on contemporary life: with festivals and rites, with family allowances from polygamists, with the "been-to's" who were sent to universities in England and France and returned.
Colonial: ▪ ▪ ▪
▪ ▪ ▪
Revaluing Africa's past and creating a history in which real people lived in real situations. People resisting the European influence, e.g., Things Fall Apart, teaches people to become conscious of their historical background The author seen as a teacher and the novel seen as a schoolbook, an instrument of self-discovery for Achebe as well as for many of his contemporaries. The African defines his identity and finds his historical roots by writing. No Longer at Ease (1960) deals with what happens when the universe of tribal powers has been broken up. In A Man of the People (1966), deals with self-deceit and hypocrisy, democracy, disintegration, and the betrayal of the leaders, the Biafra war.
Post-colonial: ▪ ▪ ▪
the autobiographical novel dominates modern African literature. its role was to in evaluate past experiences and analyse possibilities for future action. the need to understand one's present identity is followed by a need to define what one can be or do
Let’s now turn our attention to the different types of African literature.
2.2 Types of African literature Even before the Europeans colonised Africa, the Arabs had done that as early as the eighth century AD when they brought the Arabic language and the Muslim religion to Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. But these same countries were later colonised by France. The European powers that embarked on the path of colonising Africa (and other parts of the world) were Great Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany and Italy, and to a small extent Turkey. This imperial process explains why different parts of Africa speak different European languages. It also explains why the colonial experience in Africa differed from one country to another. As a result, you must make a clear distinction among the four types of literatures, namely, the Anglophone, Lusophone, Francophone and
Arabic.
Why is the continent divisible into Anglophone, Francophone, Lusophone and Arabic regions In-text question
African Literature AFL721S
These divisions are a result of the colonial history of Africa. Although other parts of Africa have German, Italian, Spanish and Afrikaner colonial heritage, most parts were under English, French, Portuguese and Arab colonial rule. This colonial past influenced early African Literature to a great extent, because this literature was produced in foreign languages such as English, French, Portuguese and Arabic. As you proceed with your literary studies, you should note that the terms “Anglophone”, “Francophone”, “Lusophone” and “Arabic” refer to English, French, Portuguese and Arab influences respectively. In other words, “Anglophone” literature is African literature in English. Similarly, Francophone literature is African literature in French, Lusophone literature is African literature in Portuguese, and Arabic literature is African literature in Arabic (although there is obviously Arabic literature in Arabic). Next, we will look at the difference between ‘colonial’ and ‘colonialist’ literature in detail.
3. Colonial and colonialist literature Although you may have difficulties distinguishing between ‘colonial’ and ‘colonialist’ literature, it is useful to note that there is a subtle difference.
3.1 Colonial literature In general, texts described as colonial or colonialist are taken to be those, like King Solomon’s Mines or Kipling’s poems which show colonial themes, for example, the quest beyond the frontiers of civilisation. Colonial literature, which is the more general term, will be taken to mean writing concerned with colonial perceptions and experience, written mainly by metropolitans, but also by Creoles and indigenes during colonial times. Controversially, perhaps, colonial literature therefore includes literature written in Britain as well as in the rest of the Empire during the colonial period. Even if it did not make direct reference to colonial matters, metropolitan writing − Dickens’s novels, for example, or Trollope’s travelogues − participated in organising and reinforcing perceptions of Britain as a dominant world power. Writers contributed to the complex of attitudes that made imperialism seem part of the natural order of things.
Can you think of more examples of literature that fall in this category?
Reflection
3.2 Colonialist literature Colonialist literature, in contrast, was that which was specifically concerned with colonial expansion.
21
22
Unit 1
Introduction to African Literature
On the whole, it was literature written by and for colonising Europeans about non-European lands dominated by them. It embodied the imperialists’ point of view. Colonialist literature was informed by theories concerning the superiority of European culture and the rightness of empire. A good example of such theories is cultural imperialism . Have you heard of the cultural imperialism theory before?
Have you heard of the cultural imperialism theory before?
In-text question Let me give a brief definition for your own benefit Cultural imperialism is the practice of a powerful or dominating country of using its culture to dominate developing countries. Cultural imperialism literature has been used by the powerful countries, for example, Britain, France, Portugal and German to promote their values and structures over the less powerful countries. Thus, in this course, the essence of cultural imperialism refers to the political and economical domination of the weaker and less powerful African countries by the dominant Western countries. Culture, (e.g. literature, language and popular culture) has been used to support and spread cultural imperialism. A series of binary oppositions have also been used to define the colonised subjects and the colonising masters. The West has been viewed as civilised, just, moral, industrious, rational and masculine. On the contrary, the East or Africans been presented as “the Other”, savage, wicked, lazy, irrational and feminine. To further understand this relationship, examine the examples of such colonialist literary texts below. These examples will help you better understand how colonialist literature was used to promote the culture and values of the dominating and more powerful western countries. You may not necessarily have to buy these novels but just simply researching about them from the internet will give you more insights into the issue of concern here. The five novels include: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
William Shakespeare’s Tempest (17th C) Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (18th C) Joseph Conrad’s Heart of darkness (19th C) John M. Coetzee’s novel Foe (1986) Karen Blixen’s Out of Africa (1937)
Now that you have a background to cultural imperialism, let’s see how each of these texts illustrates the domination of the weaker African countries by the dominant Western imperialist nations. The texts will help you to see how literature has been used to illustrate this relationship.
3.2.1 Shakespeare’s Tempest (17th C) ▪ ▪ ▪
Caliban is the central character His island is taken over by Prospero Prospero claims to have given Caliban a language. He says:
African Literature AFL721S
“When thou didst not, savage Know thine own meaning, but would gabble like A thing most brutish, I endowed thy purposes With words that made them known” ▪
Prospero represents the dominant power that takes away Caliban’s land. Caliban, on the other hand is the uncivilised and irrational, thus representing the colonised. The novel’s distinctive stereotyped language was geared to mediating the white man’s relationship with colonised peoples (Boemer, 1995, pp. 2 – 3).
3.2.2 Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (18th C) ▪ ▪ ▪
Caliban is in a different guise, in the name of Friday Again, Crusoe confers humanity on Friday, through language Friday does utter/speak some words, but Crusoe says:
“I could not understand them yet I thought they were pleasant to hear.” ▪
Subsequent encounters between the two show a Friday with no language. Crusoe says:
“In a little time I began to speak to him and teach him to speak to me; and first I made him know that his name was Friday which was the day I saved his life … I likewise taught him to say Master, and then let him know that was to be my name.” Daniel Defoe uses the usual images of cannibalism, tribal wars and savagery. Friday is the servant and Crusoe is the Master. Hence, the Master-servant relationship. Friday is also given a voice. However, there is no language of revolt; he’s not as energetic as Caliban.
3.2.3 Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (19th C) ▪ ▪ ▪
Published in1902 when colonialism had become policy and the world is divided among a handful of oppressor nations. Africa is seen as a dark forest with no civilisation The Africans who accompany Marlowe into the interior of Africa are voiceless. They speak indirectly through the narrator to express a wish to eat.
Can you think of any Namibian text that speaks to the domination of the weaker African countries by the dominant Western imperialist nations? Reflection
3.2.4 Coetzee’s novel Foe (1986) ▪ ▪
John Michael Coetzee was born in South Africa, but he is of European descent. The novel came out after Sharpeville, after Soweto, and in the midst of armed struggle by the African people under “Umkhonto we Sizwe.”
23
24
Unit 1
Introduction to African Literature
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
Cruso, a taciturn Englishman, has been living for years on the island with an African servant whose past is a mystery with a single clue: his tongue has been cut out. The two survive easily on the island, if not comfortably, until the arrival of Susan Barton, who joins them for months until a ship comes ashore and rescues them. Friday’s tongue is literally pulled out. He has no tongue; no voice; no language and hardly any energy. We can read Friday’s character as that which cannot be spoken or Otherness that cannot be integrated in the framework of language. In contrast Foe is the instrument of language and symbol of power. Friday’s speechlessness also suggests that the colonised subject has no discursive authority within the field of western discourses. The novel shows no energy of protest; no self-affirmation even though written on the eve when South Africa showed fierce determination to get rid of European domination.
Crusoe’s Friday (now cast as an African slave) has had his tongue cut out of him. Is Coetzee presenting the true face of colonialism here? What do you think? Reflection
3.2.5 Karen Blixen’s Out of Africa (1937 ▪
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
The memoir by Karen Blixen chronicles events of the 17 years when she made her home in Kenya, then called British East Africa. Her knowledge of wild animals gave her a clue of the African mind. Her cook, Kamante is described in terms of a pet dog. Kamante is comparable to a civilised dog that has lived with human beings, i.e. Europeans. In Shadows in the grass (1960), Blixen tells how African people would appear in her dreams, but as animals, dwarf elephants, bats, leopards and jackals.
If you were an African writer, what would be your reaction to the five novels above? Why? Reflection Moving forward, such literature gave birth to a new set of literature which we will discuss in the next section.
3.3 Literature of revolt or protest literature I’m sure you will agree with me that the texts above reflect the nature of racism at the time. It is against this background that writers such as Achebe had to write back to the empire and write about Africa from an African centre meaning from an African perspective to set the record straight.
African Literature AFL721S
The 50’s was a decade of the African’s anti-colonial struggles for full independence; a decade of anti-imperialism and anti-colonial revolutionary upheavals. It was a decade of hope with the people looking forward to a bright morrow in a new Africa finally freed from colonialism. This explains the reactive literature at the time which was a counter discourse to European labelling. The writer asserts the dignity of Africans and counters the European stereotypes of Africans, for example, Achebe’s Things fall apart is a reaction to the conception of the universe in European literature in which the African was depicted as the negation of history. As such, it was the literature of revolt or protest literature.
Do you think literature is an effective protest tool? Why?
In-text question To answer this question, I will use Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart as an example. Achebe is such an important landmark in African Literature that I have no choice but to keep on referring to him repeatedly.
3.3.1 Achebe’s Things Fall Apart We will use Achebe’s Things Fall Apart to reflect on this question. Although it is not one of our prescribed texts in this course, I’m quite sure that some of you have read this book. Achebe’s novel will be used to illustrate how literature was used by African writers to write back to the empire or coloniser. Now, proceed to read the explanation below. The following section is adapted from Cliff Notes (2016). When Things Fall Apart was first published, Achebe announced that one of his purposes was to present a complex, dynamic society to a Western audience who perceived African society as primitive, simple, and backward. Unless Africans could tell their side of their story, Achebe believed that the African experience would forever be "mistold," even by such well-meaning authors as Joyce Cary in Mister Johnson. Cary worked in Nigeria as a colonial administrator and was sympathetic to the Nigerian people. Yet Achebe feels that Cary, along with other Western writers such as Joseph Conrad, misunderstood Africa. Many European writers have presented the continent as a dark place inhabited by people with impenetrable, primitive minds; Achebe considers this reductionist portrayal of Africa racist. He points to Conrad, who wrote against imperialism but reduced Africans to mysterious, animalistic, and exotic "others." In an interview published in 1994, Achebe explains that his anger about the inaccurate portrayal of African culture by white colonial writers does not imply that students should not read works by Conrad or Cary. On the contrary, Achebe urges students to read such works in order to better understand the racism of the colonial era. Achebe also kept in mind his own Nigerian people as an audience. In 1964, he stated his goal:
25
26
Unit 1
Introduction to African Literature
to help my society regain belief in itself and put away the complexes of the years of denigration and self-abasem*nt. . . . I would be quite satisfied if my novels . . . did no more than teach my [African] readers that their past — with all its imperfections — was not one long night of savagery from which the first Europeans acting on God's behalf delivered them. In Things Fall Apart , the Europeans' understanding of Africa is particularly exemplified in two characters: the Reverend James Smith and the unnamed District Commissioner. Mr. Smith sees no need to compromise on unquestionable religious doctrine or practices, even during their introduction to a society very different from his own. He simply does not recognise any benefit for allowing the Nigerians to retain elements of their heritage. The District Commissioner, on the other hand, prides himself on being a student of primitive customs and sees himself as a benevolent leader who has only the best intentions for pacifying the primitive tribes and bringing them into the modern era. Both men would express surprise if anyone suggested to them that their European values may not be entirely appropriate for these societies. The Commissioner's plan for briefly treating the story of Okonkwo illustrates the inclination toward Western simplification and essentialisation of African culture. To counter this inclination, Achebe brings to life an African culture with a religion, a government, a system of money, and an artistic tradition, as well as a judicial system. While technologically unsophisticated, the Igbo culture is revealed to the reader as remarkably complex. Furthermore, Things Fall Apart ironically reverses the style of novels by such writers as Conrad and Cary, who created flat and stereotypical African characters. Instead, Achebe stereotypes the white colonialists as rigid, most with imperialistic intentions, whereas the Igbos are highly individual, many of them open to new ideas.
Can you think of a Namibian novel that can be used as a protest tool? Why?
Reflection Achebe has been a major force in the worldwide literary movement to define and describe this African experience. Other postcolonial writers in this movement include Leopold Senghor, Wole Soyinka, Aime Cesaire, Derek Walcott, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, and Birago Diop. These writers not only confront a multi-ethnic perspective of history and truth, but they also challenge readers to re-examine themselves in this complex and evolving world. As an African novel written in English and departing significantly from more familiar colonial writing, Things Fall Apart was a groundbreaking work. Achebe's role in making modern African literature a part of world literature cannot be understated. Having discussed colonial and colonialist literature, it will be interesting to look at the major themes in African literature.
African Literature AFL721S
4. Themes in African Literature I would like to refer you to the Study Guide on Namibian Literature, because this topic (themes) is well explained there. If you have since sold that Study Guide, borrow someone’s, and carefully look at the section entitled “Themes in African and Namibian Literature”. Read the short paragraph below which shows some of the themes in colonial literature. Many prominent African scholars such as Wole Soyinka strongly believe that writers should take a leading and active role in shaping the affairs of their societies. After addressing themes such as cultural conflict between the West and traditional Africa societies as a result of colonialism, it was now time to face, head on, the new problems of the new nations. Soyinka demanded that African writers should stop worrying about the reconstruction of the dignity of the African past; instead they must now be the conscience and voice of the people.
Do you agree with Wole Soyinka’s view that literature is a voice of the people?
Reflection To Achebe, writers must expose and attack injustice. And so, the following themes will be found in African Literature:
man’s inhumanity to man, also man’s altruism, human pettiness, stupidity, duplicity and greed. There is also human courage, compassion and devotion to an ideal. We also find political corruption, gender issues, HIV/AIDS, tribalism, xenophobia, environmentalism –- the list is endless. The bottom line is: “… in response to traumatic political and cultural changes since independence, … African writers have moved from an obsessive concern with the residual effects of colonialism in Africa to a preoccupation with more universal themes rooted in more specific contemporary realities” (Lindfors, 2007, p. 26).
Which themes are mentioned in the above paragraph?
In-text question There are quite a number of themes in the above quotation. These include gender issues, political corruption, HIV/AIDS, xenophobia, environmentalism, among others. It’s now time for an activity to apply what you learned. Please attempt the following activity on your own before checking the feedback.
27
28
Unit 1
Introduction to African Literature
Activity 3: Themes in African Literature Time Required: You should take about 40 minutes to complete this Activity
activity. Read the excerpt below and identify the themes and the texts in which they are found. Also, give the name of the author.
How long? Most African literature is an expression of its country’s social change. The writers are concerned about the past and present history of their country and this concern is reflected in their works. The social change that Africa had been subjected to since the colonisation of the country- the cultural, political and missionary influences and its present state of achieved independence with a growing awareness of both national identity and modern problems. Liberation in literature challenges people, community and the continent to identify the positive elements in their heritage and inspires them to find solutions to their problems. Along with the Yoruba culture, Wole Soyinka also advocates the theme of liberation in his works. In his prison notes, The Man Died, he says that the second phase of self-liberation is the creation of a continental language as an instrument of continuing continental struggle. The Kenyan writer Ngugi wa Thiongo’ regarded the revision of Kenyan history as essential to liberation from colonial legacy. In his novel, Petals of Blood, he explains through the characters of Karega and Joseph, that the spirit of liberation is a continuous process which is indicative of the social consciousness of the people. Similarly, Ayi Kwei Armah’s novels, apart from their aesthetic beauty, are deliberately crafted as tools of resistance and liberation. His novels Two Thousand Seasons and The Healers are regarded as novels of liberation. Both these works are revolutionary in their perspectives. In these novels Africa becomes the plot, character, theme and the situation, and Armah’s novelistic vision is to emancipate the continent from the forces of slavery, colonialism and neo colonialism.
Two Thousand Seasons provides a survey of the history of Africa from the past to the future. It chronicles the life of the African people confronted with cultural, religious, economic and social enslavement. It calls for a struggle for their liberation. The novel is a fight not only to rehabilitate Africa’s battered image but also to liberate it from slavery, disintegration, distortion and dislocation of its unique African cultural identity.
Achebe’s Arrow of God is a study of an African man struggling to come to terms with his identity when a nationalizing colonial force undermines the structures of his community and destroys his sense of security. The novel shows that two issues central to the protagonist’s identity crisis remain, a problem to Nigerians today. If Nigeria is a nation, are the Iba or Yoruba just tribes? African writers warn that until the people of Africa understand their pre-colonial foundations and restructure their society accordingly, they cannot hope to build nations with harmonious ethnic co-existence. Moreover, the writers are often divided over the use of colonial languages as national languages. Achebe’s Arrow of God is an example of a narrative that probes the post- colonial identity by seeking
African Literature AFL721S
to identify the moment of transition of a society with a pre-colonial identity to one with a national identity. In all his novels, Ngugi wa Thiongo’ tries to uplift the cultural heritage of Africa by explaining the colonial subjugation to the Kenyans, by presenting before every Kenyan what he was, what he is and where he is being led into. His novel, Petals of Blood gives the picture of a traditional Gikuyu society and how the peaceful life of the Gikuyus was spoiled with the intrusion of the Europeans. In this novel he presents the life of a young man, Waiyaki, who fails in bringing about reconciliation between traditionalism and Christianity. This was not the problem of Waiyaki alone but it was a social problem which affected many societies and tribes during the 1920s. The social life of the traditional societies which aimed at communal consciousness has been disturbed by the entrance of the Europeans. Africa is also well known for its rich oral tradition. The Ghanian poet, Kofi Awoonor researched into the poetic forms of the Ewe ethnic group, which resulted in the publication of his Guardians of the Sacred Wood: Ewe Poetry , a collection containing Awoonor’s English translations of the oral recitations. A similar thread which links the traditional and the modern is seen in the poetry of Okot p’ Bitek. A Man of the People by Achebe depicts the post-colonial situation in a modern African state which is on its way to sever its ties with the traditional past. Achebe exposes the inadequacies in a society which is losing its traditional moorings and also the opportunistic tendencies of the local, newly emerging politicians. This causes dislocation from one’s native land and results in a sense of rootlessness. It is also caused by either displacement, exile or other similar factors. The juxtaposition of the native tradition with the alien tradition of the colonizers played a significant role in creating a sense of rootlessness- the clash between tradition and modernity, between the real and the occult are some among them. This sense of rootlessness has been depicted mainly in African poetry, such as ‘The Cathedral’ by Kofi Awoonor. Adapted from Boursace, H. (2021).
I also urge you to read the article “Seven Themes in African Urban Dynamics” by Garth Andrew Myers, on the link: https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:357355/FULLTEXT03.
29
30
Unit 1
Introduction to African Literature
What new themes are discussed by the author?
Reflection This brings us to the end of the first unit. You are encouraged to familiarise yourself with the keywords and summary to ensure that you have understood the main concepts of this unit.
Achebe, C. (1958). Things Fall Apart. London: Heineman Gikandi, S. (2007). African Literature and Modernity, Matatu, 35 (1), 119. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789401205641_002
References
Houda B. (2021) Themes of colonialism, liberation, nationalism, tradition,
displacement and rootlessness in African literature.
https://www.academia.edu/29012989/THEMES_OF_COLONIALIS M_LIBERATION_NATIONALISM_TRADITION_DISPLACEMENT_AND_R OOTLESSNESS_IN_AFRICAN_LITERATURE Lindfors, B. (2007). Ira Aldridge: The African Roscius (Rochester Studies in
African History and the Diaspora). Wali, O. (1963). The Dead End of African Literature? Transition 1 (0), 13 -15. doi:10.2307/2934441 Wästberg, P. (1974). Themes in African Literature Today. In Daedalusl. Vol. 103 (2). pp. 135-150. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20024208 Olaniyan, T. and Quayson, A. (Eds.) (2007). African literature: An anthology of criticism and theory. Oxford: Blackwell Pub.
Keywords/Concepts
African Literature:
Literature of Africa, written for Africa, by Africans.
Proverbs:
Includes oral narratives, poetry, riddles and African Literature also.
Autobiography:
(“self-writing”) The story of a person’s life written by that person (or: a biography written by the person himself or herself)
Feminism(s):
From “femina” Latin: “woman”. Anybody of social philosophy about women. It encompasses various types of feminisms: right wing, left wing, centrist, radical, reformist, etc. (Ogundipe-Leslie 2007, p. 543) Multiple feminisms exist and coexist (Mangwanda 1999, p. 26)
Oral narratives:
Short pithy stories of unknown authorship, which have been transmitted orally.
Theme
The abstract subject of a work; its central idea or ideas, which may or may not be explicit or obvious.
African Literature AFL721S
Unit summary In this unit you learned about what your course, African Literature, is all about. The unit began by pointing out that African Literature includes oral traditions of folktales, proverbs, riddles, and poems, now known as African Orature.
Summary
The unit then went on to outline the history of written literature in Africa. This was followed by an attempt to describe and define “African Literature”, showing the link between the colonial history and literature of Africa. It is because of the colonial past that different parts of Africa write their literature in different non-African languages (mostly European). The unit ended by highlighting the major themes in African literature. ed the controversial language debate that has raged since the early 1960s. Simple exercises were provided to give more guidance on the course. For example, you defined an African literature, showed that there is a link between history and literature, as well as identified the themes in African literature. The next unit grapples with the African short story, paying particular attention to the prescribed anthology The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Adichie.
31
32
Unit 2
The African Short Story
Unit 2 The African Short Story Introduction With your new knowledge of what African literature is, we need to look at the different genres in literature. This unit introduces you to the African short story. We are going to learn about the characteristics or key elements of a short story. We will analyse the different stories in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s anthology, “The Thing Around Your Neck.” Where possible, you will get video links. You must download the videos and use them to enhance your understanding and analysis of short stories. I hope you will enjoy reading the short stories in this course. Upon completion of this unit you will be able to:
Objectives
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
examine the key features of a short story; analyse the stories in Adichie’s anthology; analyse the use of symbols in the stories, and describe how the theme of corruption is represented in the Adichie’s stories.
Adichie, C. M. (2009). The Thing Around Your Neck. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Prescribed reading
Course Hero. (2019, October 18). The Thing Around Your Neck Study Guide. In Course Hero. Retrieved August 3, 2021, from https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Thing-Around-Your-Neck/
Additional reading
Brock, Z. (2017). "The Thing Around Your Neck." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 5 Oct 2017. Retrieved: 4 Aug 2021.
1. Defining a Short Story It is important that understand the nature and structure of a short story before we analysing it. Let’s examine some of the definitions below.
1.1 What is a short story? Let’s start by testing your knowledge on short stories.
African Literature AFL721S
If someone asked you to define a short story, what would you say?
In-text question Did you say it is a type of genre? This is a good attempt. A story is a short piece of fiction which gives an account of events that are past or imaginary. It gives limited details on the scope, characters and themes. In short, a story is a brief account or imaginative narrative with a limited number of characters, and a simple plot. The plot can also include conflict and suspense which leads to a climax, and finally a conclusion or resolution. As I was going through the internet, I came across this interesting poem below which describes a story. Read it slowly and then use it to come up with your own definition of what a story is.
A story is a doorway by Richard Peck
A story is a doorway That opens on a wider place; A story is a mirror To reflect the reader’s face. A story is a question You hadn’t thought to ponder; A story is a pathway, Inviting you to wander. A story is a window A story is a key A story is a lighthouse, Beaming out to sea. A story’s a beginning, A story is an end, And in the story’s middle…You might just find a friend. (cited in Lynch-Brown & Tomlinson, 2005, p. 2) Now, read the poem again and then attempt the activity below. The following activity will help you in your effort to define a ‘story’. Please attempt the following activity on your own before checking the feedback.
33
34
Unit 2
The African Short Story
Activity 1: Defining a story Time Required: You should take about 20 minutes to complete this Activity
activity. Using Peck’s poem, ‘A story is a doorway’, answer the question, “What is a story”?
How long?
Feedback
A story is a ‘doorway that opens on a wider place’ means that as one reads it, one ventures into a new or different world with new ideas. ‘A story is a mirror’ means that it reflects reality; it is a mirror image of life experiences. ‘A story is a pathway, inviting you to wander’, which means that a story is an abstract experience that allows the reader to venture into new paths or experiences, imaginary or real. ‘A story is a key’ means that a story unlocks new ideas that need to be explored by the reader. I hope you managed to come up with similar ideas in your definition of the story. Now, proceed to reflect on the question below.
What in your opinion makes a good story?
In-text question Well, according to Say (2021), after reading a good story, you should feel changed or transformed in one way or the other. This means that the story should change the way you see things; it should change the way you feel, and your thinking. Another author, Lewitt (2006) says that a good short story should have a ‘now’ moment. This means that it should capture that moment of change which leads to the reader changing. Some scholars refer to it as the single moment of change. Thus, the ‘now’ moment refers to the most central issue in the story.
Are you familiar with the Cinderella story? What do you consider to be the ‘now’ moment in this story? In-text question
African Literature AFL721S
Let’s now look at the elements of a short story.
1.2 Elements of a short story Any good story should have the following elements or features: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
Setting Plot Characters Themes
These terms should be familiar since you studied literature from Year 1. However, you need to master these elements and relate them to the stories that you will study in this course. The first element we will examine is the plot.
▪
Setting
The setting of a story refers to the time (when) and place (where) or geographical space in which the story takes place. It includes details of the general environment such as weather, customs, seasons, values, and beliefs. It also creates the mood of the story and makes the action seem more real.
▪
Plot
A plot is the organised pattern or sequence of events that make up a story. It is the structure of a story. The plot also has different parts which are: Exposition: it is the starter of a short story and it introduces the setting, and characters. We also learn about the central conflict in the story. Rising action: refers to the events that occur as a result of the main conflict. The events build suspense and lead to the complication in the story. Climax: is the peak or intense part of the story which shows the ‘now moment’ in which the main character reaches the turning point and changes in some way. Falling action: refers to events that follow the climax and lead to the resolution of the conflict. Resolution: the conclusion of the story at which the character either overcomes the problem, fails to resolve the conflict, or the problem overwhelms the character. Now that you know the parts that make up the plot, let’s proceed to look at the different types of plots.
Which types of plots do you know?
Reflection There are four types of plot structure are stated below:
A dramatic or Progressive plot
35
36
Unit 2
The African Short Story
This is a chronological structure which establishes the setting and conflict. It follows the rising action through to a climax, and concludes with a denouement (a wrapping up of loose ends.
Episodic plot Also, a chronological structure, but it consists of a series of loosely related incidents. Events are usually of chapter length and tied together by a common theme/characters.
Parallel plot The writer weaves two or more dramatic plots that are usually linked by a common character and a similar theme.
Flashback Plot It provides more (background) information about a character or background and conveys information about events that occurred earlier. It permits authors to begin the story in the midst of the action but later fills in the background for one to understand the present events. Flashbacks can occur more than once and in different parts of a story. Adapted from Donna (1983) http://www2.nkfust.edu.tw/~emchen/cl*t/Course.htm The next element or feature of a story is character. So, let’s proceed.
Character Characters are the people or animals or actors in a story’s plot. The protagonist is the main character, and the antagonist is the person who opposes or is in conflict with the main character.
How would you define a conflict?
In-text question Well done. It is a problem that needs to be resolved between the protagonist and antagonist. Now, let’s move on to the next element, which is themes.
Themes The theme is the message or the main idea of a story. It can be directly stated or implied in the story. Themes in most cases is the moral or teaching of the story which gives us insights about life, or the view about life. Now that you have a good understanding of the elements or features of the short story, let’s see how each of these elements are illustrated in the story below. We will use the classic story ‘Cinderella’ which although it is not one of our prescribed stories in this course, I’m quite sure that most of you have read it. Now, enjoy reading the story and then do the activity below. CINDERELLA Once upon a time, there was a beautiful girl named Cinderella. She lived with her wicked stepmother and two stepsisters. They treated Cinderella
African Literature AFL721S
very badly. One day, they were invited for a grand ball in the king’s palace. But Cinderella’s stepmother would not let her go. Cinderella was made to sew new party gowns for her stepmother and stepsisters and curl their hair. They then went to the ball, leaving Cinderella alone at home. Cinderella felt very sad and began to cry. Suddenly, a fairy godmother appeared and said, “Don’t cry, Cinderella! I will send you to the ball!” But Cinderella was sad. She said, “I don’t have a gown to wear for the ball!” The fairy godmother waved her magic wand and changed Cinderella’s old clothes into a beautiful new gown! The fairy godmother then touched Cinderella’s feet with the magic wand. And lo! She had beautiful glass slippers! “How will I go to the grand ball?” asked Cinderella. The fairy godmother found six mice playing near a pumpkin, in the kitchen. She touched them with her magic wand and the mice became four shiny black horses and two coachmen and the pumpkin turned into a golden coach. Cinderella was overjoyed and set off for the ball in the coach drawn by the six black horses. Before leaving. the fairy godmother said, “Cinderella, this magic will only last until midnight! You must reach home by then!” When Cinderella entered the palace, everybody was struck by her beauty. Nobody, not even Cinderella’s stepmother or stepsisters, knew who she really was in her pretty clothes and shoes. The handsome prince also saw her and fell in love with Cinderella. He went to her and asked, “Do you want to dance?” And Cinderella said, “Yes!” The prince danced with her all night and nobody recognized the beautiful dancer. Cinderella was so happy dancing with the prince that she almost forgot what the fairy godmother had said. At the last moment, Cinderella remembered her fairy godmother’s words and she rushed to go home. “Oh! I must go!” she cried and ran out of the palace. One of her glass slippers came off but Cinderella did not turn back for it. She reached home just as the clock struck twelve. Her coach turned back into a pumpkin, the horses into mice and her fine ball gown into rags. Her stepmother and stepsisters reached home shortly after that. They were talking about the beautiful lady who had been dancing with the prince. The prince had fallen in love with Cinderella and wanted to find out who the beautiful girl was, but he did not even know her name. He found the glass slipper that had come off Cinderella’s foot as she ran home. The prince said, “I will find her. The lady whose foot fits this slipper will be the one I marry!” The next day, the prince and his servants took the glass slipper and went to all the houses in the kingdom. They wanted to find the lady whose feet would fit in the slipper. All the women in the kingdom tried the slipper but it would not fit any of them. Cinderella’s stepsisters also tried on the little glass slipper. They tried to squeeze their feet and push hard into the slipper, but the servant was afraid the slipper would break. Cinderella’s stepmother would not let her try the slipper on, but the prince saw her and said, “Let her also try on the slipper!” The slipper fit her perfectly. The prince recognized her from the ball. He married Cinderella and together they lived happily ever after.
37
38
Unit 2
The African Short Story
Activity 2: Elements of a story Time Required: You should take about 40 minutes to complete this Activity
activity. Using the story ‘Cinderella’, answer the questions below:
How long?
Feedback
Describe the setting of the story. What is the significance of this setting? Who is the protagonist and antagonist in the story? What in your opinion is the major theme and minor themes in this story? Briefly describe the conflict between the characters. What is the role of the setting in this story?
1. The story takes place a long time ago in a land ruled by a king and a queen. 2. Protagonist is Cinderella; the antagonist are the stepsisters and their mother. 3. The theme main theme is implied. The reader can infer the message that if you are in a bad situation, you should do the best that you can. In the end, things will work out for you. Other themes include hatred and love. 4. The conflict is between Cinderella and her stepsisters and their mother. Cinderella wants to go to the ball, but her stepsisters prevent her from going. 5. It shows that the story can apply to any culture and at any time and space. I hope you managed with the activity. Now that you understand the genre that short stories belong to, we can now look at the various stories in Chimamanda’s collection and try to analyse them.
What do you know about the author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie?
In-text question If you do not know her, try to google and get an overview of her works and biography. Let’s look at the historical context of her collection of stories in The Thing Around Your Neck. After this, we will analyse some of the stories in this collection.
African Literature AFL721S
2. Historical Context of The Thing Around Your Neck Adichie's stories in the book The Thing Around Your Neck are set in a postcolonial context of political turmoil and civil war. The stories give voice to black female characters in which they express their challenges and are heard. The female characters presented by Adichie in her short stories, give the glimpse of cultural hybridity of different ethnicities, Nigerian recent history, their religions and basically the influence of west. These are the facts which strengthen the significance of analysing Adichie’s narratives. The stories focus on themes which include cultural clashes between those Nigerians in their home country and those living in America. Another major theme explores the life of Nigerian immigrants living in America and how the immigrant’s experiences in the West tends to be a disappointment the Nigerian-Americans. The stable life that they had hoped for is non-existent. Other themes expressed in the stories include military dictatorship, fraud, relationships, children, and gender issues. Quite a number of the stories also focus on past or historical events. For instance, the story “The Headstrong Historian” (p. 198) shows how the British in 1886, used the Royal Niger Company to control the areas along the Niger River. In 1914, the British formally colonised these areas. In 1960, Nigeria attained independence and became known as the Federal Republic of Nigeria. However, because it was a British colony, it was divided into the Northern Nigeria Protectorate which was mostly Muslim, and the Southern Nigeria Protectorate was mainly Christian. This division said to have been responsible for the violent riots like the one experienced by Chika in “A Private Experience” (p. 43). With this short background, let’s now proceed to analyse some of the stories.
3. Analysis of Stories All the summaries are adapted from the two sources Course Hero (2019) and Brock (2017).
3.1 Cell One In the story “Cell One”, a spoiled son learned a lesson when he was sent to jail as a murder suspect and saw an innocent old man abused there. This story is set in the university town of Nsukka, Nigeria at a time when cult wars had become common and were causing havoc. At Nsukka campus, cult groups such as the Black Axe, the Buccaneers and the Pirates were the best known. These thieving groups stole TVs and VCRs mostly from the neighbourhood. The story is told in the firstperson voice, by an unnamed narrator who speaks in the first-person plural a lot of the time, as she speaks for her family. The narrator of "Cell One" says that her house has been robbed numerous times; the first time was by the neighbour Osita, who took the TV. The narrator says that the second time was during her parents’ trip to their hometown and believes that the robber was her brother, Nnamabia. The narrator and her brother Nnamabia went to church by themselves,
39
40
Unit 2
The African Short Story
but Nnamabia left after ten minutes, then came back just before mass ended. They arrived home to find that the house had been robbed. The narrator believes that Nnamabia belongs to a cult or gang. He is arrested along with others when they are found drinking after curfew hours. The parents continue to make excuses for him, thereby angering the narrator, who is somewhat jealous of his light skin and easy manner. When he goes to jail, the narrator tells her parents not to visit him every day and breaks the car windshield to stop them. Eventually Nnamabia gets into trouble for defending an old man who is treated badly in jail, and he is later released because an informer tells the police Nnamabia is not a cult member.
Do you think Nnamabia’s parents influenced his behaviour in any way? How?
Reflection Let’s proceed to the second story. I encourage you to read all the stories before reading the analysis in this unit.
3.2 Imitation In the short story “Imitation”, Obiora and his wife Nkem lived in America. They had a second home in Nigeria. They had two children, Adanna and Okey. Nkem had been pregnant when she first came to America with Obiora. She enjoyed the way the American neighbours offered to help her. However, Obiora spent most of his time at their Nigerian home because of his business and he had huge government contracts to run. He only visited his family in America for two months in a year. When he was in America, he adopts an American lifestyle, and when in Nigeria, he follows his culture. Obiora and Nkem find themselves caught up in a double life. In America, despite all the wealth a big house and beautiful furniture, Nkem feels lonely and is not happy. She has no one to talk to except her children and helper, Amaechi. Nkem feels hurt and helpless when her friend, Ijemamaka tells her that her husband has a girlfriend. The mistress has moved into Nkem’s house in Lagos, in the Victoria Garden City neighbourhood. She then realises that life in America, is empty, feelingless, and doesn’t suit her, so she decides to go back to Lagos, her homeland. The story thus, shows how the immigrant has no sense of belonging and does not feel accepted in America Let’s move on to examine the next story.
3.3 A Private Experience In the story “A Private Experience,” there are riots between Christians and Muslims. Chika, a rich Igbo and Christian medical student at the University of Lagos and another woman flee from riots in the streets are caught in the riot and they hide in an abandoned store. The two women have different religions and different lifestyles. While Chika is Christian, the woman is a Hausa-speaking, Muslim poor woman. Chika is worried because she cannot find her sister Nnedi and the woman cannot find her daughter. Chika is not politically active and does not know what the riot about. However, she later learns that the Muslims in the marketplace were killing Christians. The Hausa woman tells Chika that she had lost her necklace while she was running. Chika had also lost her
African Literature AFL721S
expensive handbag and dropped the oranges she was buying. Although the two women are different, they form a bond in their hiding place. When the woman prays, Chika admires her strong faith. Chika learns to appreciate the woman and gives her medical advice. The woman seems to be reasonable and knowledgeable and assures Chika that Nnedi is safe. When they leave the hiding place and Chika is injured, the woman uses her prayer scarf to stop the bleeding. As a result of this bond, Chika begins to see things differently and changes her attitude. She begins to think about the differences and similarities of between the Muslims and Christians, and the Igbo and Hausa.
What do you think the author is trying to emphasise by putting the two women together, one Muslim and the other Christian? In-text question Well-done if you said the author emphasises humanity. Despite our differences, and the complex nature of humanity, we need each other. Now, do the following activity before you proceed to the next story.
Activity 3: Plot structure Time Required: You should take about 30 minutes to complete this Activity
activity. Analyse the plot structure of the story “A Private Experience.”
How long?
The story is structured around a single event in which a Christian woman and Muslim woman hide in a shop seeking protection from a riot on the streets of Kano in Nigeria. Feedback
Introduction /Orientation– the beginning of the story where the characters and the setting is revealed. The characters are Chika and the Hausa-Muslim woman. Rising Action – this is where the events in the story become complicated and the conflict in the story is revealed (events between the introduction and climax). Chika learns about the cause of the riots and that her sister Nnedi, will never be found. Climax – this is the highest point of interest and the turning point of the story. The reader wonders what will happen next; will the conflict be resolved or not? As the two women interact, they increase the tension by describing what is happening outside where people are killing each other.
41
42
Unit 2
The African Short Story
Falling action – the events and complications begin to resolve themselves. the reader knows what has happened next and if the conflict was resolved or not (events between climax and denouement). The two women spend the night bonding, and the Muslim woman gives Chika her scarf when she gets hurt. Resolution / Denouement – this is the final outcome or untangling of events in the story. The two women bid each other goodbye, and Chika begins to see things differently. Read what I have written carefully and see if you missed anything in your answer. Our next story is “Ghosts”. Please read it so that you will understand the story in full.
3.4 Ghosts The story “Ghosts” takes place at Nsukka campus. The narrator of the short story is a retired Professor, James Nwoye. The professor had gone to the university Bursary to enquire why he had not received his pension yet. It becomes clear that the university has not been paying its employees for a while now. It is assumed that the pension money was stolen by the Minister of Education or the Vice Chancellor. Professor Nwoye chats with Vincent, his former driver when he was the dean of the faculty in the 1980s. Vincent had also given a eulogy for Ebere, the Professor’s wife when she died. When he leaves for his car, Professor is shocked to see a former colleague, Ikenna Okoro who is believed to be dead. Professor Nwoye had last seen Ikenna Okoro when the university town of Nsukka was evacuated to escape the approaching federal soldiers during the Nigerian-Biafran War. Ikenna explains that he had left for Sweden when Orlu was bombed, and his family was killed. He had been in Sweden since and had returned to Nigeria when he retired. A lot of their friends and colleagues had died during the Biafran War, including Nwoye’s older daughter Zik, who was a political activist. Nwoye’s wife on the other hand died of a curable disease but was unfortunately given fake drugs. Nwoye thought he was being visited by the ghost of his late wife, but he doesn’t tell Ikenna and his young daughter who lives in the United States. In fact, Nwoye takes comfort in her visits.
Do you believe in ghosts? Do you have a reason for your answer?
Reflection I hope you enjoyed reading the story “Ghost.” Let’s proceed to the next story.
3.5 On Monday of Last Week This is the story of a young Nigerian woman named Kamara, who immigrates to America to be with her husband Tobechi. While she waits for her green card application, she takes up a job of being a nanny and a helper for an American family with a seven-year-old boy named Josh. His mother Tracy, is an African American artist and his father Neil, is a white Jewish lawyer.
African Literature AFL721S
Kamara recalls how she had met Tobechi when they were students at Nsukka University. When they got married, Tobechi went to America to find work and get a green card. Life was not easy for him as he worked as a taxi-driver. The owner of the company cheated on him, but he finally got his green card after six years. He then sent for Kamara and was now working as a manager at Burger King. However, they had to get re-married because Tobechi’s papers had been sorted wrongly. Kamara was deeply dissatisfied and disappointed by her new life in America. She felt isolated because she had no close friends in America and could not easily connect with her friends in Nigeria. She was no longer attracted to Tobechi because he had changed. She called her friend, Chinwe, to complain, but Chinwe complained about her own husband getting another woman pregnant. She told her mother everything was fine too. She says it was the fact that “simply seeing him was different and that it was the Tobechi of the university that she expected to find” not the one at the airport who had gotten “lighter skinned & chubby” with “hair on his toes” (p.84). She also didn’t like his new American accent. This ugly change in her husband and her It’s now time for an activity to apply what you learned. Please attempt the following activity on your own before checking the feedback. (Adapted from: Course Hero, 2019)
Activity 4: Analysing the story Time Required: You should take about 40 minutes to complete this Activity
activity. Read the story “On Monday of last week”, then answer the questions below:
How long?
How do we know that Kamara feels isolated in America? What is Adichie trying to say about American parenting? How does Kamara’s immigrant experience differ from Tracey’s and how are they similar? How does what happened on Monday change Kamara’s attitude?
43
44
Unit 2
The African Short Story
1. How do we know that Kamara feels isolated in America?
Feedback
Kamara has no family or close friends that she could share her problems with. When Tobechi was at work, she would “pace the apartment, watch TV and eat everything in the fridge, even spoonfuls of margarine after she had finished the bread. The job was an excuse to get away from the apartment, and from Tobechi. 2. What is Adichie trying to say about American parenting? The American’s method of discipline was reason-based. American parenting was a juggling of anxieties and parents felt happy if their children ate a lot of food. 3. How does Kamara’s immigrant experience differ from Tracey’s and how are they similar? The difference is that Kamara was born and raised in Nigeria and it was not easy for her to go to America. She felt lonely and had no friends and was depressed. Tracy had the privilege to be born and raised in a country where education wasn’t that much of a struggle and English came as first language. Hence, her marriage to Neil could indicate that she could fit easily in the American society. Thus, while Kamara had to experience immigration, Tracy had not. Both are lonely and isolated in America. Though Tracy has a family, there is no strong familial bond as she spends most of her time alone, painting in the basem*nt. For instance, Kamara works for three months without seeing Tracy, who finally comes upstairs, ‘on Monday of last week’. Kamara on the other hand didn’t like the change in her husband and didn’t like his new American accent. She detested this ugly change in her husband. 4. How does what happened on Monday change Kamara’s attitude? Kamara was so focused on Tobechi physical changes that she was not aware of her own, but when she sees Tracy’s slim figure, she becomes selfconscious; ‘… and suddenly Kamara wanted to lose weight and wear makeup again’ (pp. 79-80). Kamara’s attitude also changes because of the attention she gets from Tracy which she misinterprets as romantic attention Can you recall what Tracy said to Kamara for her to think that the former was attracted to her?
Reflection Let’s proceed to the next story.
3.6 The Arrangers of Marriage The story is about Chinaza, a young Nigerian woman’s arranged marriage to Ofodile Emeka Udenwa who is training as a doctor in America. Chinaza is orphaned and was raised by her Aunty Ada and Uncle Ike in Nigeria. Chinaza's aunt and uncle see the arranged
African Literature AFL721S
marriage as generous gift to Chinaza. Although she wanted to go to university instead, she thanked them and expressed her gratitude. She was told that she would have plenty of time to know her husband before leaving for America, but it turned out they had only two weeks to know each other. In America, Chinaza’s high expectations are dashed when she realises that Ofodile is still an intern, earns a meagre salary and lives not in a house but an apartment with little furniture in Brooklyn, New York. She had expected a beautiful house with beautiful furniture. Her African foodstuffs are also confiscated at customs. While she struggled to adjust to life in America, Ofodile wanted to assimilate the American culture completely. He had changed his name to Dave Bell because Americans had difficulty pronouncing her name. He also advises her to change her name to Agatha Bell. He also constantly corrects and advises her to use acceptable phrases in America and to cook American. She is shocked to know that he had married an American woman to get his green card and the woman was now threatening to report him to immigration. Although she’s not happy, her neighbour Nia advises her not to leave Ofodile until her papers are sorted and she can work to support herself. Shirley, on the other hand is an elderly neighbour. She appears to be friendly to Ofodile because he does certain tasks for her.
Do you think Chinaza's aunt and uncle knew about Ofodile’s first marriage before the arranged marriage in Nigeria? Reflection Let’s proceed to the next story.
3.7 Tomorrow is Too Far The narrator of the story “Tomorrow is Too Far” is an unnamed 28-yearold woman. In the story she is referred to as ‘you’. She describes her last summer in Nigeria with her grandmother. It was during that summer that her brother died, before her parents' divorce, before her mother said she'd never go to Nigeria or see her father's family. The narrator is American but spent childhood summers in Nigeria with her father's family, where she is now, as she tells this story. When her parents separated, she and brother Nonso stayed with their Grandmama. The narrator tells her mother how Nonso was always favoured by their Grandmama over her and her older main cousin, Dozie. This was because Nonso was her only son’s son and would carry on the Nnabuisi name. Although older than Nonso, Dozie, her cousin was also not favoured because he was the son of her daughter. So, Nonso was the only one allowed to climb the fruit and nut trees to shake the branches. Grandmama also taught him to pluck the coconuts and always the first sip of coconut milk. The narrator realised that for her to be noticed and loved, something had to happen to Nonso. She then came up with a plan in which she challenged Nonso to climb to the top of the avocado tree and then screamed that there was a snake. Nonso slipped, fell, and died instantly. She had only hoped to scare her brother, hoping to injure,
45
46
Unit 2
The African Short Story
not kill him because she was jealous of his status as the favoured son in the family. However, three months after his death she told her mother that Grandmama was responsible for Nonso’s death. Unfortunately, the narrator’s plan does not work as she never received love from her mother or Grandmama. Even Dozie whom she had loved when she was 10, does not love her anymore. Instead, she has to live with the guilty that she was responsible for everything that happened.
Would you blame the narrator for what she did in order to be loved by her mother and grandmother? Reflection
Activity 5: Analysing the story Time Required: You should take about 25 minutes to complete this Activity
activity. After reading the story, why was it important for Grandmama to favour Nonso at the expense of the narrator and cousin, Dozie?
How long?
Grandmama said it was because Nonso was the son of her son while Dozie was the son of her daughter. For this reason, Nonso would carry on the family’s lineage. Grandmama explained that Nonso would carry on the family name, while Dozie wouldn't. Feedback
Grandmama's preference for Nonso shows that valuing males over females begins in childhood. She suggests that Grandmama cares more about the continuation of the family lineage than she does about the family members themselves, as Grandmama refuses to realise that she has two other grandchildren besides Nonso. The narrator's musings suggest that her family, including Dozie, observes a strict familial hierarchy and certain roles within it.
3.8 The American Embassy In the story “The American Embassy,” the unnamed woman narrator is a grieving mother who had just lost her 4-year-old son, Ugonna who was shot by government officials who were looking for her husband, a reporter for The New Nigeria. Her husband flees to Benin and leaves her and their son, Ugonna in danger. The plan was that he would apply
African Literature AFL721S
for asylum in New York, then the narrator and Ugonna would join him at the end of the school term. The theme of government corruption is prominent in this story. The narrator's husband opposed and exposed General Abacha, the military ruler of Nigeria at that time. The woman goes to the American Embassy to request for political asylum because she feared being killed if she remained in Nigeria. The embassy interviewer tells her that America would offer her a new life if her asylum application is successful. However, the narrator decides that she cannot use Ugonna’s death to get a visa. She also decides she had a new life and identity as Ugonna’s mother, and with his death, she would never have that new identity again. In the end, feeling that the new life she sought was already over, the woman abandoned her attempt to get a visa. She opts to stay in Nigeria instead.
What other story in this anthology describes government violence?
Reflection
3.9 The Thing Around Your Neck The story highlights the differences between the perception of America by Africans as a land of opportunity and riches, and the reality of life in America. The narrator, Akunna and her relatives believed that going to America meant getting a car, a big house, a gun, and plenty of luxuries. The ‘thing around your neck’ represents Akunna’s anxiety about life in America. She goes to America after winning the visa “lottery.” She stays with her uncle’s family on arrival. Her uncle gets her enrolled in a community college and helps her to get a job at a gas station. One night her uncle tries to force himself on her and she decides to leave for a small town in Connecticut where she gets a job at a restaurant. The disillusionment she experiences is a “thing around her neck” as she worries about being successful in America, and this is what her family in Nigeria expects. The loneliness and depression she experiences as a woman and immigrant is also “this thing around her neck.” She cannot send letters to her family and friends because she has failed to send them the requested purses and perfumes. She feels like something wraps itself around her neck almost chocking her when she goes to sleep. She has a boyfriend who comes from an affluent family and buys her expensive clothes and shoes, but she feels he does not understand her. When Akunna finally writes home, she’s told that her father had died five months ago and the money she sent was used to give him a decent burial. Her boyfriend offers to accompany her home to see her family, but she refused.
Why did Akunna refuse her boyfriend’s offer to accompany her to Nigeria? Do you think she returned to America? Reflection This brings us to the end of the of the analysis of the short stories in Adichie’s anthology. You are encouraged to familiarise yourself with the rest of the stories that were not analysed in this unit. The three stories
47
48
Unit 2
The African Short Story
are “Jumping Monkey Hill”, “The Shivering” and the “The Headstrong Historian.” Now that you have read all the short stories in this anthology, let’s proceed to examine the major symbols.
What is a symbol? Your study of poetry and novels in your first and second year should help you to answer this question. Reflection
4. Symbolism The Benin Mask To understand the symbolic significance of the Benin mask, I would like you to read the short extracts below taken from the story “Imitation”.
Extract 1 “Nkem is starring at the bulging, slanted eyes of the Benin mask on the living room mantel as she learns about her husband’s girlfriend (p.22) and
Extract 2 “She walks into the kitchen, pours herself a glass of water, and then leaves it on the table, untouched. Back in the living room, she stares at the Benin mask, copper-coloured, its abstract features too big. Her neighbours call it “noble”; because of it, the couple two houses down have started collecting African art, and they, too, have settled for good imitations, although they enjoy talking about how impossible it is to find originals” (p.23). “Nkem imagines the Benin people carving the original marks four hundred years ago. Obiora told her they used the masks at royal ceremonies, placing them on either side of their king to protect him, to ward off evil. Only specially chosen people could be custodians of the mask, the same people who people who were responsible for bringing the fresh human heads used in burying their king (p. 23). and
Extract 3 “Nkem picks up the mask and presses her face to it; it is cold, heavy, lifeless. Yet when Obiora talks about it ― he makes them seem breathing, warm” (p. 25). It’s now time for an activity to apply what you learned. Please attempt the following activity on your own before checking the feedback.
African Literature AFL721S
Activity 6: Analysing symbolism Time Required: You should take about 40 minutes to complete this Activity
activity. Read the extracts above from the story ‘Imitation’, then answer the question below: What in your opinion is the significance of the Benin mask in the story “Imitation”?
How long?
Firstly, you must remember that the Benin mask was brought by Obiora from Nigeria to decorate their home in the United States. It would be very valuable if it were genuine, but it is an imitation. Feedback
Also, note that the story begins with Nkem starring at the mask when she learns about her husband’s affair. From this, we can deduce that: i. ii. iii. iv.
v.
The mask is symbolic of the falseness of Nkem's marriage to her husband, Obiora. It is just a copy of a happy marriage, rather than the real thing. Nkem sees it as a symbol that Obiora values their marriage. The problem is that it is an imitation, hence, one may also say that their marriage is not ‘real’, but an imitation of what a marriage should be. They live apart most of the time, hence, like the Benin mask, their marriage is cold, heavy, and lifeless. When they move to America, Obiora “stayed the first few months. So that the neighbours didn’t ask about him until later” (p. 24). This means he didn’t stay because he cared for his family. The immigrants also live double lives. Detached and dislocated from their cultures, they imitate the American lifestyle. To avoid this situation, Nkem decides to live in Nigeria permanently giving the reason that “the children need their father” (42).
How did you perform? I hope you managed with the activity.
The second symbol is the ‘scarf.’ Do you remember which story is associated with this symbol? Reflection
49
50
Unit 2
The African Short Story
The Scarf In the story “A Private Experience” the scarf is the woman’s religious identity for being a Muslim. The Muslim woman also wears the scarf around the head or neck to show modesty and privacy. It also shows that humanity and life are more important than religious divisions when the woman ties it around Chika’s wounded leg. When the woman gives the scarf to Chika, it symbolises unity as the scarf breaks the religious war between them, hence uniting them.
Food In Adichie’s stories, food is not just what we eat. The food in the story shows that history and culture as well as our economic and social circ*mstances determine, and in turn are reflected in, the nature of our food consumption. The same applies to our personal beliefs. Nigerian food for the immigrants is a way of connecting with their roots and culture. Akunna is happy to discover a local African food shop. Chinaza tries to take some of the traditional food to America but the items are seized by the customs. For Chinaza’s husband, Ofodile, preference for American food shows a dislocation from his culture to belong in American society and live the American dream
Cars In the stories, cars represent Western influence. For some characters, cars represent the status symbol of the characters. They are a power symbol. In some stories, they reflect Western influence. For example, in the story “Cell One”, the cult members on the Nsukka campus are influenced by rap videos. They drive their parents’ cars with seats pushed all the way back. In the story “Ghosts”, Professor Nwoye’s old car symbolises his status as a retired professor. For the Nigerians, owning a car in America symbolises one’s success in pursuing the American dream.
The echi eteka snake In the story “Tomorrow Is Too Far”, the snake symbolises death. The narrator uses it to scare her brother, Nonso who slips and falls from the branch of the avocado tree and dies. (Source: Course Hero, 2019; Brock, 2017).
Can you think of more symbols that we did not mention above?
Reflection Next, we will explore the major themes in Adichie’s collection of short stories. As you start reading the short stories again, get your pen and notebook ready, have a page with a heading ‘Themes’ and jot down every theme you come across. Give it a try and you won’t miss any theme.
5. Themes Let’s start our discussion.
African Literature AFL721S
5.1 Anxiety and Lack of choice Anxiety is a major theme in Adichie’s short story collection. The title of the text also reinforces this theme ― the “thing” in the title represents the different forms of anxiety that some of the characters go through. Anxiety comes from lack of meaningful choices. Many characters in the stories lack meaningful choices or face difficult ones. Chinaza in “The Arrangers of Marriage” must choose between staying with her husband or leaving him when she discovers he is already married to someone else. However, her situation is complicated because she doesn't have a work permit. In addition, she is not legally married to Ofodile and she does not like the changes in him hence finds him annoying. Although she leaves him briefly, she returns because she is not yet equipped to support herself in America and can't go back to Nigeria. This means Chinaza is left with no choice but to stay in a sham marriage until she gets her work permit.
Do you think Chinaza’s decision was sensible or cowardly? Why?
Reflection In the story "The Thing Around Your Neck," Akunna is told by her uncle to make a choice between staying and sleeping with him or leaving. Although the uncle is looking after her in America, Akunna decides to leave. Making this decision means that she will take a low-paying job, quit school and be alone. Akunna’s choice is a difficult one and it requires courage and independence. Having read the stories, you will realise that most of the women characters have been raised to be dependent and submissive. In the “The American Embassy” the narrator makes a difficult of choice of staying in Nigeria even though she might be killed by the soldiers. She tells the visa interviewer that her son had been killed but refuses to give more details to prove the government killed her son. She decides to walk away from the American embassy without the visa. The theme of anxiety is predominant in different stories as characters feel anxiety for various reasons. In “The American Embassy” the narrator is anxious to the point of needing tranquilizers. Her husband has left the country under threat of death, her son has been killed, and she must stay calm to impress embassy officials with her need to seek asylum. In “On Monday Last Week,” Josh’s father Neil worries about him a lot. He worries about everything connected with his son, Josh. He is anxious about Josh’s diet and education. He worries about every parenting decision he makes. Josh has to write an admissions test for preschool and Neil worries that he might not make it and that he is under too much pressure. Kamara fails to understand why Neil worries about things that haven’t happened.
Do you think Kamara is also anxious in this story?
In-text question
51
52
Unit 2
The African Short Story
Yes, she is worried. Kamara is anxious about weight and food. Before Kamara was employed, she was so anxious and depressed as she had nothing to do at home. She just sat around, eating "everything in the fridge." When she gets a job and meets Tracy, she immediately wishes she could lose weight. Marriage is also a source of anxiety. In the story “Imitation,” Nkem is worried after being told by her friend Ijemamaka that her husband has a young girlfriend who lives with him at their house in Nigeria. She worries about what the girlfriend was doing in her house and whether she was sleeping on her bed. She even cut her hair to look like the girlfriend but her husband, Obiora told her that long hair was better on a Big Man’s wife. At the end of the story, she decided to leave America to join her husband in Nigeria (Course Hero, 2019).
5.2 The American Dream According to Adams (1931) as "that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement." ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
Adams went on to explain that the American Dream: Requires political and economic freedom. Promises freedom and equality. Offers freedom to make all decisions that affect one’s life. Offers the freedom to seek bigger and better things and the possibility of achieving them. Offers one the freedom to accumulate wealth. Offers the opportunity to lead a dignified life. Gives one the freedom to live according to both acceptable and unacceptable social values. (Source: Adams, 1931)
Let’s relate the American dream theme to some of Adichie’s stories. The collection of stories defines the American dream in a variety of ways. For the Nigerians who have never been to America, believed that it was a place where one could easily rise and be successful. In the story "The Thing Around Your Neck,” Akunna’s family believed that America is a place of big homes, cars, and guns. When she leaves Nigeria, her family celebrate her prosperity; that she would soon own a big house and a car. Once in America, Akunna is disillusioned and realises that these dreams are not realistic. Instead, one had to face the challenges of being black and an immigrant in a country that does not accept you unless you assimilate their culture. In the story “Imitation”, Nkem lives in an upper-class suburb in Philadelphia. Her house is beautiful, her children have access to good schools, and she drives beautiful cars, but she realises that all these do not make one happy. She is lonely as her husband is always in Nigeria. The success in America comes at a cost. She needs is unhappy and lacks friendship and love. Kamara in “On Monday Last Week”, is another immigrant who is disillusioned with the American dream. Material things don't interest Kamara as they do Tobechi, her husband. She seems more and more
African Literature AFL721S
disappointed with both him and her life as time passes. While Tobechi works hard to be successful in America, Kamara struggles to adjust to the American lifestyle. Tobechi had hoped to achieve the American dream. He strongly believed that he would get a green card and get a job, then buy a house and lead a successful life. However, once in America, he could only work as a taxi driver and manager at a restaurant. In the story “The Arrangers of Marriage,” Chinaza struggles to adjust to life in America and is disillusioned with the lies her husband tells her. When she arrives in America, she is disappointed that Ofodile lives in a poorly furnished house instead of a big, beautiful house. She also discovers that he is married to some one else. Like Kamara, she realises that the American dream is not achievable. However, the two men, Ofodile and Tobechi believe that they can work hard and achieve success in America (Course Hero, 2019; Brock, 2017).
Do you think they can be successful in America? Give your reason(s).
Reflection
5.3 Racial discrimination Racism appears in the stories “The Thing Around Your Neck” and “The Arrangers of Marriage.” The racism by white people against black people is also evident in some of the stories that were not analysed in this study guide. These include “Jumping Monkey Hill” and “The Headstrong Historian.” I encourage you to read these stories at your leisure and use them to support your ideas or arguments wherever you can. For example, in the story “On Monday Last Week,” Neil tells his son, Josh not to give a Shabbat card because she is just a helper and not a family member. However, on that day, Josh had prepared the family Shabbat card for Kamara. He says, "Kamara, I'm glad we are family. Shabbat shalom." Neil is also surprised that Kamara can speak good English, as if to say, black people are not capable of doing so. In “The Thing Around Your Neck,” Akunna knows that they cannot be a normal couple with her white boyfriend. She notices that people act strangely around them because of their different races. However, his parents are very friendly, and they welcome her when she visits. They do not show that this is an unusual relationship. In addition, Akunna's employer assumes she will be a good worker because she is an immigrant. Similarly, the reason why Akunna’s uncle was employed by his company to give the impression that their employees were diverse (Course Hero, 2019). Let’s proceed to examine the next theme.
53
54
Unit 2
The African Short Story
5.4 Marriage, Women’s Roles and Gender The themes of marriage, women's roles and gender surface in different stories in The Thing Around Your Neck. Most of the female characters are dependent on their partners and lose their identities and sense of agency in the process (Brock, 2021). Most of the women shape their identities to please their partners. Rather than getting self-fulfilment, they marry to get financial security. However, the stories show that this security is not easy to attain. In “Arrangers of Marriage”, Chinaza is not educated, and her marriage is not legal. She only stays with her husband to get her green card. She learns English to please her husband and to assimilate into American culture. Ukamaka on the other hand cooks with hot peppers to please her husband. This makes men look prestigious even if the women are unhappy. Some of the women find fulfilment and a sense of identity in marriage. While some women enjoy being mothers and taking care of their families, others use motherhood to forget about their unhappy marriages. One good example is Ugonna’s mother in the story “The American Embassy.” She has an unhappy marriage and finds a sense of identity and comfort in taking care of her son. When her son is murdered, she is heartbroken and loses a sense of purpose. She decides to stay in Nigeria risking being killed by the soldiers instead of immigrating to America. The stories also show that the younger women are taught to depend on men from childhood. Because of this cultural practice, they do not value education and tend to rely financial on men. In “Tomorrow is Too Far,” the girlchild is given less opportunities and treated unfairly. Nonso the young brother is treated because he will carry on the family name. Similarly, in “Cell one,” the narrator feels unloved and wanted. The brother, Nnamabia steals, cheats, and skips classes but the parents always defend him.
Did you notice that the women narrators in “Cell One” and “Tomorrow is Too Far” are unnamed? What do you think is the reason for this? In-text question Well, it means they have no individual identities and are at the same time voiceless. The two women narrators show that they are not valued as people in relation to their male family members. I hope you also realise that the two stories illustrate that female children are relatively ignored and that parents define themselves in terms of their male children (Brock, 2017). Our analysis of the different stories show that most women define themselves in relation to other people such as family members, spouses, or children. Adichie does not seem to provide solutions to the women’s problems.
Can you suggest any solutions for the female character’s discontent?
In-text question
African Literature AFL721S
I’m sure you came up with good suggestions. In addition, Adichie could be suggesting that women can derive happiness from taking control of their lives and demanding that their voices be heard by the men around them.
5.5 Corruption What in your opinion is corruption? Can you give any examples of corruption cases that you know? Reflection I’m sure you were able to recall several cases of corruption. This is important because we will conclude this unit by examining the theme of corruption in the stories that you have read. Now, proceed to do the activity below. Good luck!
Activity 7: Themes Time Required: You should take about 30 minutes to complete this Activity
activity. One important theme in the collection of stories is ‘corruption.’ Read the stories again and describe how this theme is represented in any story.
How long?
Now, compare your answer with mine. Corruption Feedback The theme of government corruption is prominent in “The American Embassy” story. The narrator’s husband wrote the article entitled “The Abacha Years So Far: 1993 to 1997.” In this article, the killings and failed contracts were highlighted. They were also well known by Nigerians. However, when BBC praised him for the article, the government threatened to arrest or kill him. He fled the country because he feared for his life. General Abacha concealed corruption by killing, trying and executing all journalists and activists who exposed him. The government’s corrupt practices in the stories take place during the military leadership of General Sani Abacha. In the story “Cell One,” Nnamabia
55
56
Unit 2
The African Short Story
mentions that bribes are paid to General Abacha. An old man is also arrested and tortured just to reveal the whereabouts of his son. The stories show that Abacha’s government was violent and there’s also mention of prisoners disappearing This brings us to the end of this unit.
Adams, J. T. (1931). Columbia University. http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/archival/collections/ldpd_ 4078384/ Columbia University.
References
Brock, Z. (2017). "The Thing Around Your Neck." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 5 Oct 2017. Retrieved on 4 Aug 2021 Course Hero. (2019, October 18). The Thing Around Your Neck Study Guide. In Course Hero . Retrieved August 3, 2021, from https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Thing-Around-Your/ Lewitt, S. (2006). Writing and Reading Short Stories. Session 23: The Life of the Writer. Writer's Block Retrieved from https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/77981/21w755-fall-2006/contents/lecture-notes/ses23_writer.pdf Say, A. (2021). Interview with Allen Say by Stephanie Loer . Harcourt: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/authors/allensay/quest ions.shtml Tomlinson, C. M., & Lynch-Brown C. (2005). Essentials of children’s literature . Boston: Pearson.
Keywords/Concepts
Short story:
a work of fiction
Fiction:
prose event about imagined events and characters
Character:
a person or animal who takes part in the action of a short story or literary work
Plot:
a series of events
Setting:
place and time in which it happens
Conflict:
struggle between two people or things in a short story
Theme:
central idea or belief in a short story
Exposition:
it is the starter of the story, and it introduces the setting, characters, and the
African Literature AFL721S
Unit summary
Summary
In this unit you learned about the short story. We explored several elements of the short story in this unit, including themes, character, setting and plot structure. The different types of plot structures were explained. We also read through the summaries of the different stories in Adichie’s anthology. The different activities also guided you on how to analyse a short story. The next unit focuses on the African novel.
57
58
Unit 3
The African Novel
Unit 3 The African Novel Introduction The aim of this unit is to introduce you to the wonderful world of the African novel and the joys of reading literary texts. and teach you how to analyse them. I would like you to enjoy the encounter with the novels that we have chosen for this course. Hopefully, the books will inspire you to read. I wish that reading becomes a habit, something that you do every day. This unit will introduce you to you to some novels that I think are worthy studying. I hope that by the time you are done with this unit, you will have gained useful insights which will help you understand the novels better. I hope you will see from the novels in this unit that literature doesn’t have to be difficult or dry or boring. The unit will refer to three novels, The Uncertainty of Hope by Valerie Tagwira, The Book of Not by Tsitsi Dangarembga, and The lie of the land by Jaspard D. Utley. Let’s start by looking at the objectives of this unit. You must make sure that at the end of this unit, you can achieve these objectives.
Upon completion of this unit you should be able to: ▪ ▪
Objectives
▪ ▪
define ‘novel’ and distinguish it from other literary genres; describe and discuss the fundamental/basic features/elements of a novel; apply the concept ACTS to an extract from one of the novels, and analyse a given text in relation to the whole novel.
Take note of the prescribed and additional readings. In order to better grasp the concepts, you are encouraged to read further from the recommended textbooks. Dangarembga, T. (2006). The Book of Not. London: Ayebia Clarke.
Prescribed reading
Tagwira, V. (2008). The Uncertainty of Hope. Cape Town: CTP Book Printers. Utley, J. D. (2017). The Lie of the Land. Windhoek Namibia: University of Namibia Press.
African Literature AFL721S
Chapman, M. (2003). Southern African Literature (2nd ed.) Pietermaritzburg, South Africa: University of Kwazulu Natal Press.
Additional reading
Kane, G., Byrne, D. and Scheepers, R. (2014). Introduction to Literary Studies (3rd ed.). Southern Africa, Oxford University Press. Emenyonu, E.ed.) (2004). Emerging Perspectives on Chinua Achebe. Trenton, New Jersey, NJ: Africa World Press Laurence, Margaret (2001). Long Drums and Cannons: Nigerian Dramatists and Novelists, 1952–1966. Alberta: University of Alberta Press Mwikisa, P. Lederer, W. et al (2010). Southern African Literature. Research in African Literatures (41.3) Yousaf, Nahem (2003). Chinua Achebe. Tavistock: Northcote House in Association with the British Council Thiong’O, N. (1986). Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature. London: James Currey.
1. Introduction to Prose At this stage, you already know that literary works are generally divided into prose, poetry and drama. Prose itself is also generally divided into fiction and non-fiction. The distinction is explained in Figure 1. Table 1: Difference between fiction and non-fiction
Fiction ‘Fiction’ in literature does not mean the same as falsehood, untruths, or lying. ‘Fiction’ simply means that the author is free to call upon his or her powers of imagination and creative use of language to narrate a story in a believable way.
Non-fiction ‘Non-fiction’, on the other hand, refers to works such as the autobiography, the biography, memoirs, essays, and so on and so forth.
By fiction is meant works of imaginative creation.
Surely, you can easily distinguish between fiction and non-fiction, can’t you? Talking of fiction and non-fiction compels us to look at the term ‘genre’. The word genre refers to the categories, or literary forms, based on form, style, or subject matter (Kane et al., 2014, p. 101). The three main literary categories are poetry, drama and fiction, or narrative (novel and short story).
59
60
Unit 3
The African Novel
By definition, a novel is an extended work of prose fiction. This simply means that it is a long piece of imaginative prose writing, as opposed to the short story, or the work of middle length, the novelette (or novella). In most present-day usage, these three genres, novel, novelette, and short story are grouped together under the general term ‘fiction’. In the past, ‘fiction’ was used to refer to any literary narrative, whether in prose or verse.
But nowadays when we speak of fiction, we are referring to literary prose works. Other types of fiction are the fable, allegory, and romance, but in this course, we shall deal with the novel and the short story as examples of prose fiction. Once again, then, a novel is a long narrative story, dealing with imagined events, people and places. This invented story is written in prose.
“Prose” is language organised into sentences and paragraphs. It is the writing style of ordinary speech, as opposed to verse or poetry. There are many different types of novels: ▪ ▪ ▪
the historical novel, the realist novel, the biographical novel, and so on and so forth
The important point to note is that the author of a novel presents the invented characters and events in a realistic, believable way. It’s now time for an activity to apply what you learned. Please attempt the following activity on your own before checking the feedback.
Activity 1: Literary genres Time Required: You should take about 20 minutes to complete this Activity
activity. Define term ‘novel’ and differentiate from the other literary genres.
How long?
African Literature AFL721S
Feedback
Literature is generally divided into three genres: prose, poetry and drama. (But note each of these can be further sub-divided; for example, prose can be further divided into fiction and non-fiction). A novel is any long narrative story, dealing with imagined events, people and places. This invented story is written in prose. It differs from poetry, which is written in verse, while drama I literature that is written to be performed. How did you fare in this activity? If you came up with the correct definition, well-done! Now that you understand the genre that novels belong to, we can now look at the various features of prose.
2. The Basic Features of a Literary Prose Text Since you are not doing Literature for the first time, the following information serves to refresh your memory about the basic/main/ fundamental features/aspects/elements of novels and short stories. It is also possible that you no longer have your earlier study guides. These are terms that you have encountered before, and therefore I shall not bother you with too many questions about them. Novels, novellas, and short stories have many similarities. To begin with, these three are prose works of fiction. Moreover, whenever we study any of these prose fiction texts, we must look at the following features: title, setting, characters, story, plot, themes, as well as style or language use. Let us give more details about each of these basic features:
2.1 Title The title encapsulates, introduces, and identifies a particular piece of work. It becomes synonymous with the work (Lutrin and Pincus, 2010, p. 95). For example, in our case we have the novels: The Uncertainty of Hope, The Lie of the Land, and The Book of Not.
2.2 Setting “The setting of a narrative or dramatic work is the general locale, historical time, and social circ*mstances in which its action occurs; the setting of an episode or scene within a work is the particular physical location in which it takes place” (Abrams 1981, p. 175). In simple terms, the setting of a work of art involves the geographical (the place) and historical (the time) in which the story takes place. Moreover, the setting is the background against which the work is set. This setting provides the framework and time of place. It establishes the context of the work, and this context reflects the attitudes and values in which the work is set, written and received. The reader needs to identify the setting, which is achieved by direct information as well as by language usage. This is often the key to identifying the themes, sub-themes and characters. For example, The Lie of the Land is set in Namibia.
61
62
Unit 3
The African Novel
2.3 Characters These are invented by the author. The main characters are at the centre of the action. We get to know them intimately and they are fully developed by the author. The minor characters are not fully developed and may appear only once or twice in action. Characters are studied and analysed for their physical appearances, personalities, and actions:
Appearance: age, physical appearance, dress, social class, mannerisms, mode of speech (accent, dialect, choice of words) Personality: intelligence, sensitivity, attitude, introverted or extroverted character, positive or negative qualities, strengths and weaknesses, sincerity, and falseness. Action: The actions of the character are interwoven with the plot, sub-plots and themes. We learn about characters through action and description. Writers, through a technique called Characterisation , create their characters in the story so as to attract or repel our sympathy. This is done in the following way: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
▪
▪
▪
what the characters say (dialogue, and sometimes in monologues and soliloquies) what the characters do (action, and sometimes lack of action) what other characters say about them (description, but readers must not believe everything said about someone) what the author says (description, again readers must be cautious and should make informed judgements) We use adjectives or noun phrases to describe someone’s character, e.g., “a pleasant child”, “a cruel man”. In this sense the word “character” means all the mental or moral qualities that make a person different from others. The adjectives “pleasant”, “cruel” are character traits, or characteristics. Other examples of character traits are: lazy, improvident, careless, warm-hearted, clever, loving, caring, cheeky, brusque, rude, unpleasant, kind, emotional, etc. The main characters are called protagonists, and sometimes we have antagonists. An antagonist is a person who is strongly opposed to the protagonist. In most literature, conflict occurs. This causes the characters to develop and adapt to changing circ*mstances. Conflict is the disagreement, the differences, or the confrontations between characters. Readers and audiences are made aware of internal (emotional) or external conflicts portrayed by the characters. Characters cannot be studied in isolation. They must be seen in context against the backdrop of their settings and the other characters.
What is the difference between a protagonist and antagonist?
Reflection
African Literature AFL721S
2.4 Story This is a sequence of events in a time-chain, and these events link to form one whole.
2.5 Plot It is also a narrative of events, but this time the emphasis is on causality. “The king died and then the queen died” is a story. “The king died, and then the queen died of grief” is a plot. If it is a story, we ask, “And then?” If it is a plot, we ask “Why?” A plot demands more than just memory; it also demands intelligence. ▪
▪
▪
Narratives may adopt linear (chronological) approach, or they may use flashbacks or even prophetic (foreshadowing) techniques. The plot comprises various events or sub-plots, all of which are inter-twined and are usually resolved in the climax or conclusion of the work. The unfolding of the plot is called the denouement. The writers’ ability to create emotions such as excitement, curiosity, suspense or romance will ensure a credible plot.
Can you recall an example of a novel that you know which uses flashback?
Reflection
2.6 Themes A theme is an idea or issue explored by the author. The theme is usually the reason why the author wrote his or her work. All the other aspects of the text, setting, characters, language, structure, etc. are included to help bring out, develop, or illustrate the theme. Let’s explore the following examples of themes.
63
64
Unit 3
The African Novel
Family love, identity, racism, sexism, tribalism, nepotism, corruption, greed, marriage problems, the joys of motherhood, etc. Example
The main themes are often introduced in the opening sequence of the work, and this is known as the exposition. Themes are sometimes conveyed figuratively. They will then be revealed and may only be understood with in-depth study. If the main theme was “the supernatural”, the sub-themes might include water, blood or fire. These sub-themes would then be symbolic. Symbolism is therefore the substitution of a concrete image for an abstract idea.
Can you recall an example of a novel that explores the theme of corruption?
Reflection
2.7 Style The writer’s use of language. The writer will use certain literary forms and techniques to increase our awareness of what is happening in the text. You will notice that there are so many examples of the use of Igbo proverbs, folk tales, riddles and images drawn from the wide range of African experience. Style also includes narrative technique, also known as point of view. This is a skill that allows the author/poet to decide who is going to tell the story. It is useful to know the distinction between an author and a narrator, because these are often not the same.
For example, a poem entitled “Lone Dog” by Irene McLeod, has the following lines: Example
I’m a lean dog, a keen dog, a wild dog and lone; I’m a rough dog, a tough dog, hunting on my own. Obviously, the poet of the poem is McLeod, but the narrator/ persona is the dog itself. Here the narrator uses the pronoun “I”, and we call this “the first-person narrator”. There is also the “thirdperson” narrator, in which the characters are described as “he”, “she” or “they”. Both the first-person and third-person narratives are common points of view in literature. The third-person narrator is also called the omniscient narrator, because this kind of narrator knows everything about the story that is being told. This kind of narrator “can go into and outside of a character’s mind at will, knows and reveals whatever it chooses to” (Zinyemba, 1987, p. 48).
African Literature AFL721S
2.8 Tone Tone is the manner in which the author expresses himself or herself. Tone conveys the emotions, underlying feelings and attitude of the writer. This is imparted through choice of vocabulary (diction), especially in direct speech, sentence length and punctuation. The tone may be described as friendly, sharp, sarcastic, ironic, angry, humorous or condescending. Tone helps to create the desired atmosphere.
2.9 Mood/Atmosphere This is the pervading feeling that the reader experiences. It is created by the author through various language devices and through his/her tone. Source: (Adapted from Lutrin and Pincus, 2010, pp. 95 – 96)
It’s now time for an activity to apply what you’ve learned. Please attempt the following activity on your own before checking the feedback.
Activity 2: Basic features of any one of the novels in this course. Time Required: You should take about 30 minutes to complete this Activity
activity. Choose one novel in this course and identify the features of novels as discussed above.
How long?
Feedback
This activity is the starting point to your analysis of the novels in this course. I suggest that when you start to read the novels you get a notebook where you write down the aspects identified in the above section and you make sure that you master these elements – know them by heart as they relate to each of the novels. However, it is not enough to simply know the elements, you have to see how they link to each other – for example the characters link to the setting and to the themes. Certainly, you will have different answers depending on the novel you have chosen but for now what is important is for you to know the above mentioned nine elements. Please go back to these elements every now and then as you analyse your novels.
65
66
Unit 3
The African Novel
I hope you managed with the activity. Please pay close attention to the next section which explains how to read and analyse literary texts. This technique will be used to analyse the three novels for this course.
3. A Study Plan for Reading and Analysing Literary Text It may be helpful to remember always the mnemonics ACTS or CATS in the reading and analysis of literary texts, where: A - AUTHOR C - CHARACTERS T - THEMES S - STYLE These ACTS can be rearranged to CATS and still refer to the same. So, the ACTS/CATS cover all the necessary aspects that may be required in the analysis of a text and in most cases even your examination questions will be based on these aspects.
3.1 Author You must know the exact name and spelling of the author/ writer of the text you are studying as well as the exact title of the text and remember that you have to refer to the author by surname and NOT by the first name. A background of the author may be necessary as it sometimes influences the way a text is written. Other works by the same author may be of relevance as some works feed into each other and some are actually sequels. Let’s explore the following example.
Example
An example could be Achebe’s Arrow of God which precedes Things Fall Apart, then No Longer at Ease. Having such knowledge of an author and his/her background provides an informed and nuanced analysis of literary texts.
3.2 Character These are the people and creatures whose personalities build the story in a text. Knowing each character by name and the correct spelling is equally important in the analysis of the text. Distinguishing each character from other characters and what they have contributed in the writing of the text is crucial. Also establishing the relationship of each character to other characters, what the character has said or has done also assists positively in understanding a text. Examiners are fond of asking questions relating to the characters and what they contribute to the whole novel ― that is, what sort of issues/concerns/themes come out through the character. What does each character contribute to the story line ― do you sympathise with the character or you condemn the character?
African Literature AFL721S
3.3 Themes On the aspect of themes, it is again of paramount importance that you know almost, if not all the themes that are brought out by the text. Knowing all the themes puts you on the safe side when it comes to arguing about any issues pertaining to the text as well as for the examination itself. The examiner may ask you on any topic from a text that you would have read. Like in The Uncertainty of Hope, the examiner may ask you to write an essay on the treatment of women in the novel. If you do not know the characters and only know one theme from the text then you are doomed. Try to figure out all the possible themes that come out from each text and know them as they will help you in approaching any question in any form. Remember that closely linked to characters are the issues/concerns raised in the novel. In African literature we are concerned about the message or teaching that we get from the novel such that even when we talk about the characters what we are concerned about is what the character teaches us― that is through the theme/concerns/issues
3.4 Style This is that which considers how a text is written. When a text is written in first person it has a different impact compared to a text written in the third person. The issue of incorporating dialogue in a narrative is a style that allows the reader to interact with a character’s personality that is through a character’s attitudes and emotions. The use of figurative speech and its effect in the understanding of the text, as well as other stylistic forms that the author may incorporate in their writing, also play a major role in the comprehension of a text. So, it is very important that the ACTS/CATS be remembered when studying a text as they in the end provide an overall understanding of the text.
4. How to Study The Uncertainty of Hope It is strongly recommended that you read this novel before you continue further. However, in case you don’t have access to this novel, you have been provided with a summary and analysis of the novel. Please note that it is always best to read the novel first before you read the summary and analysis provided by others. We will start by finding out information about the author.
67
68
Unit 3
The African Novel
4.1 Author of The Uncertainty of Hope
Figure: 2. Valerie Joan Tagwira
Valerie Joan Tagwira graduated from the University of Zimbabwe’s Medical School in 1997. She studied and worked as a gynaecologist in the UK before she returned to teach and work at Harare Hospital. Valerie has a strong interest in health-related and developmental issues that affect women. The Uncertainty of Hope is her first novel. It one a NAMA Award in 2007 and was short-listed for the Aidoo-Snyder prize in the USA. She says ‘It began as an exploration in creativity, something that one doesn’t practise in the medical field. Then, it became an opportunity for me to explore issues close to my heart … the challenges that women face in their day-to-day lives, and the obstacles that they encounter in trying to make life better for their families’ (The Zimbabwean, August 2021). Now complete the activity below. The extract is taken from Valerie Tagwira’s novel entitled Uncertainty of Hope (2006, pp. 1-4).
Activity 3: ACTS Text analysis Time Required: You should take about 50 minutes to complete this Activity
How long?
activity. Read the extract below apply the ACTS concept by answering the questions that follow: Who is the author of this extract? (A) Comment on Onai’s character. (C) Comment on Gari’s character. (C) Identify the themes in this extract. (T) How are the people’s challenges reflected in this extract? (C) Which narrative technique or point of view is used in the extract?
African Literature AFL721S
Excerpt: Chapter 1 Onai Moyo awakened unwillingly from her slumber to the irritating sound of a dog barking continuously in the distance. The racket escalated to an agitated pitch that seemed to grow closer as it grew louder. More dogs in the neighbourhood joined in: barking, yelping and growling. The noise was raucous and broke the stillness of night. Onai felt a spasm of apprehension. This sort of commotion often meant that gangs of matsotsi eHarare were out prowling through the ramshackle labyrinth of Jo’burg Lines where she lived with her family. Her right arm felt like a dead-weight beneath her despite a spasm of sharp pins and needles. She turned over with drowsy indolence and wiggled her fingers to ease her discomfort. Circulation returned in a rush and for a moment the prickling sensation intensified. She opened her eyes. Thin shafts of orange light from the tower light filtered effortlessly through the leaves of the mango tree just outside her window and through the frayed curtain of her bedroom, throwing peculiar shapes on the wall that seemed to cavort in a synchronised manner. Mimvuri, happy shadows … she thought sleepily, closing her eyes in an attempt to go back to sleep. She failed. As she became more alert, she thought again with a sinking feeling that her husband had not yet come home. The absence of loud snores and a pleasant freedom from the stench of alcohol-infused breath told their own story. But still she strained her sleep-heavy eyes in the gloom and reached a tentative arm across the bed. She made contact with nothing, which confirmed her anxiety. Where was he? At that moment, the rickety metal gate standing a few metres from her bedroom window creaked in a characteristic manner. So, he’s finally back, she thought with irritation as she fumbled for her wristwatch on the battered cardboard box next to her bed. The upside-down container had staunchly served as her dressing table for almost a year, weathering bedroom conflicts by her side. As she peered at her watch and struggled to make out the time, she heard muted voices and the padding of stealthy footsteps. Tossing her threadbare blanket aside, she stood up. Cautiously, she drew the curtain sideways a fraction, and out of the corner of her eye caught a flurry of movement. Two figures crept past the mango tree and disappeared into the shadows towards the kitchen door. So, tonight, they were the burglars’ chosen ones! Her heart knocked painfully against her rib cage. The sound transmitted itself to her ears in a subdued, pulsing beat. ‘God help me please,’ she offered a heartfelt prayer. She knew how daring burglars ordered people to remain quietly in bed while they ransacked their homes. With the new breed of malicious intruders, assault was no longer a remote possibility. She was certain, moreover, that her loudest screams would not coerce her neighbours out of the safety and comfort of their homes. Nobody in their right mind would risk their lives by coming to her aid. Not at this time of night. So, apart from her children, she was well and truly alone.
69
70
Unit 3
The African Novel
She swore under her breath at her absent husband. ‘Uripiko nhai Gari? Where are you Gari?’ Her mind sharp with fear, she realised that she had just a few minutes to spirit her children to relative safety. She moved silently and instinctively through the darkness into her daughters’ bedroom. Sixteen-year-old Ruva and fifteen-year-old Rita were both awake, which was a relief, though not surprising given the clamour that the dogs were still making. She half-dragged them out of bed and shoved them into her bedroom. Ignoring their surprised questions, she hissed at them to be quiet. Exchanging confused glances, they obeyed. She then tiptoed into her son’s tiny bedroom next to the kitchen. Amazingly, tenyear-old Fari was fast asleep. She placed her hand over his mouth and gently woke him up. Clearly startled by this intrusion, he struggled and hit out before he heard her reassuring whispers. Mother and son moved quickly into the main bedroom. The family huddled in a tense, quivering group in the corner of their sanctuary. Profound fear hung over them as they listened to the muffled sounds and imagined their home being desecrated. Rita, the neediest of Onai’s children, leaned closer towards her and sought out her hand with a trembling, clammy palm. Onai took the shaky hand in a firm grip and drew the terrified girl closer. She closed her eyes and thought about their black and white television, by far their most prized possession. It stood with imposing presence on a wrought-iron stand, easily dominating their poky sitting room. Without seeing it, she knew that it had gone. ‘Maybe it will be the only thing they get away with because it’s so heavy,’ she dared to hope. She wondered if the burglars had knives. Or a gun. The idea made her shudder. She circled her arms around Rita and drew some comfort from the softness and warmth of the young girl’s body. Again, she swore at her husband for leaving them so defenceless. After what felt like the longest ten minutes of Onai’s life, the faint noises quietened down, and the back door closed with a barely perceptible click. Next, the gate creaked and sighed. A flood of relief washed over her and the tension in her body slackened. The intruders had left. Rising from her crouching position, she groped for the light switch and pulled hard on the string. The sudden brightness was almost like a physical blow. Fari looked dazed. Rita was shaking violently. Ruva’s mutinous face showed a fiery but impotent anger. Onai felt a moment of self-reproach. She could not protect her children from the life they were destined to live. As if on cue, the family moved silently and resolutely into the sitting room. Their television which had withstood the ravages of time had gone. Sekutamba chaiko. Just like that. Rita and Fari perched on the edge of the old armchair, wordless still. The silent disappointment on their faces only added to Onai’s sense of despondency. Of course, she would never be able to replace the set. Not in a lifetime. Without doubt, they would miss their weekly highlight, the Nigerian Movies of the Week which provided an intriguing concoction of Christianity and witchcraft. Nor would their evenings be the same without the suspense of a Studio 263 episode. Thankfully, their black Supersonic stereo still stood on a woven reed mat in the corner. She lifted it off the floor and placed it carefully on the wrought-iron stand. ‘Pabva gondo pagara zizi,’ she mused, somewhat inappropriately, then dismissed the thought. For that elevated position, the stereo was surely a poor replacement.
African Literature AFL721S
For a room that had just been burgled, everything else looked startlingly normal. Not that there was anything else that would have stirred the burglars’ interest. The noticeably small room was further dwarfed by four shabby blue armchairs, well past their prime. The wobbly wooden table stood where it had always stood, right at the centre of the room, looking as lopsided as ever. Onai’s eyes moved up the blue, streaked wall. Her two picture frames, embellished in gaudy imitation gold, still hung on either side of the cheerfully corpulent Humpty Dumpty clock. ‘Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall …’ her thoughts wandered, seeking escape and remembering of all things, Fari’s favourite rhyme. She stopped herself irritably. The clock appeared to be smiling at her, eyes twinkling, features seemingly alight with joy. She removed her gaze from the illusion of its happiness. Ruva whirled round to glare at her. ‘Amai, where is baba? Look at the time. It’s three o’clock, Amai! He should have been here to protect us. Why isn’t he here?’ she railed, her soft adolescent features contorted by resentful anger. Onai looked at her and flinched from the intensity of her rage. ‘Mwanangu, just like you, I don’t know where he is. We’re safe now. Let’s go back to sleep, vanangu,’ she said in a mother’s calm, gentle voice. Inside, she was seething. For a moment, she felt an irresistible urge to slap her daughter really hard, but with no small effort she suppressed it. She thought of uttering some belittling remarks about Gari, but again she restrained herself. She would never admit openly to her children that their father was a blatantly irresponsible man. What purpose would it serve, except to further erode the flimsy fabric of Gari’s relationship with his children? Tactfully, she ignored the increasingly familiar look of condemnation on Ruva’s face and shepherded her offspring back to bed. She checked the lock on the back kitchen door and was dismayed to find it badly broken. Getting it fixed would cost no less than five hundred thousand dollars. Veduwe, nhamo haibvi pane imwe chokwadi … poverty bred even greater poverty. There wasn’t much more that the pittance she grossed as a vegetable vendor could accommodate. Resignedly, she tried to hold the broken lock together with a piece of thick wire. It did not work. She tried harder. The wire dug into the roughened skin of her palms. Finally, she managed to hold the door at a slightly crooked slant. The twisted wire offered no protection. She shut her eyes tightly and drew in a slow, deep breath, bravely willing herself free of another cloud of misery which was threatening to suffocate her.
71
72
Unit 3
The African Novel
Who is the author of this extract? Valerie Tagwirei (A) Feedback
Comment on Onai’s character. Brave and courageous, cares for her family (C) Comment on Gari’s character. Irresponsible and abusive (C) Identify the themes in this extract. Survival, domestic abuse, violence, marriage etc. (T) How are the people’s challenges reflected in this extract? The burglary shows people’s desperation to survive (T) Which narrative technique or point of view is used in the extract? Third person narrative (S)
4.2 Summary of the text The Uncertainty of Hope is set in the densely populated suburb of Mbare, Harare, and explores the complex lives of Onai Moyo—a market woman and mother of three children—and her best friend, Katy Nguni—a vendor and black-market currency dealer. The novel gives an insight into the challenges faced by a wide cross section of Zimbabwe, where life expectancy has dropped to 37, possibly the lowest in the world. Thus, the novel under review chronicles the lives in Zimbabwe’s capital city, Harare. The text is set during 2005 when the Zimbabwean government led the removal and destruction of illegal housing structures called ‘Operation Murambatsvina’. The clearance of shacks and many informal settlements led to the displacement of many Mbare residents who had to look for alternative accommodation with relatives or go back to the villages of origin in the countryside (Chirisa & Mlambo, 2013). The Uncertainty of Hope provides a glimpse into the struggles, triumphs, and lives of Zimbabweans in Mbare, a high-density suburb of Zimbabwe‘s capital, Harare.
4.3 Setting ▪ ▪
▪
▪
The Uncertainty of Hope is set in 2005, in a time when Zimbabwe faced economic sanctions due to its political policies. It is a novel set in contemporary Zimbabwe. The novel shows the lives of people in Zimbabwe’s capital city, Harare. It looks at poverty, homelessness, H.I.V./AIDS, domestic violence, and a host of other socioeconomic challenges of the day. It is also a story about surviving against the odds and, hopefully, gives an insight into the intricacies of contemporary Zimbabwe with respect to how people are trying to survive. The Zimbabwean government led the removal and destruction of illegal housing structures called Operation Murambatsvina. The clearance of shacks and many informal settlements led to the displacement of many Mbare residents who had to look for alternative accommodation with relatives or go back to the villages of origin in the countryside (Chirisa & Mlambo, 2013). The Uncertainty of Hope is set in the densely populated suburb of Mbare, Harare, and explores the complex lives of Onai Moyo—a market woman and mother of three children —and her best
African Literature AFL721S
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
friend, Katy Nguni—a vendor and black-market currency dealer. The novel gives an insight into the challenges faced by a wide cross section of Zimbabwe, where life expectancy has dropped to 37, possibly the lowest in the world. The country was unable to deliver adequate public services. The currency plunged to record lows due to the high inflation rate. People are earning millions of dollars, but they cannot buy basic necessities. It at a time when all people meaningless millionaires.
4.4 Background to Operation Murambatsvina In 2005, Zimbabwe’s government unleashed operation Murambatsvina (getting rid of the filth) on cities across the country. The clearance of shacks and many informal settlements led to the displacement of many Mbare residents who had to look for alternative accommodation with relatives or go back to the villages of origin in the countryside (Chirisa & Mlambo, 2013). The government’s aim is to get rid of the crawling mass of maggots, all bent on destroying the economy (Tagwira, 135). These remarks make reference to the poor and the unemployed who are struggling to earn a living for themselves in the informal sector in their country that is facing serious economic and social challenges. The operation fell hardest on urban neighborhoods like Mbare in the capital Harare. Mbare was the worst affected, by virtue of its levels of overcrowding and social deprivation (Tagwira, 154). People lost their homes, their livelihoods or both as goods are seized and structures deemed illegally are demolished. Families were given only a few hours to remove what they could save before bulldozers came to demolish structures in backyards or their homes and possessions ruthlessly burnt to the ground by the riot police. Many people lost their sources of income in the informal sector as their vending sites were destroyed and their wares confiscated. The operation has had an adverse effect on the livelihoods as most of the food supply to the family is sourced from the market. Through informal employment, people buy food for their children, send them to school, and pay for the health services. In the name of development, families are left without accommodation and left feeling helpless. The riot police do not show any remorse for the families who are evicted from their homes. They are claiming to be doing their jobs and should be asking questions and the people should be giving answers (Tagwira, 138).
4.5 Plot The novel opens with Onai being woken up in the early hours to discover that burglars have picked on their house to steal their main “theft-worthy” possession, their treasured old black-and-white television set. Her husband still being out on his nightly wanderings, she can only gather her children in her bedroom, where they cower together while the theft is being perpetrated. When Gari returns, later, he has clearly been fornicating as well as drinking, and accuses Onai of having “set up” the robbery with her (non-existent) “boyfriends”.
73
74
Unit 3
The African Novel
He attacks her and leaves her bleeding copiously from a head wound, on the floor, while he collapses into a drunken sleep on the bed. Katy (her friend) and her husband, John, take her to the hospital where she stays for a few days. For all her misery, she is resigned to and trapped in the marriage for her children’s sake. In glaring contrast with Onai and Gari’s relationship, Tagwira depicts the growing love and deepening commitment between Katy’s only child, her student daughter Faith, and a wealthy young businessman, brother to a former fellow student of Faith’s. The two things that bother Faith about the glamorous bachelor Tom Sibanda is that he has no real understanding of the struggles of the poor, because he has always lived in wealth and ease, and that he owns a farm whose former (white) owner was murdered. The novel deals with the circ*mstances preceding, during and following the now notorious Operation Murambatsvina (“operation clear out the rubbish”), the police campaign ordered by the Zimbabwean government t to close the informal markets of the city and to demolish all illegal township backyard shacks and home extensions. The middle section of the text depicts mainly the further harrowing development in Onai’s life of her discovery that Gari is having a fullblown affair with the township’s most notorious siren, Gloria, widely suspected to have AIDS. She cannot even manage to speak to him about this, so seldom is he home, and when he is, so drunken is his state! Onai for the first time begins to wish to escape all this squalid suffering by killing herself; of course, the awareness that she could not so abandon her children holds her back. With trade in the market now impossible, the family is on the brink of starvation and Onai’s younger daughter Rita suggests they will go hawking at the bus queues in town with her small brother Fari serving as police lookout. Onai, too, does illegal hawking in the city, at the filling station queues, under constant threat of arrest. The two vending children get arrested before long. The next blow for her comes when brings Gloria home and introduces her to the family as his next wife. When she attacks Gloria, she is assaulted by Gari. Onai leaves Gari she takes shelter at Katy’s home while the children are persuaded to stay in the village with their grandmother. Later the same night, Gari’s health collapses completely and he is hospitalised. Gari dies and after the funeral, Gari’s brother stays on in the house with his family on the grounds that it now belongs to him as the next heir. Now, let’s proceed to examine the characters in the novel.
4.6 Characters Onai The story revolves round Onai. It is to her that things happen. Or don’t happen. It is she who has to make it or break. She was only thirty-six years old. Onai is the main character and is married to Gari. She is the mother of three children, namely, sixteen-year-old Ruva, fifteen-year-old Rita and ten-year-old Fari. She is the family’s ‘bread winner’ as Gari does not bring his resources into the family. She owns a stand at the market stall in Mbare, which enables her to fend for the family where Gari has failed. This creativity by Onai ought to be celebrated. However, Gari
African Literature AFL721S
sees this as a threat to his masculinity. He adopts violent behaviour in all his dealings with Onai. Thus, from the beginning of the novel, Onai represents the socially conscious women who can take care of themselves as well as their families. She is an empowered woman and emerges a victor. She joins long queues to secure food for her family. Onai ventures into vending as she has to sustain her family. Onai comes up with survival strategies when the formal economic system has given in. Gari’s death enables her to explore more survival strategies. She finds a job as a dressmaker and escapes poverty. She works and lives in Borrowdale, a low-density suburb where the well-off live.
Katy Katy is Onai’s close friend. She is married to John, a truck driver. Katy and John have a daughter, Faith, who is studying at the University of Zimbabwe in Harare. Both Katy and John are “dealers” in the new Zimbabwean sense. John brings in the much-sought-after foreign currency from his cross-border long-distance truck driving trips. Katy stays at home, minds the vegetable stall at Mbare Musika, and not profitable, sells foreign currency to the willing, the needy and the greedy. John and Katy give Onai much needed help, hope, and emotional, mental and physical sustenance. Katy does not only offer emotional support but also accommodation when Onai is thrown out of her home after the death of her husband by the in-laws. Faith, Katy’s only daughter gives Onai’s children clothes.
Tapiwa Jongwe (Mawaya) Mawaya’s real name is Tapiwa Jongwe and he is a business man who is living in the affluent suburb of Borrowdale. The people of Mbare call him Mawaya, suggesting that he is mentally unstable. He lost his pregnant wife and unborn baby in an accident and the trauma of the loss causes him to go into a self-imposed act of remorse (kutanda botso in Shona). Jongwe can afford the best trauma care that Harare can offer, but he makes a conscious decision to go into a mourning and spiritual cleansing period. One would really think that he is indeed mad to leave his comfortable life behind in such a difficult time. He observes and respects a cultural practice, not only from Zimbabwe, but from Africa (the belief that there is contact between the living and the dead). He goes into this mourning period to right a wrong to his dead wife. Ironically, the moment that Mawaya’s mourning period is over and he wants to go home and claim his real identity, he is hit by a car and lands in hospital. When he wakes up, he is in a psychiatric hospital. He forgets his own name the moment when his identity could save him from discrimination and ill-treatment. What he does remember just confirms to the medical staff that he is mad. Mental instability becomes a metaphor through which Tagwira explores human suffering and the notion of identity. At the end of the novel, he goes back to his plush home and reclaims his riches and becomes Onai’s benefactor as a way of repaying her for the
75
76
Unit 3
The African Novel
kindness, the ubuntu which she had shown him whilst he was a “mad” man. These acts of kindness demonstrate the ubiquity of the African philosophy of ubuntu once again and that despite the challenges and hardships faced, the people rely upon one another in an egalitarian manner as a way of resiliently coping with life’s challenges. he goes back to his normal life, he observes that: “[b]izarre as it had been, it had taught him a lot about the value of life, about compassion and about having an open hand, despite being poor. How else would he have survived?” (Tagwira, 2006, p.342).
Gari He has a good job as a “section manager” in a large multinational firm but spends all his income on booze and other women. Gari is a womaniser and is very abusive. He has extra marital relationships with Gloria and Sheila. He does not even care or fend for his family even though he has a good job. In traditional patriarchal society, Gari is supposed to be the breadwinner but Onai takes over this role. Gari faces retrenchment because of economic structural adjustment programmes. He drowns his sorrows by drinking heavily, engaging in extra-marital affairs with Sheila and Gloria and abusing his wife and children (Chitando, 2015, p. 219). He has not paid for his Medical Aid and dies without having made any worthwhile investment. The only consolation is that there is a house. Gari is violent, unloving, selfish and insensitive. He is able to enjoy his biltong while Onai eats beans (90).
John Katy’s husband, John is a long-distance truck driver between Zimbabwe and South Africa. He buys foreign currency in the neighbouring country, which he and Katy trade in as the second, secret and highly risky side of their business life in Zimbabwe. Their most important customer is, in fact, a crooked but very suave Assistant Police Commissioner, Mr Nzou. Both Katy and John are “dealers” in the new Zimbabwean sense. John brings in much-sought-after foreign currency from his cross-border longdistance truck driving trips. Katy stays at home, minds the vegetable stall at Mbare Musika, and sells foreign currency to the willing, the needy and the greedy. John and Katy give Onai much needed help, hope, and emotional, mental and physical sustenance.
Tom Tom Sibanda is a young man who is a ‘new farmer’ and businessman, and has recently acquired a farm. He is quite ambitious but focused. Tom has a sister, Emily, who is a medical doctor. Tom’s relationship with Faith is based on mutual love. Tom understands the suffering of people, but it is just that he wants to get on with life. He has benefited from the land redistribution and cannot afford to bite the hand that feeds him - he has to speak the same language with the government.
African Literature AFL721S
Hondo The name Hondo means ‘war’ in Shona. He is a retired war veteran. He is proud of his legacy. The cleanup operation transforms his identity and leaves him disillusioned and traumatised. Hondo, the war veteran is powerless when confronted by young police officers. He played an active part of liberating his country from the British colonisers, but he can do nothing to save his own property. He is rendered helpless when the bulldozer moves in to demolish the extensions to his house which is his source of income. He is affected psychologically, and he is not able to face the results as he experiences the pain of loss and public humiliation. Hondo is distressed and he commits suicide by jumping into an oncoming train.
Maya She is a colleague at the vegetable market tables. Maya is blubbery, multi-chinned and a chatterbox who seems to revel and feed off the misfortunes of other people. She is a vividly drawn minor character. Although a minor character, Maya’s gossiping nature is emphasised. She has information on everyone. She’s a hard worker but unfortunately, her efforts as a cross border trader are overshadowed by her big mouth. She dominates her husband and is a woman who asserts her independence. Now, let’s move on to discuss the themes. Emily She is a doctor. As a female doctor, she fights against gender violence. She advises Onai to consult non-governmental organisations such as the Musasa Project for help. She is intelligent, sensitive, focused and does not give up on the struggle for social change. Emily cares for her patients. Her involvement with the Kushinga Women’s Project shows that medical doctors can also contribute to social transformation in other ways. By virtue of being a medical doctor, Emily ensures that people have good health.
Faith She is a law student at the University of Zimbabwe. She is identified by her career and modern outlook. Faith is liberated from patriarchal oppression and does not hesitate to question injustice. At one time, she asks Tom whether the white owner of the farm, Mr. Johnson, had to die for Tom to acquire the farm. Education in this novel, is seen as tool that liberates women like Faith and Emily. As a woman possessing the medical know-how, Emily has the capacity to contribute towards the fight against HIV and AIDS.
77
78
Unit 3
The African Novel
Sheila Sheila is Gari’s mistress. She has contracted HIV and AIDS. Sheila gives up the fight against men and HIV. She eventually dies. This portrays her as weak and powerless. Now that you understand the characters, let’s proceed to look at the themes.
4.7 Themes In Uncertainty of Hope, Tagwira explores the livelihood strategies that were employed by Zimbabwean women at the height of the decade of challenges in Zimbabwe. She tackles issues such as: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
Gender issues HIV and AIDS, Operation Murambatsvina (Clean-up trash), Gender-based violence, Retrenchment and unemployment Prostitution Poverty Corruption
Now, let’s have a brief look at some of the themes which you will study on this course.
Theme of women In Uncertainty of Hope , Tagwira has a strong interest in health-related and developmental issues that affect women. Tagwira captures how poor women in the high-density suburb of Mbare battled against police brutality during Operation Murambatsvina/Clean Up in 2005 (Tagwira, 2006). She explores how women in different social classes negotiate abuse by patriarchy, physical violence and vulnerability to HIV. At the centre of the novel, are women characters. Their complex lives give insights into the challenges that they face. They try to earn a living in difficult economic conditions. The novel catalogues the lives of different women: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
Onai Moyo, a market woman Faith and Melody, who are university students Katy Nguni, a vendor and black market dealer Sheila and Gloria, who are sex workers Ruva, a secondary school pupil. Emily, the health professional
These different women: ▪
▪ ▪ ▪
are all determined to earn their living in various ways, in spite of the stifling social, political and economic environment that they find themselves in during the decade of challenges in Zimbabwe. are faced with hardships. endure trauma. come up with survival strategies that enable them to reconstruct their lives and hope for a better future.
African Literature AFL721S
As women of courage, the female characters in The Uncertainty of Hope cross borders, (Maya), vendors, (Onai), or as black-market dealers (Katy) to fend for their families (Chitando, 2015). Tagwira largely succeeds in capturing the various activities that women engaged in during Onai suffers economic hardships as crisis hit Zimbabwe. Onai has to make a living as a market vendor although she is a qualified dressmaker. She also loses her stall due to the government clean-up operation. As a woman she is also oppressed by her husband. Her husband does not make contributions to the household expenditure, although he has a well-paying job. He only spends his money on alcohol and prostitutes abandoning his wife and their three children. The women are portrayed as passive and dependent but are courageous and creative. As the formal sector collapsed, women became key players in the informal sector. They buy and sell commodities to look after their children. Women like Emily, the woman doctor, and Faith, a law student at the University of Zimbabwe, challenge negative cultural perceptions of women. They show that it is possible for women to be independent and engage in gainful thinking, without fear or prejudice (Chitando, 2015). This young generation of women are presented as women who can make their own choices in life. However, there are women who also struggle to survive.
For example, Melody, the third-year university student who is sleeping with a married man to raise her fees as well as get a taste of the life her family can’t afford; and Sheila, the sex worker who’s contracted HIV. Gender relations Tagwira presents the issue of gender relations also through the marriage of Onai to Gari. Onai, the protagonist is beaten by her womanizing husband Gari thus requiring hospital treatment. Provide feedback. Tagwira presents the issue of gender relations also through the marriage of Maya to Mazai. Maya is a big woman, strong and muscularly built. Maya is a vendor at the market. Her husband is timid and does domestic chores at home. He is the laughingstock of other men. The partner who is physically strong and outspoken competes with the other vendors at the market, the one who is timid stays at home and does the domestic work. They complement each other. However, in the patriarchal culture they are made fun off. Their marriage shows equality between men and women; the couple finds equilibrium in their marriage. Gender is further explored through the cultural practice of inheritance laws. Onai is regarded as belonging to the Moyo family. Gari’s younger brother inherits his household, including his widow. Onai decides that she will name Fari her protector. Her culture allows it. Onai shows respect to her cultural heritage. She first searches for options within the norms and codes of her society. It is only when it fails that she is forced to turn to westerns laws and to nullify a marriage that was never registered.
79
80
Unit 3
The African Novel
John cares for his wife and daughter. He stays faithful to his wife even though his job as a long-distance truck driver provides ample opportunity to engage in risky sexual behaviour where he can pick up prostitutes at border crossings. Hondo and his wife are portrayed as a lovely couple who travels together to South Africa and work together during the trying times in the economic crisis. Tom respects Faith’s wishes to first work for her family after the completion of her studies before she gets married to him. Thus, he also preserves positive relationships with his future parents in law. The African society that Tagwira portrays in The Uncertainty of hope is a society where men and women also work together for the harmony of society.
HIV and AIDS Both Onai and Katy are vulnerable to HIV and AIDS. Onai is married to Gari, an unfaithful drunk who does not care for his family as they have three children together. She is abused by her husband and exposed to the risk of Human Immunodeficiency Virus/ Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. Gari is infected with HIV and AIDS, and Onai nurses him until he dies. She finds herself in the street after Gari dies of an HIV/AIDS related illness. His possessions are taken over by his younger brother when Onai refuses to become his wife. Onai takes a decision to stay in an abusive marriage where she is also exposed to the possibility of HIV infection is not out of a free personal choice. Onai does it because she knows that she cannot raise a family without a husband. If she divorces Gari, his family might take her children away. Sheila and Gloria, without husbands by their sides, engage in commercial sex. For Sheila the choice is between the empty stomach and HIV. The economy is unstable and so people have to negotiate their lives daily. When her shack is destroyed, she and her daughter are taken to a holding camp on a farm outside Harare. She had slept in the open and her “health was ravaged; her cough was worse; her eyes lifeless pools in a face worn with fatigue. She now had the familiar, skeletal appearance of a victim of full-blown AIDS” (p.156). Sheila, Gari’s former girlfriend, succumbs to AIDS and dies. AIDS destroys families because it affects both men and women. A lot of people die because of the collapsing health delivery system. Those who require anti-retroviral therapy die prematurely because they are too poor to access the life-saving medication (Chitando, 2015).
Do you think women’s lack of economic empowerment increases their vulnerability to HIV and AIDS? Reflection Death Gari, Onai’s husband, dies of an HIV/AIDS related disease, leaving Onai widowed and her children orphaned. Gari mistreated his wife, but Onai still mourns his death. She has hoped for a time when they could reconcile their marriage, but his death deprives her of this opportunity. Through the death of her husband Onai loses her home and has nowhere to go with her children.
African Literature AFL721S
Hondo commits suicide when his house is demolished. Hondo who feels that the young police officers have reduced him to a ‘woman’. This is the ultimate insult and Hondo, like Okonkwo in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart , decides to take his life. Two toddlers who’d died instantly when the demolition team erroneously moved in without checking whether there were people inside the targeted shack. One woman’s body was found floating in a ditch with raw sewage. People said she might have died of grief because she had lost almost everything. Another woman committed suicide when both her shack and tuck shop were destroyed within a space of two hours.
Can you think of more themes to add to the list above?
Reflection Domestic violence In Tagwira’s The Uncertainty of Hope ― the protagonist Onai suffers from domestic abuse at the hands of her husband. Domestic violence is revealed through Gari and Onai’s relationship. Gari beats Onai and she is hospitalised for a few days. The incident is not reported to the police. It’s almost accepted that men should “discipline” their wives, from observation around me within the family and from outside the family. Onai didn’t want the police involved. All she wanted was to get treatment and go back home and continue with her life, because reporting it officially as domestic violence would probably lead to friction within the home and make her situation worse. In addition, Gari demands his conjugal rights in a very abusive way and Onai knows that she cannot refuse it to him, this is sexual abuse. In a patriarchal culture such as the one in which she lives she dare not to divorce her husband because if people in Mbare hear it she would be an outcast of society. Her suffering is driven by cultural beliefs.
How do you think we can stop the cycle of abuse of women in society?
Reflection Resilience Onai makes resilient choices that save her life. To start with HIV/AIDS, she builds a relationship with Emily the health professional who helps her protect herself from the virus. She is advised to always put on a female condom before her husband comes back home. Since he is always drunk, he will not notice anything. This resilient act proved to be a lifesaving one. Through the death of her husband Onai loses her home; she has nowhere to go with her children, but she makes up a resilience choice to seek parental advice from her mother. Onai finds ways of coping and one way of making ends meet was going to the rural areas where her mother is.
81
82
Unit 3
The African Novel
Now, let’s move on to the next novel, The Book of Not by Tsitsi Dangarembga.
5. How to Study The Book of Not Please note that it is always best to read the novel first before you read the summary and analysis provided by others. You can access the ebook on MyNUST.
5.1 Summary of The Book of Not I’d like you to access the book review of The Book of Not on the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge11IWvaWbU.
Recommended website Have a notebook with you and write down what you think the novel is about or the main points from this video. Now that you have a rough idea what the novel is about, proceed to read the summary below.
The Book of Not (2006) is a sequel to Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions. Set in the 1970s, towards the end of the liberation struggle The Book of Not explores Tambudzai’s Sigauke’s trajectory; the colonial education system and her attempt to redefine herself through the new environment at the Young ladies’ College of The Sacred Heart and the philosophy of unhu. Through a feminist gaze, the book explores the plight of the Shona women/girl-children as they try to locate themselves in a seemingly patriarchal and multi-racial environment. In her struggle against oppression and domination, the protagonist, Tambudzai Sigauke, shows how the black girl-child suffers in the stifling political and cultural environment. Growing up in a racial social environment, she is displaced and engulfed by this environment which subsequently denies her personal growth and self-redefinition. At the end of the novel, Tambu must figure out how to make a life in the new Zimbabwe without going back to the past, thinking that life would have been better if she had been awarded the trophy or recognised for her achievements. Having resigned from Steers, D’Arcy, and MacPedius Advertising, she is left with no job and homeless. I’m sure you will find this book interesting since you have already studied Nervous Conditions in your Southern African Literature course. This means you are familiar with the characters and it will be interesting to see what happens to them in The Book of Not.
Can you recall the characters in Nervous Conditions? List them in your notebook. Reflection
5.2 Author of The Book of Not We will start by find out information about the author.
African Literature AFL721S
Figure: 3. Tsitsi Dangarembga Source: https://www.exclusivebooks.co.za/product/9780954702373
The Zimbabwean writer Tsitsi Dangarembga was born in Mutoko in colonial Rhodesia in 1959. She went to England with her parents at the age of two. As a result, she regarded English as her first language since she could not speak Shona. In 1965 she returned to Rhodesia and entered a mission school in Mutare. She learned Shona again and completed her secondary education at an American convent school. Tsitsi finished school and then went to England in 1977 to study medicine in Cambridge. However, she returned unable to cope with the racism and isolation of England. She returned in 1980 and began studying psychology at the University of Zimbabwe. In 1988 Nervous Conditions was accepted for publication by the Women’s Press in London and it went on to win the Commonwealth Writers Prize in 1989. She worked for some time at an advertising agency and started to study psychology at the University of Zimbabwe. During these years she became involved with the Drama Club and wrote and staged three plays, She No Longer Weeps), The Lost of the Soil, and The Third One. She then worked as a teacher, but her challenge was combining an academic career and literature, hence, she devoted herself entirely to writing. Her short story, 'The Letter' won a price in a writing competition arranged by SIDA, the Swedish International Development Authority, and was published in the anthology Whispering Land (1985). As a novelist Dangarembga made her debut with Nervous Conditions (the first novel in English ever written by a black Zimbabwean woman), a semi-autobiographical novel was accepted for publication by the Women’s Press in London in 1988 and it went on to win the Commonwealth Writers Prize in 1989. She had already started to write in her childhood, and read mostly the English classics, but the period following Zimbabwean independence inspired her to read contemporary African literature and the writings of Afro-American women. After her first success Dangarembga turned her attention to film. She studied at the Deutsche Film und Fernseh Akademie and wrote the story for Neria,
83
84
Unit 3
The African Novel
which became the highest-grossing film in Zimbabwean history. The protagonist is a widowed woman, whose brother-in-law uses her difficult situation for his own advantage. Neria loses her material possessions and her child but gets help from her female friend against her former husband's family. Adapted from: https://studylib.net/doc/6894639/nervous-conditionstsitsi-dangarembga-biography Now, do the following activity before we look at the plot. This is an important activity that will help you to connect the ending of Nervous Conditions to The Book of Not. Please proceed only after attempting the activity and compare your answers to mine.
Activity 4 Time Required: You should take about 30 minutes to complete this Activity
activity. Write a paragraph long summary of Nervous Conditions.
How long?
Feedback
Nervous Conditions is a partially autobiographical story of Tambu, a young girl who lives on an impoverished Rhodesian farm during the late 1960's. The death of Tambu's brother forces her to live with Babamukuru, her uncle who has been educated in the west, and become the provider for her family. She quickly accepts this situation because it offers her the opportunity of missionary schooling and the knowledge of a western educated family. Tambu has great aspirations for her personal education despite the obstacles that stand in her way: race, class and sex. The topics of education and its relation to gender are important facets of this novel. Her England-educated and middleclass paternal uncle Babamukuru offers to educate her at a mission school that he heads. Consequently, Tambu leaves her rural village for the mission. Here, she encounters her anglophile cousin, Nyasha, who soon experiences a nervous breakdown when faced with the dual oppressions of her father’s patriarchal ways and colonial racism. Tambu prospers in school and gains her uncle’s affections, while Nyasha wallows in an endless depression that carries over into The Book of Not. The novel also follows the story of Tambu's cousin who has anorexia, an illness not usually associated with African countries. This disease is used in the novel as a form of control for Tambu's cousin who is torn between two cultures, that of her home, Rhodesia and that of England. The story also discusses the many facets of poverty and the effects that it has on people. Poverty effects each character in the novel creating in each of them a type of nervous condition.
African Literature AFL721S
(Source: Adapted from: https://studylib.net/doc/6894639/nervous -conditionstsitsi-dangarembga-biography)
5.3 Setting The Book of Not is set mostly at the high school Tambu attends, the Catholic Young Ladies’ College of the Sacred Heart where she is sent to by her uncle. However, the tone is set in the opening pages while she is at home with her family. There is a war going on, ever present in the background, setting them all on edge. The opening is also set at a compulsory village meeting, where a landmine causes her gun-carrying older sister to lose a leg. It is at this meeting that her uncle with being:
not exactly a collaborator, but one whose soul hankered to be at one with the occupying Rhodesian forces. Mutengesi. The people in the village said Babamukuru was one who’d sell every ounce of his own blood for a drop of someone else’s (p.6). The author shows the struggles of young Tambu in a pre-independence Zimbabwe and a post-independent Rhodesia as she attempts to fit in as one of a handful of black students at a largely white private girls' school.
5.4 The Plot At the end of Nervous Conditions, Tambu is accepted into a prestigious all-girls school in Rhodesia. The Book of Not is set in both Rhodesia and Independent Zimbabwe, making Tambu a part of the cross-over generation. In this sequel, Tambu leaves her uncle’s mission school and is admitted into the prestigious Catholic Young Ladies’ College of the Sacred Heart on scholarship. Here, she strives to be on the honour roll, but unfortunately withers under colonial racism as she is shunned by white schoolmates and segregated in the school’s only African dormitory. The book opens with Tambudzai’s description of her freedom-fighting sister’s leg being blown off and her uncle Babamukuru being beaten by the villagers for being a sell-out. This opening accounts for the terror the elite African students as well as the white students at Sacred Heart feel for the Zimbabwean freedom fighters. At the Young Ladies’ College of the Sacred Heart, Tambu gets the best O-level results in the class, but a white girl gets the prize. Upon becoming a senior, she chooses to focus on math and science, yet because of her race she is not allowed to attend the national boy’s school the other girls from Sacred Heart attend for the science classes. She is left trying to make sense of the sciences from the handwritten notes of a white classmate. Despite hours of study, she miserably fails her “A”-levels. After studying for a degree in Social Sciences, Tambu gets a lowly paying job as a copywriter at Steers, D’Arcy, and MacPedius Advertising Agency. Ironically, Tracy, the white student, who knowingly stole Tambudzai’s trophy for the best 0-levels in secondary school, is her boss.
85
86
Unit 3
The African Novel
At the same agency, she is not recognised for her achievements. Dick Lawson, the white senior copywriter, takes the Afro-Shine advertising copy for a hair straightening product as his own and he wins a prize at the advertising awards. When he receives an award for the copy. Tambu is once again the ultimate victim. At the close of the novel, decides to resign from work, only to arrive at the Twiss Hostel to find that Mrs. May has turned her out of the Twiss Hostel. The novel closes with an increasingly depressed Tambu wondering if she has a place in the new postcolonial Zimbabwe as she is still consistently denied due recognition because of her race and class.
5.5 Themes in The Book of Not Racism Dangarembga’s exploration of racism and oppression reveals selfevident truths about the colonial experience. In The Book of Not, we find Tambu facing the dual oppressions of patriarchy and systemic racism. The country is free. She is now staying in a multicultural hostel for young ladies as one of a handful of black ladies, but she encounters the same injustices post as she did preindependence At school, the girls are "consumed by ... terror" that they might inadvertently break the school rules about physical separation between the white and black students. If a black girl should accidentally touch a white girl in an assembly queue "looks of such horror flooded their faces at this accidental contact that you often looked around to see what horrendous monster caused the expression, before you realised it was your person" (pp. 58-9). The African Dormitory is positioned close to the sewer system, away from and isolated from the white girls’ dormitory. In The Book of Not , not only is Tambu oppressed and dominated by patriarchy, but she is also marginalised by the alienating and racial atmosphere at Sacred Heart. Tambu leaves her uncle’s mission school and is admitted into the Catholic Young Ladies’ College of the Sacred Heart on scholarship. She encounters racism as she is shunned by white schoolmates and segregated in the school’s only African dormitory. In a racist environment where they are forced to be meek, invisible and silent, Tambu, Ntombi and the other black girls are “emotionally torn apart on a daily basis” (Hlongwane 2009:453). They are treated as “intruders” (ibid) and are not allowed to take full credit for their achievements. On one occasion Tambu carries her plate to a table only to be told somebody had booked it and she is forced to “sit alone at the end of the table” (TBN, 223) and yet “the other resident did not come” (TBN, 223) and the seat remained vacant. At Sacred Heart, Bougainvillea dehumanises Tambu and Ntombi by treating them as inferior. After completing university, Tambu enters a workplace that shows the kind of racism that had been prevalent at Sacred Heart.
African Literature AFL721S
Inequality and oppression This theme is reflected through the novel gender relationships and the treatment of the black students at the Young Ladies’ College of the Sacred Heart. to succeed and the systemic prejudice that prevents her from being able to do so in a way that is easier for the Europeans. It’s also about the development of her undu (personhood), something she strives for, that is undermined by the system within which she attempts to develop it.
War Dangarembga shows the effect of war on Tambu’s family. In The Book of Not, our glimpses of what the war really meant for The Book of Not picks up where Nervous Conditions ends. Tambu is now at Sacred Heart College. In the meantime, war is raging between the African guerrillas and Rhodesian security forces. Despite Tambu’s best efforts to forget the subject, the war encroaches even on Sacred Heart. The second novel opens with the violent beating of Babamukuru by the guerrillas for sending Tambu to a whites-only school. Tambu’s own sister Netsai loses a leg when she steps on a grenade at the scene where Babamukuru is being beaten by the guerrillas. The novel ends with Babamukuru in a wheelchair, having been crippled by a stray bullet during the inaugural celebrations of Zimbabwe’s Independence in April 1980 (Muponde, 2011, p. 387). It also ends with Tambu more uncertain about what it means to be a ‘new Zimbabwean’ (p. 246). Tambu’s younger sister, Netsai, had had her leg amputated during the liberation war. Even though the war is over by the time The Book of Not ends, Tambu continues to be embarrassed by her sister, because of her telling walk, which her white acquaintances associate with terrorism and communism. One of the students, Ntombi’s is devasted by the vicious murder of her infant cousin by Rhodesian soldiers, who suspected the girl’s mother of feeding the guerrilla fighters. The parents of the Rhodesian twins at Tambu’s school are also brutally murdered by the “freedom fighters.” The headmistress hands around newspapers with pictures of the girls’ slain father and announces that their mother died shortly thereafter. She condemns these as “acts of butchery” (p.129), and other “unspeakable obscene horrors” (p.130).
Why did the headmistress distribute pictures showing these brutal murders to the learners? What do you think? Reflection Education Tambu takes heed of her uncle's words and believes that with education she can earn the world's respect, but this meets with disillusionment, when, after she gets the best “O” Level results, a less qualified person is given the school honours.
87
88
Unit 3
The African Novel
Tambu sets even higher expectations on herself to achieve in her education than her Uncle or anyone else and is frequently self-critical: ▪ ▪ ▪
Due to her family’s low expectations of her, she wants to succeed and prove them wrong. Due to her Uncle’s sponsorship and high expectations, she needs to succeed. Due to her perceived privilege as one of the few black girls at the mostly white catholic girl’s school, she has to work doubly hard to gain her achievements, with no guarantee of recognition. She says:
“As I liked to be good at what I did, I was not afraid of hard work. I would put in what was required to reach the peak I aspired to. It was especially important to be at the top, as it was quite clear to me and to everyone, I had to be one of the best. Average simply did not apply; I had to be absolutely outstanding or nothing”. The Sacred Heart mission is supposed to offer “the most prestigious education to young women in the country [Rhodesia]” (p.27) and to “nurture well-rounded human beings” (p. 155) in a Christian framework. However, the school’s racial tendencies result affect Tambu’s mind as she loses hers sense of “unhu”. Thus, the Sacred Heart’s practices discourage instead of fostering community. Tambu greatly anticipates the joys of student life at Sacred Heart, but, as a black student, she is isolated and has no sense of belonging to the convent school. Tambu desperately desires to be recognised by Europeans and Africans as a person of value. In her quest for recognition, she initially aims to achieve the honour roll. She devises a strategy of memorisation and mimicry, “remembering every word from the teacher’s mouth” (p. 25). It is not surprising that she failed her “A” levels. In addition, the education received by Tambu and the five other black girls is irrelevant and harmful. Ultimately, this type of education alienates them from their cultures and from themselves. Forbidden to speak Shona, ‘their native tongue, they are encouraged to do exactly what Tambu’s cousin Nyasha advises against, and that is to forget where they have come from” (Hlongwane, 2009, p. 450).
Gender Inequality In The Book of Not, gender inequality is not a result of class. Both the poor girl striving for achievement and liberation through education (Tambu), and the privileged girl who wants to acknowledge her sexuality in the face of patriarchal control (Nyasha) are oppressed.
What do you think is the solution to the oppression of women?
Reflection Next, we will explore the characters in this novel.
5.6 Characters in The Book of Not In The Book of Not , Dangarembga reintroduces a lot of her old characters, including Tambu's detestable mother, her misogynistic
African Literature AFL721S
uncle, her bitter aunt, and her intelligent and ever-questioning cousin Nyasha.
Activity 5 Time Required: You should take about 20 minutes to complete this Activity
activity. Using the ACTS technique, create a list of all the characters in the novel. Whilst reading the novel make sure you have your notebook to write the characters and that you categorise them as minor and major characters.
How long?
Read what I have written carefully and look for what you missed when you crafted your answer.
Feedback
You will realise that these are familiar characters since the novel is a continuation of Nervous Conditions. Major characters ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
Tambudzai Sigauke (Tambu) ― the narrator Mai ― Mother (Tambu’s mother) Mainini ― a young aunt, also a term of respect applied to any woman, or young relative. Baba ― father (usually Tambu’s father) Jeremiah ― Tambu’s father Netsai ― Tambu’s sister Babamukuru ― Tambu’s uncle Maiguru (or Mai) ― Tambu’s aunt, wife of Babamukuru and Maiguru Tracey Stevenson ― student at the YLCSH, and later, Advertising Executive at steers, A’Arcy and MacPedius Advertising Agency Sister Emmanuel ― headmistress of the Young Ladies’ College of the Sacred Heart (YLCSH)
Minor characters ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
Rambanai ― Tambu’s youngest sister Dambudzo ― Tambu’s youngest brother Nyari ― Netsai’s friend Sylvester ― the gardener at the mission
89
90
Unit 3
The African Novel
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
Ntombizethu (Ntombi), Irene, Anastasia, Benhilda, Patience, Cynthia ― members of the ‘African dormitory’ of the YLCSH Bougainvillea (Bo), Linda, Josephine, Deidre, Angela ― some of the pupils at the YLCSH Mrs May ― matron at Twiss Hostel Mark May ― son of Mrs May Mr Steers― Managing Director of Steers, D’Arcy, and MacPedius Advertising Agency Belinda ― typist at Steers, D’Arcy, and MacPedius Advertising Agency Pedzi ― receptionist at Steers, D’Arcy, and MacPedius Advertising Agency
Please proceed only after attempting the activity and compare your answers to mine. Now we move on to the last novel.
6. How to Study The Lie of the land It is strongly recommended that you read this novel before you continue further. However, in case you don’t have access to this novel, you have been provided a summary of the text. Please note that it is always best to read the novel first before you read the summary and analysis provided by others.
6.1 Summary of the text The Lie of the Land is a novel written by David Jasper Utley in 2017. The novel is set against the background of the German war that took place between 1904-1908. Sam goes to German South West Africa as a British undercover disguised as a linguist. The novel begins with Sam’s meeting with Webb in London who tells him about the mission to German South West. We are informed that Germany had claimed the area in 1884, calling it an Imperial Protectorate instead of colony. The Germans had further settled in Swakopmund and Lϋderitz as ports. Although the British had taken over Walfish Bay, they feared that Germany would have a powerful influence in the area, and this would pose a big threat to their colonists in South Africa. They also feared that the Germans may also decide to take over Walfish Bay, so they had to be stopped. Sam meets Heinrich Göring, or Herr Reichkommisar for further instructions. Disguised as a man who collects languages, Sam was supposed to learn the languages of the “savages” and examine “their heathen tongues before they vanish altogether” (p. 5). Göring informs Sam that the Owambo kingdoms were in the North, a land with no minerals and unsuitable for settlement. He is informed that the Herero and the Nama were always in conflict with each other, and the former had moved to the South of the country. The Herero were the most dangerous because they dominated the centre of the country. They were resistant to the British people acquiring land and cattle. There was an uprising among the Herero and some German settlers had been murdered. The Damara and the
African Literature AFL721S
Bushmen were the smaller groups of little insignificance (p. 6). So, Sam leaves for Swakopmund, in German South West Africa. As a language researcher and a secret British agent, Sam is at first portrayed as a neutral observer but eventually forced to take sides. Following the battle of Waterberg in 1904, the German General Lotha von Trotha issued his notorious extermination order aimed at wiping out the Herero population. Sam witnesses the ruthlessness levied by the German soldiers on the Hereros and does not readily consent to that. This included the brutal killings and the charring down of Herero people’s villages. After the extermination order is announced, and as the war between Germany and the Herero rages on, Sam arrives at a place just before a couple of war prisoners had been rounded up by German soldiers preparing to execute them. Sam identifies and saves one of the prisoners as not Herero and therefore did not fall under the orders of the extermination order. This is how Sam meets Leah, a Nama lady, with whom he falls in love. Sam rescues Leah from being hung by the German soldiers. Later, Sam separates from the troops and elopes into the wilderness with the prisoner. Survival skills become practical as Sam and the prisoner have to fend for themselves. Life was better and enjoyable that way though Sam knew it would not last. They are ambushed, Sam and the prisoner are forced to part ways as the prisoner is taken to the notorious concentration camp at Shark Island and Sam re-joins the Germany troops. Unexpectedly, the commander of the troops permits Sam to leave the troop and go after the prisoner. Considering the harshness of the terrain, the Commander had hoped Sam would not take the offer. Sam leaves the camp in his quest to look for the prisoner and finds himself at the Orange River bordering German South West Africa to the north of the river and South Africa to the southern side. As if directed by magic, Sam meets a man who gives him directions to the death camp. Sam diligently takes the instructions and finds his way to the death camp. At the death camp, the place was appalling exhibited by the appearance and the conditions of the slaves. Sam searches for the prisoner and finds her. The latter part of the novel dwells on Sam’s effort to rescue Leah from Shark Island. Sam relates how he uses all the skills he had learnt in the Boer War to try to rescue Leah from certain death, either through work and starvation or by murder. He fathoms a plan and smuggles the prisoner out of the death camp in a wooden box. The prisoner was so withered and received medical attention too late. Sam suffers a blackout and when he recovers in an African village, he learns of the death of the prisoner who was with child. Sam returns to Britain and mourns sincerely the death of the prisoner. The summary is very detailed and I’m sure you understand what the novel is about. Now, you can proceed with the analysis of the novel. You need to use the ACTS technique to analyse each aspect of the novel and then read further. Use the tips and provided below each section
91
92
Unit 3
The African Novel
and try it out on your own first. Once you have done that then compare your answers to what I have provided. We will start by finding out information about the author.
6.2 Author of The Lie of the Land
Figure: 4. Author of The Lie of the Land Source: https://www.africanbookscollective.com/books/the-lie-of-the-land
A look at the life of Jaspar Utley, for example, reveals a number of significant social forces that resulted in his writing of The Lie of the Land, a story of a British agent sent into GSWA to determine if Germany had plans to move into British territory, and how he encountered and fell in love with a Nama lady. Jaspar David Utley was the first director of the British Council in Namibia from 1990 to 1995. His first books Allsorts and other stories and Ngoma and Click were published in Namibia where he also wrote and recorded over 30 stories for the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (African Books Collective, n.d.). From Namibia he was posted to India where he wrote and published books and plays for both children and adults. Currently living in Britain, he regularly directs, produces and acts in amateur dramatics and at present is working on a novel set in modern Afghanistan. Jasper David Utley’s love of the land and experiences of extensive reading on the ‘ghastly’ Herero Nama war motivated him in writing this The Lie of the Land (2018. He found the history of the country intriguing and states that:
During my five years in Namibia, I became fascinated by the colonial history of a country that had never been part of the British Empire. (Apart from Wallis Bay). I read extensively about German colonial life and, in particular, about the ghastly Herero -Nama War. The more I read, the more I wanted to use this as a background for a story (Kandemiri, 2021). Other than that, Utley is a devotee of spy stories and after gathering all his research material, he felt the war would provide the perfect setting for such a story. It so happened that the war was the 1904-1908 Conflict. The time Utley stayed in Namibia, he got attached to the
African Literature AFL721S
country noted where he states that, “I also fell in love with the country itself: its indigenous people as well as its plants and animals. I wanted to express my love in the novel” (Kandemiri, 2021). Utley's narration finely conveys a sense of youthful idealism and optimism that is cruelly confronted, but not entirely confounded, by tragedy, and by the horrors he encounters in pursuit, firstly, of his mission, and then his love. His dark experiences lead him to conclude, in a profundity that might stand for humanity's reaction to the atrocities of the twentieth century: "...I wondered yet again how easy it was for the unthinkable to become possible" (Warner, n.d., p.137)
Are there any similarities between Sam, the protagonist and Utley, the author?
In-text question Indeed, there are certain similarities between Utley and Sam. For instance: ▪ ▪
Both are British, and both have interest in language. Utley was posted to Namibia under the British Council as a language expert, and his character Sam was also posted to GSWA by the British intelligence as a linguistic researcher.
Now, let’s proceed to the next section. To get a better understanding of the novel, The Lie of the Land, it is important that you know about the Herero genocide.
What do you know about the Ovaherero/Nama genocide?
In-text question
6.3 Background of Herero Nama genocide To answer the above question, I’d like you to download two articles on the below links. https://www.manchesteropenhive.com/abstract/journals/hrv/4/2/article-p67.xml (Shigwedha, 2018). And
Recommended website
https://eujournal.org/index.php/esj/article/download/9402/8925 – (Sprenger, Rodriguez, & Kamatuka, 2017)
Read the two articles and write down your own notes, and then compare with the summary below. According to Erichsen (2021), the conflict between the Herero people and German colonial troops in German South West Africa in 1904, and other events in the next few years resulted in the deaths of about 75 percent of the Herero population.
93
94
Unit 3
The African Novel
The Ovaherero and Nama, both of whom are cattle raising nomadic tribes, quarrelled amongst themselves for land, cattle grazing grounds, and the scarce resources of the region. War broke out between the two peoples in 1863, throughout the 1870s and 1880s, and into the 1890s (Bley, 1971). By the start of the twentieth century, some 3,000 Germans had settled in the colony, primarily on the central high grounds. The German colonists’ objectives included the acquisition of native land and cattle, having access to natural resources and trade. The Herero people found themselves being pushed off their land by German settlers. It was then that the uprising against the Germans by Samuel Maharero started. It was initially successful to such an extent that the colonial Germans urgently requested reinforcements in order to defeat the Herero. Major Theodor Leutwein was the military commander and governor of the colony then. He opted for a negotiated settlement of the conflict but was overruled by the General staff in Berlin. It was under these circ*mstances that Lieutenant-General Lothar von Trotha was deployed to Namibia to command the German forces there. On 11 June 1904, von Trotha arrived in Swakopmund to take charge of the German forces there. On the 12th of January 1904 a full-scale war broke out, in what was then German South West Africa (GSWA), present day Namibia, between the Herero-speaking people of Namibia and Imperial Germany. The war culminated in the issuing of the, extermination order, by the supreme commander of German troops in GSWA, General Lothar von Trotha, in October 1904. The order stated that within German territory Herero men with or without guns were to be killed. He then proceeded to exterminate and subjugate the Herero tribes with brutal efficiency. In accordance with Imperial Germany’s plan, the extermination order set the stage for the unprecedented mass killing of tens of thousands of Ovaherero and Nama people. This included poisoning water holes, shooting survivors on sight and confining the Herero that had managed to elude the German forces to desert regions of Namibia, where many succumbed to starvation and disease. While his approach to breaking the spirit of the Herero was successful, the manner by which von Trotha did it would become known as the first genocide of the twentieth century (Adapted from Shigwedha, 2018). Over the next three years, Herero prisoners were kept in concentration camps. The women and children were rented out to local businesses or were forced to work on government infrastructure projects. More than half of the prisoners died because of the harsh conditions in the camps. In October 1904, the Nama communities had also risen up against German colonialism. They also ended up in concentration camps and most of them were sent to the Shark Island camp, off the coast of the harbour town of Lüderitz. It is estimated that up to 80 percent of the prisoners on Shark Island died there (Erichsen, 2021). It is strongly recommended that you read this novel before you continue further. However, in case you don’t have access to this novel, you have been provided a summary of the text. As you read the novel, try to make a chapter-by-chapter analysis and write your own additional notes. Please note that it is always best to read the novel first before you read the summary and analysis provided by others. Let’s proceed to examine the characters.
African Literature AFL721S
6.4 Characters Sam Sam regards himself as British. He has a German father but says this does not make him German. He also says he had an English mother but that did not make him English. So, he is stuck with being English. Sam follows orders and is sent to Africa, in Namibia with the intention of infiltrating German top commands to see if they are planning to colonise South Africa as well. The fact that he’s half German, complicates matters for him. Sam is also the hero in this novel. He is young and daring. He does not quite belong to either nation, although culturally infused by both. So, Sam, while subjectively involved in his passion for Leah, retains an objectivity with regard to the political situations in which he finds himself. He explores the colonial policies from the viewpoint of one who stands as a force for moral good in an age of inhuman attacks perpetrated by so-called civilised Europeans. The protagonist in The Lie of the Land, Sam, could be interpreted as Utley’s mouth piece, not just as a literary character, but perhaps as representative of Utley’s opinion on the subject.
Julia During his time in Britain, Sam had a woman in his life named Julia who he was set up with thanks to their parents. However, the relationship didn't work out and this was made clear within the first two chapters of the novel. Her conversation is mostly about her dog, and so love is lost between them, if there was ever love at all. Sam realises he has no future with Julia when he meets the fiery Leah. From then, Sam sees life from a different perspective.
Do you think Sam was in a position to change things in his relationship?
Reflection Heinrich Göring Heinrich Göring, or Herr Reichkommisar, was a governor-general of German South West Africa who is portrayed as an ignorant, powerhungry man who seeks dominance over Africa. Göring's intention is clear: To convert natives to the European way of thinking and establish a German colony. In reality, he was the father of the infamous Herman Göring of the Nazi Third Reich.
Leah Leah tells her story to Sam on p. 89. Read pp. 89-90 to understand who Leah is.
Discuss the key points about what you have read about Leah with a friend.
In-text question
95
96
Unit 3
The African Novel
She was captured in an Ovaherero raid when she was a child. She was “treated as a slave, fetching firewood, and water, finding pasture for the cows and being beaten if she failed in her tasks” (p. 89). She yearns to be home with her people. Sam and Leah elope and break away from the army troops. They had to scavenge for food in the wild as a means of survival Leah seemed to be more conversant with the environment and would know how to look for both food and water in the wilderness; she was good at making fire, she made a water container out of an egg-shell. Another configuration of resilience is seen in Sam as he embarks on his quest in search for Leah who had been captured as a prisoner of war and taken to one of the ‘death’ camps. Sam finds himself right at the boundary between the German territory on the northern side of Orange River and the British territory on the southern part of the river. His love for Leah had him remain on the northern part in order to persist with his search. He got to the Orange River and managed to reunite with Leah. Thus, he says:
I was so elated, it was difficult for me to keep a straight face. I had found her. After all my travels and troubles, I had actually found her. I could barely believe it. Now I was free to think that I could achieve anything. All I had to do was to find a way to get her out of the island (Utley, 2017, p. 143). Leah is rescued by Sam just before she got hanged with the rest of those that were captured by the German soldiers. Though the reunion was successful, it was sealed by a tragic end with the death of Leah, bringing yet another traumatic episode in the life of Sam. However, in the process of consoling Sam, the strandloper instilled the spirit of resilience in Sam to assist him in accepting the loss of Leah and the unborn baby that she was carrying. Leah’s story is significant since it signals moving away from stereotypes of women and children as helpless victims of patriarchy towards depicting empowered individuals. It reflects on the strategies that Herero women have adopted to ensure their survival in the face of German attacks.
Major Theodor Leutwein He was a military commander and governor of the colony and was in charge of the German response. Since the Herero were well armed and, moreover, significantly outnumbered the German colonial garrison, he favoured a negotiated settlement of the conflict. He was, however, overruled as the General Staff in Berlin who demanded a military solution. On April 13 Leutwein’s troops were forced into an embarrassing retreat, and the governor was consequently relieved of his military command. Hence, Leutwein had been considered as a leader of the troops who was weak . In his place the German emperor, William II, appointed Lieutenant General Lothar von Trotha as the new commander in chief. According to Hartman, “One good thing Leutwein did do was to herd the Herero north at the Waterberg” (Utley, 2017, p. 39).
African Literature AFL721S
He was a colonial veteran of the wars in German East Africa and of the Boxer Rebellion in China (Erichsen, 2021).
Have you ever heard of the name Lothar von Trotha?
Reflection General Lothar von Trotha Lieutenant General Lothar von Trotha (3 July 1848 – 31 March 1920) was a military commander in the German army. He served in several countries including supressing the Boxer Rebellion in China and leading the German forces in German South West Africa (modern-day Namibia) during the Herero and Namaqua Genocide of 1904-1907. ▪
▪ ▪
▪
▪
▪ ▪
Adrian Dietrich Lothar von Trotha was born in Magerburgon 3 July 1848. As the son of an aristocratic Prussian officer, he was groomed to excel at war. In 1886, when he distinguished himself during the Seven Weeks War against Austria. In 1894, he was assigned to Tanzania, then known as German East Africa, where he served as commander of the Schutztruppe (colonial protection force). During his time there, he also served as governor and was instrumental in the suppression of the revolt of the Wahehe people in 1896. On attaining the rank of major general, von Trotha was sent to China to command the 1st East Asiatic Infantry Brigade. It was in this position that he helped suppress the Boxer rebellion of 1900. On 11 June 1904, von Trotha arrived in Swakopmund to take charge of the German forces there. (Source: SAHO, 2019)
In the novel, he is introduced to us as “the hero of Peking, the scourge of East Africa and now soon to be the saviour of German South West Africa” (p. 43). The order given by General Lothar von Trotha is one of the first documented instances of a policy of genocide. The order was ruthlessly carried out and resulted in the extermination of nearly 90 percent of the Herero.
The Herero are no longer German subjects. They have murdered and stolen, they have cut off the ears, noses and other body parts of wounded soldiers, now out of captain will receive 1000 Mark, whoever delivers Samuel will receive 5000 Mark. The Herero people must however leave the land. If the populace does not do this, I will force them with the Groot Rohr [cannon]. Within the German borders every Herero, with or without a gun, with or without cattle, will be shot. I will no longer accept women and children; I will drive them back to their people or I will let them be shot at. 97
98
Unit 3
The African Novel
Activity 3: Character analysis Time Required: You should take about 20 minutes to complete this Activity
activity. Using the above information, compare the characters of Lothar von Trotha and Major Theodor Leutwein.
How long?
Feedback: Table 2
Feedback
Major Theodor Leutwein
Lothar von Trotha
hesitant and cautious
decisive
weak
strong
sensitive
fearless and insensitive
merciful
merciless and ruthless
considerate
inconsiderate
Lothar von Trotha
Major Theodor Leutwein
hesitant and cautious
decisive
Now, I would like you to participate in describing the characters in this novel. Using the ACTS technique, create a list of all the characters that have not been mentioned above. Most of these are minor characters. Whilst reading the novel make sure you have your notebook to write the characters and that you write a short description of each and page references to support your views. We now proceed to examine the themes.
6.5 Themes in The Lie of the Land Displacement The displacement disrupted the Herero people’s lives ranging from homelessness to violation of sacred places. These acts were activated by the presence of the Germans. The different acts were dehumanising as the Hereros were called “savages,” “heathens” and uncivilised. They underrated the Herero way of life beneath the least level of human
African Literature AFL721S
recognition. The displacement came without a warning and that led to the sudden displacement of the Hereros from their homes and lands of original settlements. Not only were they displaced physically, but they were displaced culturally as well. Their families were also displaced. They were forced to move out of their homes into the Waterberg Mountain, then into the Omaheke Desert.
Homelessness The main reason for displacing the Hereros was ownership of land. The Germans wanted to expand their colonies by taking land and cattle from the Hereros. The only way the Germans could get the land was by imposing and driving the Hereros away to create space for themselves. This was done in a vicious and brutal manner. The Hereros were left homeless as they were driven into the Omaheke desert. Their homes were also destroyed and burnt down. The Germans were determined to own the Herero people’s land. The two themes, displacement and homelessness are closely related. By relocating the Hereros, this means they were displaced, thus they became homeless as they were pushed into the Omaheke Desert after the battle at the Waterberg Mountain. After the extermination order was declared, a number of homeless Hereros were caught and forced “To celebrate, the General then ordered some thirty natives to be brought forward. They had been caught near the edge of the desert and consisted mostly of old men, women and children” (Utley, 2017, p. 77).
Land Central to this theme of homelessness, is the issue of land. The Germans had to kill the Hereros in order to move them. By doing so, they occupied their land and expanded their territories. Hence, land ownership is what drove the Germans to come to South West Africa. The drive to own land resulted in unwarranted deaths and homelessness of the victims. The Hereros were pushed into destitution as the Germans took over their land and expanded their colonies.
Family The 1904-1908 Conflict affected families in different ways: David’s parents were affected as they separated with their son as he came to German South West Africa, as evidence from the text:
As Jews…we had no rights except that of dying for the Tsar. My father understandably does not like my joining the marines but finally accepted the argument that we owed it to the Germany that had provided us with sanctuary. My mother said nothing but she cried a lot. (Utley, 2017, p. 27) The Hereros lost values that identified them as Hereros and shaped their ways of living. For example, the Hereros have the holy fire as one of the significant components that form part of their daily lives. The presence of the Germans brought with it the displacement of the Hereros as well as the extinguishing of their holy fires. This means the Germans interfered with the religion, culture and tradition of the Hereros, leaving them exposed and powerless.
Death
99
100
Unit 3
The African Novel
In The Lie of the Land, death is narrated through Sam’s occasional exposure and experiences of witnessing the defenceless Hereros being hanged by the German soldiers. He says:
As the days went by, we pushed further into the Otjiherero territory. We passed more burnt villages and witnessed more hangings. I shouldn’t have slept at all but in war you tend to grow a hard shell round your feelings. Otherwise, you lose your senses (Utley, 2017, p. 47). The burning of the villages and the lynching of the Hereros was traumatising. The killings were a violation of the right to live to all the Herero victims. In one incident, von Trotha had ordered an unarmed group of Hereros of old people and sick people to be hanged. Sam narrates that: “As we rode on, David joined me. He was looking distinctly green. I turned round and saw all their bodies, men and women, swinging from the thorn tree. One or two of them were still kicking. I found myself that no children had been captured” (Utley, 2017, p. 46). Just after the extermination order was delivered “Ropes were slung over a tree and two men were hanged” (Utley, 2017, p. 77). There’s also the scene when Leah is rescued by Sam just before she got hanged with the rest of those that were captured by the German soldiers On p. 71, Sam and David encountered a dead Herero soldier close to a German soldier who was still alive but critically wounded. Sam leaned down to help the German soldier, unfortunately the soldier dies in Sam’s hands.
Nature In the novel, nature is seen as a skill for survival. For instance: ▪ ▪
▪
Leah and Sam had to do away with hot meals as setting up a fire would deliberately sell them out to their pursuers. Sam had a gun but could not risk shooting game as the discharge of the gun would alert either the Germans or the Namas. They had to eat a snake at one point and with providence they saw ostrich eggs that were guarded by a huge ostrich.
Sam also points out that:
Leah had a gift of knowing where we might find water, enough for us and the horse. As for food, she found enough roots and berries to keep us going. At times I longed for a hot meal but a fire would have sent a signal to everyone for miles around. (Utley, 2017, p. 92) In his search for Leah, Sam finds himself between the German territory on the northern side of Orange River and the British territory on the southern part of the river. He could have crossed to the British side and instantly be free of the raging war in the German territory. The Orange River became a significant feature in his interpretation of life hence he states that, “I scraped off the dirt and dust and then lay on the bank, drying myself in the sun, contemplating how I was on the junction of two worlds in more ways than one” (Utley, 2017, p. 115). Crossing the river could have gained him instant freedom as he was a British agent, yet he could not afford abandoning Leah hence he chose to remain on
African Literature AFL721S
the Northern part of the river in order to search for Leah. The idea of not giving up illustrates resilience. Now, I would like you to participate in describing the themes in this novel. Using the ACTS technique, create a list of all the themes that have not been mentioned above. Whilst reading the novel make sure you have your notebook to write the themes and a short description of each and page references to support your views. Tip: knowing the CATS/ACTS of any literary text renders you the faculty to respond to almost any question with regards to that particular text Finally, I have to say that the information I have prepared for you on The Uncertainty of Hope , The Book of Not and The Lie of the Land has been collected from reputable sources. I hope you will find it useful. But I must add, once more, that a thorough reading of the actual novel is the best thing that you can do for yourself. I have said this before, and I will say it again, this is a study guide; it can only guide you. Read all the three novels. This brings us to the end of the second unit. You are encouraged to familiarise yourself with the keywords and summary to ensure that you have understood the main concepts of this unit. Dangarembga, T. (1988). Nervous Conditions . London: Women’s Press. Dangarembga, T. (2006). The Book of Not. Oxfordshire: Ayebia Clarke.
References
Erichsen, C. (2021). German-Herero conflict of 1904–07. Encyclopedia Britannica . https://www.britannica.com/topic/German-Hereroconflict-of-1904-1907 Hlongwane, G. (2009). A piece of a person: Fractured selves and colonial education in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s The Book of Not in Journal of Postcolonial Writing. 45 (4) 449-458. Routledge:Taylor & Francis Group. Mabura, LGN. (2010). Black Women Walking Zimbabwe: Refuge and Prospect in the Landscapes of Yvonne Vera’s The Stone Virgins and Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions and The Book of Not. Research in African Literatures 41 (3) pp. 88-111. Mlambo, N., Kangira & Smit, T. (2015). Critical reflections on surviving against all odds in Valerie Tagwira’s The Uncertainty of Hope . International Journal of Linguistics, 2 (2), 48-58 Muponde, R. (2011). I am well if you are well: nervous conditions of African philanthropy in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s novels . Taylor & Francis. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080 SAHO, (2019). German Lieutenant-General Lothar von Trotha lands in Swakopmund, South West Africa name of article from South African History Online, www.sahistory.org.za Shigwedha, V. A. (2018). The homecoming of Ovaherero and Nama skulls: Overriding politics and injustices. Human Remains and Violence, 4(2), 67-89. Retrieved from: https://www.manchesteropenhive.com/abstract/journals/hrv/ 4/2/article-p67.xml
101
102
Unit 3
The African Novel
Sprenger, N., Rodriguez, R. G. & Kamatuka, N. (2017). The Ovaherero/Nama Genocide: A Case for an Apology and Reparations, 15( 13), 120-146. Retrieved from https://eujournal.org/index.php/esj/article/download/9402/8 925 Tagwira, V. (2006). The Uncertainty of Hope . Harare: Weaver Press. Muponde, R. & Taruvinga, M. (Eds.) (2002). Sign and Taboo: Perspectives on the Poetic Fiction of Yvonne Vera . Harare: Weaver Press. Warner, D.K. (n.d). https://www.amazon.com/Lie-Land-Jaspar-DavidUtley/dp/9991642358
Colonialism:
The imperialist expansion of Europe into the rest of the world in which a dominant imperium or centre carried on a relationship of control and influence over its colonies.
Colonial education:
The process by which a colonising power assimilates either a subaltern native elite or a larger population to its way of thinking and seeing the world.
Genocide:
The deliberate and systematic destruction of a group of people because of their ethnicity, nationality, religion, or race.
Unhu:
personhood
Collaborator:
traitor
Mutengesi:
sell-out
Mawaya:
suggesting mental instability
Keywords/Concepts
Unit summary
Summary
In this unit you learned about the archetypal African novels, which include The Uncertainty of Hope, The Book of Not and The Lie of the Land. These novels have brought a number of issues that hint at the harsher aspects of African societies. You defined ‘novel’ and showed how it differs from other literary genres. You also discussed the fundamental elements of a novel, and finally you analysed the relevance of the three novels to African literature studies. In the next unit, you will be introduced to another genre, African poetry, but take note that the poems you will be studying were written by men. In a way, we can say this is another category of African Literature. I hope you will enjoy African poetry.
African Literature AFL721S
Unit 4 African Poetry Introduction This unit will introduce you to the study of written African poetry from the late 1950s to the present. I pointed out right at the beginning of this study guide in the Introduction to African Literature that African Literature must, of necessity, include African Oral Literature. Do you remember the single term sometimes used to refer to oral literature? If you said ‘Orature’, well done! Sometimes it is called ‘Orality’. This is the type of creative expression that is transmitted by word of mouth. I indicated then that we cannot, unfortunately, include Orature in this study guide because Orature is a course on its own. In the same way, in this unit, I shall not include oral poetry; we shall concentrate on written African poetry. In this unit we will look at the summary of the poems, the context of the poems, the characters and the interpretation of the poems. Let’s start by looking at the objectives of this unit. You must make sure that at the end of this unit, you can achieve these objectives.
Upon completion of this unit you should be able to:
Objectives
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
define ( African) poetry; analyse an African poem; discuss themes in Okot p’Bitek’s poems; summarise a chapter of Okot p’Bitek’s poems, and analyse Mazisi Kunene’s poems.
Take note of the prescribed and additional readings. To better grasp the concepts, you are encouraged to read further from the recommended textbooks. Even if you cannot find these anthologies in your bookshops and libraries, make sure that you buy any poetry anthology with poems from various parts of Africa. There are many texts of that nature. The important thing is that you acquaint yourself with as many African poems as possible. That is the best way you can become used to the feel of African poetry, which differs in many respects to traditional Western poetry.
103
104
Unit 4
African Poetry
Kunene, M. (1982). Understanding African Poetry: A Study of Ten Poets , Heinemann Educational Books Ltd.
Prescribed reading
p'Bitek's, O. (1972). Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol . London: Heinemann
Malan, R. (1997). Worldscapes . Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Additional reading
Malan, R. (1998). A poetry companion to worldscapes and new inscapes. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. Soyinka, W. (ed). (1975). Poems of black Africa . London, England: Heinemann. Kane, G., Byrne, D. and Scheepers, R. (2014). Introduction to Literary Studies (3rd ed.). Southern Africa, Oxford University Press. We are going to start with discussing poetry in general.
1. Introduction to Poetry A poem is a composition in verse. Do you remember the distinction between verse (poetry) and prose? By now you should know that prose is straight-forward, direct language. Artistic works of fiction such as novels, novellas and short stories, and some plays, are written in prose; and so are other literary texts such as biographies, autobiographies, memoirs, diaries and essays. In our everyday conversation, we speak in prose. Simply put, prose is language organised into phrases, sentences and paragraphs, and sometimes into chapters. Verse, on the other hand, is the artistic expression of ideas, feelings or experiences using rhythms and patterns of language in a poetic fashion. Poetry paints pictures by means of devices such as figurative language, rhythm and rhyme. Poetry is arranged in lines. But you should note that sometimes we speak of “poetic fiction”, or “poetic prose” which means that in a novel or short story, language is used poetically.
1.1 Different definitions of Poetry At this point you may be interested to look at some of the definitions of “poetry”. Here are some: ▪
▪ ▪ ▪
“Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity.” William Wordsworth “Poetry: the best words in the best order.” S. T. Coleridge “Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought, and the thought found has found words.” Robert Frost “Painting is silent poetry, and poetry is a speaking picture.” Simonides
1.2 The origin of poetry Poetry is the earliest form of artistic expression that human beings engaged in. It must have begun as soon as people learned to communicate through the use of words. The earliest poetry was, of
African Literature AFL721S
course, oral, and it was probably spontaneous. Throughout the history of humans, it has been found out that the singing of rhythmic songs makes hard physical work seem easier, sad songs are sung at funerals; happy songs are sung at weddings, religious songs accompany religious ceremonies; war-like songs are sung in times of war and soldiers have their marching songs. It is clear, then, that song and rhythm were, from the earliest times, closely related to expressing the deep emotions experienced by human beings.
Is poetry only for the highly educated, like university students, or is it for all human beings, young and old, educated and uneducated? In-text question Poetry is for everyone, everywhere, every time. It is something we have been experiencing from the moment we were born. Think of lullabies. (A lullaby is a soft, gentle song sung to make a child go to sleep.) Every community has lullabies. Think of rhymes in your language, or poems that were recited to you by your elders? What was the purpose? Then, when you started school, you often recited some poems, maybe in your language and in English or any other language. There are songs we sing while we work; for example ,
While we work in the fields, ploughing, weeding, harvesting; songs men sing in their labour gangs. Of course, we know of wedding songs, funeral songs, songs that are sung during the performance of certain religious functions. All this is poetry at work. Therefore, poetry must not be thought of as something that is mysterious. It is part of our everyday existence. Do you think poetry is difficult to study? Why do you think so?
In-text question One reason may be because of the way students were introduced to poetry. Perhaps students have been tested by having to answer difficult questions about a poem they didn’t fully understand, and so they felt inadequate. Perhaps they have had someone (such as a teacher!) praise a particular poem, only to find that they didn’t understand it, or enjoy it, at all. Experiences like these can cause people to be a little unsure about poetry, so that when they are asked to analyse, understand and appreciate a poem, the task can easily seem overwhelming (Sadler, Hayllar, Powell, 1986, p.1). There really should be no need for this fear. Like the other genres of Literature, the novel, the short story and drama, poetry too is written by human beings. Poets are normal people; they are like you and me and the person next to you. These poets write poetry to express their feelings which are aroused by some stimuli in the world around them. This stimulus may be an animal or a bird; it may be the sound of rain or the setting sun; it may be a simple scene or an intense experience. Whatever the occasion, the poet responds to it and is inspired by it (Sadler & Hayllar, 2009, p. 2). In short, poets describe the world around them.
105
106
Unit 4
African Poetry
Perhaps the only justification for viewing poetry unfavourably lies in the fact that, yes, indeed, it is different from prose, and works differently from prose. While prose writers use words artistically, they do so in a straight-forward manner. The word “prose” is derived from Latin “prosa oratio”, which means “straightforward discourse”. Therefore, prose is generally easier to comprehend because it is language that is used in its ordinary form. However, it is the nature of poetry to use language figuratively, or metaphorically. This is what we shall address in the next section. Whatever we think of poetry, we must know that it is a literary genre that deliberately differs from prose. That is why poetry often seems much harder to understand; the poet takes great care with the words s/he chooses, the details s/he gives and the word pictures s/he creates. The poet wants to make his/her meaning as clear, and at the same time, as richly suggestive as possible. All the time you are dealing with poetry, you must remember the following points: ▪ Poems are written by human beings and a poem is often an individual’s attempt to deal with a specific personal or human problem. A lot of poems deal with things that affect human beings in a very personal way – love, betrayal, death, bereavement, failure, patriotism, etc. ▪ Poems come out of a historical moment, and since they are written or recited in language, the form is tied to a whole cultural context. Many African poems deal with the struggle for independence or anguish over the conflict of two different cultures – the Western and the traditional. ▪ Poems are heard or read by human beings, which means that the listener or reader will derive much more meaning and satisfaction from a poem if s/he has some understanding of poetic forms and techniques. I shall explain these techniques later on. In short, poetry gives us knowledge about ourselves in relation to the world of human purposes, human values and human experience. Very often the poet helps us shape and evaluate our own experiences and recognise the things we value most in life Source: Adapted from Distance Education Centre (2002, p. 59)
From the above poetry definitions, you can see, there are so many different definitions of poetry, but you will agree that all these definitions have a common thread running through them, namely: poetry is characterised by the heightened use of language. However, I’d like you to read Wordsworth definition of poetry more closely and then do the activity below. The following activity will also help you in your effort to understand the definition of poetry.
African Literature AFL721S
Activity 1: Definition of Poetry Time Required: You should take about 20 minutes to complete this activity.
Activity
William Wordsworth defines poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity.” Explain this quotation in your own words.
How long?
i. ii.
iii.
Feedback
iv. v.
Spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: This refers to the nature of poetry. Poetry is a matter of feeling and mood. It flows from the internal feelings of the poet.
When the poet is in the poetic mood, he sings out joy and sorrow spontaneously from the core of his heart. In a poetic mood, poetry flows out naturally from the poet’s heart. In such moments, his language of discourse becomes the language poetical inspiration. Poetry cannot be composed under duress. The clear spring of poetry must flow freely and spontaneously it cannot be made to flow through artificially laid pipes. (Source: https://slidetodoc.com/wordsworths-theory-of-poetrywordsworth-has-described-theory/)
Now that you know what poetry is, let’s remind ourselves on the rules to follow when analysing poetry. I used the word ‘remind’ because you covered these rules in-depth in the two courses, Theory and Practice of Poetry 1A and Theory and Practice of Poetry 2B. So, I wouldn’t like to repeat what you already know in this module. I will just mention these rules in passing.
2. Analysis of Poetry Let’s start by explaining what you should focus on when reading and analysing poetry.
2.1 What to look for in a poem Poetry has rules that you should follow when analysing it. Knowing the rules will help you to better understand and enjoy poetry.
107
108
Unit 4
African Poetry
Do you know these rules?
Reflection Perhaps the reason you find poetry difficult and uninteresting is because you do not know the rules of this game called poetry. As third year students, you already know some of what follows. All the same, here are some of the essential features of a poem. Do you remember the features of a novel, a short story, or a play? Surely you remember features such as “characters”, “setting”, “themes”, “style”, etc. This time in poetry, we look at features such as “theme”, “form”, “diction”, “tone”, “imagery”, “rhythm”, and “rhyme”.
Figures of speech: I hope you still remember the use of figures of speech in poetry. You should also remember that we use figures of speech to create images or mind-pictures in order to express ourselves visually, imaginatively and more powerfully. As you go through the poems in this unit, you must remember that language may be used either in a literal or figurative sense. Literal or denotative language is factual. Look at the sentence, “Peter broke his leg.” It means the accident actually happened, and as a result some bones in Peter’s leg were fractured. But there is also figurative or connotative language that makes use of comparisons and suggestive ideas. We can say “Peter broke his girlfriend’s heart.” This is figurative language, which suggests that the girlfriend is heartbroken. Figures of speech are commonly classified as follows: ▪ Comparisons: These are used to compare two objects (animate or inanimate) in direct or indirect ways. Often an expressive phrase replaces a simple adjective or adverb. ▪ Simile: A simile is a direct comparison that always contains the words “as” or “like”. For example: “He is as wealthy as Bill Gates”, or “Her personality is like a bubble in a bottle of champagne.” ▪ Metaphor: A metaphor is a comparison without the use of “as” or “like”. A metaphor refers to one person or object (as) being (like) another. The comparison is implied, rather than stated directly. ▪ Extended metaphors: These are recurring metaphors or analogies. They are extended over a passage or throughout a poem. Sometimes they are called sustained metaphors. Do you see the extended metaphor in the following piece? ▪ She was the bud blooming into womanhood. ▪ She was the petal, colourful and fragile. ▪ A flower in the making! ▪ The extended metaphor is that of a flower. In that way, the beauty of the woman is taken to great heights.
African Literature AFL721S
Read one of your favourite poems and identify the different figures of speech used. Reflection Basic features of a poem: Just as we talked about the basic features of a novel, a short story and a play, we should also consider the basic features of a poem. This simply means that whenever you are faced with a poem; look for elements such as theme, form, diction, tone, imagery, rhythm, and rhyme. Once again, I will not describe these in detail because you covered them in the two poetry courses in this programme. I must point out, though, that most African poets write in a style called free verse. This is a style of writing poetry that was developed and used extensively in England and France in the 1920s. In free verse, a poet dispenses with the traditional notions of verse and writes as freely as possible. Free verse poetry does not have regular rhymes or rhythms or stanzas. However, a free verse poem may have some informal rhyme and rhythm and its form or structure is deliberate and meaningful. Just remember that the basic features of a poem are the ingredients that you look for when you are analysing a poem. However, there are so many ways of analysing a poem, and the method I am suggesting is just one of them.
3. Guidelines for Analysing a Poem I encourage you to master the guidelines below. They are easy to follow and will help you in your analysis of different poems.
3.1 Using Mnemonics I use two acronyms, SPECS and SLIMS. (By the way, an acronym is a word formed from the first letters of other words; for example, AIDS is an acronym for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.) SPECS and SLIMS are mnemonics, that is, words that should help you to remember the important areas to look at when confronted with a poem. SPECS is applied first, in an exploratory fashion, before you really get down to the second stage when you apply SLIMS. ▪
The “S” stands for subject-matter of the poem: Ask yourself “What event, situation, or experience does the poem describe or record?”
▪
▪
The “P” stands for purpose or theme or message of the poet: “What is the poet’s purpose in writing this? What message does s/he want to communicate? The “E” stands for emotion, or mood, or feeling: What is the predominant emotion, or mood, of the poem? Does the mood change during the poem? What emotions or feelings does the poet seek to evoke in the reader/hearer?
109
110
Unit 4
African Poetry
▪
The “C” stands for craftsmanship, or technique: this aspect deals
with specific skills the poet used in crafting his or her work of art. Craftsmanship is so important in poetry that we shall go back to it when we deal with SLIMS. The “S” stands for summary: Having analysed the poem, it is important to synthesise (i.e. pull all the information together) into a summary. What is the impact of the whole poem for you? How successful is it as a work of art? Does it successfully achieve the poet’s purpose or is it flawed in some serious way? As I mentioned earlier, when you apply SPECS, you are doing a cursory, exploratory job. However, when you apply SLIMS, you are now looking for more details; you are now looking closer at CRAFTSMANSHIP. You are now asking:
“How does the poet achieve his or her objective? What specific techniques has s/he used in the making of this poem, and what is their effect?” ▪
▪
▪ ▪ ▪
Structure: How is the poem structured? Does it have a conventional structure such as a sonnet or ode? Does it have stanzas with a regular number of lines, or any other interesting features of structural design? Language: How would you describe the poet’s use of words -vivid, striking, effective, or colourless and predictable? Is the language appropriate to the subject and/or theme? What effect does the language have on the poem’s achievement? Imagery: Are there any striking examples of similes, metaphors, personification or symbols in the poem? What is their effect? Movement, or rhythm: Does the poem have a regular (slow or fast) rhythm? What is the effect of any rhythmic qualities? Sounds: Does the poem have any significant sound features? Is it musical? Does the poet use onomatopoeia, assonance or consonance? Does the poem rhyme? What are the effects of these features of sound on the achievement of the poem?
Other than looking at poetry from the structure and the form it is written in, that is the use of stanzas, rhyme, punctuation and all other features (Formalist approach - discussed above), it is equally important that a poem be analysed from an affective perspective as well as historical perspective and sociological perspectives. These then call for knowing the era in which the poem was written or is referring to, as well as the history surrounding the context of the poem. In this way the analysis seeks to identify the meaning behind the poem and that may require the application of certain theories as it may be necessary in deduction of the possible meaning brought out through the poem. (Source: Adapted from http://home.olemiss.edu/~egjbp/spring97/litcrit.html)
It’s now time for an activity to apply what you learned. Please attempt the following activity on your own before checking the feedback.
African Literature AFL721S
Activity 2: Analysing a poem Time Required: You should take about 30 minutes to complete this Activity
activity. Read the following poem very carefully, and then critically analyse it, paying particular attention to the skills the poet has used in crafting the poem. (Use the SPECS and SLIMS strategy.)
How long?
Refugee Mother and Child No Madonna and Child could touch that picture of a mother's tenderness for a son she soon would have to forget. The air was heavy with odours of diarrhoea of unwashed children with washed-out ribs and dried-up bottoms struggling in laboured steps behind blown empty bellies. Most mothers there had long ceased to care but not this one; she held a ghost smile between her teeth and in her eyes the ghost of a mother's pride as she combed the rust-coloured hair left on his skull and then singing in her eyes - began carefully to part it...In another life this must have been a little daily act of no consequence before his breakfast and school; now she did it like putting flowers on a tiny grave. By Chinua Achebe
111
112
Unit 4
African Poetry
Using the mnemonics (memory aids) SPECS and SLIMS, the following is my analysis of “Refugee Mother and her Child”. It does not matter really how you put your ideas down, as long as you interrogate the poem in terms of its content and form, the “what” and “how” of the poem. Feedback
“Refugee Mother and Child” is a poem composed by Chinua Achebe depicting the destitution and starvation for displaced people. The poem is about a displaced person mother and her child who endure in the arms of neediness. In the long run, her child perishes and as a mother she feels despondency, upset and vulnerable. It is a refugee’s camp in Nigeria. The poet gives us a picture of a mother and her youngster. The poem starts with the poet comparing the scene of a mother holding her son in a refugee camp with the love and care which is usually depicted in all versions of Mary holding a ding Jesus in her arms. The poet states that none of the reputed depictions of tenderness could even come near the fragility and beauty of this scene of pathos and heartbreak. (Adapted from https://studymoose.com/analysis-of-refugee-mother-and-childessay) There is no need to use all the aspects in SPECS and SLIMS, because not all of them will be relevant all the time. Other aspects will be particularly more relevant and useful in certain poems than in others.) So far, we have established some interesting things about poetry. We have discovered that we can use mnemonics (memory aids) SPECS and SLIMS, to analyse poetry. We discussed the basic features of poetry and the figures of speech. In the next section, we are going to come back to these ideas and see how they work in specific poems. Now let’s move on to the analysis of Song of Lawino/Song of Ocol by Okot p’Bitek. The next section looks at Okot p’Bitek’s background.
4. How to study Song of Lawino/Song of Ocol 4.1 Background of the poet Okot p’Bitek was a Ugandan poet. He was born in 1931 and died in 1982. His father was a teacher in Gulu mission centre (northern Uganda) in 1931. Okot was ocol by tribe; his father was a teacher at Gulu mission centre, and his mother, also named Lawino, was a composer and great singer of ocol`s songs. Okot got his education from Gulu high school, Kings College Budo (Uganda) government training college (teaching), and an education diploma from Bristol University. Later he became active in the Uganda Cultural Center and created a Gulu festival of folk art to celebrate his country's independence in 1960. When he returned to Uganda after completing his European education, he wrote Song of Lawino and treatises on oral literature and on African religions. An early novel written in Acoli (Luo) Lak Tar is now required reading in local schools. Okot belonged to an ethnic group in Uganda, the Acoli which President Idi Amin intended to eradicate. He had erected a Hitler’s statue on government ground and like him, pursued a policy of genocide, hence, Okot’s satirical attacks of the government officials in Song Lawino and elsewhere cost him his job. He died a dispossessed wanderer at Nairobi, Ife, Texas, and Iowa. He believed that literature must expose current evils:
African Literature AFL721S
“The terrible things: the murders by governments, the destruction of systems of freedom of speech, the political detentions, the coups … Why we are not talking about these things?” (Bruner, 1985) Now that we know who Okot p’Bitek was, let’s proceed to look at the setting of the two poems.
What is a setting? Can you recall the definition?
Reflection
4.2 The Setting of Song of Lawino/Song of Ocol The main setting of the song of Lawino and Ocol poems is northern Uganda, after independence. However, there are also several minor places where the events take place. The clubs: are where the Western dances take place. Lawino shows dislike for the western dances. In the poem, “I do not know the dance of white people,” she says that African dance and song are most essential for Acoli`s youths:
“I cannot dance the rumba, My mother taught me, The beautiful dance of Acoli…….” (p. 42) The church: this is where Ocol questions the nature of Jesus, “l says “When Jesus was born white men began to count here, I don’t know the ways of God a Christian name, I like visiting the diviner priest”……..(pp. 73). He also says, “We should pray to Joseph and Petro and Lucas and other ancestors of white men” (pp.93).
The forest: This is seen when Lawino says that “Each tree from the Ituri forest” blow up Kilimanjaro (pp. 146).
The hospital: the author shows the setting at difference hospitals, e.g. at Mulago and Kenyatta where Ocol likes to be treated because he does not like local medicine (pp. 150).
Gulu high school: this is where Ocol got higher education founded at southern Uganda (pp. 88) “who has not been to school he says A university”
The market: Lawino goes to the market, e.g. “whose preoccupation is to boast in the market place showing off to people”(pp. 90).
The village: this is where Lawino and Ocol live (p.141) “How did I make men ignorant? Was it not I, Who ask the minster, to build a school, in your village, and did I prevent, children from other village from going to school” says Ocol. (Adapted from Mwita, 2019)
113
114
Unit 4
African Poetry
Now let’s move on to the next section which looks at the poems that you will study in this course. We will begin with Okot p’Bitek’s long poems, “Song of Lawino” which will be followed by “Song of Ocol”. But first, let’s give a brief introduction of the two poems.
4.3 Introduction to SOL and SOO Song of Lawino (SOL) is an epic poem written by Ugandan poet Okot p' Bitek. It was first published in 1966 in Luo then after translated into other languages, including English. Song of Lawino has become one of the most widely read literary works originating from sub-Saharan Africa that addresses the issues facing a liberated Africa. The poem poses a question: what kind of liberation should Africa take on? Should it honour its traditions, or should it adapt the European values that were already set in place during colonialism? Okot p'Bitek addresses this question by telling the story of Lawino, a woman whose husband, Ocol, throws her out of their home and brings home a more Europeanised woman as a wife. The story is told as a dialogue between Lawino and Ocol. The poem itself is separated in different sections or Chapters, each one detailing the social problems facing Lawino and Ocol in their marriage, their differences and value systems. Both Song of Lawino ( SOL) and Song of Ocol (SOO) are dramatic monologues. A dramatic monologue is a play in which only one person speaks. There are no actions or movements in such a play. The poet pretends to be someone else and uses the voice of that person to tell the story or express the ideas s/he is interested in. So, in “Song of Lawino” we only hear what Lawino has to say, whilst in “Song of Ocol ” we only hear Ocol’s voice. Both poems do not tell a story, rather they merely express a set of ideas. Lawino’s ideas express her dissatisfaction with her husband, Ocol’s abandonment of the past in favour of western traditions. The poem SOL is an extended appeal from Lawino to Ocol to stay true to his own customs, and to abandon his ‘desire to be white.’ Together SOL and SOO contribute a heated debate over the future of Africa. By using metaphors, traditional lyrics and proverbs, the author presents the conflict between modern civilisation and old traditions. Let’s proceed to examine SOL in detail.
5. Song of Lawino (SOL) 5.1 Summary of the poem SOL was initially written in Acoli, one of the Luo dialect in northern Uganda. In it, Lawino, a traditional Ugandan woman, voices a long complaint. She feels her husband, Ocol, has become corrupted by Western ways. He despises Lawino, his first wife, and prefers his second wife, who can speak English and who follows modern fashions (Bruner, 1985). Lawino, a non-literate woman, says
“Husband, now you despise me / Now you treat me with spite / And say I have inherited the / stupidity of my aunt /”. Her university-educated husband has adopted Western ways, rejected her, and taken another, Westernised woman.
African Literature AFL721S
In the first five chapters, Lawino addresses Ocol directly and urges him “not to uproot the pumpkin” in the old homestead, not to despise her or the traditional values she represents and accepts. In the next five chapters, Lawino compares Acoli life before and after the English colonisers had influenced Africans like Ocol. She ridicules African imitations of the western dress, education, religious institutions. As a result of this western impact, Ocol turns away from traditional beliefs and behaviours. In the last two chapters, Lawino’s accusations intensify. He becomes obsessed with Uganda’s struggle for independence and gets so involved in political agitation that he quarrels with his brother, scolds some kinsmen as communists, others as Catholics, and causes divisions everywhere. Lawino concludes by asking, “Where is the promised unity they vaunt? Where is the Peace of Uhuru? Where is the unity of Independence? Must it not begin at home?” (p. 107). She concludes by pleading with Ocol for just one more chance to sing and dance before him in traditional fashion to bring him back to his senses. In the end Lawino advises Ocol on how to regain his manhood, according to her he can do that by throwing away all the symbols of hypocrisy by requesting for forgiveness of the elder offering traditional sacrifices using tradition doctor and medicines. (Source: Adapted from Bruner, 1985)
Now that you know what the poem is about, let’s go through each of the chapters in SOL.
Chapter 1 The first Chapter sets up the differences between Lawino and Ocol. We know that Lawino and Ocol are married and are in the middle of a serious disagreement because Ocol is educated and westernised while Lawino is not. We know that Ocol is utterly contemptuous of Lawino’s lack of schooling and that she is reacting to his contempt by mocking him. Ocol despises Black people and their traditional ways and has adopted western values. Because he works in the government, he wants to modernise Africa in those values. Lawino disagrees and implores her husband to stop hating his own people:
“He says Black people are primitive/And their ways are utterly harmful/ Their dances are mortal sins/ They are ignorant, poor and diseased! ...”( SOL, P. 36). In this Chapter, Lawino asserts that Ocol is rude and abusive both to her and other people: “My husband abuses me together with my parents/ He says terrible things about my mother / And I am so ashamed! ...” (SOL, P.35). The rest of the section summaries the kind of insults Ocol uses to attack Lawino, her family and clan and all black people. Let’s proceed to Chapter 2.
Chapter 2 The Second Chapter addresses the issue of Ocol's new wife. Ocol's new wife, unlike Lawino, is thoroughly Europeanised. Here we note that the attack starts as a fairly straight forward factual account of Lawino's husband's preference for a modern girl. Then to enable Lawino to
115
116
Unit 4
African Poetry
advance her argument forcefully, Okot gives her the gift of wit and employs Acoli poetic forms to produce a pungent work of satire. She first displays her wit forcefully at the beginning of Chapter two, where (she) Lawino makes a mockery of modern notions of beauty, including the use of make-up and cosmetics, by comparing her rival, Clementine, the girl of modern ways, to what in traditional Acoli Society must be regarded as the ugliest and most weird of all creatures. That which is considered most beautiful by admires of European culture is made to appear absurd and grotesque. We quote a long passage to show how she builds up her argument:
“Ocol is no longer in love with;/ The old type;/ He is in love with a modern girl; /The name of the beautiful one;/ Is Clementine;/ Brother, when you see Clementine!/The beautiful one aspires;/To look like a white woman;/Her lips are red-hot;/ Like glowing charcoal;/ She resembles the wild cat;/That has dipped its mouth in blood;/ Her mouth is like raw yaws;/Tina dusts powder on her face;/And it looks so pale ;...( SOL, p.37). In this Chapter Two, Lawino is not unfair to Europeans. She is not trying to impose her set of beliefs on them. She is using her prejudices in an argument with other Africans within Africa. But she is unreasonable in some of her criticism of Clementine and Ocol:
”Perhaps she has aborted many!/ Perhaps she has thrown her twins/In the pit latrine!” (SOL, p.39). In this same chapter we notice that Lawino is not only witty, she is also versatile, conjuring up all kinds of images to bring her going home. In the following passage she confesses that she is jealous of the woman she ostensibly despises:
“Forgive me, broth/ Do not think I am insulting/ The woman with whom I share/My husband! / Do not think my tongue/ Is being sharpened by jealousy. /It is the sight of Tina/That provokes sympathy from my heart.” (SOL, p.39). Then the truth comes out when she says:
“I do not deny/I am a little jealous/ It is no good lying, /We all suffer from a little jealousy./It catches you unawares/Like the ghosts that bring fevers;/It surprises people/Like earth tremors:/But when you see the beautiful woman/With whom I share my husband/You feel a little pity for her.” (SOL, p.39). By the end of this section, Lawino turns on her attacks and exposes their own immorality and hypocrisy. Here, Lawino shows ways in which Western things can be dirty, stupid or hypocritical. At the same time, she shows how traditional ways of life allow her to express herself fully and freely as a woman. Both ways of life are open to criticism, both ways are valid. If Lawino has learnt one way of life, why should she change? Why should the Massai wear trousers? The words like “Witch”, “Kaffirs” and “sorcerers” that Ocol throws at her don't answer that question. But Lawino does not believe that the two ways of life are equally valid for Africans, and neither does Okot p'Bitek. She thinks the customs of white probably suit white people. She does not mind them following their own ways as she says:
African Literature AFL721S
“I do not understand/ The ways of foreigners/ But I do not despise their customs” (SOL, p. 41). The poet has used the proverb in closing this second chapter which is an Acoli proverb:”
“The pumpkin in the old homestead/ Must not be uprooted” (SOL, p.41). According to Okot (1972:6) pumpkins are a luxury food. They grow wild throughout Acoli land. To uproot pumpkins, even when you are moving to a new homestead, is simple wanton destruction. In this proverb, then, Lawino is not asking Ocol to cling to everything in his past, but rather not to destroy things for the sake of destroying them. In other words, what Lawino has to say would have been better expressed by another Acoli proverb Doko abila ni eye meni (Your first Wife is your Mother) (SOL, p.13). To mean that you cannot abandon your first pot, for your first pot is always the best one.
Chapter 3: I Don’t Know The Dances Of White People In Chapter Three, Lawino praises the cultural dances of her people. Lawino tells the white people that we too have a culture. The chapter is concerned with dances and is done mainly to defend African culture from the abuses heaped on it by the Whites:
“I cannot dance the rumba, /My mother taught me/ The beautiful dances of Acoli./ I do not know the dances of white people./ I will no deceive you,/I cannot dance the samba,/ You once saw me at the Orak dance/The dance for youths/ The dance of our people” (SOL, p.42). According to p'Bitek, the colonialists condemned African dances because of the immorality of nakedness. Lawino presents the openness, liveliness and healthiness of Acoli dance positively, without apology. She says Acoli dances are both more moral and more enjoyable, since nothing is hidden and they are danced in the open air, where men and women have rooms to let themselves go and express their pride in competition with each other:
“When the drums are throbbing/And the black youths/Have raised much dust/You dance with vigour and health/You dance naughtily with pride/You dance with Spirit, /You compete, you insult, you provoke/You challenge all”, (SOL, p.42). Western dances are immoral because they encourage people to embrace in public and to ignore the rules of respect for relatives. They are dirty and silly because they are danced in the smoky atmosphere of overcrowded halls where no one can be comfortable and relaxed. They result in immoral behaviour when each man dances with a woman who is not his wife:
“Each man has a woman/ Although she is not his wife, / They dance inside a house/ And there is no light/Shamelessly, they hold each other/ Tightly, tightly, /They cannot breathe” (SOL, p.44). Apart from being immoral, their kissing and dancing are seen as ugly:
117
118
Unit 4
African Poetry
“You kiss her on the cheek/As white people do, / You kiss her open-sore lips/As white people do/You suck slimy saliva/From each other's mouths/As white people do.” (SOL, p.44). Chapter 4: My Name Blew Like A Horn Among The Payira The Fourth Chapter details when Lawino was a young woman and how Ocol once wooed and won her. Lawino remembers how beautiful and skilful she was when she was younger and was admired by all the boys because of her singing and dancing. She tells us angrily how Ocol now condemns her inability to dance in the western way. While she remembers Ocol’s wooing of her and the beauty of her home, Lawino's voice takes on a note of nostalgia:
“When Ocol was wooing me/ My breasts were erect/ And they shook/As I walked briskly, /And as I walked/I threw my long neck/This way and that way/Like the flower of the lyonno lily/Waving in a gentle breeze.” (SOL, p.47). Then after, Lawino laments because her husband does not love her anymore: “My husband says/He no longer wants a woman/ With a gap in her teeth, /He is in love/With a woman/Whose teeth fill her mouth completely/Like the teeth of war- captives and slaves” (SOL, p.49).
Chapter 5: The Graceful Giraffe Cannot Become A Monkey Chapter Five looks at the question of what is considered beautiful. Ocol thinks the way Lawino does her hair is ugly; then she laments: “He says that I make his bed-sheets dirty/ And his bed smelly/ Ocol says/ I look extremely ugly/When I am fully adorned/ For the dance!” (SOL, p.53). On the other hand, Lawino praises her beauty and the beauty of her people:
“I am proud of the hair/ With which I was born/ And as no white woman/ Wishes to do her hair/Like mine, / Because she is proud/ Of the hair with which she was born.” (SOL, p.56)/ Then after Lawino criticises Ocol's wife's hair and that of his people:
“When the beautiful one/ With whom I share my husband/ Returns from cooking her hair/ She resembles/ A chicken/ That has fallen into a pond;/ Her hair looks/ Like the python's discarded Skin.” (SOL, p.54). In the previous paragraphs, it is said that Lawino is proud; she is proud; not only of her beauty, but of every aspect of her way of life. From this position of pride, she attacks:
“I have no wish/ To look like a white woman. (SOL, p.56). Now Lawino makes the argument here that Ocol should not try to be something he is not:
“No leopard/ Would change into a hyena, / And the crested crane/ Would hate to be changed / Into the bold-headed,/ Dung-eating vulture,/ The long-necked and graceful giraffe/ Cannot become a monkey./ Let no one/ Uproot the pumpkin.”(SOL, p.56).
African Literature AFL721S
What do you think the graceful giraffe and monkey symbolise?
In-text question Good effort! The giraffe symbolises the beauty of the African Woman, and the monkey stands for the ugliness of white women and those who ape whites by wearing white people's wigs. The message conveyed by Lawino in this section is that African women are invited to run away from artificial and European ways of cooking hair for their beauty. They must remain natural. They should not abandon their traditions. The poem becomes an argument honouring the traditional African values.
Do you think Lawino condemns the hair straightening and the wearing of wigs by the African women? Reflection Chapter 6: The Mother Stone Has a Hollow Stomach Chapter Six deals with food and Ocol criticises his wife for not cooking white people's meals: Ocol says:
“Black people's foods are primitive, / But what is backward about them?/ He says/ Black people's foods are dirty:/ He means,/ Some clumsy and dirty black women/ Prepare food clumsily/ And put them/In dirty containers.” (SOL, p.62). Lawino again argues that the food that is native to her people is best for them:
“Look, / Straight before you/ Is the central pole/That shiny stool.../ At the foot of the pole/Is my father's revered stool./Further on/ The rows of pots/ Placed one on top of other/ Are stores/ And cupboards./ Millet flour, dried carcasses/ Of various animals,/ Beans, peas/Fish, dried cucumber... (SOL, p.59). Ocol criticises the improved stove and Lawino praises it; Ocol gives his point of view of that improved stove:
“I really hate/ The charcoal stove! / Your hand is always/ Charcoaldirty/ And anything you touch/ Is blackened;/ And your fingernails/ Resemble those of poison woman.” (SOL, p.57). Now Lawino reacts: “I am terribly afraid/ Of the electric stove, / I do not like using it/ Because you stand up/ When you cook.” (SOL, p.58). She points out another disadvantage of the electric stove and she apologises that she has no notion about cooking white food:
“The electric fire kills people:/ They say/ It is lightning...” (SOL, p.57) In this passage she accepts that she does not know such a cooking:
119
120
Unit 4
African Poetry
“I do not know/ How to cook/ Like white women;/ I do not enjoy/ White men's foods;/ And how they eat/ How could I know? / And why should I know it?” (SOL, P.62). In the closing lines of the poem of this section, the poet gives his point of view throughout Lawino that:
“I do not complain/ That you eat/ White men's foods/ If you enjoy them/ Go head/ Shall we just agree/ To have freedom/ To eat what one likes?” (SOL, p.63). He also shows the importance of the traditional cooking stove in many societies which is improved for domestic cooking. So the poet shows Lawino's weakness for not being to school to learn how to use white men's cooking stoves. Lawino confesses:
“I confess, / I do not deny!/ I do not know/ How to cook like a white woman.” (SOL, p.57) It’s now time for an activity to apply what you learned. Please attempt the following activity on your own before checking the feedback.
Activity 3: Analysing Themes Time Required: You should take about 30 minutes to complete this Activity
activity. Read Chapter 6 carefully and then analyse the presentation of the Western lifestyle vs African lifestyle.
How long?
Lawino shows an open cultural clash between the culture of her people and that of the Whites. She shows the differences that exist between Acoli’s culture and European culture in almost all walks of life and she finalises by showing that the only way to end the supposed controversy is by retaining her culture. Feedback
Lawino describes Ocol’s life as a perfect replica of Whites lifestyle. In traditional communities, food stuffs are not refrigerated before they are cooked. Lawino asserts that White men stoves are good but for cooking white men foods which she describes as tasteless and bloodless meat killed years ago and left to rot, for boiling hairy chicken and for baking bread. They can also be suitable for warming up tinned beef, fish, frogs, snakes, peas, beans, etc. In contrast Lawino describes the traditional African life by showing the relevance of different aspects of traditional life: ▪
Food storage methods. She shows different containers suitable for storing African food stuffs for future use. They dry them up and store them in different containers like; pots, jars, earthen dishes, grass pocket etc.
African Literature AFL721S
▪ ▪
Grinding grains. This is done by using the mother stone and her daughter. Different types of firewood. She describes the kinds of firewood found in her mother’s kitchen and their suitability for use.
Chapter 7: There Is No Fixed Time For Breast Feeding The Seventh Chapter deals with the issues of time. Lawino begins with the time of day and compares the western way of telling time by counting the hours with the traditional way of looking at the sun and telling from things that people usually do at that time of day. She confesses she cannot tell the time of the day in western way. Ocol on the other hand, puts accent on the respect of time. His wife Lawino reacts that Ocol abuses of the way of using time because of his arrogance for he loses his dignity. He is always in a hurry. He is always ruled by time. Everything he does must take place at a fixed time:
“If my husband insists/ What exact time/ He should have morning tea/ And breakfast, / When exactly to have coffee.” (SOL, p. 64). Lawino doesn't understand the need for these set times. She does things when she wants to. Children are fed or washed when it is necessary and:
“When sleep comes/ Into their head/ They sleep,/When sleep leaves their head/ They wake up.” (SOL, p. 69) She tells Ocol that it is the western way of dividing time up mathematically into hours and minutes that has made him behave in that way because he now thinks of time as something that can be used up and finished. Because of his concern to be punctual, Ocol is always in a hurry and is restless and unhappy:
“He never jokes/ With anybody/ He says/ He has no time/ To sit around the evening fire.” (SOL, p. 67) All Ocol`s life is haunted by his fear of wasting time. For him, time is a commodity which can be bought and sold. It must not be wasted because:
“Time is money” (SOL, p. 67); While for Acoli time is not a commodity that can be consumed until it is finished:
“In the wisdom of the Acoli/ Time is not stupidly split up/ Into seconds and minutes/ It does not flow/ Like beer in a pot/ That is sucked/ Until it is finished.” (SOL, p. 69). Lawino says that Ocol accuses her for wasting time but she shows how Ocol’s determination not to waste time leads him into much more serious kinds of bad behaviour. He treats his visitors, her and his own children extremely rudely because he cannot spare time for them. Ocol in his arrogance does not know how to welcome visitors. When they appear at his door he tries to get rid of them quickly with the question:
“What can I do for you?” (SOL, p. 68)
121
122
Unit 4
African Poetry
And even the crying of children makes him wild with rage because it interrupts his work: “He says/ He does not want/ To hear noise, / Those children's cries/ And coughs disturb him!” (SOL, P. 67). Despite his high opinion of himself, he is no more than a servant of time:
“Time has become/ My husband`s master” (SOL, p. 68). No one likely to respect him because of his unkindness, and because he: “Runs from place to place/ Like a small boy, / He rushes without dignity” (SOL, p. 68). In addition, Lawino compares the modern technological concepts of time with Acoli concepts. She describes the Acoli idea of late morning in the following terms:
“When the sun has grown up/ And the poisoned tips/ Of its arrows painfully bite/ The backs of the women weeding or harvesting/ This is when/ You take drinking water/ To the workers” (SOL, PP 6466). It is seen that Ocol is governed by time, often stating the hour whenever the sun rises. Lawino does not understand the importance of being led by such strict definitions and thinks everything happens in its own time without forcing it. At the end of the chapter she talks about months, seasons and years. She compares the way in which Europeans divide years into months and seasons with the traditional Acoli names for seasons which come from the events which usually happen at that particular time of the year. She says she cannot understand the western ways of numbering years from the one event of the birth of Christ. I find the element of time quite interesting in this chapter. I urge you to try to understand it by doing this short exercise.
Activity 4: Analysing time Time Required: You should take about 20 minutes to complete this Activity
activity. Read Lawino and Ocol’s views on time carefully and then show how time telling differs between the Acoli and the white men.
How long?
African Literature AFL721S
The western way of telling time is by splitting it into hours, minutes and seconds while the Acoli look at the position of the sun, and the co*ckcrow and each activity is associated with that time of the day as the sun gets hotter and hotter. Lawino says; Feedback
I must first look at the sun The co*ck must crow To remind me Lawino compares the way in which Europeans divide years into months and seasons with the traditional Acoli names for seasons which come from the events which usually happen at that particular time of the year. She says she cannot understand the western ways of numbering years from the one event of the birth of Christ. For the Acoli any important event which affected the whole clan community, like a big famine, can be linked with events that happened in the family at the same time. She says; In the wisdom of the Acoli Time is not stupidly split up Into seconds and minutes She goes on to ridicule western way of telling time by saying; It does not flow Like beer in a pot That is sucked Until it is finished. How did you fare in this activity? If you didn’t do well, do not worry but read the chapter again for better understanding.
Chapter 8: I Am Ignorant of the Good Word in the Clean Book The Chapter is concerned with the way missionary teachers treated their African converts. Lawino uses the experience of her sister Erina and herself to try to show that she thinks the missionaries did wrong. She tells us that when the Protestants wanted to win converts they made Africans work like servants for them whilst they themselves did none of the work in their own houses and did not even share their food with the girls they wanted to convert. In Chapter Eight and Twelve, we have Lawino's explanation of what has gone wrong. Ocol's teachers were like Lawino's teacher in the evening speaker's class. If Ocol had run from them to the dance as Lawino did he would have learnt things that meant something to him:
“We joined the line of friends/ And danced among our age- mates/ And Sang songs we understood. / Relevant and meaningful songs, / Songs about ourselves” (SOL, p.79). Ocol wants Lawino to be christened, but she says that her elder sister was a protestant and she suffered bitterly in order to buy the name Lawino joined the catholic evening Speaker' class, but she did not stay long in, she ran away:
123
124
Unit 4
African Poetry
“I ran away from shouting/ Meaninglessly in the evenings/ Like parrots/ Like the crow birds/ The things they shout/ I do not understand” (SOL, p.75). The description of the Catholic Evening Speakers’ Class illustrates the mistake they did in the classroom. The missionary teachers did not understand the big gap between their ideas and traditional way of thinking. They tried to impose their ideas on the pupils’ minds by rotelearning: the repetition by the pupils of the words and phrases they did not understand until they knew them by heart. It seems as if Ocol is still like a parrot, boasting in the marketplace and condemning everything that the white priests told him to condemn, instead of picking out the good from both African and European ways. Now Lawino is obliged to leave evening speaker's class:
“Anger welled up inside me/ Burning my chest like bile, / I stood up/ And two other girls stood up/ We walked out/ Out of that cold hall” (SOL, p.79). To end this section, Lawino argues that their spiritual beliefs are just as valid as Catholicism, but also points out the ignorance and arrogance of priest and nuns who run the missionaries in their villages.
Chapter 9: From the mouth of which river? In Chapter Nine we see another aspect of Ocol's arrogance. Lawino continues with the criticism of the missionary teachers by failing to answer the questions she asks them. She also criticises the Christian doctrine of Creation and the Virgin Birth. She uses a long image of a potter moulding things with clay and asks a series of questions about the source of clay and how the potter can begin moulding things before the clay has been created. Through this image she asks a very difficult question “who created the creator?” At the end of the section she also briefly asks how the Virgin Birth could happen. Neither her teachers nor her husband Ocol even try to answer her questions and Lawino wonders if they really know the answers. Here Lawino asks questions in a genuine mood of enquiry. She does not ask silly questions:
“Where is the pot? / Where it was dug,/ On the mouth of which River?” (SOL, p.87). In Chapter Three, Lawino has spoken about immorality in the dances of white men. The same question of sexual morality is involved in her late comments on catholic priest and nuns. The tradition of priestly celibacy has a long history in Europe. There is also a long tradition of priestly hypocrisy, and of literary mockery of this hypocrisy. To Lawino the whole idea is completely incomprehensible. So, when the Padré and the Nun shout at her, it must be their sexual frustration expressing itself:
“They are angry with me/ As if it was I/ Who prevented them marrying” (SOL, p.85). Again, no priest can possibly discipline his sexual desires. They teacher from the evening speaker's class follows her to the dance. And every teacher must be like this:
African Literature AFL721S
“And all the teachers/ Are alike/ They have sharp eyes/ For girls' full breast/ Even the padres/ Who are not allowed/ To marry/ Are troubled by health” (SOL, p.81). To conclude this section, let us write that the problems of who created the creator and the mystery of the virgin birth are problems which better educated people have found to be barriers to Christian belief. An educated Christian like Ocol ought to have considered them. If he were really interested in knowledge, he would be willing to discuss these things. But Lawino does not thing he is really interested in knowledge. She wishes she had someone else to ask:
“Someone who has genuinely/ Read deeply and widely/ And not someone like my husband/ Whose preoccupation/ Is to boast in the marketplace ...” (SOL, p.90). Briefly, Lawino really makes us wonder whether this progressive and civilised man deserves any respect with all his status. He surely ought to have a little more dignity. Above all he ought to treat his wife, his parents and his home community with a little more respect.
Chapter 10: The Last Safari to Pagak Chapter Ten deals with Lawino's culture and its values. In this Chapter we are given further examples of Ocol's intolerance. Ocol will let neither Lawino's relatives, nor his own relatives into his house because they might make it dirty or give diseases to his children.
“My husband complains/ That I encourage visitors/ Who should not/ Come into his house, / Because they bring dirt and house-flies!” (SOL, p.91). Ocol condemns all traditional medicines:
“He says/ The medicine gourds are filthy, / And the herbs/ Are drunk from unhygienic cups/ My husband agrees/ That sometimes by accident...” (SOL, p.93) Again, he condemns all traditional religious beliefs, because he is an educated man and a Christian. In the years since Uganda's independence, there has been a great deal of reassessment of missionaries’ views of African traditional beliefs by African Christians. Ocol's attitudes have not changed at all. For him traditional beliefs are no more than foolish superstitions:
“He says/ No such things exist/ It is my eyes/ That are sick/ And only foolish superstitions.” (SOL, p.92). Ocol not only rejects these superstitions himself, but he also wants to wipe them out. He prevents Lawino from visiting the diviner priest or making sacrifices when she is in trouble:
“My husband has threatened/ To beat me/ If I visit the divinerpriest again.” (SOL, p.93) When his father was alive, he:
“Once smashed up the rattle gourd/ Cut open the drum/ And chased away the diviner priest/ From his late father's homestead.” (SOL, p.95). 125
126
Unit 4
African Poetry
He later tried to destroy the tree on father's shrine. Ocol is a religious man yet. Lawino must not wear charms, yet he wears a crucifix:
“My husband wears/ A small crucifix/ On his neck” (SOL, p.93). For him prayer can be effective: “It is stupid superstition superstition/ To pray to our ancestors/ To avert the smallpox, / But we should pray/ To the messengers of the hunch back/ To intercede for us.” (SOL, p.93). Ocol sees no similarity between the two sorts of charms or the two sorts of prayer. Ocol continues to praise White man's medicines. Since the time of patient has not yet come to death every medicine cures him says Lawino:
“It is true/ White man's medicines are strong, / But Acoli medicine/ Are also strong. / The sick gets cured/ Because his time has not yet come (SOL, p.101). Once the time comes, the death knocks at your door, there is no stop. Whatever medicine cannot cure the sick. Even crucifixes, rosaries, toes of edible rates, none of them can block the path of no return (SOL, p.102) This is supported when she says:
“When death comes/ To fetch you/ She comes unannounced/ She comes suddenly/ Like the vomit of days...” (SOL, p.102). Lawino says that Ocol should be tolerant for, once mother death comes, there is no excuse, neither black nor white it calls them, and they have no power on it:
“White diviner priest, / Acoli herbalists, / All medicine men and medicine/ Are good, are brilliant/ When the day has not yet dawned/ For the great journey/ The last safari/ To pagak.” (SOL, p.103). Chapter 11: The Buffalo of Poverty Knock the People Down Chapter Eleven of Song of Lawino is a very rich poem, addressing important issues affecting post-independence Africa. The poem is a satirical comment on the neo-colonial mentality of the African petty bourgeoisie-the intellectuals and political leaders of Africa. The target of Lawino's criticism, Ocol, is the representative of this class. He is both an intellectual and politician an embodiment of the disease Lawino diagnoses in her song, satirizing the ills of African leaders described elsewhere by Okot in an essay entitled
“Indigenous social Ills”, in which he refers to them as culturally barren ladies and gentlemen. Ocol's behaviour does not lift up him before the leaders of his party. He behaves like: “... a newly-eloped girl” (SOL, p.108). He says in his speeches that he is fighting for national unity: “He says/ They want to unite the Acoli and Lango/ And the Madi and Lugbara/ Should live together in peace! / The Alur and Iteso and Baganda/ And the Banyankole and Banyoro/Should be united together” (SOL, pp.103-104). However, his political energies do not really seem strong for bringing about unity, national or local. Most of his time as a politician is taken up with condemning other people. Ocol says that the Congress Party is against all Catholics, and that they will steal all their property:
African Literature AFL721S
“The Congress Party/ Will remove all Catholics/ From their jobs/ And they will take away/ All the land and schools/ And will take people's wives/ And goats, and chickens and bicycles, / All will be came the property/ Of the congress people.” (SOL, pp.105-6). And it is not only the other party that he condemns. When he talks to the party leaders, he accuses other party members: “Everybody else is us/ He alone/ Is the hard working...?” (SOL, p.108). The most destructive result of his political activity is its effect on his own family. Ocol's brother is in the congress party. His thinks his brother wants to murder him. Now is this the unity of Uhuru? Is this the peace that Independence brings? (SOL, p.105). He forbids Lawino to talk to the man who may one day become her husband. Okot does not ignore economic problems in his poems. In this section of the song, Lawino criticizes Ocol and the African political elite for political ineptitude and economic mismanagement. She lashes out at corruption, points out that many politicians joined the campaign for material gain:
“Someone said/ Independence falls like a bull buffalo/ And the hunters/ Rush to it with draw knives,/ Sharp shining / knives/ For carving the carcass.” (SOL, p.107). Using political power for personal wealth is a common feature of petty bourgeoisie in developing countries, for in these countries there is no true national bourgeoisie, as in the USA or EUROPE. Lawino speaks in ironic terms when she says:
“The stomach seems to be/ A powerful force/ For joining political parties, / Especially when the purse/ In the trouser pocket/ Carries only the coins/ With holes in their middle.” (SOL, pp.108). Lawino is not blind to the fact that, while politicians are fighting to enrich their own pockets and inter-party strife rages, the common people suffer, for they bear the hardest part of the economic problems due to the ineptitude of the political elite:
“And while the pythons of sickness/ Swallow the children/ And the buffaloes of poverty knock the people down, / And ignorance stands there like an elephant,...” (SOL,p.111). Politics has destroyed the unity of home and brought misery to the members of it:
“The women there/ Wear mourning clothes/ The homestead is surely dead.” (SOL, p.111). Now, where is peace of Uhuru when there is no harmony and confidence at home she argues:
“Where is the peace of Uhuru? / Where the unity of independence? / Must it not begin at home?/ And the Alico and Lango/ And the Madi and Lugbara,/ How can they unite?/ And all the tribes of Uganda/ How can they become one?” (SOL, p.107).
127
128
Unit 4
African Poetry
Attempt the following activity to assess your understanding of this chapter.
Activity 5 Time Required: You should take about 30 minutes to complete this Activity
activity. Read Chapter 11, “The Buffalo Of Poverty Knock The People Down” carefully and then write a summary of this chapter.
How long?
Summary
Feedback
This chapter is about the effects of the new kind of politics which came to African countries just before independence. Ocol and his brother are local leaders of the two main political parties in Uganda (CP and DP) and Lawino attacks both of them because whilst they talk about peace and unity, they bring nothing but conflict and disunity even within the family. She begins by describing the strange activities of Ocol, his brother and their followers. They are busy all day long, moving from one meeting to another where they shout foreign words which Lawino does not understand. They wear strange clothes to show which political party they belong to and make violent and silly threats against each other. She says they are greedy for the power and wealth which you can get if you are willing to tell a lot of lies and the effect of this is to destroy those who are reluctant to cheat people. She describes one of Ocol’s political speeches. Everybody goes to it to show off to others and not to listen to Ocol. She describes Ocol’s fawning behaviour in his attempt to please the listeners of his party and uses this to show that even within the parties the politicians are fighting each other. The biggest division brought by politicians is that between the new group of very rich and the rest of the people who are as poor as they were under the colonial government. Although the politicians say they are fighting poverty and ignorance they are making this gap larger than smaller. Source: (Mwita, 2019). Let’s proceed to the next chapter.
Chapter 12: My Husband’s House Is a Dark Forest of Books In Chapter Twelve, Lawino finishes her argument against Ocol by summarising what has happened to him to make him behave so badly to her and to his own people.
Ocol has read many books among white men and he is clever like white men (SOO.p.113).
African Literature AFL721S
The chapter falls into three major subjections if we go by Lawino's subject matter and her audience. In the first subsection Lawino addresses her clan men. The subject matter is her husband's dark forest of books. Although Ocol has read many books among white men those books have not helped him. In all the books he has read he has learnt only to blindly do what the Whiteman thinks is right like a dog obeying his master. As a result, he has lost his head and own manly qualities, and at the same time lost Lawino’s respect.
“Listen, my clansmen,/ I cry over my husband/ Whose head is lost/ Ocol has lost his head/ In the forest of books.” (SOL, p.183). This as we shall see, is at the heart of her argument. In the second subsection she addresses Ocol in the words quoted above and does not mention books at all. Then she ends the section by going back to address the clansmen and returning to the subject of books. And in the end the books have destroyed him:
“the reading/ Has killed my man,/ In the ways of his people/ He has become/ A stump”(SOL, p. 184). Ocol still has the roles of husband and head of household, but he is no longer able to perform them. Instead he has become: “ A dog of the Whiteman!” (SOL, p. 188). The Whiteman is his ultimate master, acting on him through his continuing cultural and economic influences. Ocol obeys his master's call and is pleased only by those things that belong to his master. Ocol no longer owns anything. Everything he uses belongs to his master:
“ Aaa! A certain man/ Has no millet field/ He lives on borrowed foods/ He borrows the clothes he wear/ And the ideas in his head/ And his actions and behaviour/ Are to please somebody else/ Like a woman trying to please her husband! / My husband has become a woman!” (SOL, p.190). And many young men are the same. Lawino calls on her clansmen to weep for them because: Their manhood was finished/ In the classrooms/ Their testicl*s/ Were smashed/ With large books!” (SOL, p.191). Here Lawino is mocking all those Ocols who are carrying the habit of slavish imitation of white men by aping what they learnt in the mission school into every sphere of their lives in the new nations of Africa. For her, this is not the last word. She thinks there is still hope for Ocol. Ocol only needs treatment to rid him of his disease. In Section Thirteen, the last section, Lawino's whole approach, manner and tone of voice changes: She tones down the bitterness in her voice and instead of lampooning her husband she cajoles him, coaxes him like a loving wife, even advising him to buy clothes, beads and perfumes. She assumes the role of both a teacher and a loving wife.
“for the woman with whom I share you” (SOL, p.197). Chapter 13: Let Them Prepare the Malakwang Dish In Chapter thirteen, she does not address her clansmen at all. Lawino shows that there is still hope for Ocol. Ocol only needs treatments to rid him of this disease. First, she recommends physical remedies to
129
130
Unit 4
African Poetry
Ocol. Ocol's throat is blocked by the shame that has been choking him for so long:
“The shyness you ate in the church...” (SOL, p.194). It must be cleaned out by traditional foods and herbs. His ears are blocked by the things he has heard from priest and teachers. They must be cleaned. His eyes, behind his dark glasses, are blind to the things of his people. They must be opened. His tongue is dirty with the continuous flow of insults he has been pouring on his people. It must be cleaned. When the physical remedies have been completed, Ocol will be ready for the real cure. He will be ready to regain his roots among his own people. Lawino explains how he nearly lost those roots:
“When you took the axe/ And threatened to cut the Okango/ That grows on the ancestral shrine/ You were threatening/ To cut yourself loose, / To be tossed by the winds/ This way and that way...” (SOL, p. 196). For this real cure, Ocol must beg forgiveness of all those he insulted. But he must also seek the blessing of the elders and beg forgiveness from the ancestors, because:
“… when you insulted me/ Saying/ I was a mere village girl, / You were insulting your grandfathers,/ And grandmothers, your father/ and mother!” (SOL, p. 196). If he does all these things, he will become a man again, the ancestors will help him recover:
“Ask for a spear that you will trust/ One that does not bend easily/ Like the earth-worm/ Ask them to restore your manhood!” (SOL, p. 195). Lawino's final appeal concerns her domestic situation. She wants things to be normal in the household again. She wants Ocol to behave like her husband. And when he is recovered, if he only gives her:
“One chance” (SOL, p. 197); she is certain that things will become normal. When his ears are un-blocked he will hear the beauty of her singing. When his blindness is cured, he will see and appreciate her dancing:
“Let me dance before/ My love,/ Let me show you/ The wealth in your house...” (SOL, p.120). Do you think when Ocol has done all this, he will restore his relationship with Lawino? Reflection Now that you understand Lawino’s arguments regarding her relationship with Ocol, prepare yourself for Ocol’s response and arguments.
African Literature AFL721S
6. Song of Ocol (SOO) 6.1 Summary of SOO SOO is shorter than SOL. Ocol is given a chance to respond to his wife’s arguments and to explain his own reasoning and feelings.
If you were Ocol, how would you respond to Lawino’s arguments?
Reflection In Chapter Two Ocol trots out for us the attitudes to Africa that he as a politician has swallowed whole from the missionaries:
“What is Africa?/ To me/ Blackness,/ Deep, deep fathomless/ Darkness...” (SOO, p.206). In addition, he goes on to tell us that Africans are ignorant, but stupidly content with their ignorant state:
Africa/ Idle giant/ Basking in the sun,/Sleeping, snoring,/Twitching in dreams Diseased with a chronic illness,/Choking with black ignorance,/Of poverty … (SOO, p.206) He also says that they are ruled by their fear of spirits and they have no technology. They are like children:
“Unweaned,Clinging to mother’s milkless breasts … (SOO, p. 208) Is Ocol’s view of Africa correct? If not, what is your view of Africa?
Reflection There are three critical quotations we feel should be quoted for this special launch of Ocol's attitudes towards Africa. First is by Professor Eskia Mphahlele from his book with the title: The African Image (1962), whatever single image may emerge of Africa must continue to shift. This is not a continent lying in state. Our heroes also rise and fall. We also have our political clowns, political executioners, political spits, grafters in high places, as every other continent has. We are a vibrant people too. Second is the quotation taken from Okot p'Bitek's book Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol (1972):
“I do not understand/ The way of foreigners/ But I do not despise their customs. / Why should you despise yours?/ Listen, my husband,/ You are the son of a Chief./ The Pumpkin in the Old homestead/ Must not be uprooted!”(SOL, p. 48). Third is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's "The Danger of a Single Story" Ted Talk, in July 2009. I urge you to download Adichie’s Ted Talk at
131
132
Unit 4
African Poetry
https://www.kellogg.edu/upload/eng151/chapter/video-the-danger-of-a-singlestory/index.html
Recommended website Adichie explores the danger of having a “single story” about anything. She argues that single stories show one’s lack of knowledge or ignorance about others, and this can result in generalisations, assumptions, and stereotypes about other people. She says, “Stories matter. Many stories matter. Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign, but stories can also be used to empower and to humanise. Stories can break the dignity of a people, but stories can also repair that broken dignity” (Adichie, 2009). All quotes impress on Afrocentrism. Particularly, the p’Bitek’s written discourse introduces an interesting dialogue between husband and wife. The wife in this case reminds her husband about his Africanness. Our feeling is that we cannot avoid dealing with these bipolar realities that is being African in the current situation that is moved by continuous on a daily basis. This change manifests in many ways; political, social, and economic, spiritually, biotechnologically to name only these. In this regard, the African image and mind wrestle to find place and space. Since Afrocentricism is concerned, we can raise the questions below: Who is an African? Do we need African centres in Africa? Are Africans in a foreign continent? How can they sing being in a foreign land? How foreign is Africa to Africans? Africa needs to assert itself within the context of its diversity.
Do you think Ocol tells a single story about Africa?
In-text question I’m sure you agree with me that he does because he associates Africa with the negative. His views of African petty bourgeoisie in control of political power and being black are also negative. He is so thoroughly colonised that he hates himself for being black:
“Africa/ This rich granary, / Of taboos, customs,/ Traditions.../ Mother, Mother,/ Why,/ Why was I born?/ Black?” (SOO, p.208). Ocol sees Africa as one thing, something to be fixed, a place:
“Diseased with a chronic illness,/Choking with black ignorance,/Chained to the rock/Of poverty” (SOO, p. 206). Accordingly, he and his fellow members of the elite want to destroy all things African, anything that reminds them their African past. Instead, they will erect monuments to the architects of African colonialismBismarck-David Livingstone, Leopold of Belgium and others:
“To the gallows/ With all the Professors/ Of anthropology/ And teachers of African History, / A bonfire/ We'll destroy all the anthologies/ Of African literature/ And close down/ All the schools Of African studies.” (SOO, p.214).
African Literature AFL721S
The African politicians, Okot mentions are too busy fighting one another and they have lead to the impoverishment of workers:
“And those who have/Fallen into things/ Throw themselves into soft beds,/But the hip bones of the voters/Grow painful/Sleeping on the same earth/They slept/BeforeUhuru” (SOL, p.180). As a result, Ocol sees no reason to do anything. In Chapter Six of SOO, he asks the voters to agree that because he has worked harder for Uhuru he deserves (Heron, 1984):
“ Some Token Reward” (SOO, p.233). The reward he has for himself is a large house in the town and a big farm in the country. (SOO, pp. 233 and 236). Although he was rewarded with a large house in the town and a big farm in country, he says he is not responsible for the sufferings of the voters: (Heron, 1984)
“ Is it my fault?/ That you sleep/ In a hut/ With a leaking thatch?” (SOO, p.235). Song of Ocol again confirms Lawino's opinions. According to Ocol, it is normal to have powerful people and weak people in the society:
Have lions/Begun to eat gras/To lie with lambs/And to play games with antelopes … (SOO, p. 239). In Chapter Three of Song of Ocol , Ocol condemns all efforts to find reasons for pride in Africa's past (Heron, 1984). He would prefer to forget his past:
“Smash all these mirrors/ That I may not see/ The blackness of the past/ From which I came/ Reflected in them.” (SOO, P.129). In other words, Ocol wants to deny his Africanness. These feelings wring from him the cry of anguish which ends Chapter Two of Song of Ocol (Heron, 1984, p.28):
“Mother, / mother/ Why/ Why was I born? / Black?” (SOO, p. 208). In Chapter Three of SOO, briefly, but effectively, comments on traditional medicine. However foolish he might be in condemning all traditional remedies, it is difficult not to share some of his horror at the scene he describes:
“That child lying/ On the earth/ Numb/ Bombs exploding in his head/ Blood boiling ... A gift of death” (SOO, p. 212). Traditional remedies should have some place here in Africa, but they cannot solve all her medical problems (Heron, 1984, p.33). In Chapter Four of SOO, Ocol considers the position of women in traditional societies. It is interesting to compare his description of the walk to the well (p. 217) with Lawino’s description of the walk to the well (p. 69). Lawino is happy with her traditional role, but she does have to work rather hard:
“Woman of Africa/ Sweeper/ Smearing floors and walls/ With cow dung and black soil/ Cook, ayah, the baby tied on your back/ Vomiting/ Washer of dishes,/ Planting, weeding, harvesting,/ Store133
134
Unit 4
African Poetry
keeper, builder,/ Runner of errands,/ Cart, lorry/ Donkey...” (SOO, p.222). And in some ways here status is rather low:
“In Buganda/ They buy you/ With two pots/ Of beer, / The Luo trade you/ For seven cows...” (SOO, p.223). (Source: Heron, 1984, p.33).
In Chapter 5, Ocol ridicules traditional concepts of manly behaviour. He chooses examples of formerly powerful warrior communities of East Africa and challenges them to find out what they have gained from centuries of successful fighting: “Survey your booty/Study your empire/Your gains” (SOO, p. 226) These nomadic communities are the worst affected by the developments in East Africa. They are now trapped in areas of poor pasture with depleted stocks in cattle (Heron, 1984, p.34):
“Students of primitive man/Big game hunters/And tourists flocked in/From all corners of the world,/White women came to discover/To see with their naked eyes/What manhood could be!” (SOO, p.227) We see the core of Ocol’s speech in the last of the poem, Chapter 9. He expresses his faith in the urban future of Africa. He sees this in the foundations of that future laid by Europeans. He promises to:
“Erect monuments/ To the founders/ Of modern Africa:/ Leopold II of Belgium,/ Bismarck...” (SOO, p. 254). Is Ocol’s promise realistic? What do you think?
Reflection We also realise that he challenges people in positions of influence in Africa to explain the African foundation of their activities. Okot is mocking these dignitaries and challenging them to justify their borrowings. The mockery is seen when he questions: Why should lawyers and bishops wear long robes as the English do? Why the African legal system should be based on English Law Reports? Why should all officials in local government take their names from English equivalents (Mayors, councillors, Town clerks)? Okot's most serious challenge is to the scholar (Source: Heron, 1984, p.35):
“Can you explain/ The African philosophy/ On which we are reconstructing/ Our new societies...” (SOO, p.252) To conclude, it seems the poem with Okot expressing the foundation on which he wishes to build African nations. He wants to challenge all concerned with nation building to pay attention to his ideas and then revise their own activities. Sources: Adapted from Heron (1984) and http://www.memoireonline.com/10/10/3996/m_The-image-of-the-woman-inOkot-pBiteks-iSong-of-Lawino-and-song-of-Ocoli4.html)
We will now look at the characters in SOL and SOO.
African Literature AFL721S
7. Characters in SOL and SOO I hope you remember that a character is a person or animal or thing that takes part in the action of literary work. Characterisation is the process of describing the participants in a literary work. There two types of characters which are: Main/major characters and Minor characters The main character is the character who appears in a whole story and is the centre of the story. The main characters of Song of Lawino and Ocol are: ▪ ▪ ▪
Lawino Ocol Clementine.
The minor characters are the helping characters who help a major character, for example in Song of Lawino and Ocol we have: ▪ ▪ ▪
Ocol`s brother Lawino`s mother and Ocol’s mother.
Now, let’s analyse the characters in detail.
7.1 Main/major characters Lawino She is Ocol`s wife. She is uneducated woman (pg.34). “You say I do not know the letter, A because I have not been to school” (pp. 56 and 72). The white man also sees her as an illiterate because she does not know English. She does not know the names of the “moons/ How many moons in a year/And the number of Sabbath / In one moon”/ (SOL, p. 69). She practices African culture (p.50). “My husband tells me I have no ideas of modern beauty. He says I have stuck to old fashioned hair styles” She is strong upholder of African tradition (p.51). “It’s true I cannot do my hair as white women do.” She is responsible mother who loves and cares for her family (p.67) “If a child cries or has a cough, Ocol storms like a Buffalo”. “She is jealous woman (p.39) I don’t deny am a little jealous. It is not good lying, We all suffer from a little jealousy” (p. 40). Okot uses a woman, Lawino to describe the beauty of the tribal dances, particularly the beauty of the female dancers. Lawino seems to lament to the role those Western females take in the dance of their culture. He also uses her to show that white men despise African culture. Colonialism denied Africa the right to cultural development and selfexpression.
135
136
Unit 4
African Poetry
Ocol i.
He is Lawino’s husband, and he has a girlfriend who is known as Clementine. He is arrogant (p. 35) ― “My husband pours scorn on black people.” He is an educated man (p.88) ― “he has no time to waste discussing this with a thing like me who has not been to school” He follows western culture (p. 36) ― “Ocol is no longer in love with me. He is in love with a modern woman.” He betrays his culture ― he says:
ii. iii. iv. v.
Black people are primitive And their ways are utterly harmful, Their dances are mortal sins, They are ignorant, poor and diseased! ... (pp. 35 and 36). vi. vii. viii.
He is a hypocritical politician (leader of DP) who preaches unity and at the same time he is in conflict with his brother who belong to another political party UPC. (p.73 & p. 151). He believes in Christianity (p.82). He says that “Pagan names/, Belong to sinners who will burn in everlasting fires.” Ocol insists he must be called by his Christian name. Okot speaks out against the prejudice that African tribes have received during the colonial period. He attacks the Western colonisers and addresses the African people to inherit his philosophy, and to stay firm to their culture, not to be uprooted
Clementine ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
She is Ocol's girlfriend (p. 37) She an educated woman. She is a modernised girl, (p. 37) ― Ocol “is in love with a modern girl the name of the beautiful one is Clementine.” Also, Clementine opposes African culture (p.39). She is a westernised woman who symbolises western fashion. Minor characters
a. Lawino`s Mother ▪ ▪ ▪
She is in favour of African culture (p.42), as she says she doesn’t know the white man’s dances. She is informal (p.42) She cares and loves her family.
b. Ocol`s brother ▪ He is a political leader ( UPC ) (pg. 151) ▪ He is a hypocrite. (Source: Adapted from Heron, 1984) We will now look at the themes in SOL and SOO.
African Literature AFL721S
8. Key Themes in SOL and SOO 8.1 Arrogance and prejudice Ocol treats Lawino with prejudice just because she’s never been to school and is not westernised. That is not a reason strong enough to make him despise her, who was once his beloved wife. This is very common among the Africa educated elites who mistakenly think that the western education they received elevated them higher and gave them the right to look down upon those uneducated counterparts who did not have that privilege. Lawino says;
He abuses me in English And he is so arrogant. He claims to be a modern, civilised and progressive man who has read extensively and widely and can no longer live with a thing like Lawino. His arrogance is not confined to his wife alone, but he extends it to the parents who are supposed to be his parents-in-law. She laments;
My husband abuses me together With my parents He says terrible things about my mother And I am ashamed.
8.2 Cultural alienation Ocol is mentally colonised and has a slave mentality but he has no idea about it. He praises everything that is western whether good or bad and despises everything that is African whether good or bad. Little does he realise that he cannot become a white man just by falling in love with European culture. He despises Lawino just because she cannot play the guitar, she cannot read, cannot hear a single foreign word and cannot count the coins. This proves that the western education Ocol received was just education for alienation, subordination and creation of mental confusion. Since his education has failed to transform him into a civilised man nothing is expected out of that knowledge to transform his traditional society into a modern one, he wishes to see. Lawino wonders why Ocol is abandoning his culture and a culture of his ancestors and embracing a culture that is not his. Look at the following attacks that she raises:
Like beggars you take up white men adornments Like slaves or war captives you take up white men’s ways Didn’t the Acoli have adornments? Didn’t Black people have their ways? Like drunken men you stagger to white men’s games and amusem*nts 137
138
Unit 4
African Poetry
The worst thing he learned from the missionaries was despise and hatred for his own tradition which makes him seek to destroy it. He treats his visitors, her and his own children extremely rudely because he cannot spare time for them. One key theme in SOL and SOO, is that of traditional religion vs Christianity. I’d like you to take note of Ocol and Lawino’s views on this theme. You may write the ideas in your notebook. Use your notes to do the activity below.
Activity 6: Traditional Religion vs Christianity Time Required: You should take about 20 minutes to complete this Activity
activity. Read Lawino and Ocol’s views on religion carefully and then show how traditional religion differs from Christianity.
How long?
Lawino goes back to her comparison and contrast between Christian faith as it is represented by Ocol against the Acoli traditional religion. Ocol condemns all traditional medicines although he admits that they are sometimes accidentally effective. Feedback
He condemns all the traditional beliefs because he is an educated man and a Christian. To him traditional religious beliefs are no more than foolish superstitions (p.92). He wants to wipe away all the traditional religious beliefs so he prohibits Lawino never to visit the diviner priest. For many years now since independence there has been a great deal of reassessment of the missionaries’ view of African traditional beliefs by African Christians. Many African Christians now see much that is of value in these beliefs. ▪
▪
▪
Lawino does not understand why Ocol prohibits her to wear the charms while he, himself wears the crucifix and his daughters wear rosaries. Lawino doesn’t understand why she should not pray to their ancestors while Ocol prays to the ancestors of White men like Joseph, Petero and Luka. She wonders why Ocol wants to cut the sacred tree – Okango while he kneels before the stone picture of Joseph.
This brings us to the end of the analysis of the poems SOL and SOO in this unit. You are encouraged to familiarise yourself with the two poems to ensure that you understand the analysis above.
African Literature AFL721S
8.3 Hypocrisy Ocol says that he is a man of God but his tongue proves the opposite. He cannot claim to be a God-fearing fellow and all he has got to say about his people is that they are “all Kaffirs”. He says that they do not know the ways of God and the Gospel. He portrays an open hypocrisy because God loves the sinners and the lost but Ocol in Lawino’s account she says.
He says we are all Kaffirs We do not know the ways of God We sit in deep darkness And do not know the Gospel He says that my mother hides the charms In her necklace And that we are all sorcerers With these words no one can see God whom Ocol claims to worship, as a result people find it better remaining who they are, than becoming what Ocol has become, thus no transformation is required. It is very common among politicians to say one thing and practice completely the opposite. Ocol’s political activities have brought destructive results on his own family as he hates his own brother who is in the Congress Party. Their former closeness and brotherhood have been replaced by enmity and struggle for power and political positions. He even accuses his brother that he wants to murder him. So Ocol and his brother are showing an open hypocrisy when they say they will unite all the tribes of Uganda while they have failed to unity their parties which seem to have a common mission. Moreover, Ocol prohibits Lawino to talk to his brother whom according to their tradition, if Ocol dies, he has the right to inherit her as his wife. His hypocrisy if further shown by the way he condemns the white people and says that they should return to their home countries because they have brought slave conditions in the country and they usually tell lies. Ocol forgets that his constant quarrels with his wife are caused by the way he praises white men ways of life and the way he despises his own. He is a hypocritical politician who doesn’t understand what he says or does. He has been mentally enslaved by the same white men, whom he praises and condemns at the same time. Like his white men, he too tells lies. Lawino describes the kind of hypocrisy portrayed by the missionary teachers by telling us that when the Protestants wanted to win converts they made Africans (especially young girls) work like servants for them whilst they themselves did none of the work in their own houses and did not even share
139
140
Unit 4
African Poetry
their food with the girls they wanted to convert. When it was the time for eating they sent them away to play games and the young girls had to gather wild sweet potatoes and eat them. Another form of hypocrisy is portrayed by the priests who come to conduct the mass while drunk contrary to the Christian doctrine. Lawino thinks the Christian attitude to sexual desire is pointless and hypocritical. She illustrates this hypocrisy by the tale of the teacher who followed her to the dance and the padres who are not allowed to marry but they steal glances at girls’ breasts during confessions. She insists that it is unhealthy to separate young girls and young boys from one another while the same priests start hunting for the girls. She says;
The teacher, still drunk He too is coming To hunt for girls.
8.4 Conflicts How would you define a conflict? Do you know any types of conflicts?
In-text question The conflict is a struggle between two people or things in a short story. It is a problem that must be solved, an issue between the protagonist and antagonist forces. This means that one character may struggle against another character, or against the community, forces of nature or even against something inside himself or herself. The external conflict occurs between the character and outside forces which include another character, nature, society, and fate, among others. Now that you know what a conflict is, let’s analyse the different types of conflicts in SOL and SOO.
Types of Conflict 8.4.1 Intrapersonal conflict Lawino suffers from intrapersonal conflict because of several reasons: ▪ ▪
▪
She wonders how Ocol and his brother will manage to bring unity and peace out of the insults they heap on each other. She doesn’t understand most of their political policies like Communism, and how these people will take properties from the people. She wonders that Ocol calls the white people poor and says they will buy the land from the Congress Party. It seems to her like a contradiction since a poor person cannot afford to buy the land.
African Literature AFL721S
8.4.2 Political conflict Ocol and his brother belong to two different political parties Democratic Party and Congress Party respectively. Politics has destroyed the unity of the home and has brought misery to every member of it. Ocol’s political activities have only created new conflicts without settling the old ones. The main source of this conflict is the material benefit that might partially compensate for these new conflicts. In their political activities you will never think of the fact that they slept in the same womb. Ocol insults his brother in one meeting and his brother does the same in the other. Lawino fails to see the point how these two will succeed to unite the country while they themselves are not at peace. Their political conflicts seem to hold much promise to only few, those who are strong; Lawino says
If your chest Is small, bony and weak They push you off (p. 107) Lawino believes it is the money and competition for position that drives the political leaders to hate one another and quarrel on the platforms.
8.4.3 Family conflicts Politics has brought a serious gap in Ocol’s family and has become one of the major sources of conflict in the family. Ocol and his brother are not in good terms as though they did not share the womb. ▪ ▪ ▪
▪ ▪
Ocol does not enter his brother’s house. He hates his brother and calls him a liar and a fool He has sternly warned Lawino never to joke with him because the strong gum of the joke will reconnect the snapped string of brotherhood. He accuses his brother that he wants to kill him. Ocol’s brother also insults Ocol and his followers that they are fools.
So, Lawino wonders whether this is what the unity, peace and Uhuru mean. This family quarrel confuses her so much that she says:
Others carry pieces of stones On their necks And call them heads.
8.4.4 Cultural conflicts Traditional marriage: In Acoli, a girl can visit the man whom she is
betrothed to in his bachelor’s hut so as to try his manhood before marriage. Lawino contrasts this to what she was taught about the virgin birth. Mary did not know any man when she gave birth to Jesus while she was betrothed to Joseph. It doesn’t make sense to her, how this virgin birth took place. She says:
141
142
Unit 4
African Poetry
Among our people When a girl has Accepted a man’s proposal She gives a token And then she visits him In his bachelor’s hut To try his manhood (p.90) Lawino shows the differences that exist between the Acoli’s culture and European culture in almost all walks of life. She resolves to follow her culture as she says:
I do not enjoy white men’s foods and how they eat how could I know? And why should I know? The fact that Ocol abuses African foods saying it is primitive and backward does not move or change her at all. She insists that African foods have made her strong enough to dance all night long and thus she gives her credit to it. To resolve this conflict she advises:
My husband I do not complain that you eat White men’s foods if you enjoy them
8.4.5 Religious conflicts This conflict is shown through the beliefs between traditional and In Catholicism those who ask questions regarding certain religious practices are termed as stubborn. Lawino is in conflict with her husband, the padres and the nuns because she asks them questions they cannot answer. They just want her to follow and accept their faith without questioning just as they did without asking themselves those critical questions. As a result, Lawino has sleepless nights because the people who are supposed to answer the questions that trouble her mind have no answers and are not even willing to try. They just end up quarrelling with her as she says:
The teachers of The evening Speakers Class Hate questions If you go to the padre You provoke a fight. Even the nuns discourage her by saying that asking too many questions befits only Martin Luther and the stupid stubborn Protestants.
African Literature AFL721S
Another interesting example involves the traditional African’s beliefs in misfortunes. The belief is that the ancestors are angry because they are hungry, thirsty and neglected. In such instances, a sacrifice is done to please the ancestors, so meat, blood and beer are exchanged then the living people pray to the dead to cleanse the homestead and they pray:
The troubles in the homestead Let the setting sun Go down with them By so doing they believe things resume to normal, but Ocol considers all these as paganism and superstition and accuses Lawino of mixing up matters of health with superstition. Time for another activity! To complete the discussion on themes, attempt the following activity that is based on the different types of conflicts.
Activity 7: Conflicts Time Required: You should take about 40 minutes to complete this Activity
activity. How is cultural conflict presented by p’Bitek in Song of Lawino/Song of Ocol?
How long?
Feedback
The main characters are Lawino and Ocol who are always central to the conflict as we discover in the poems during our analysis. Lawino stands for African culture and Ocol stands for Western culture. The characters such as Clementine, Clansmen, brother, Lawino's mother are minor characters for they do not support the debate from the beginning to the end. Examples of cultural conflicts include the following: The conflict is between Ocol and Lawino for the latter praises the traditional dancing which is despised by Ocol. The conflict between Lawino and Ocol because of Clementine's artificial beauty. Ocol prefers artificial beauty and Lawino the natural one. The conflict is between Ocol and Lawino because of not cooking on electric stove and not cooking white men’s food. Ocol does not like any more traditional food. Another conflict is between Ocol and his wife Lawino for the latter does not respect the time. Lawino says that Ocol is a slave of the watch. Time has become Ocol's master.
143
144
Unit 4
African Poetry
The conflict is between Lawino and Ocol because Lawino does not have a Christian name. He rejects her because she is not baptised, and she has no Christian name. Ocol as a progressive man does not pronounce Acoli names which do not sound good, he says. (SOL, P.81). Another conflict between Lawino and Ocol is that Ocol does not like Lawino anymore for she is an illiterate. He says that Lawino is not educated. (SOL, P.88) We also have the conflict between Ocol and Lawino because Lawino wants to pray to her ancestors. According to Ocol we should cry to Mariya if we suffer misfortune and we should pray to Joseph, Petero and Luka, and other ancestors of white men (SOL, P.93). Lawino does accept this and then there is confrontation. Another conflict is between Ocol and Lawino for the latter does not take care of rules of health. Lawino mixes up matters of health and superstitions while Ocol trusts in modern medicines, the white man's ones. The conflict between Ocol and Lawino as a result of Ocol's politics. Ocol's politics destroys the unity of his home and brings misery to every member of it. Lawino has joined her home, but her husband`s political activity has created new conflicts. Ocol and his brother want Uhuru and peace, but they do no join hands however, they split up the army into two hostile groups (SOL, P.111). Another faced problem is that of using modern notions for their beauty on the two hands. The conflict ends with reconciliation of the two characters. That is to say reconciliation of the two cultures: African and European. There is a restoration of harmony in Ocol's home with Lawino. So, after a series of conflict, the two characters stay in harmony. However, politics would like to destroy again that harmony. After a very long debate it is seen that there is no bad culture, but we should consider the best aspects of each culture. So, let no one be uprooted. We should preserve our culture from whatever influence. There is no bad culture and civilisation. Source: http://www.memoireonline.com
I’m sure you found this exercise challenging; it is designed to be so. I hope you also found that it gave you some clues to understanding the poem. This brings us to the end of the analysis of the poems SOL and SOO in this unit. You are encouraged to familiarise yourself with the two poems to ensure that you understand the analysis above. We will now proceed to examine the poems by Mazisi Kunene in the next section.
9. How to analyse Mazisi Kunene’s Poems Let’s start our discussion with about the poet.
9.1 About the Poet Mazisi Kunene was born in 1930 in Durban, South Africa, of Zulu Parentage. He was educated at the University of Natal and the University of London. He has held teaching positions at major institutions of higher learning, including the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Natal in South Africa.
African Literature AFL721S
In addition to teaching, he was interested in the political life of his country. For instance, he was a member of the South African National Front, and the African National Congress (ANC). He also supported and promoted liberation causes. Much like Okot p’ Bitek, he wrote first in his native oral language and style before translating it into English. He used his writing to oppose the apartheid government. In 1959, with the liberation movement under severe threat, he went into exile and played a pivotal role in the founding of the anti-apartheid movement in Britain. A few years later, Mr. Kunene became the chief representative in Europe and Africa for the African National Congress. Mr. Kunene also played a leading role in the anti-apartheid movement while in exile. While outside South Africa he published "Emperor Shaka the Great," "Anthem of the Decades" and other poems, and two anthologies, "The Ancestors and the Sacred Mountain" and "Zulu Poems." On his return to South Africa in 1993, he began publishing in his native Zulu language. That year Unesco honored him as Africa's poet laureate, and in 2005 he became South Africa's poet laureate. (New York Times, 2006)
9.2 Mazisi Kunene’s Poetry Even while living in exile Mazisi Kunene wrote epic poems that explain the cycles of creation and destruction, and the wisdom of the ancestors. His poetry which was rich in African history, and steeped in the nation's oral tradition, had a purpose beyond its artistic value. For Kunene, poetry was also a weapon in the war to liberate the nation from the brutal system of apartheid. Mr. Kunene's epic poems are viewed as part of a tradition dating back centuries. In the Zulu tradition, the poets or’ izimbongi’, spoke on behalf of the people, defining social values, celebrating what was historically significant, and acting as democratic agents, Mr. Kunene wrote in the introduction to "Emperor Shaka the Great." In his own work, Mr. Kunene spoke of the past, but made the past alive, relevant and purposeful for the times in which he lived. (Adapted: Stewart, 2006) Kunene’s poetry is also noted for its focus on pan-African and universal concerns. He believes that the function of literature is "not entertainment but primarily to teach social values and serious philosophical concepts." Kunene frequently addresses political, ethical, and aesthetic issues in his poetry. He first published verse collection, Zulu Poems (1970) which contains elegiac, lyrical, epic, and African resistance poems. Stating that these poems "are not English poems but poems directly evolved from a Zulu literary tradition," Kunene incorporates in the volume such Zulu poetic conventions as repetition, parallelism, understatement, and traditional naming devices. For example, Emperor Shaka the Great, is a verse narrative comprising of seventeen sections and more than seventeen hundred lines, describes the life and achievements of Emperor Shaka. Shaka was a nineteenthcentury Zulu leader who unified various Zulu kingdoms attempted to deal diplomatically with white settlers prior to his assassination by jealous family members and political advisors.
145
146
Unit 4
African Poetry
While other authors have portrayed Shaka as ruthless and autocratic, Kunene's Shaka is a devoted son, brilliant military leader, and dedicated pan-Africanist who often acted magnanimously. Kunene has stated that it was his intention in this work to "cut through the thick forest of propaganda and misrepresentation that have been submitted by colonial reports and historians." In his epic, Anthem of the Decades, Kunene details the Zulu creation myth. Divided into three parts, this volume, as stated by Goodwin (in Kunene, 1982, p. 175): "is a cosmological epic concerning itself with the reasons for the creation of mankind; his place in the universe; the nature of creation and creativity; the apparent contradictions of life, death, and eternity; and human social organization."
9.3 Mazisi Kunene’s Poetry in The Ancestors and the Sacred Mountain (1982) Kunene's shorter poems of the 1970s, many of them collected in his anthology The Ancestors and the Sacred Mountain (1982), concentrate on three main subjects. ▪ ▪
▪
The first group is concerned with the liberation by bloodshed of South Africa The second group looks forward to the time after liberation, and sometimes looks beyond South Africa to the world and the universe. The third concerns the ecstatic nature of poetry.
In these poems and in the smaller groupings (such as the poems about individuals, the laments, the poems on motherhood, and the personal poems) the sense of the ancestors, observing and encouraging, is always present. In addition, some poems are directly about the ancestors or forefathers. They represent for Kunene the whole company of those 'who have made their contribution to human welfare and progress', as he says in the Introduction to The Ancestors. The Zulus look to them for guidance and inspiration in their social life, and they treat them as a collective repository of wisdom (Godwin in Kunene, 1982, p. 173). The Ancestors and the Sacred Mountain (1982) contains more than one hundred poems in which Kunene: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
promotes humanity, appreciation of nature, social action, and ancestral wisdom. upholds the past as a source of inspiration for those blacks involved in South Africa's struggle for political freedom.
In the poem "In Praise of the Ancestors," for example, Kunene writes:
"[The ancestors] are the mystery that envelopes our dream. / They are the power that shall unite us. / They are the strange truth of the earth. / They come from the womb of the universe." Now, with this background knowledge on Mazisi Kunene and the poems contained in The Ancestors and the Sacred Mountain, let’s analyse some of his poems.
African Literature AFL721S
9.4 Analysing Kunene’s Poems 9.4.1 First Day After the War
We heard the songs of a wedding party. We saw a soft light Coiling round the young blades of grass. At first we hesitated, then we saw her footprints, Her face emerged, then her eyes of freedom! She woke up with a smile saying, “What day is this that comes suddenly?” We said, “It is the first day after the war.” Then without waiting we ran to the open space Ululating to the mountains and the pathways Calling people from all the circles of the earth. We shook up the old man demanding a festival We asked for all the first fruits of the season. We held hands with a stranger We shouted across the waterfalls People came from all lands It was the first day of peace. We saw our Ancestors travelling tall on the horizon. By Mazisi Kunene The analysis of this poem is taken from Course Hero (2021). See the reference at the end of this unit.
Summary of the poem Mazisi Kunene wrote much of his poetry in South Africa, in the time of apartheid, a period in which black people were discriminated against and oppressed. His poem describes the joy that people felt at the ending of this system of government. The poem lists a number of ways in which the people celebrate the news. The news is so wonderful that we see how people of all types celebrate together and ‘held hands with a stranger’ (L14). The metaphorical wedding is the creation of a new society brought about by the struggle.
Analysis of the poem
We heard the songs of a wedding party. We saw a soft light Coiling round the young blades of grass. At first we hesitated, then we saw her footprints, ▪
The use of “we” to ensure inclusion of the reader in the action and ideals expressed in the poem.
147
148
Unit 4
African Poetry
▪
A celebration taking place and the sound of jubilation heard reflects the poems celebratory tone Her face emerged, then her eyes of freedom! She woke up with a smile saying, “What day is this that comes suddenly?” We said, “It is the first day after the war.”
Her face emerged, then her eyes of freedom! She woke up with a smile saying, “What day is this that comes suddenly?” We said, “It is the first day after the war.” ▪ ▪ ▪
Gradual unveiling of “the bride”. Footprints, face, eyes. Ties in with the gradual emergence of freedom, took time to achieve. The poet identifies the “we” as those who have been involved in the struggle. The archaic syntax, highlights the formality associated with traditional literature and African storytelling technique.
Then without waiting we ran to the open space Ululating to the mountains and the pathways Calling people from all the circles of the earth. We shook up the old man demanding a festival We asked for all the first fruits of the season. The response to the news that the war is over and peace and freedom have been obtained. Onomatopoeia = ‘Ululating’ an unrestrained celebration We held hands with a stranger We shouted across the waterfalls People came from all lands It was the first day of peace. We saw our Ancestors travelling tall on the horizon. ▪ ▪ ▪
All the world is present, those involved and those who are unknown, “a stranger” - Symbolic of unity. New beginnings, feelings of expectation and excitement. The “Ancestors” are present and by being present show their acceptance and support of the events that have taken place and the celebrations being held. In African culture the ancestors are always consulted about major issues, especially the future, thus they still have a role to play even though they are passed on.
Let’s proceed to the themes of the poem.
Themes ▪
▪
The poem carries a message of renewal and hope to the people who suffered and struggled during apartheid and announces a new beginning, joy and peace that it will bring. The poem is a celebration of the end of apartheid and of new beginnings.
African Literature AFL721S
▪
▪
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
In the last line of the poem there is a reference to the ancestors, who symbolise the past and the roots of the community. ‘We saw our ancestors travelling tall on the horizon’ suggests that people should take their direction from the past and build something new. The sheer joy of people at the realisation that they are free rom apartheid. Invitation to everyone to celebrate their freedom Sharing of the joy Triumph over oppression
Source: https://gifs.africa/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/English-First-dayafter-the-war-Analysis-Secondary.pdf
Images in the poem We can now look at the imagery in this poem. I’m sure you remember noting in Unit 1 that poetry uses language in unusual ways. One of these ways or techniques is the use of images. Let’s explore some of these images.
Make a list of all the images in the poem .
Reflection The line “We shook up the old man demanding a festival ” (line 12) may refer to the speaker’s action of physically shaking an old man as they try to convey the joy of the news. However, the ‘old man’ can different interpretations: ▪
▪ ▪ ▪
The ‘old man’ could be symbolic of the older generation who have endured many disappointments and who are wary of believing the good news. It may allude to the cynics who are reluctant to embrace the joy of the moment. The old man refers to the elderly who had been subjected to apartheid for many years. A tribal leader who would have been too old to leave the tribal lands and fight the war against Apartheid.
Line 13, ‘We asked for all the first fruits of the season’. The first fruits of the season – is a religious offering of the first agricultural produce of the harvest. This was an expression of gratitude for God’s blessings. They want to show their gratitude for their newly gained freedom. This was necessary after the hardships they had experienced during the oppressive apartheid regime.
L15-16 , ‘We shouted across the waterfalls
People came from all lands’ Waterfalls is symbolic of a barrier. Their freedom transcended all barriers
149
150
Unit 4
African Poetry
‘Lands’ , emphasises unity compared to apartheid which had previously divided people. The announcement of the advent of democracy is shared with all neighbouring countries/ across borders. This is an effective description of the jubilation after the first free election in 1994 when people from all over the world came to South Africa to celebrate the new democracy. This also refers to political exiles who came back to their country and were reunited with their loved ones (McIntyre, Olivier, and Varga, 2015). Now explore the other lines and images you noted in a similar way. Examine how they use connotations to create meaning in the poem. 9.4.2 Congregation of the storytellers at a funeral of Soweto children
We have entered the night to tell our tale, To listen to those who have not spoken. We, who have seen our children die in the morning, Deserve to be listened to. We have looked on blankly as they opened their wounds. Nothing really matters except the grief of our children. Their tears must be revered, Their inner silence speaks louder than the spoken word; And all being and life shouts out in rage. We must not be rushed to our truths. Whatever we failed to say is stored secretly in our minds; And all those processions of embittered crowds Have seen us lead them a thousand times. We can hear the story over and over again, Our minds are numbed beyond the sadness, We have received the power to command; There is nothing more we can fear. (Moore and Beier,p. 20 1976 Analysis In the lament, 'Congregation of the story-tellers at a funeral of Soweto children', the government refused the people permission to have a mass funeral for the six children killed during the 16 June 1976 protest march where children protested the school system and Apartheid. This may be a reason why the people gather at night. In L1 and 2, the parents literally gather at night to tell the stories of their children’s death. They are not just going to tell how their children died, they are also going to listen how the other parents’ children died.
We have entered the night to tell our tale, To listen to those who have not spoken. In L3 and 4, the parents saw their children die in the morning. They were denied a mass group funeral, but they deserve to tell their stories to others. The people of Soweto considered all the children of Soweto to be their children.
We, who have seen our children die in the morning, Deserve to be listened to.
African Literature AFL721S
For the parents, what matters now is the grief for their children (L6), “Nothing really matters except the grief of our children”. It seems the children grieved or were dissatisfied with the school system, apartheid and they grieved for their fellow students that had died in the struggle. The children’s feelings speak louder than any spoken word, and the persona says that their tears must be revered in L7-9:
Their tears must be revered, Their inner silence speaks louder than the spoken word; And all being and all life shouts out in rage. Everybody seems to be angered by what happened to the children, and the government’s actions. In L11-13, the parents conclude by saying that whatever they did not get a chance to say, is stored in their minds.
Why is it stored in their minds? What do you think?
In-text question If you said that the parents believe that whilst the government can do anything to the people, they cannot take away what is in their minds. The mind is the safest place to store information. They also state that they are part of the struggle and have taken part in processions many times. The crowds partaking in the processions were all bitter and unhappy. However, now that their children have been killed, they say that they have no more feelings, and cannot feel sad anymore. They are no longer afraid which means they now have power to command, and to be in charge. So, nothing precious can be taken away from them, hence they can hear the story of the deaths over and over again.
We can hear the story over and over again, Our minds are numbed beyond the sadness, We have received the power to command; There is nothing more we can fear (L14-17). Metaphors The poem uses simple language; hence, metaphors are limited. I managed to identify just one in L5, “We have looked on blankly as they opened their wounds”. The “wounds” is a metaphor which refers not only the children’s unhappiness but their pain a well. The children were hurt by the Apartheid government, a system which forced them to take all their subjects in Afrikaans.
Did you identify any metaphors in this poem?
Reflection
151
152
Unit 4
African Poetry
We can now analyse the next poem.
9.4.3 As Long as I live
When I still can remember When I still have eyes to see When I still have hands to hold When I still have feet to drag So long shall I bear your name with all the days So long shall I stare at you with all the stars of heaven Though you lead me to their sad*stic beast I shall find a way to give my burden-love Blaming your careless truths on yesterdays. Because I swear by life herself When you still live, so shall I live Turning the night into day, forcing her To make you lie pompous on its pathways So shall I wander around the rim of the sun Till her being attains your fullness As long as I live…. (Moore and Beier, 1976, p. 207-208) Analysis In “As Long as I Live” Kunene shows his profound love of his country, people, and places. In the poem Kunene speaks with an intense tone of reclamation, honesty, and love. The feelings expressed here suggest despite injustice, racism, police brutalities, cultural devastation, economic exploitation, and political agendas. The use of the declarative word “I” suggests the poet’s personal integrity, steadfastness, and sincerity of purpose. Kunene expands the theme of beauty and praise in “As Long as I Live”, where he declares his abiding loyalty, love and dedication to his country’s charm and beauty. The poem is also an avowed promise, that is, of the protagonist’s call to duty, of his obligation to commit to the praise of the fatherland both in times of joy and sorrow. The repetitive employment of the first-person singular pronoun “I” serves to underscore the essence of this promise. In developing his argument, the poet goes back to recollect the events from history (“When I still can remember,” line 1) to the events of the present day (“When you still live, so shall I live,” line 11), and finally, to the promise which the future holds (“Turning the night into day, forcing her/To make you lie pompous on its pathway” (lines 12-13). Although there is pain and animosity in the land, caused by the Apartheid policy (the sad*stic beasts,” line 7), the poet says that there ultimately will emerge truth, peace and prosperity in the land (“Till her being attains your fullness,” line 16). Earlier in the poem, Kunene recollects from memory and praises the elemental forces of nature which animate his humanity and strengthen
African Literature AFL721S
his patriotic resolve: they include his “eyes,” his “hands,” and his “feet” (Lines 2, 3, 4). Furthermore, the beauty in nature, symbolised by “all the stars of heaven” (Line 6) will usher in peace and love which South Africa desperately needs. Source: (Adapted from Nurt9ja, 2014)
Literary devices The line, “When I still can remember,” suggests the poet’s recollections of his early childhood -- the period of colonialism, the days of slavery and servitude, etc. The expression, the “sad*stic beast,” is a reference to the Apartheid policy which dehumanised people or “held them in fee.” The phrase, “your careless truths on yesterdays,” recalls the blatant lies and propaganda told both to the local people and the international community by the Apartheid government that its policy has good intentions for its people. Finally, the details of the specific recollections, as exemplified in the “day,” the “night,” as well as the “eyes,” the “hands,” and the “feet” - are illuminating and interesting. They demonstrate the poet’s overwhelming sense of commitment to the issues of the moment, the past, and possibly the future. (Source: Adapted from Nurt9ja, 2014)
Now do this quick activity on themes.
Activity 8: Time Required: You should take about 20 minutes to complete this Activity
activity. To complete the following activity, read the poem “As long as I live” once again and answer the question that follow. Below is a list of themes about the poem. Decide which themes relate to the poem “As long as I live.”
How long?
Themes ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
Political reminders Celebrate humanity Historical reminders Apartheid and discrimination Love of his country Beauty of nature Nature and eternity
153
154
Unit 4
African Poetry
Feedback
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
Political reminders Historical reminders Apartheid and discrimination Love of his country Beauty of nature
Now, time for another activity! I hope you won’t find it challenging.
Activity 9 Time Required: You should take about 30 minutes to complete this Activity
activity. To complete the following activity, read the poem “First Day After the War” once again and answer the questions that follow.
How long?
What clues suggest the rural setting of the poem? Quote from the poem to support your answer. Discuss the possible literal and figurative meanings of the: 2.1 ‘footprints’ (line 4) and 2.2 the ‘young blades’ (line 3). Critically comment on the effectiveness of the final line of Kunene’s poem.
What clues suggest the rural setting of the poem? Quote from the poem to support your answer. Feedback
The ‘young blades of grass’ (line 3), the ‘open spaces’ (line 9), the ‘mountains and pathways’ (line 10) and the ‘waterfalls’ (line 15) all suggest that the events take place in the countryside. Discuss the possible literal and figurative meanings of the:
African Literature AFL721S
2.1. ‘footprints’ (line 4) ▪
Literally, ‘footprints’ (line 4) would be the physical imprint on the ground made by feet;
▪
Figuratively, it may refer to the lasting impact of another’s actions, words or behaviour.
▪
In keeping with the image of the dawn breaking, the footprints might belong to the sun whose face finally emerges, or the light gradually spreading across the landscape.
2.2. the ‘young blades’ (line 3) ▪
Literally the ‘young blades’ (line 3) could refer to freshly grown grass, while
▪
Figuratively this may allude to young men, eager to experience excitement.
3.Critically comment on the effectiveness of the final line of Kunene’s poem. The capital letter used for ‘Ancestors’ (line 18) gives the word status – emphasises it – and this is amplified by the forbears ‘travelling tall’ (line 18) as they take pride and satisfaction in the recent development. The effectiveness of the final line is achieved through the image created, that of the spiritual world paying tribute and also enjoying what has come to pass, as the silhouettes are visible ‘on the horizon’ (line 18). Activity 10 Time Required: You should take about 30 minutes to complete this Activity
activity. Now, read the next poem (9.4.4) below very carefully and make some brief notes. You will then return to your notes when we have analysed the poem.
9.4.4 Farewell
O beloved farewell… Hold these leaping dreams of fire With the skeletal hands of death So that when hungry night encroaches You defy her stubborn intrigues. Do not look to where we turn and seethe We pale humanity, like worms 155
156
Unit 4
African Poetry
(The ululations might bind you to our grief) Whose feet carry the duty of life. Farewell beloved Even the hush that haunts the afternoon Will sing the ding-dong drum of your ultimate joy Where we sit by the fireside tossing the memories Making the parts fit into each day complete; Yet knowing that ours is a return of emptiness Farewell, yewu…ye (Moore and Beier, 1976, p. 207) Analysis In this unit, I’m sure you realised that there is no single ‘right’ answer to what a poem means. This is because of the way language is used and creates meaning. So, instead of one meaning, readers have slightly different interpretations or views of a poem. But it also true that you cannot write anything that comes into your thoughts when you are analysing poetry. Your observations about the poet’s meaning must be supported by referring to the poem and how language is used. With this background, you will have noticed that the poem “Farewell” can be interpreted in different ways. It can be interpreted as a poem that is: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
mourning the unfortunate demise of a soul, celebrating the profound legacies of the dead ancestors, bidding farewell to a passing cultural landscape, warning humans of the need to perform their daily obligations dutifully because life is complex and short, criticising the injustices and crises of the mundane world.
We find all of these facts in this poem. However, you would need to quote from the poem to support your opinions.
Can you identify the above interpretations from the poem “Farewell?”
Reflection The next poem, “In Praise of the Ancestors,” discusses the ethos of the dead souls from several points of view.
9.4.5 In Praise of our Ancestors
Even now the forefathers still live They are not overcome by the power of the whirlwind. The day that sealed their eyes that did not conquer them. Even the tall boulder that stands over them Casts only a humble shadow over their resting place They are the great voice that carries the epics The Ancestors have come to listen to our songs,
African Literature AFL721S
Overjoyed they shake their hands in ecstasy. With us they celebrate their eternal life. They climb the mountain with their children To put the symbol of the ancient stone on its forehead. We honour those who gave birth to us With them we watch the spectacle of the moving mists. They have opened their sacred book to sing with us They are the mystery that envelopes our dream. They are the power that shall unite us. They are the strange truth of the earth. They came from the womb of the universe Restless they are, like a path of dreams, Like a forest sheltering the neighbouring race of animals Yes, the deep eye of the universe is in our chest With it we stare at the centres of the sky. We sing the anthems that celebrate their great eras. For indeed life does not begin with us. Analysis ▪ ▪
▪
▪ ▪
▪ ▪
The subject of this poem as the title suggests, discusses the ethos (character) of the dead souls from several points of view. The poem’s title, “In Praise of the Ancestors illuminates or highlights the persona’s bold proclamation, that is, to openly declare his affectionate feelings for the ancestors. This praise poem highly praises the virtues of the dead ancestors namely their heroism, their protective powers against a backdrop of the challenges frequently encountered by the living. The persona celebrates the immortality of the dead ancestors,” The day that sealed their eyes did not conquer them” (line 3) He also Explains how the dead ancestors interact and intermingle with the living on a continuous basis; part three, “with us they celebrate their eternal life” (line 9). Explains the eternal duty of the living towards the dead ancestors “They are the power that shall unite us” (line 16) The persona speaks to our African cultural beliefs in which we celebrate our forefathers or the ancestors Kunene’s capitalization of the word “Forefathers” underscores his respect for the ancestors.
Themes: Respect ▪ ▪ ▪
It is shown in the capitalisation of the words, ‘Forefathers’ and ‘Ancestors’ In the African tradition, great respect is bestowed upon the elders both living and the dead. In line 12, ‘we honor those who gave birth to us’ shows respect, the persona is proud and happy about the forefathers who were
157
158
Unit 4
African Poetry
there before him/her and who are fulfilling their cultural duties towards the living.
Praise ▪
▪
The title of the poem speaks to the theme of praise. In lines 2 – 6, the persona is praising and admiring the brave act of the forefathers e.g., ‘they are not overcome by the power of the whirlwind (referring to colonialism), ‘even the tall boulder…’ the fact that they are dead and buried does not prevent their cultural beliefs to be among the living. The persona praises them on their heroism(bravery) and the cultural beliefs that still exist in our midst, e.g. ‘As Africans we believe that our Ancestors still care for us wherever they found themselves after death, and the living pay homage to them through our cultural rituals in singing and dancing, e.g. ‘we sing the anthems that celebrate their great eras’.
We move on to the next poem which addresses the issue of arrogance and pride and their unpleasant consequences.
9.4.6 To the Proud
In the twirling mountains overhung with mist Foretell Nodongo the proud name of the subsequent hours Since, when you beat the loud music of your wings, The secret night creeps underneath the measured time. When you behold the fixed bulk of the sun Jubilant in its uncertain festivals Know that the symbol on which you stand shall vanish Now that the dawning awaits us with her illusions. Assemble the little hum of your peeling boast For the sake of the reward meted to Sorendeni Who sat abundantly pride-flowing Till the passerby vultures of heaven overtook him We who stood by you poverty-stricken Shall abandon you to the insanity of licence And follow the winding path Where the wisdom granaries hold increase. When shall your nakedness show Teasing you before the unshamed sun. Itching you shall unfurl the night But we the sons of Time shall be our parents’ race. (Moore and Beier, 1976, p. 205)
African Literature AFL721S
Analysis In the poem “To the Proud,” Kunene addresses the subject of arrogance and pride and their unpleasant consequences. The poem is a satire on the hypocrisy of the Apartheid South African regime which, upon assuming political power, abused it by dehumanising people and destroying their cherished assets and resources. Kunene uses humour to ridicule the Apartheid government. In L12, Sorendeni, “sat abundantly pride-flowing,” and was overtaken by the forces of time, the “passer-by vultures of heaven,” (L12). Humour is also employed when the poem’s protagonist points out the fact that the South African people will react against injustice whenever it rears its ugly head: “We who stood by you poverty-stricken shall abandon you to the insanity of license” (L13-14). The lines show both a sense of pity and defiance. Knox (1971), notes that there’s a sense of humour and delight when a hero falls from glory. The ultimate fall of the South African Apartheid policy, the poem suggests, will usher in the renaissance, the new South Africa brimming with hope, love, peace and prosperity. The metaphor, the “Sons of Time” who “shall be our parents’ race,” alludes to the future generation of South Africans who will outlive and overcome the menace of the Apartheid policy. The rhetorical question, “When shall your nakedness show/Teasing you before the unshamed sun,” suggests the poet’s impatience to see the end of the South African Apartheid regime. In addition, describing the Apartheid regime as “your pealing boast,” suggests not only the poet’s ridicule of the regime, but also his keen awareness of the fact that the regime’s future is moving to its disastrous end. Images of nature such as the “fixed bulk of the sun,” the “unshamed sun,” both suggest the truth of nature which cannot be erased or suppressed by the vanity and hypocrisy of European colonialism or Western civilisation. By implication, the Apartheid regime is ephemeral and a passing phase which shall soon disappear and be forgotten, while the sun is an eternal symbol. The concept of “time” in the line “But we the sons of Time shall be our parents’ race,” suggests that the strong will of the South African people shall live forever. Kunene’s lesson in “To the Proud,” is that the proud should be careful and cautious, and should be guided by the principles of love, truth, and peace.
159
160
Unit 4
African Poetry
What did you learn from Kunene’s poems?
Reflection In thinking about the reflection question above, you will realise that we learn about a great deal about Kunene’s life and his poetic vision and sensibility: ▪
▪ ▪
▪
he discusses diverse poetic themes, including the beauty of the African natural landscape and the dynamic role of the dead ancestors in human affairs; he criticises the evil effects of the South African Apartheid policy; and he appeals to our sense of duty and responsibility to improve our individual well-being and to enhance the fortunes of the society we live in. Kunene is a lover of humanity, a patriot, and a remarkable poet.
Let me conclude this unit by looking at steps that you may find useful when analysing poetry.
10. Steps in Analysing Poetry Earlier in this section, I advised that you use the acronyms, SPECS and SLIMS as guidelines for analysing a poem. However, there are important steps that you should follow when analysing a poem. If you are intimidated by the study of poetry and the writing of coherent and meaningful analyses of it, don’t panic. Above all, don’t look for answers on the internet. A Google search can provide you with background information (such as the poem’s historical context, or the poet’s biography), but using these answers which others have devised, will not help you to develop the skills you need to analyse poetry. Instead, follow these steps:
Begin with the title: A poem’s title can often tell you a great deal about what the poem is going to be about and the approach the poet has taken to the poem’s theme. As you explore the title, you are likely to look more closely at the poem.
Look for unusual uses of language: Unfamiliar words, or words that are used in unfamiliar ways, are clues that the poet has placed in the poem for you to unravel and to startle you into perceiving something in a new way. Take time to puzzle over what they mean.
Look at the images: Figurative language such as similes, metaphors and personification, creates images or pictures in words. What do these pictures look like? Use your imagination to recreate them
African Literature AFL721S
and enjoy their details. How do they contribute to the poem’s meaning?
Explore repetition: Any words or phrases or lines that are repeated in the poem are there for a reason. Ask yourself, what do they emphasise?
Examine the sound of the poem: Read the poem aloud, paying particular attention to rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, assonance and onomatopoeia. These are five of the most common sound-effects used in poetry. Ask yourself, how has the poet used these techniques?
Look for contrasts: Poems frequently place concepts together that we would think are contrasts or opposites. Sometimes this produces irony, which is the effect of disappointing the reader’s expectations. (Source: Kane, Byrne and Scheepers, 2014, pp.90-91) This brings us to the end of this unit.
Bruner, C.H. (1985). Review of Okot p’Bitek. Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol. In Explorations in Sights and Sounds . No. 5.
References
Distance Education Centre. (2002). The teaching of literature. Harare, Zimbabwe: Distance Education Centre. Kane, G., Byrne, D. and Scheepers, R. (2014). Introduction to Literary Studies (3rd ed.). Southern Africa, Oxford University Press. Knox, R. A. (1971). “On Humor and Satire,” in Modern Essays in Criticism: Satire , edited by Ronald Paulson, R. New Jersey: Englewood Cliffs. p. 52. Kunene, M. (1982). Understanding African Poetry: A Study of Ten Poets, Heinemann Educational Books Ltd. McIntyre C., Olivier S. and Varga E. (2015). Imagined Worlds An Anthology of Poetry, Macmillan, p. 33 – 34. https://1library.net/document/z3ev3wmq-kunene-the-first-day-afterthe-war-pdf.html Moore, G. and Beier, U. (eds.) (1976). Modern Poetry from Africa. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books. Nurt9ja, (2014). http://nurt9jageneral.blogspot.com/2014/12/mazisikunene-and-south-african.html Senanu, K. E. & Vincent, T. (eds.) (1976). A Selection of African Poetry . Burnt Mill, Harlow, Essex: Longman Group. Soyinka, W. (ed). (1975). Poems of black Africa . London, England: Heinemann. Stewart, J. Y. (2006). New York Times (Online), New York: New York Times Company. Sep 22, 2006.
161
162
Unit 4
African Poetry
p'Bitek's, O. (1972). Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol. London: Heinemann.
Keywords/Concepts
Metaphor:
a comparison that says one thing is like another.
Theme:
the central or conceptual idea
Lament:
an expression of grief and sorrow
Onomatopoeia:
a word that imitates the natural sounds of an object or action
Alienation:
The state of being isolated
Mnemonics:
Abbreviations which assist in remembering something
Unit summary
Summary
In this unit you learned about the nature of poetry, its development and different ways to define it. You were also introduced to the main characteristics of poetry, as well as the important poetical terms that are essential in the appreciation of this subject. You defined ‘poetry’ and also analysed a poem. The in-text questions and the activities you did should have helped you to get a firmer grip of poetry. You also analysed the poems, Song of Lawino/Song of Ocol, and Mazisi Kunene’s poems. I hope that all the fears you had about poetry have been allayed, as I demonstrated that poetry is written by ordinary people, for people to read, about people and nature, as a way of sharing their experiences in this world. In simple terms, human beings are surrounded by poetry throughout their lives, from birth to death. Finally, you will have noticed that most African poetry is written differently from traditional European poetry. Most African poetry is called free verse (poetry), but you must not be surprised to find African poems written like traditional European poems. In the next unit, we will explore African drama.
African Literature AFL721S
Unit 5 African Drama Introduction In this unit we are going to explore the fourth and last genre of literature. So far in this course you have learned about poetry and prose. In units 2 and 4, we examined prose fiction and unit 3 deals with poetry. In this unit we are going to explore drama ― its origins, types and basic features. Once again, may I ask you to think back to the literature courses you studied in the past? Do you remember the definition of the word “drama”? This word is derived from the Greek language, and it means “deed”, “action” or “play”. Drama is the form of literature that is intended to be performed in any kind of theatre: drama comes to life when it is interpreted in the performance of actors, who adopt the roles of the characters and speak the dialogue, along with appropriate actions, all of which have usually been invented for them by a playwright. Reading plays without trying to imagine them on the stage is apt to distort them (Gray, 1984, p.69). Let’s start by looking at the objectives of this unit. You must make sure that at the end of this unit, you can achieve these objectives.
Upon completion of this unit you should be able to:
Objectives
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
give a brief overview of the development stages of drama; summarise one of the plays; analyse characters from the plays, and examine the themes of one of the plays.
Take note of the prescribed and additional readings. In order to better grasp the concepts, you are encouraged to read further from the recommended textbooks.
Fugard, A. (1982). “Master Harold” … and the Boys. New Haven: Connecticut.
Prescribed reading
Thiongo, N. (1976). The Trial of Dedan Kimathi. Oxford, Waveland Press.
163
164
Unit 5
African Drama
Banham, M. (1976). African Theatre Today . London: Pitman Publishing Chapman, M. (1997). Southern African Literatures . London: Longman
Additional reading
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yV_eNQfXgU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDCgmU7CVqc We will start by discussing the origins of written drama.
1. The Origins of Written Drama Through drama, the human race has sought to understand itself and its place in the universe by means of symbolic characters and actions.
1.1 Drama in African societies In many traditional African societies, drama was part and parcel of life. Religious rituals were dramatised in these societies and continue to be enacted in the form of dramatic action today. Drama not only provided entertainment but also presented people with a unique opportunity to enact the human interpretation of the cosmos and to portray humanity’s struggle with the forces of nature (Adapted from Distance Education Centre, 2002, p.19)
1.2 Drama in Ancient Greece and Rome Like most aspects of the literary world, modern written drama has its origins in ancient Greece and Rome. The great Greek tragedians, Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides wrote religious dramas that were concerned with the moral relationship between people and the gods. These plays usually had an instructive moral purpose. The story was rarely original; it was usually taken from a myth already well-known to the audience. In ancient Greece, the most common plays were tragedies. “Tragedy” comes from the word “tragos”, Greek for “goat”. The goat was regarded as the most lustful (and most fertile) animal, and so perhaps the most sinful creature, next to humans. The unlucky animal was symbolically loaded with people’s sins and driven into the desert where it would eventually die of thirst and hunger. “Comedy” comes from “comoeidia”, meaning a revel, a wild party in honour of the god of wine, Dionysus, who loosens care. A tragedy deals with the fall of a man from power. (Women were rarely assigned prominent roles. Men have monopolised positions of power from time immemorial.) The fall of this great man was brought about by some unsuspected flaw in his character, or by some specific sin. For example, in Oedipus the King, a Greek play by Sophocles, Oedipus’s downfall comes about because earlier, he kills a man in a fight with robbers. When he is the king of Thebes, it emerges that he unknowingly killed his own father, and that act brought so much suffering to himself and to the whole nation. What is important to note is that actually Oedipus had no control of his actions, because everything he did had been prophesied even before he was born. In Greek tragedy, therefore, a man is not in full control of his actions. The gods control a man’s destiny. However, things changed when a Roman playwright, Seneca, came into the picture. He modelled his tragedies on the great Greeks, but introduced one difference: yes, the gods are still powerful, but the great man now exercises some measure of influence on what happens to him. Even when he loses the fight
African Literature AFL721S
when he eventually falls from grace, he goes down fighting. This is called “stoicism”. The comedies of the Greeks and the Romans had one purpose: to make us laugh at the follies of mankind, and perhaps, correct those follies in ourselves.
Do you think you can define the term ‘drama’ now?
In-text question Good effort! ‘Drama’ is from the Greek language and the word means ‘action’, ‘play’ or ‘deed’. When we talk of drama, we must think of an activity that is performed of some kind of theatre for an audience. Whenever you study drama texts, always imagine a live performance involving actors in front of an audience. If you are a teacher, always get your class to perform the play, even if they may be reading from the textbook. Under no circ*mstances must drama texts be studied in silence. Whenever possible, they must be staged for an audience.
2. The Beginnings of English Drama English drama began in the Christian Church. This started with the dramatisation of episodes from the Bible, for example the birth of Christ, or even the resurrection of Christ. This religious drama was restricted to the church, and at that time, the language used was Latin. ▪
Miracle plays: Later, the plays moved out of the church
▪
building, into the church yard, and then into the town itself. Miracle plays dealt with the miracles that were performed by Christ and his disciples. Once the plays moved into the streets, secularisation began. This simply means that church officials such as priests were no longer in control of the plays, as was the case in the beginning where only the priests, or other church-appointed officials, could act Christ’s resurrection. As soon as these miracle plays became divorced from the services of the Church, the Church began to frown on them and to forbid participation by its priests in them. On the highways and parks, the plays were no longer regarded as part of religious instruction, but rather as entertainment. Mystery Plays: The term “mystery” means “a craft, skill or trade”. These trade-guilds, or craft-guilds were organisations of skilled men, men banded together for the protection of their crafts, for the promotion of their general welfare, and for social purposes. These craft-guilds engaged in presentation of plays based on incidents in the Bible. Each guild would choose an episode in the Bible, and the episode would have to be appropriate to the craft or trade practiced by that guild. For example, the story of the creation would be staged by the drapers, The flood would be staged by the carpenters and water drawers, The passion and crucifixion of Christ would be staged by arrow-makers and Iron-mongers, The Last Supper would be staged by the bakers, etc. These plays were staged on a special
165
166
Unit 5
African Drama
day called the feast of Corpus Christi. It should be noted that in the Mystery plays, there is a gradual drawing away of drama as a tool for the Church. Drama is for entertainment. These Miracle Plays lasted for 300 years. ▪
Morality Plays: these were plays that did not take their subjects from the Bible. They were not the same as guild plays. Instead, morality plays tried to teach a moral lesson through allegory, by presenting abstract ideas as though they were real people. The best-known morality play is called Everyman. This play tells a story of the appearance of Death to Everyman (who stands for each one of us) and his informing Everyman that he must commence the long journey to the next world. Everyman calls on certain friends to accompany him: Beauty, Five-wits, Strength, Discretion –- but they all refuse to go with him. Only Knowledge and Good Deeds are ready to accompany Everyman to the grave. Everyman learns that the pleasures, friends and everything of this world avail a man nothing when death comes.
▪
Interlude Plays: these were aristocratic morality plays. An interlude was a short play performed in the middle of a feast in a rich man’s palace. The only difference between a morality play and an interlude play is that the former could be watched in the street by commoners, while the latter would take place during aristocratic occasions, for great lords in their castles, watching a morality play. Then an interlude would also be presented on this same occasion.
▪
Early English Drama: With the movement of time, after a period in European history called The Renaissance (the rebirth of learning), learned men began writing dramas. Society was becoming sophisticated, and professional companies were set up solely for staging plays. These companies were like football teams, and there was an apprenticeship system for boys (women were not allowed to act). These members of the theatrical companies had to be versatile: they had to act in tragedies, in comedies, dance, fence, sing, etc.
The early playwrights in England adopted Seneca’s model in writing tragedies. That is to say, the hero had to be in full control of his destiny. This was a departure, as we know, from Greek tragedy, where the gods are in full control of the great man’s fate. The history of modern drama cannot be complete without mentioning the input of dramatists such as Marlowe and Shakespeare. Shakespeare in particular is often cited as the greatest English dramatist ever, and there are good grounds for saying this. And yet he is not the only important person to think of when we talk of drama. Henrik Ibsen, for example, should also be mentioned, because he is the pioneer of modern drama that moved away from the tendency to have as the main character kings, princes, and all those rich, aristocrats. Ibsen’s drama is about ordinary people, and so it touches all of us, unlike Shakespeare’s that has as its protagonists the great men of society, the rulers. Once Ibsen had shifted the focus to ordinary people, other dramatists such as George Bernard Shaw came in with their drama of social
African Literature AFL721S
change. This is the type of drama that appeals to every individual; even the poorest of the poor are major characters. Now do Activity 1 below. The aim of this activity is to assess your understanding of the origins of drama.
Activity 1: The origins of drama Time Required: You should take about 15 minutes to complete this Activity
activity. Having gone through the different stages of written drama above, give a summary of how it developed.
How long?
Feedback
Modern written drama began with the Ancient Greece and Rome, where first the Greek tragedians wrote their plays based on ancient myths depicting the fall of great men. Then the Romans copied the Greeks. The early Christian Church staged plays about Biblical episodes such as the birth of Christ. Later, ordinary people staged plays outside church buildings, but still using Biblical stories. These were Miracle Plays, which were followed by Morality Plays, and these were sometimes performed in conjunction with Interlude Plays in the palaces of aristocrats. After the Renaissance, first Marlowe, and the Shakespeare popularised drama in England. Ibsen later entered the stage and revolutionised drama by bringing in the notion that protagonists must not always be members of the royal family: kings, queens, princes and princesses. Ordinary people, housewives, labourers, etc., should be major characters as well. Ibsen’s ideas were taken up by playwrights such as Shaw. I hope you managed with the activity. Now that you understand the origins and development of written drama, it is with this background in mind that we have to talk about African drama. And African drama, as I have already mentioned, has been alive since time immemorial. It has been present in what we call oral literature. For purposes of this course, it is enough to mention names such as Wole Soyinka, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Athol Fugard and Ama Ata Aidoo as African literary luminaries in the dramatic sphere. We can now proceed to look at the first play for this course.
3. Analysing ‘The Trial of Dedan Kimathi’ Kindly google search the Ngugi wa Thiongo’s name as well as the title of the play for you to get information on the author and how that background influenced the play. In-text question
167
168
Unit 5
African Drama
Now that you have basic information about the author, let’s look at his biography together in the next section.
3.1 Bio-Literary Perspective of Ngugi Wa Thiong’o and Mĩcere Gĩthae Mũgo Born in the village of Kamirrithu in 1938, Ngugi was known as James Ngugi until his symbolic decision in 1970 to reject his Christian name and revert to his Gikuyu name–Ngugi, son of Thiong’o. Ngugi grew up in the white-settler dominated Kenyan Highlands. He studied in both mission-run and independent Gikuyu schools. Ngugi was still a schoolboy when the Mau Mau guerrilla warfare between the Land Freedom Army and the Kenyan colonial government began in the 1950’s. His deaf and mute brother was shot dead during the State of Emergency and his mother was held in solitary confinement after his older brother joined the resistance movement. He was a novelist, essayist, playwright, journalist, and editor, academic and social activist. The Mau Mau struggle became an important symbolic source for shaping much of Ngugi’s writing. (https://sol.du.ac.in/mod/book/view.php?id=954&chapterid=608). Mĩcere Gĩthae Mũgo was also born in Kenya. She is a poet, playwright, literary critic and Professor in the Department of African American Studies at Syracuse University. She co-authored the play The Trial of Dedan Kimathi with Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o. She is a committed community activist in the struggle for social justice. Mĩcere is also a passionate advocate for human rights especially as they have been historically denied to marginalised groups.
3.2 The Preface Remember that a preface is an introduction to a book, typically stating its subject, scope, or aims. It is not without significance that Ngugi and his co-author Micere Mugo offer a much longer than usual preface explaining the thinking behind the text, the kind of questions which prompted it ----whether, for instance, the theme of Mau Mau was now exhausted, or whether on the contrary, it had ever been adequately treated in Kenyan Literature. Researching the play showed Ngugi and Micere not only how important the memory of Kimathi still was to the people of his area, but also that direct personal knowledge contradicted standard or official accounts of the man. One common belief was that Kimathi had acquired military skill through having served with the British in World War 2, rather than, as now appeared to be the case, from his own abilities and the circ*mstances of the independence struggle against the British. The Kimathi play was envisaged as just the first series which would resurrect the history of Kenyan resistance to foreign invaders --- again highlighting the importance of a sense of connection and continuity, with Mau Mau as only the latest example of Kenyans’ refusal to accommodate themselves to foreign occupation, as well as part of a continent-wide, ultimately worldwide, movement of anti-colonial resistance. The play has been considered as a transitional text---Ngugi’s first collaborative project, jointly written, but with input from a number of others; It is his last play written in English and makes more extensive use of Gikuyu, the native language of Nyeri. The opening and closing songs, the street vendors’ cries and the interrogation of suspects embeds the text with a hybridization which marks a break away from canonical texts. In terms
African Literature AFL721S
of power relations, the play offers a straightforward opposition between indigenous rebellion and various forms of colonialism—military judicial and collaborationist---- and though colonialism ‘wins’ because Kimathi is captured and killed, the evidence of popular resistance indicates that colonialism will not always be victorious. Source: Adapted from https://sol.du.ac.in/mod/book/view.php?id=954&chapterid=608)
3.3 The Summary of Dedan Kimathi The Trial of Dedan Kimathi is a revolutionary play set during 1952-60 that revolves around Kenya during pre-independence era. The play was written as a response to a play (that came out in 1974) by Kenneth Watene, which characterised Kimathi, the leader of the Mau Mau uprising, as a crazed and brutal paranoiac. It derives its content from the actual trial of Kimathi after his betrayal and capture in 1956. The play also reveals the struggles of the Kenyans against the Europeans. The whole story weaves around Dedan Kimathi, the protagonist and Kenya’s hero. The play opens in the court of law where Kimathi would be tried. Kimathi is summoned to a court by a European judge, Shaw Henderson. Kimathi appears. Both his hands and legs were chained. In the court, the whites occupy the prominent position, while the blacks stand at the back, listening to the judge as he reads out from a file. Dedan Kimathi is charged of possessing a revolver without a license. Guilty or not guilty?’ Shaw Henderson, but the author makes extensive use of mime, dance, and Gikuyu song to portray Kimathi as a courageous freedom-fighter struggling against the forces of imperialism. Meanwhile, measures are taken outside the court, in the street, to rescue Kimathi from the prison before he would be tried again in court. Woman, a courageous and bold female freedom fighter, makes plans to rescue Kimathi by giving him a gun and allowing him make his escape. She put the gun in a loaf of bread and gave it to Boy who would take it to an orange seller at the street. The orange seller would take it to a prison guard who would in turn take it to Dedan Kimathi. Unfortunately, the plan is sabotaged. The orange seller has been captured while selling his goods. He is sent to a detention camp. The prison guard has been changed and replaced with another guard. A new plan has to be created. In the cell where Dedan was held captive, he is visited by many professionals who try to convince him to confess the oath and surrender so that Kenya would live in peace. He is first visited by Mr. Shaw Henderson, the judge. The judge talks to him as ‘a friend.’ ‘I want to help you my friend,’ said Mr. Shaw. All he tries to do is convince Kimathi but all efforts seem futile. Kimathi is also visited by a bank executive who promises to offer a share in the company and a bank account. According to the executive, ‘the war is delaying business growth.’ The next was a politician. He says that Kenya ‘will receive’ their independence ‘province by province.’ He also promises that if Kimathi would surrender to the Europeans, there would be no racial segregation. To expatiate the truism of the aforesaid statement, the politician comes with an Indian. The Indian claims that when they submit to the Europeans, the Europeans grant them independence/the
169
170
Unit 5
African Drama
Indians sing their national anthem/ they also worship their god. The expatiation is cut short by Kimathi who counters the speech. Kimathi denies the existence of happy people in India. He also condemns the Indians who were further subjected to the Europeans despite attaining their independence. But, according to the Indian, what matters is that the Indians have their own ‘national anthem and serve their own god.’ While all these are happening, a priest is in a dark alcove of the prison. after the bank executive, the politician and the Indian have left, the priest comes out of the dark. He told Kimathi of how stubborn Kimathi has been. He further condemns Kimathi of being bewitched by his village people. “You were baptised”, the priest said. The priest further tells Kimathi that if Kimathi would confess and surrender, that ‘the church would be Africanised/ there would be drums in the church/ both blacks and whites would attend whatever church they wish to.’ Hypocritically, he urged Kimathi to stop fighting for the things in this world because “the world is passing away and so is its desire” and also because “God doesn’t like bloodshed.” Kimathi is bold enough to counter the opposition and white-washed speeches of the ‘European collaborators.’ He referred to all of them as traitors. While in the prison, Kimathi recalls the betrayal of his own people. Hungu, Mwendanda, Gati, Gaceru and Wambararia surrenders to the Europeans. They also point out the fighters who took stand against the Europeans. Notable among these persons is Wambararia, Kimathi’s brother. Kimathi wonders if dying for Kenya was really worth it. He awaits an upcoming trial. Kimathi appears for the last time in the court. He is charged of possessing ‘a gun known as revolver without a license guilty or not guilty?’ Kimathi tells the judge that if he rules for justice, he will listen to the voice of the depressed/ hear the cry of the oppressed and fight for the powerless. These words cause mumbo jumbo in the court. Boy and Girl were also in the court to carry out a plan to rescue Kimathi. Finally, judge Shaw Henderson sentences Kimathi to death by hanging with immediate effect. He leaves the court. Boy and Girl remove a revolver and shoot it at the roof. The whites run out, but the blacks remain to sing their sorrowful songs. Source: Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/12055994/Summary_of_the_Trails_of_Dedan_Kimat hi
3.4 Context of The Trial of Dedan Kimathi The Trial of Dedan Kimathi covers the period of the Mau Mau’s insurrection and Kimathi’s relentless fight against colonialism in history and politics of Kenya which led to the independence of Kenya in December 1963. It is set during 1952-60, the last phase of British colonial rule in Kenya. Kimathi, leader of the Kenyan Land and Freedom Army (Mau Mau) is shown in the final confrontation with his British Captors before his execution in 1957. Written by Ngugi wa Thiong'o and Micere Githae Mugo, The Trial of Dedan Kimathi was first performed in Kenya, with subsequent productions in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Nigeria.The atmosphere of the play is one of the unrelieved tension between the resolute will of the peasants and workers of Kenya and the callous and oppressive colonial army and police. The solidarity and strength of the Kenyan men, woman and children makes the colonial
African Literature AFL721S
rulers view each one of them as a “Mau Mau terrorist”. The people’s identification with national struggle is so intense that the woman, a pivotal and motivating figure in the play, hides a pistol in a loaf of bread in order to rescue the imprisoned Dedan Kimathi and the boy unconditionally devotes his life to the cause for which Kimathi has been detained, tortured and sentenced to death. Ngugi and Mugo excavate a misrepresented segment of Kenyan history, “reconstructing it imaginatively”, even “resurrecting Dedan Kimathi” as a hero of the Kenyan people, disrupting negative myths about Kimathi propagated by the British. Kimathi was the leader of the armed guerrilla struggle of peasants and workers, called the Kenya Land and Freedom Army, an organised, disciplined force, mainly peasants of the Gikuyu group and others in Kenya. Their goals, under leaders such as Jomo Kenyatta (the first President of free Kenya, 1964-1978), and Dedan Kimathi, the protagonist of The Trial of Dedan Kimathi were to reclaim their stolen land and eliminate the colonial yoke. The British misnamed this freedom struggle as “Mau Mau”, sounding like mumbo jumbo driven by disorganised peasants on killing sprees. The British despised Kimathi and his guerrilla tactics, and to root out the Mau Mau and their leaders, the colonisers imposed a State of Emergency (19521960) — a dark period of colonial brutality. The Trial of Dedan Kimathi takes us into the heart of this segment of Kenyan history. Source: Retrieved from https://drama.arts.uci.edu/sites/default/files/dramaturgical_notestrial_of_dedan_kimathi.pdf
3.5 The dramatist techniques in The of Dedan Kimathi The Trial of Dedan Kimathi is a folk play with political overtones that can best be performed in terms of a hybrid mode of presentation. It is a blend of realistic theatre, mime and African song and dance tradition. Real action of the play takes place in streets; with Kimathi symbolising the active, pulsating life of his beloved Kenya which is freed from the isolation of his cell which threaten to instill in him corroding doubt by cutting him of from his people. There are numerous references in the play to the threat of divisive machinations of the colonial rulers and the weakness in being misled by them. The division is greater between the masses and the African collaborators of imperialism. Greater unity is needed to help and carry forward the struggle for the freedom. The third trial when they try to persuade Kimathi to surrender and accept the imperialist offer, emphasises this political maneuvering. Kimathi is fighting for his people for whom and by whom real freedom is to be won. These are the people who are seen in the streets living and shaping their lives, living and shaping Kenya’s history. The major experimentation by Ngugi and Mugo is witnessed in the interspersing the play with songs, giving instructions that, on the whole action should be seen as demolishing the demarcation between formal and infinite time, in suggesting that Henderson plays both Judge-Prosecutor and a member of the Special Branch and projecting him as the enemy friend of Kenya. Source: Retrieved from https://www.scribd.com/doc/220204609/DramaticTechnique-in-the-Trial-of-Dedan-Kemathi
171
172
Unit 5
African Drama
Activity 2 Time Required: You should take about 30 minutes to complete this Activity
activity. Provide a short summary of the first, second and third movements of the play.
How long?
The Trial of Dedan Kimathi, is divided into three movements which capture the past, present, and future “flowing into one another.” The settings include a Courtroom, a street (visible from the Courtroom), and Kimathi’s jail cell in the present with flashbacks to the past. Feedback
The “trial” opens in the Courtroom with white Judge Henderson who also plays Prosecutor, the “friend/enemy of the African people.” Kimathi “remains silent, defiant” as the Judge reads out his “crime.” The scene demonstrates a distinct racial division of whites seated comfortably and “Africans squeezed on rough benches.” By the play’s end, there is a distinct shift in the courtroom of some Black African collaborators joining the whites. Kimathi faces “four trials” in his cell, with visits from bankers European, Asian and African. Other visitors include a generic Priest, and Politician. All spout platitudes about “progress, development, and investments” while the immediate issues of restoring land and livelihood to ordinary Kenyans is hardly mentioned. The final “Third Movement” goes into a flashback in which Kimathi recalls a meeting in the forest when he faces the moral dilemma of dealing with his own brother, a collaborator with the coloniser. The play consists of four trials which are centred on Dedan Kimathi. The first trial is when Dedan Kimathi is captured by British officers and is assured that there will be “fair” trial but it is ironical since the trial is anything but fair towards Dedan Kimathi. The blacks are mimed in the background. The trial will only ensure that the colonisers get their way and keep on ruling, the only purpose of the trial is to torture and tempt Dedan Kimathi into surrendering and revealing names of fellow revolutionists. The four trials are under the second movement which focusses inside the courtroom and on the divide between whites and blacks. The first trial is an encounter between Shaw Henderson and Dedan Kimathi. He tells him that if he pleads for his life he will be spared. Dedan Kimathi rejects it and names his comrades who have gone to the British’s side. He reaffirms his faith in revolution and promises to have a vision of free Kenya. In the second trial a delegation of people meets Dedan Kimathi. The banker says economic development in Kenya has taken place because of colonialism. He also stresses that armed resistance ruins economic progress. It becomes
African Literature AFL721S
visible to the reader that people who build the country will be enslaved while the master will harvest. In the third trial a politician, priest and businessman come to tempt Dedan Kimathi. This time an African businessman is spokesperson, and he says that there is no more racism and colour bar in administration, business, public places, loans and acquisition of land. Dedan Kimathi rejects the politician’s offer. The priest then says he will Africanise the church but Dedan Kimathi calls him a betrayer of true faith. The priest is removed from native reality; he is equivalent to the settlers and is unworthy of being called child of God. The fourth trial again includes Shaw Henderson, he asks him to tell the whereabouts of Mathenge. He is brutally beaten and tortured in chamber. Dedan Kimathi is more in pain in mental terms rather than physical pain. He realises there are traitors among his own people. He knows the will of natives is stronger than his temptations and tortures. The torture in the fourth trial is torture to all the Kenyan people. The play does not allow you to forget the connection between Dedan Kimathi and Kenya. Dedan Kimathi does not die in the play because Kenya’s struggle did not die. The people of streets come to court to make liberation possible. Despite the foregone conclusion of Kimathi’s execution by the British, the play ends on a positive note of hope and continuing struggle with ordinary “workers and peasants” who invade the stage “at the centre of which are Boy and Girl, singing a thunderous freedom song.” Along with drumming, freedom songs in Gikuyu and dance/movement sequences depicting Black people’s history, this play presents a powerful theatrical experience for today’s audiences. The play is as much about Kimathi as it is about heroic and ordinary black people in Kenya. I hope you found this activity interesting. Let’s proceed to the next section.
3.6 The title of the play "The Trial of Dedan Kimathi" Do you think it is a proper title? Which other title can you possibly think of as an alternative? How do the events in the play relate to the play? In-text question The title of the play highlights key aspects of the play, the trial of Kimathi and the progress of Mau-Mau rebellion movement and its contribution in the freedom of Kenya from imperialism. The below passage discusses the title and explains its significance. I would like you to look at the paragraph closely; see what you can discover about the title of the play. If you have read the play already, this will be an interesting and most rewarding exercise, but even if you haven’t, you can achieve something by it.
173
174
Unit 5
African Drama
The Title of the Play “The Trial of Dedan Kimathi” Dedan Kimathi was a legendary hero of Mau-Mau liberation movement against British rule in Kenya and their cultural, political and economic aspirations. The mission of Dedan Kimathi is to recover the lost identities of self-respect of Kenya- their proud heritage. He is the hope of freedom in the play and stands as the representative of the Kenyan peasantry and masses. Pratibha Nagpal in her critical analysis says “the play wishes to depict the heroic struggle of the African people. The play is written in three movements that symbolically merge past, present and future. The play opens and ends with the trial of Dedan Kimathi.” The play consists of four trials which are centred on Dedan Kimathi. The first trial is when Dedan Kimathi is captured by British officers and is assured that there will be “fair” trial, but it is ironical since the trial is anything but fair towards Dedan Kimathi. The blacks are mimed in the background. The trial will only ensure that the colonizers get their way and keep on ruling, the only purpose of the trial is to torture and tempt Dedan Kimathi into surrendering and revealing names of fellow revolutionists. The four trials are under the second movement which focusses inside the courtroom and on the divide between whites and blacks. The first trial is an encounter between Shaw Henderson and Dedan Kimathi. He tells him that if he pleads for his life he will be spared. Dedan Kimathi rejects it and names his comrades who have gone to the British’s side. He reaffirms his faith in revolution and promises to have a vision of free Kenya. In the second trial a delegation of people meets Dedan Kimathi. The banker says economic development in Kenya has taken place because of colonialism. He also stresses that armed resistance ruins economic progress. It becomes visible to the reader that people who build the country will be enslaved while the master will harvest. In the third trial a politician, priest and businessman come to tempt Dedan Kimathi. Dedan Kimathi is caught in the dilemma of pain and fear. He is confused between accepting the master’s offer to save his own life and fulfilment of freedom dreams. This time an African businessman is spokesperson, and he says that he was also was part of black man’s dream at one point of time and that Dedan Kimathi has won the war because there is no more racism and colour bar in administration, business, public places, loans and acquisition of land. The reader knows that in spite of all this, the natives have not got any political freedom and only regional freedom is given. Dedan Kimathi rejects politicians offer and ridicules him for giving regional freedom when the collaborators are the reason for British’s control on the native land. The priest then says he will Africanise the church but Dedan Kimathi calls him a betrayer of true faith. The priest is removed from native reality; he is equivalent to the settlers and is unworthy of being called child of God. The fourth trial again includes Shaw Henderson, he asks him to tell the whereabouts of Mathenge. He is brutally beaten and tortured in chamber. Dedan Kimathi is more in pain in mental terms rather than physical pain. He realizes there are traitors among his own people. He knows the will of natives is stronger than his temptations and tortures. Dilip K. Basu in his essay says “in the four trial and two movements, the doings of imperialists and their agents are exposed through speech and action. Kimathi is shown upholding the charge brought against imperialism by injured, exploited and humiliated of the country”. Shaw Henderson becomes both attorney and judge; he turns the table against the enemy. Kimathi is on trial in a sense he has to pass a test; the test is
African Literature AFL721S
to see whether Kimathi will save Kenya’s freedom. Every offer made to Dedan Kimathi is actually made to Kenya and Kenyan people. The torture in fourth trial is torture to all the Kenyan people. Play does not allow you to forget the connection between Dedan Kimathi and Kenya. Dedan Kimathi does not die in the play because Kenya’s struggle did not die. The people of streets come to court to make liberation possible. The trials are spiritual and judicial, real and metaphorical trial also happen. The four trials question the basis of large economic politicalsocial systems with a call to overthrow the whole system. The trial scenes have religious echoes- the trials remind reader of Christ’s temptation in wilderness for forty days by Satan known as Lent. The vision in play is of a better Kenya that’s used to tempt Kimathi but Kimathi saw through imperialist’s intentions. Chidi Amuta says that Dedan Kimathi is not the one on trial but imperialism is. Doings of imperialists are exposed through the agents of imperialism. Trial of Dedan Kimathi is also people’s trialall workers and peasants are exploited by imperialists. Every offer made to Dedan Kimathi is indirectly made to the people of Kenya. Torture on Dedan Kimathi is torture inflicted upon the people of Kenya. It brings in focus the point that the people of Kenya are on trial as Dedan Kimathi. The trial of Dedan Kimathi is contrasted with the trial of Mau-Mau traitors and imperialist soldiers which happens at guerrilla camp in Nyandarua forest. Kimathi acts as a judge in the guerrilla camp in a trial of traitors and deserters. Weakness of Dedan Kimathi is that he is “too human” sometimes. Everyone gets listened unlike the colonial court. Two images of mother are seen to be in opposition- Kimathi’s mother pulls him backward while the woman propels him into a positive forward thinking. Dedan Kimathi can’t stand Africans killing each other; he will never go against his own comrades. The key words ‘trial’ and ‘Dedan Kimathi’ in the title of the play are emphasized here. The opening scene is of a trial which is centred on Kimathi. The play is focused on the freedom of Kenya and how Dedan Kimathi is an important part of it. There are many trials in the play which further emphasize on the aptness of the title. There are trials of Dedan Kimathi as the title suggests but imperialism and its agents are equally being questioned in the play. The title of the play rightly fits as the play is about Dedan Kimathi who is being held in court. Source: Yadav, D. (2017) https://englishhonshelp.wordpress.com/2017/03/10/discuss-the-title-of-theplay-the-trial-of-dedan-kimathi
I found the passage informative and got ideas on the significance of the title. The ideas include: ▪
▪
The title of the play highlights key aspects of the play; the trial of Kimathi and the progress of Mau-Mau rebellion movement and its contribution in the freedom of Kenya from imperialism. Dedan Kimathi was a legendary hero of Mau-Mau liberation movement against British rule in Kenya and their cultural, political and economic aspirations. He is the hope of freedom in the play and stands as the representative of the Kenyan peasantry and masses. The mission of Dedan Kimathi is to:
175
176
Unit 5
African Drama
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
▪
▪
Represent a free vision of Kenya. recover the lost identities of self-respect of Kenyans to restore the pride heritage of the Kenyan people to depict the heroic struggle of the African people The play is written in three movements that symbolically merge past, present and future. The play opens and ends with the trial of Dedan Kimathi” The Trial of Dedan Kimathi attempts to rewrite Kenyan history. Every offer made to Dedan Kimathi is indirectly made to the people of Kenya. The Trial of Dedan Kimathi is also the trial of the people of Kenya—the workers and the peasants, exploited by the imperialists. In that sense, every offer that is made to Kimathi in the Trial scenes, can be seen as an offer made to the people of Kenya. The torture inflicted on Kimathi in the Fourth Trial is symbolic of the general torture inflicted on the people after the “screenings” and detentions were started. It brings home the point that the people of Kenya are as much on trial as Kimathi is. Shaw Henderson becomes both attorney and judge; he turns the table against the enemy. Kimathi is on trial in a sense he has to pass a test; the test is to see whether Kimathi will save Kenya’s freedom. Every offer made to Dedan Kimathi is actually made to Kenya and Kenyan people. The torture in the fourth trial is torture to all the Kenyan people.
The four trials question the basis of large economic political-social systems with a call to overthrow the whole system. The key words ‘trial’ and ‘Dedan Kimathi’ in the title of the play are emphasised here. The opening scene is of a trial which is centred on Kimathi. The play is focused on the freedom of Kenya and how Dedan Kimathi is an important part of it. There are many trials in the play which further emphasize on the aptness of the title. There are trials of Dedan Kimathi as the title suggests but imperialism and its agents are equally being questioned in the play. The title of the play rightly fits as the play is about Dedan Kimathi who is being held in court. Let’s now proceed to look at the characters in this play. You are reminded that it is important to understand and interpret the characters and their action in order to understand the author’s intentions.
3.7 The characters The characterisation of the play is not complicated. The characters are not too many but rather concentrated on the history of Kenya.
Dedan Kimathi Dedan Kimathi is the protagonist and one which the play is built around and centered upon. Dedan Kimathi was Kenya’s leading freedom fighter. He is a symbol of “anti-colonial resistance and has a literary and historical tradition among the Kenyan” (Magel, 1983, p.239). He fought against the European colonialism and the idealism of imperialism. He was considered a major threat to the whites because
African Literature AFL721S
he led several freedom fighters against the European government. Most Kenyans looked up to him as a hero and a ‘Moses’ who could deliver Kenyans from the hands of the pharaoh-like Europeans and lead the Kenyans to their freedom. Unfortunately, Kimathi was captured and detained at a prison camp. In the prison where he was held, Kimathi was mercilessly tortured, beaten and dehumanized. He was also subjected to trials at court. Source: https://www.academia.edu/12055994/Summary_of_the_Trails_of_Dedan_Kima thi
Kamathi was believed to have supernatural powers. The says that Kamathi could become invisible by “turning himself into an aeroplane” and could “laugh and no enemy would hear him” (Ngugi, 177, p. 61). The young also says that Kimathi can “walk for one hundred miles on his belly” and he can “mimic any noise of a bird and none could tell the difference” (Ngugi, 1977, p. 61).
The “woman of Kamathi” The woman whose name is not mentioned, plays the part of a narrator and angel who hints us on the violence that is brought about by colonisation. She is described as "a simple peasant, the woman is obviously world wise, and perceptive of behaviour and society. Throughout, her actions are under complete control: her body and mind are fully alert" (Ngugi, 1977, p.9). She is presented as a fearless woman who plants the seeds of revolution in the youths’ minds. She encourages the boy to join forces with “our people, the humiliated, the injured, the insulted, the exploited, the submerged millions of labouring men and women of Kenya” (Ngugi, 1977, p. 9) to fight colonial oppression. She is a daring woman who disguises herself as a fruit seller to smuggle a gun to their leader, Kamathi in prison. The unnamed woman is symbolic of the ideals of the independence movement. She represents the ideals of the Mau Mau revolution. Her role in the play is to introduce the youths to the meaning of the revolution and adulthood. Her role is also double fold, representing a mother figure to the young boy and girl, and a revolutionary fighter to the government colonial forces (Magel, 1983).
The Boy and the Girl In the First Movement, the youths are introduced as street vagrants and hard-core dropouts. They are seen in the street over a five-shilling tip given to them by an American tourist. The boy shouts at the girl "Where is my Money? I will kill you for it" (Ngugi, 1977, p.15). The boy who claims to "know people who have killed for much less" (Ngugi, 1977, p.17) has been living as an orphan in the alleys of Nairobi by begging, stealing and fighting with other orphans for food and clothing scraps. Through such hard life experiences, they had "learnt how to live and we became men and women before our time" (Magel in Ngugi, 1977, p.19). The girl is described as having "obviously very young but has undoubtedly seen life and hard times." Fighting with the boy, she spits and claws at her captor with viciousness.
177
178
Unit 5
African Drama
They are portrayed as the youths of tomorrow while Kimathi is the character that represents Old Kenya. Their imitation of Kimathi’s heroic deeds identifies them as newly initiated freedom fighters. As such they themselves become “metaphors of the continued spirit of anti-colonial resistance and rebel.” The unnamed boy and girl are also “metaphors for all the lost youth of Kenya. Their transformation in the play becomes the model for others to follow” (Magel, 1983, p.239).
Shaw Henderson He is the one who sentences Dedan Kimathi to death. He presides over the trial and symbolises the hypocrisy and unfairness of European colonialism.
Activity 3 Time Required: You should take about 20 minutes to complete this Activity
activity. After reading about the characters in the play, give a brief analysis of Kimathi’s role in the play.
How long?
▪ ▪
Feedback
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
▪
Kimathi is seen as the armed resistance movement. He embodies the peasants' armed resistance to British colonial oppression. He incorporates their hope for military and political expertise; He represents their profound love and respect for nature and the land; He personifies the people's need for a fearless, indomitable leader; He has the moral courage to actively pursue their dreams of freedom from colonial oppression. For Ngugi wa Thiong'o and Micere Mugo, Kimathi represents a stable model of Mau Mau against which the thoughts and actions of the other characters in the play are measured (Magel, 1983, p. 2420. He is the hope of freedom in the play and stands as the representative of the Kenyan peasantry and masses.
Now that we have examined the main characters, we can move on to discuss the themes. This is the subject of the next section.
3.8 The themes in The Trial of Dedan Kimathi Exploitation and injustice The boy’s father died painfully from a machine accident injury in which he cut off his right arm. Bleeding profusely without medical care and protection from his employers, he was left to die at the factory. The
African Literature AFL721S
boy was subsequently thrown out of their house for failure to pay the rent. The boy’s father died from a machine accident at work. His right hand was cut off and he was left to die at the factory with no medical attention. After his father’s death the boy failed to pay rent and was thrown out of the house.
Colonial oppression This theme is shown mostly through the lives of the African business executive, African politician and African priest. These "progressive" Africans confront Kimathi wa Wachuri's in his jail cell at his Third Trial in the Second Movement. They try to convince him to confess his guilt and promise to end the "Mau Mau" revolt. Their pleas identify them as self-serving, colonial sympathisers and opportunists. Pleading for his conciliation with the colonial government, the African businessman argues:
There have been two important announcements. They (British Colonial Government Officials) have said: No more racialism. No more colour bar. In public places. In Administration. In business. In allocation of loans. In the grabbing, well, in the acquisition of land. Partnership in Progress, that's the new motto. Is this not what we have been fighting for? Any black man who now works hard and has capital can make it to the top. We can become local directors of foreign companies. We can now buy land in the White Highlands. White Highlands no more. It's now: willing Seller, willing Buyer (Ngugi, 1977, p.45). Dedan Kimathi identifies these hypocritical Africans as having "Black skins; colonial settler's hearts" (Ngugi, 1977, p.46). He accuses them of becoming new masters, grabbing the labour, land and life of the Kenyan peasants like "new drinkers of honey from human skulls" (Ngugi, 1977, p.47). The business executive, politician and priest’s intend to participate in the colonial system for their own benefit. They represent the victimisation of the Kenyan peasants by European and African bankers, businessmen, politicians and clergy. These are the people who exploit the African resources through their parasitical activities. This means injustices of colonial exploitation regarding land and people's rights did not change with the new government. This is the unacceptable behaviour which is being challenged by Dedan Kimathi in his jail cell.
Who do you support between Kimathi and the businesspeople?
Reflection Poverty The boy and other orphans survive by begging and stealing money. They live in the streets and theirs is a harsh life. Through this hard life experiences and his companions, they had learnt how to live and become men and women before their time (Ngugi, 1977, p.19). “From the youth's perspective, manhood is defined as the ability to look after oneself in a hostile world, taking advantage of other people's
179
180
Unit 5
African Drama
weaknesses and profiting from their mistakes and ignorance” (Magel, p.242). At this moment, I would like you to reflect on the play and record in your note book any other themes that I have not mentioned above. This also helps you to become a critical and discerning reader. Now let’s proceed to examine the second play that you will study in this course. Please make sure you read the book before you proceed in this section. Make your notes and then read what I have written to deepen your understanding.
4. Analysing “MASTER HAROLD” … and the boys by Athol Fugard Please make sure you read the play before you proceed in this section. Make your notes and then read what I have written to deepen your understanding.
4.1 Athol Fugard’s biography
In-text question
What do you know about the author? What do you think influenced the author to write this play? Can you briefly check the autobiography of Athol Fugard and the historical setting of the play to see the factors that shaped the writing of the play? Athol Fugard was born in the Karoo village of Middleburg, Cape Province, South Africa in 1932 to Irish and Afrikaner parents. He is widely acclaimed as one of the most powerful and novelist, actor, teacher and director who writes in English, and is best known for his political plays opposing the South African apartheid system. He used theatre to attack the injustices of apartheid. Each of Fugard's plays is based on events he has witnessed, people in his life, and incidents in his own life experience. In 1958, Fugard worked as a clerk in the Native Commissioner’s Court in Fordsburg, the “pass law” court. This was a court where black Africans were taken when they were in violation of the pass laws which regulated their movement in urban areas. It was during this time that he learned of the injustices of apartheid. Due to the political persecution in apartheid South Africa, he and his wife moved to London to experience theatre free from racial segregation and discrimination. Fugard and his family later returned to South Africa in 1967. Although his productions did not break any laws, they angered government officials, who, without reason, revoked his passport, but due to international protest on his behalf, the passport was returned in 1971. Fugard’s anti-apartheid works consist of The Last Bus (1969), Friday’s Bread on Monday (1970), Boesman and Lena (1969), Klaas and the Devil (1956), The Cell (1957), No-Good Friday (1956), Nongogo (1957), The Coat (1966), and People are Living There (1968). Because of the strong hold apartheid had on South Africa’s people and culture, Fugard’s works weren’t produced in the country until 1994, after the end of apartheid. The plays set in Port Elizabeth (roughly 1961-1982) depict the familial and personal struggles caused by apartheid. For instance, Hello and Goodbye (1965) dramatises a brother and sister who have been estranged for more than ten years. Fugard’s extremely personal “Master Harold” … and the Boys (New Haven, 1982) confronts racism and
African Literature AFL721S
prejudice as passed down through generations and is absorbed into one’s culture. As apartheid was ending in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Fugard’s My Africa plays (1989-1996) confront the new challenges that face postapartheid South Africa. My Children! My Africa! To date, Fugard has written 33 plays. His earliest plays were published in the late 1950s, ‘Klaas and the Devil’ (1956), ‘The Cell’ (1957), ‘NoGood Friday’ (1958), and his most recent plays include ‘Coming Home’ (2009), ‘Have You Seen Us?’ (2009) and ‘The Train Driver’ (2010). (Source: Dramaturg, 2010)
4.2 Background information
“MASTER HAROLD”… and the boys is considered Fugard’s most personal play. In an attempt, perhaps, to forgive his past behaviours and reconcile relationships with his family and friends, the play draws heavily from his childhood (Dramaturg, 2010, p. 10) The relationship between Fugard and his father would be central to his personal character, relationships as a child and, later, his dramas. His did not have a close and stable relationship with his father. Fugard’s father was crippled from a childhood accident and could not work to support the family. He was alcoholic, racist, an absent father and distant in his relationship.
Is this father-son relationship reflected in “Master Harold”… and the boys?
Reflection His father was disabled and couldn’t work to support the family. His mother ran the family’s Jubilee Residential Hotel and the Saint George’s Park Tea Room to support the family. The Jubilee was home to the Fugards, and a temporary home for travellers and Port Elizabethans. Sam and Willie were two black servants who became Fugard’s greatest friends. In the six years that the family lived at the Jubilee, Fugard would spend much of his time in the servants’ quarters and exploring every room in the hotel (Dramaturg, 2010, p. 11) Fugard’s relationship with Sam Semela, the waiter at the Jubilee Residential Hotel, is central to “MASTER HAROLD” ... and the boys — and to his childhood. He was only 10, yet he had power over an older man. Even so, Sam was a role model to Fugard and he recognised the qualities within him that made him a man, a surrogate father. Sam worked at the Jubilee and St. George’s Park Tea Room for 15 years. Fugard was very fond of him; they would read books together and entertain each other in the servants’ quarters. It was Sam who made him a kite in March 1961, an incident which he writes about in “Master
Harold” ... and the boys
4.2 Summary “MASTER HAROLD”... and the boys opens in a tea shop in Port Elizabeth, South Africa in 1950. Willie and Sam, two black waiters who work there, are discussing Willie’s dance steps for the ballroom competition he is
181
182
Unit 5
African Drama
entering in a couple of weeks. The conversations Hally, Sam and Willie have with each other are about the daily events and problems in their lives. Willie is desperate to win his ballroom dance competition, Hally must complete his homework and deal with his father's return from the hospital and Sam is concerned that Hally should show respect for his father in spite of his failures. Underneath the personal issues that affect all these characters, the political climate is also revealed. Harold, also known as “Hally,” a seventeen-year-old boy whose parents own the tea shop, walks in. Hally, Sam and Willie act more as friends, even though Sam and Willie work for Hally’s family. Hally settles down to do his homework and Sam serves him his lunch, a bowl of pea soup. Sam says that Hally’s mother is bringing his father home from the hospital that day. Hally denies that this is true, since he believes his father has not sufficiently recovered from his alcoholism to return home. This news makes him uneasy, and he becomes agitated with both Sam and Willie. He returns to his homework to distract himself. Sam is interested to learn what Hally is studying, prompting a discussion about the significance of historical and literary figures. Hally begins to recall about how he used to tutor Sam and Willie in the subjects he was learning in school as a younger boy. Hally would visit Sam and Willie every day and would spend more time with them than he would with his own parents or kids his own age. As he remembers the day that Sam taught him how to fly a kite, Hally gets a call from his mother confirming that she is bringing his father home from the hospital. Hally argues with her about whether or not his father is ready to come home. He loses the argument and again turns his anger loose on Sam and Willie, ordering them to get back to work. Sam and Willie dance as they work and continue to discuss the ballroom competition. They talk about the beauty and perfection achieved in dancing that isn’t achieved between people of different nations, beliefs and economic status. Hally thinks their talk might make an interesting topic for a paper he has to write for school and joins the discussion. Hally receives another phone call from his mother asking him to come home to greet his father. Hally refuses but then is forced to speak to his father on the phone. Hally’s tone changes immediately when he talks on the phone and he pretends to be happy about the homecoming. Once off the phone, Hally is angry, and Sam discourages him from saying hurtful things about his father. Hally lashes out against Sam as he never has before, reminding Sam of his status as a servant, not a friend or a father. In an effort to hurt and humiliate Sam, Hally sides with his father and makes a racist joke at Sam’s expense. He insists that Sam refer to him as “Master Harold,” and not as the familiar “Hally.” Sam informs Hally that if he requires him to call him “Master,” Sam will do as he wishes, but the consequence will be that their relationship is forever changed. They try to reconcile but realise that nothing can ever go back to the way it was. (Dudgeon, Ford, Gordon & Levy, n.d.).
4.3 Study plan In your close reading of the text, you will need a study plan to gain a deeper insight into the play. We will start by looking at the setting of the play first.
African Literature AFL721S
Can you recall what we mean by setting?
Reflection
4.3.1 Setting The play is set in Apartheid South Africa, in Port Elisabeth. Apartheid was introduced as a state policy in 1948. This policy entrenched discrimination between blacks and whites in all areas of life and placed the black people in an inferior position. In the 1950’s world of “MASTER HAROLD”... and the boys, Port Elizabeth was one of the last major urban areas of South Africa to remain relatively open to black South Africans. It was overcrowded with black South Africans who had moved from the rural areas because of the drought. Sam and Willie lived in the Hally’s boarding house because housing was a big challenge. By the end of the 1940s, the area was home to South Africa's poorest black population and had become a hotbed for diseases like tuberculosis. As a result, the shanty residences were demolished to control overcrowding. In 1949, black South Africans choosing to move to Port Elizabeth were forced to register their presence with the municipality (Dudgeon, et.al., n.d.).
4.3.2 Influence of the apartheid on the play What do you know about apartheid?
In-text question I’m sure you know about it since it also affected Namibia. Adding to what you already know, apartheid was “a system of laws put in place by the white-minority government in South Africa. It enforced discrimination and segregation of the black and “Coloured” (mixed race) majority, denying them their basic civil and legal rights” (Dudgeon, et al., n.d. p.4) To understand the play “MASTER HAROLD” ... and the boys, you must be aware of how the apartheid laws in South Africa and how they affected the lives of the black people.
“MASTER HAROLD” ... and the boys was first performed and was also set in a time of the apartheid in South Africa. The Apartheid was the bases of the play. Through the play Athol Fugard wanted the audience to understand the lives of the black Africans during the time that they were segregated, this is historical fiction. The play contains many social, cultural, and historical aspects of this time period. The laws and ideas during the apartheid were also seen throughout the play. The apartheid started when Dutch natives immigrated to South Africa to find gold. Many acts were created to segregate the coloured people from the Afrikaners.
The Native Areas Act was created to separate the African natives from the Afrikaners (whites), by forcing the African citizens to live on 14
183
184
Unit 5
African Drama
percent of the land even though they had a bigger population then the white immigrants. The Native Land Act made it illegal for blacks to purchase or lease land from whites except in reserves.
The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act: This act made marriages between white people and people of other races illegal in South Africa. The Immorality Act: It was passed in 1950. It banned marriage between the races and was followed up in 1950 with a ban on sexual relations between whites and blacks. On the grounds of the Immorality Act, the police tracked down mixed couples suspected of being in relationships, ransacked their homes, and arrested couples caught in bed. Most couples found guilty were sent to jail, and blacks were often given harsher sentences than their white partners. In 1985, the Immorality Act and Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act were both repealed.
The Bantu Education Act: This act limited the education blacks received. It was an attempt by the government to limit career possibilities for the black population, thereby preserving management jobs for South African whites.
Population Registration Act: required everyone to be registered in 4 distinct racial groups and have NI numbers that showed their race. This is a common theme in the play, showing the influence of the passbook on an African’s life. This act also did not allow Africans to own land, vote, and move to different areas, also for employment in white areas they needed a permit.
Group Areas Act: forced many Africans to relocate to another area. It dictated where different population groups could own property, reside and work. The government consolidated existing segregated areas, establishing townships for non-whites, designated either African, Indian, or "Coloured" (South Africans of mixed race). These townships were usually several miles from the cities themselves, and the government designed these areas to be connected to major business centres by only one of two avenues of transportation, which could be easily closed off. Thus, the Group Areas Act made political uprisings already banned by law - particularly difficult to maintain. The Group Areas Act also made it illegal for Africans to be present in cities for more than 72 hours without official permission
Reservation of Separate Amenities Act: the segregation of public areas, things like taxis, restaurant, hotels, churches etc. By the play being influenced by these social, cultural, and now historical aspects it truly depicts the life of the Africans during that time period.
The Bantustans: These were sometimes called Black Homelands during the apartheid era. Black people were expected to live in these ethnically divided areas. The Bantustans consisted of separate blocks of land under a single administration, and were generally badly overcrowded, unproductive and economically unviable. The Tswana speaking people were assigned to Bophuthatswana, the Ndebelespeakers to Kwa Ndebele, etc. The Xhosa were consigned to two areas, Transkei and Ciskei. In this play, the Ciskei is the homeland of Sizwe Bansi. It is referred to with great scorn several times in the play.
The Pass Laws: The action of the play revolves around these
cumbersome and repressive laws which controlled the movement of Black people in South Africa during the dark days of racial
African Literature AFL721S
discrimination. Going as far back as 1923, all African men had to carry evidence of being registered in urban where influx control was applied. Contracts of employment had to be registered and men who had not found work within a certain time were forced to leave the town. After 1952, when apartheid was in full operation, all African men and women had to be in possession of a ‘reference book’, that is a passbook, all the time.
Natives (Abolition of Passes and Co-ordination of Documents) Act, No. 67 of 1953: South African pass laws originated in 1760, long before formal apartheid. The black population was required to carry passes signed by their white landowners when traveling between towns. Under apartheid, pass laws became a means by which the government regulated traffic of non-whites. Many industries supported pass laws in the 1800s, when the market for labour was greatest, as certain passes enabled blacks to legally work in white areas. Under the Natives Act, a single 96-page "reference book" replaced the 11 existing passes offered by the government. This book contained the fingerprint of its holder, along with his employment history and other personal information. All African men had to carry evidence of being registered in urban areas where influx control was applied. Contracts of employment had to be registered and men who had not found work within a certain time were forced to leave the town. After 1952, when apartheid was in full operation, all African men and women had to be in possession of a ‘reference book’, that is a passbook, all the time. Like the passes before it, this book had to be carried at all times under threat of punishment by law, and the authorities had the right to invade any home inhabited by blacks it so chose in order to search for documentation. Those caught with an expired pass were forced to pay a fine. If they could not pay this fine, as was often the case, the person would be imprisoned, often for months at a time (Dudgeon, et al., n.d. p.12 -13).
Select one of the laws above and show how it relates to the play “MASTER HAROLD” ... and the boys. Did you manage? Reflection In South Africa, 25 million non-whites were denied all human rights by 4 million ruling whites, including:
The right to vote: Blacks cannot vote, and Black political parties were banned or decades.
The right to citizenship: Blacks are not allowed citizenship. Instead, the South African government is setting up reservations or "homelands" for Blacks (13% of the land. the most barren and resource-poor areas) which it claims are their true national homelands. 87% of the country belongs to white citizens. This portion included the fertile land, natural resources, and the industry.
The right to labour organisation: Blacks were prohibited from forming unions and from bargaining collectively.
Strikes were illegal: Black workers who do much of the work in mining and manufacturing are paid a fraction of the wages paid to whites,
185
186
Unit 5
African Drama
while they work under dangerous and unbelievably oppressive conditions. The right to housing: It was against the law for most Blacks to live in the cities where they worked. Some Blacks lived in ghettoes called "townships" outside the cities. Often husbands and wives were forced to live separately in prison-like "hostels."
The right to free speech: Almost all Black newspapers and organisations had been banned since 1976. At that time over 1,000 Black protesters were killed by the government, many of them students who were protesting rules outlawing native languages in schools.
The right to travel freely : Every African over sixteen had to produce a pass on demand. Similar to a passport, the passbook includes an identity number, finger prints, a signature of an employer, tax receipts, and personal information. Africans can be stopped at any time; if they do not have their pass, they are arrested. Over 3,000 such arrests were made every day. This passbook law creates the circ*mstances governing the development of the human drama in “MASTER HAROLD” ... and the boys is (Adapted from Dudgeon, et al., n.d.). 4.4.3 Character analysis
“MASTER HAROLD” ... and the boys features the developing consciousness of the main characters through what they say, their actions, experiences, amongst others.
How do you analyse characters? Do you remember?
In-text question You are correct if you said that to analyse characters, we rely on the information given by the author in the text. This information may be conveyed by what t they say, what others say about them, their actions. Let’s proceed to analyse the characters in “MASTER HAROLD” ... and the boys. However, I would like you to be involved in this process by doing the activity below. Time to do the next activity.
Activity 4 Time Required: You should take about 60 minutes to complete this Activity
How long?
activity. After reading about the characters below, give a brief description of each of the characters in the play.
African Literature AFL721S
a. Sam Sam is a black South African waiter working in St. George’s Park Tea Room who befriends Hally. Recognizing the pain and embarrassment Hally’s father has caused young Hally, Sam has spent a great deal of time with him in an attempt to strengthen the boy’s faith in himself, and to separate Hally’s father’s faults from Hally’s own sense of identity. Sam functions simultaneously as Hally’s friend, father, servant, teacher and student. While Hally might be conflicted over his regard for Sam as a friend, father figure and servant, Sam is always aware of his actual status in society as a servant. He cares deeply for Hally but knows that he does not take the place of his actual family. This knowledge comes out of the racial discrimination of the time, but also out of Sam’s respect for family in spite of Hally’s parents’ imperfections. However, when Hally disrespects his bond with Sam by adopting the racism of his father, Sam is not immune to feelings of betrayal. While they both try to reconcile at the end, it is ultimately Sam’s age and experience with society’s racism that exceeds Hally’s understanding of why they can’t return to the way things were. (Source: Dudgeon, Ford, Gordon & Levy, n.d. p.8) b. Willie Willie, a black South African waiter at St. George’s Park Tea Room, spends much of his time practicing for an upcoming ballroom dance competition. In “MASTER HAROLD”...and the boys, dancing serves as a metaphor for a perfect society unavailable to any of the three characters in the play--a world in which people cannot hurt or abuse one another. Ironically, Willie uses his girlfriend’s inability to keep time while dancing as an excuse to beat her. The seriousness with which he approaches his study of dance and instruction to his girlfriend signifies several things. Willie’s desire to win the competition reflects a need for ownership that he has been denied while in service of Hally’s family. The way he abuses his girlfriend Hilda reflects a cycle of abuse that the social and political climate has helped perpetuate. Willie himself has been abused and he then takes out his own frustrations on Hilda. Willie also serves as a witness to the way Hally treats Sam at the end of the play. Because their relationship shifts so dramatically; Willie’s presence serves as a reminder to them both that they can never go back. (Source: Dudgeon, Ford, Gordon & Levy, n.d. p.8) c. Hally Hally is a seventeen-year old white South African boy growing up in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. He spends his afternoons in his mother’s cafe, the St. George’s Park Tea Room, conversing with waiters Sam and Willie. He has spent a great part of his youth with these men. Hally, who has lacked a positive fatherly presence in his life, has looked to Sam to fill some of that role. At the same time, Hally has had more education than the two men and performs the role of teacher when spending time with them. Hally’s attitude has likely been shaped by the South African society in which he lives, where black people are considered inferior to white people. Because Hally relates to Sam and Willie in conflicting ways as both friend and employer, son and teacher, his behaviour towards them is often erratic. Hally struggles with his parents’ lack of involvement in his life
187
188
Unit 5
African Drama
and is also a poor student. Desperate to regain a sense of control over his feelings toward his own father, Hally often lashes out at Sam and Willie. His discussions of what he learns in school help him maintain a sense of confidence in himself when he can teach Sam and Willie something that they don’t know. (Source: Dudgeon, Ford, Gordon & Levy, n.d. p. 9)
Sam:
Feedback
Loving and caring Considerate Hally’s father figure and friend Forgiving Respectful Resilient Poor servant uneducated
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
Willie ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
Violent Uneducated Inconsiderate Impatient Hally ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
Ignorant, Shows entitlement, Arrogant Racist Loves his father Lacks knowledge about real life Has formal knowledge
I hope you managed to describe the characters correctly and added more descriptors. Now, let’s move on to discuss the themes in this play.
African Literature AFL721S
4.3.4 Themes Racial discrimination Fugard makes a powerful statement that every relationship, experience and memory is affected by the political climate in which it exists. The racialism between the characters is influenced by the setting and context. In 1950, South Africa had a sanctioned system of racial segregation and oppression, also known as apartheid. There were four racial groups ― blacks, whites, coloureds and Indians. It was a socially hierarchical system which privileged white South Africans. Residential areas, parks and public services were divided and allocated according to one’s colour.
Examples of racism in the play include: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
▪
Sam and Willie were blacks and they worked for the white family as servants. The fact that they are labelled as black means that they are as inferior, and they will always be in the lower class. The jokes about blacks laughed at by Hally and his father. Hally refers to the black people’s tribal dances as “savage.” Hally spits in Sam’s face. Sam and Willie calling Hally, ‘master’ even though they were older than him. In this racially divided society, Hally is given authority and the “Master” status because he is white. Just as Hally is elevated to the role of "Master" because of his race, Sam and Willie are not given the respect of being "men", but rather "boys" because they are black (Dudgeon et. al, n.d., p. 10).
Can you identify more examples of racism in the play?
Reflection Abuse, oppression and inequality Closely linked to the racial discrimination theme is that of abuse, oppression, and inequality.
Examples in the play include: ▪
▪ ▪
▪
Hilda, Willie’s dancing partner runs away because he beats her when she misses her step. Willie’s previous partner, Eunice also ran away for the same reason. At school, Hally is also a victim of physical abuse. He is hit with a ruler through his pants. In prison, Sam describes how blacks receive “strokes with a light cane.” They are held by the ankles with their pants down, and shirts covering their heads. Hally is punished for spending time with Sam in the servants’ quarters. We see how children are manipulated to adopt the oppressive beliefs and practices of the apartheid regime.
189
190
Unit 5
African Drama
▪
Sam couldn’t sit on the bench at the park because he’s black. He had helped Hally to build a kite in the park, but Sam had to leave because Hally was sitting on a "Whites Only. Trauma
What is your understanding of trauma?
In-text question Trauma can be defined as a deeply distressing or disturbing experience (Payne, Levine & Crane-Godreau, 2015). Sam believed that he and Hally had an inseparable bond, regardless of their racial differences. Sam was a father figure to Hally; he had been there to fill the void during Hally’s father’s absence. Until Hally spits in Sam’s face and revealed his racist identity. Now Sam is emotionally traumatised because he believed that Hally was not racist. Even though Hally’s father was not physically abusing him, he was psychologically abusing. Hally as a small boy was indirectly traumatised, because he had to take care of his father which can be said to be a situational irony. Hally was tired of massaging his father’s legs, which he referred to as “old grumpy legs. He had caused embarrassment to Hally for always getting drunk and he had to be carried by a black man, Sam. Sam and Willie were blacks and they worked for the white family as servants. The fact that they are labelled as black already creates a sense of trauma because blacks are seen as inferior, and they will always be in the lower class. Sam had a room in the back yard, meaning, because he is black and he is a servant, he cannot mix with his masters.
Resilience What would you say if someone asked you to define the term resilience?
In-text question I’m sure you mentioned that resilience looks at how people make it despite difficult circ*mstances or experiences. It is a positive outcome despite the experience of adversity, the ability to continue to be positive or effectively function in adverse circ*mstances. One scholar, Mlambo (2011, p. 200), defines resilience as
“the capacity for strategically absorbing disturbance and challenges, and for coping with the complex uncertainties in life so as to survive and move beyond survival.” We also note that individuals considered resilient: have a positive outcome despite the experience of adversity continue to be positive or effectively function in adverse circ*mstances
African Literature AFL721S
recover after a significant trauma (Schoon, 2006) Resilience addresses the strengths that people and systems demonstrate that enable them to rise above adversity. It is the ability to recover and bounce back in life after experiencing tough situations or events. It is also associated with concepts such as survival, recovery, and thriving depending on the stages at which a person may be during or after facing adversity. Variables that characterise resilience and thriving include positive self-esteem, strong coping skills, optimism, adaptability, confidence and forgiveness among others. With this background knowledge, try to explore how the theme of represented in the play. You will do this by exploring the examples of resilience in “MASTER HAROLD” … and the boys” by doing the following activity.
Activity 5: Exploring the theme of resilience Time Required: You should take about 30 minutes to complete this Activity
activity. Now that you know what resilience is, identify examples of resilience in the play.
How long?
Examples of resilience in the text:
Feedback
a. Kite flying ▪ In order to cope with the trauma that Hally had experienced at the hands of his racist, crippled and drunkard father, Sam made him a kite and taught him to fly it. ▪ This made Hally look up to something instead of looking down with shame and drowning in embarrassment, which is traumatic for a little white boy living in the Apartheid era. b. Sam’s room Sam’s room in the play symbolises a sanctuary for Hally. This is a place where Hally could go to escape all family troubles. This room was Hally’s place of refuge, he found love, comfort and solace that he needed to survive this conflicting world. c. ▪ ▪ ▪
Education Hally to Sam ‘informal education’ Mathematics History
191
192
Unit 5
African Drama
▪ ▪ ▪
English Physics Man of Magnitude
d. Acceptance ▪ This refers to tolerating what is perceived as undesirable behaviour ▪ You cannot change the way things are but you can change the way you perceive it. For instance, Willie being an African man is stripped off his manhood by being deprived of the respect he deserves ― calling a little boy ‘Master.’ e. Optimism and hope This means the victim of trauma mentally and psychologically produces fresh insights and a new sense of purpose and hope. Throughout this play Sam and Willie talk about ballroom dancing, a competition in which Willie is going to take part in. Ballroom dancing symbolises a world without collision, freedom and escape. Willie and Sam have hope and are optimistic to one day see a world without racism and apartheid, a South Africa in which both blacks and whites get along, “dance together”, without bumping into each other. Just like the dancers in a ball room. Let’s proceed to the next section.
4.4.5 Imagery Sam’s room: In the play symbolises a sanctuary for Hally. This is a place where Hally could go to escape all family troubles. This room was Hally’s place of refuge, he found love, comfort and solace that he needed to survive this conflicting world.
Kite flying : In order to cope with the trauma that Hally had experienced at the hands of his racist, crippled and drunkard father, Sam made him a kite and taught him to fly it. This made Hally look up to something instead of looking down with shame and drowning in embarrassment, which is traumatic for a little white boy living in the Apartheid era.
Ballroom dancing : Ballroom dancing serves as a metaphor for a world in which the inequalities and injustices that occur in daily life under apartheid don't exist. As you know, studying Literature demands that you read the actual texts yourself. What is contained in this guide is just that –- a guide! Therefore, buy your own copy of “MASTER HAROLD” … and the boys, and read it carefully, paying particular attention to the points that I have raised in this unit. If you study the play thoroughly, you will enjoy this course, and what is more, you will pass it with flying colours Now that you know the background to the play, I would like to encourage you to watch the following YouTube video clips on the following sites.
African Literature AFL721S
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7MYLKxOEnQ Master Harold...and the boys Book Review Recommended website
28 May 2015, Uploaded by Soukeyna Wade Master Harold and the Boys part 1 https://youtu.be/IDCgmU7CVqc 9 August 2011- uploaded by Gurttle Master Harold and the Boys part 2 https://youtu.be/CKi9-0jn0Ew 24 June 2012 – uploaded by Gurttle Master Harold and the Boys part 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Htf7t0rp-AQ 24 June 2012 – uploaded by Gurttle Master Harold and the Boys part 4 https://youtu.be/KZ3kYn7zHZE 24 June 2012 – uploaded by Gurttle Master Harold and the Boys part 5 https://youtu.be/x2fJTWIrgJE 24 June 2012 – uploaded by Gurttle Master Harold and the Boys part 6 https://youtu.be/r4_s5qfkmps 24 June 2012 – uploaded by Gurttle
Do the video clips enhance your understanding of the play and its setting? How? Can you play them again and compare what you see in the video with what happens in the play? Can you think of how the different races interplay in the video? How about the emotions? There is nothing more I can do for you. The onus is now on you to study Master Harold … and the boys , and The Trial of Dedan Kimathi . I cannot read them for you, and nobody, not even your best friend, can interpret the plays for you. May I end by encouraging you to buy your own copies of the plays or download an e-copies from the internet. Remember do not share Literature texts with anyone, just as you do not share your toothbrush, not even with your dearest spouse.
193
194
Unit 5
African Drama
Distance Education Centre. (2009). The teaching of literature in secondary schools. Harare, Zimbabwe: Distance Education Centre.
References
Dramaturg, K. M. (2010). Study Guide. Chicago: TimeLine theatre. Dudgeon, E., Ford, L., Gordon, H., & Levy, E. (n.d.). Study Guide: “Master Harold” … and the Boys.www.steppenwolf.org Fugard, A. (1982). “Master Harold” … and the Boys. New Haven: Connecticut. Gray, M. (1984). A dictionary of literary terms. London, England: Longman. Gunner, E. (1984). A handbook for teaching African literature (2nd edition). London, England: Heinemann. Magel, E.A. (1983). Symbolism and Regeneration in Ngugi wa Thiong'o's and Micere Mugo's The Trial of Dedan Kimathi. Canadian Journal of African Studies. Vol. 17, No. 2 , pp. 239-245 Mwita, S. (2019). http://samwiterson.blogspot.com/2019/05/song-oflawino-by-okot-pbitek-samson.html Ngugi wa Thiong'o and Micere Githae Mugo. (1977). The Trial of Dedan Kimathi. London: Heinemann. Payne, P., Levine, P. A., & Crane-Godreau, M. A. (2015). Somatic experiencing: using interception and proprioception as core elements of trauma therapy. Frontiers in Psychology,6 , 93. Sandana, S. (n.d.). https://pdfcoffee.com/the-trial-of-dedan-kimathipdf-free.html# Schoon, I. (2006). Risk and resilience: Adaptations to changing times . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511490132 Yadav, D. (2017). English Hons Help. Retrieved from https://englishhonshelp.wordpress.com/2017/03/10/discussthe-title-of-the-play-the-trial-of-dedan-kimathi This brings us to the end of the fifth unit. You are encouraged to familiarise yourself with the keywords and summary to ensure that you have understood the main concepts of this unit.
Keywords/Concepts
Drama:
The form of literature intended to be performed in any kind of theatre
Apartheid:
Afrikaner for separateness; apartness
Resilience:
The ability to recover and bounce back in life after experiencing tough situations
Trauma:
A deeply distressing or disturbing experience
Racial discrimination:
Unfair treatment of someone because of their race.
African Literature AFL721S
Exploitation:
The action or fact of treating someone unfairly in order to benefit from their work.
Unit summary
Summary
In this unit you learned how African drama is similar to, but also differ from the other literary genres. The unit traced the development of drama, from the ancient Greeks and the Romans, through the early Christian Church, the Miracle Plays, Mystery (or Guild) Plays, the Morality Plays, right through to the Elizabethan era that saw the rise of playwrights such as William Shakespeare, up to the emergence of our own great dramatists such as Wole Soyinka, the first African to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986. As in the novel and short story section, we noted that African history influences African drama, so that our focus of attention, ‘“Master Harold” … and the Boys’, and ‘The Trial of Dedan Kimathi’, can best be appreciated by placing those play in their political and cultural contexts. I hope the in-text questions and the activities in the unit helped you to grasp the important points about African drama. You defined ‘drama’, and also traced its origins. You went on to name some of the world’s leading dramatists, and you also analysed the plays. Lastly, you had the chance to analyse the character and their roles, and also discussed the themes. The unit ends by going over some of the key literary terms that you are going to encounter as you study African drama.
195
