The Role of Women

In Chapter 2, the Dedalus family becomes unstable financially and some family members starting to lose their grip on reality, such as Uncle Charles becoming senile and Stephan’s father drinking. This shift in Stephen’s world leads him to retreat into literature, especially The Count of Monte Cristo with a great admiration for the protagonist Edmond Dantès. Dumas’ novel spurs Stephan’s hormone enraged ideas of romance, love and lust. Whereas before, the slightest feeling of romance came from Stephan’s crush for Eileen Vance, which he never acted upon. However, I’ve noticed he never acts on his sentiments towards a girl unless it is with a prostitute. (Side note: Which makes me wonder where he is getting the money to pay for a prostitute if his family is on such hard times?) I haven’t finished the book, but with that said, I have a suspicion that Stephen has some hang-ups around women. What I mean is when Dantès rebuffs Mercédès with a staunch “Madam, I never eat muscatel grapes,” Stephen creates this weird, complex obsession around women (58). He has such a fervent respect for the Virgin Mary but regularly visits prostitutes, who are seen as inciting sinful acts by his community. The two offers a break from everyday life in their ways and Stephen seems to use them as a safe haven due to everything just falling to pieces.

Joyce

The number of allusions in Joyce's first chapter alone make it hard to get through for me, personally. I mean, I really enjoy reading it, but in some ways I wish there were no endnotes, because that would force me to trudge through without pausing for every single note.

I think it is really interesting (and disgusting) that in Stephen gets thrown into the square ditch, and thus the image of human waste comes into the book immediately. This is an image we have previously been exposed to both in Dangarembga and Tutuola, although there it is much more graphic. Here, we get to use our imaginations to picture the disgusting act of being pushed into the square ditch, and I am trying to figure out which makes us more sympathetic as readers. Personally, I find myself more sympathetic in the instance of Joyce, because my imagination is more focused on the fact that it is disgusting than the details that disgust me.

As far as Stephen's penchant for words and lyricism, that didn't catch my attention until Prof. Shingavi pointed it out in class. I of course noticed the ditties and songs, but only after discussing the way Stephen seems to focus on words and their lyrical quality did it all tie in together. I think that sets Stephen apart from other children, and reminds me of Ake in the fact that Stephen is represented to be an extraordinary child.

Independence and Decolonization

Conferences

Upcoming

Independence and Decolonization

April 15-17, 2010

Inspired by the upcoming bicentenary of Mexican independence in 2010, this symposium brings together an international group of scholars to reexamine the long and varied histories of decolonization. Students of decolonization generally focus on the post-World War Two era and the reconfiguration of territorial and social borders that came with the end of European empires in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. But the world has seen many different “ends” to colonialism as the “first wave” of independence movements in the Americas demonstrates. Twenty-three scholars in a series of seven panels will examine these different processes of decolonization and independence in a variety of settings, from rethinking classic examples such as the Algerian revolution to contested cases such as the Ottoman Empire’s breakup and the challenges faced by people left stateless in the wake of empire. Working at the intersection of new empirical research and recent theoretical developments, participants will critically interrogate and enlarge the paradigms by which we understand decolonization.

If you have registered and will be attending the conference and would like to view a pre-circulated paper, please email: historyinstitute@austin.utexas.edu.

Conference Registration (required, free)

Schedule (PDF, 44K)

Poster (PDF, 2M)

Convened by Profs. Susan Deans-Smith, Benjamin Claude Brower, and Mark Metzler.

Sponsored by the Institute for Historical Studies.

Childlike Syntax

Something interesting that I have noticed throughout My Life in the Bush of Ghosts is the style in which Amos Tutola writes. In the Foreword, Geoffrey Parrinder states:

“Tutola’s writing is original and highly imaginative. His direct style, made more vivid by his use of English as it is spoken in West Africa, is not polished or sophisticated and gives his stories unusual energy… His writing is distinct from the correct but rather stiff essays that some more highly educated Africans produce…”

I have to agree with this point. There is a certain almost rambling feel to Tutola’s syntax at the beginning of the novel. The sentences are long and often repeat words or ideas… such as I did not “underst[and] the meaning of ‘bad’ and ‘good’”. He repeats this idea even in the following chapters. This style does two things for me as a ready. First of all, it creates a haunting overtone. The repetition is almost eerie, and the repetition of this phrase leaves the reader expecting to hear about the consequences of not knowing good or bad. The second thing it does for me, is mimics a child’s linguistic style. Children tend to make run on sentences or repeat ideas just to get a point across. Tutola is definitely not a child, but he writes with a childhood characteristic. This is what was missing in Ake and almost made the book unbelievable. As Soyinka was trying to relate a childhood experience in adult language and terms, here it seems as if Tutola is mimicking that childhood “experience” with altered syntax. An example of this is on page 113:

“ But having travelled with her to a distance of about one and a half miles we entered a town, and immediately we entered there I asked her for the name of the town, she replied that it is a nameless town.”

This line is almost poetic due to its rhythm. It reminds me of a children’s song. But something to notice is that these kinds of sentences become less frequent throughout the book up until the ending when he returns to his earthly town. Almost at once that singsong syntax is reiterated and to me, it seemed as if in a way he was a child again. When he left, he was a child and his mother and brother treated him as one. They did not watch him grow up or go through these life experiences, so in a way he is made into a child again. A good example of this is when his mother tells him he will not go to the bush world again in their presence. It is almost like an order given to a child.

The end of my life in the bush of ghosts

The ending of this novel leaves off in a precarious position. As this unnamed boy egresses from his stay in the bush world he enters an Africa that is not far from the environment he entered when he first stumbled into the bush world. It is a world of forced servitude and slavery, a world of "un-living". This being juxtaposed with the tenth town of ghosts that the unnamed boy just exited leaves the reader with quite a quandary. Is the idealized town which he just left a model for society? In the tenth town we see infrastructure being developed by the returning ghost of his cousin. Hospitals, schools, churches, all these vital elements of a functioning society are now being implemented in this ethereal world. Is the Africa that he re-enters, or rather, the reality that he re-enters not as appealing as this land of industrial apparition?
Most of us today in class, and I one of them, offered up the opinion that this tenth town is an indictment of colonialism. The bringing in of outside infrastructural influence, the development of social resources, and our protagonists acquisition of literary skills all lend to the evidence of colonial metaphor, but on closer inspection is seems that perhaps I was remiss in this opinion.
To assert that infrastructure, social resources, and social mobility are all facets of colonialism, then one would be denying anyone in their indigenous region the ability to individually govern their land with any amount of autonomy. Social infrastructure and resources are not solely development by colonization. I do not think that the returning ghosts of his native people represent colonial forces of a foreign power but rather the transitioned peoples going back to their local environments with the knowledge given to them after colonization. I can definitely see the point of post-colonialism, and in keeping with the running narrative, this would be poignant given the towns literary placement at the end of the novel.


If the bush world is an running allegory for the development of Nigeria after its contact with Colonialism and its subsequent subjugation via the slave trade

M. Life in the Bush of Ghosts

As I began My Life in the Bush of Ghosts I hated the repetitious language, the horrible grammar, and the ethereal ‘Alice in Wonderland’ feel. But, as the book progressed I found myself being torn. I wanted to throw the book out of the moving car I was in, but I also wanted to find out if there were any resolutions in this crazy acid trip the book seems to display. I would certainly agree that Tutuola has a fascination with the morbid and disgusting; and, I think these areas for me were the hardest to read through being a very visual person. To see in my mind’s eye the urine and blood being articulated, the dead animals and the live snakes, the disturbingly unhygienic beings of this ghost world, thoroughly rocked me and made me want to stop. It was only during the class-day we discussed the allegorical nature that I understood how these images were justified in an aspect; and too, as was said today, I can respect the artistic nature of the piece, but that doesn’t mean I have to approve of it, especially in language usage (which was the largest hurdle to overcome with this fanciful book). Overall, I hated reading while doing it, but was happy when I had finished. I have an appreciation of hidden meaning, and love being on the knowledgeable end of a situation (i.e. knowing that this kid might be crazy for his 24 years of ghost seeing, but understanding colonization was truly the aspect being critiqued along with slavery and the new Nigeria, all being infused with regional mythology).

A liminal state

While overall, the highly allegorical nature of the novel made it, in my opinion, difficult to have a clear grasp on what was happening, Tutuola did a very good job (once again, in my opinion) of representing the liminality of colonization and the achievement of Nigerian Independence. ("Liminal" can be thought of as a threshold, or a transitional state that allows for passage from one state to the other, or allows for a "crossing of" some sort of threshold. You're in a sort of "limbo", if you will)
As discussed in class today, If we read the book to be a critique or observation of Nigeria achieving independence, we as readers are able to see the predicament face by the people as to what course of action to take next. Tutuola's main character/narrator spends most of his life in the "bush of ghosts" which in-and-of itself is a liminal place, because it is in between reality and the end of reality. For most of the novel, readers have been immersed in this fantastical, "here/not here" world. Then in the end, when the main character is back in reality, he is still stuck between the want to go back to the bush world, and staying in the present with his family. The readers are left wondering what he will do at the end. While the smaller narratives that make up the larger piece may not always be clear, the ambiguous nature of the novel, the setting of the story in a liminal state and the ending all combine to demonstrate to the reader that the idea/act of colonization and achieving independence is itself complex and contains elements of real and fantastical. I believe Tutuola's writings indicate that the issue is not clear cut and is made up of "gray areas".

Slavery in My Life in the Bush of Ghosts

One thing that was particularly hard for me to grasp as an American reader was the way that slavery was presented in this novel. In American culture, slavery is inseparable from racism. In My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, slavery is not explicitly racial- in fact, not only is the narrator purchased by another African, but the man in question is his own brother. This does not by any means make slavery more acceptable, but it may help explain why he is able to quickly forgive his family for his captivity- psychologically, he doesn't have to deal with centuries of oppression of his people. Also, the significance of slaves as "non-living"- a status our narrator accepted when he trained to be a judge in the bush of ghosts- serves as a poignant literary device to bring him back to the world of the living. Perhaps Tutuola has little interest in introducing a critique of slavery into his book this late in the game. It is our American culture that conditions us to expect that any mention of slavery should be a critique of it.

Deeper Meaning

So, I started off Tutola's novel and dreaded reading page after page of utter nonsense. I had no idea that his words had a deeper meaning behind them. Instead I wondered why in the world we had to read such a weird novel where the author had so many grammatical errors and the ghosts were plain confusing. Then, when we started to discuss how the ghosts are actually representing colonialism, I began to appreciate the novel more. In some ways, I think this novel had a bigger impact on one's mind than did the styles of Achebe and Dangerembga. The author managed to create a whole new world, the Bush World, that was basically a depiction of what colonization looked like in the eyes of a seven year old. In Nervous Conditons, we got the general idea that colonization is bad. In Things Fall Apart, we concluded that colonization was usually bad but it was also good for some people like Nwoye. In My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, however, the answer is not as simple. The other towns in the Bush World were horrible making us hate the effects of imperialism but then the 10th town was wonderful making us wonder whether colonization was really that bad. So, back to that question we were asked in class: Is Tutuola endorsing colonization or not? I think that this question might not actually have a straightforward answer. Maybe Tutuola is just trying to get us to think deeper about the implications of colonization.

'Bush of Ghosts' dyad:

I really enjoyed "The Super Lady." I think the quaint nature of that short passage shows the relativity of Africa to the Western world. The marriage between our earthly protagonist and the "Super Lady" is an allegory of what is needed to raise Africa out of fixed images of cultures - a governance and union of both societies (ghostly and earthly, African and Western) to encourage a flight of physical and social understanding. It seems a bit more realistic, but I've noticed one thing about Tutuola - his language remains uncorrupted by Western influences. Simple and short syntax create a natural and poetic formation to story-telling (not just writing). The expressions of the ghostly and the African mixes with the influences of the Western world but logically remains distinguishable.

Even though the the protagonist slowly assimilates into this world of ghosts, I'm unsure whether this is a representation of gaining subjectivity or losing humanity - an ambivalence that leaves me completely perplexed. Though the case, I think it powers on the idea that colonialism versus independence is just as ambivalent. Therefore, I question the character's disposition when he returns to the earthly world, for he "loses" human qualities - a demise of emotional and ethical reasoning - lackluster by brother's slave ownership and guilelessly agreeable to being simply "recognized" by his older brother. In addition. Tutuola's nameless protagonist occupies the emblematic position of having "no right to describe" himself.

I think that Tutuola creates this metamorphic fantasy of the mind where the specter of childhood struggles to battle with the straightforwardness of the adult world. The protagonist's adventure appears to be a 'rite of passage' into the trouble and, especially, the adventures of life, dealing with the disparities that come with living. If living creates problems of recognition of individuality, then Tutuola's ending suggests that living is harder than existing with the non-living.

The Seeming Nonchalance of the Boy's Separation from his Brother

On the first day we talked about Tutuola's book, we began with talking about the style with which we were recounted of the brothers' separation. We listed off a couple of reasons: one being that it was being told from an historically distant place and time and another was that the events were traumatic enough to not need embellishment.
While I concede that the historical remoteness of the story-telling could have a significant impact on its passionless deliverance, I contend that the second reason has more weight. To recollect the moment that one is separated from one's blood relative is a painful process. I can say this with confidence because, two years ago this summer, I lost my brother is a tragic accident. When I tell the story of what happened, it is fairly cut-and-dry. I make it that way for my own sake - to avoid becoming emotionally overwhelmed. My black-and-white recounting of my brother's demise hasn't always been so. At the beginning, of course, it was extremely difficult to tell the story. One might even say that it still should be, but I have coped pretty well with my loss and can now tell the story as it happened without too much of my own angst.
Considering the details of my brother's death and the fact that it was a week before his wedding was to take place, I don't feel the need to elaborate or make it any more dramatic than it really was. Every detail is powerful and meaningful in its own way and of its own accord. The bare-bones truth is enough.
When Tutuola's character tells us how he had to quickly send off his brother without him, we read of it in only a matter of a few sentences, but the impact of the sentences' messages still hits hard. This poor, little seven-year-old boy is stranded without his brother's protection and we feel this sudden vulnerability without doubt and with no need to hear more about it.

Complexity Simplified

Despite the fact that I did not necessarily enjoy the author’s style of writing in this novel, I was able to appreciate the ultimate effect it had on the overall makeup of the story which Tutuola sought to convey. The stark simplicity of the writing seemed to me to only more dramatically emphasize the ideas behind the work, rather than focusing on their manner of representation. Serving as a contrast to the previous writers analyzed in the course thus far, Tutuola seemed to have no prevailing issue with language or worries concerning exactly how his story should be conveyed or to what audience. Tutuola’s main concern seemed to be simply on the content itself.

Though not elaborately artistic in its presentation of wording, Tutuola’s work clearly demonstrated a very creative scheming in the overall content and presentation of ideas. In my opinion, it also struck me as being extremely comparable to biblical narratives, such as those of the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. Like this novel, the biblical passages are generally very straightforward though allegorical. Many of the biblical stories, such as those of Joseph with his variety of trials and vivid allegorical dreams which he is called on to interpret, seem simultaneously simple yet bizarre. Like the allegorical writings of the Bible, Tutuola’s narrative was also an undeniably easy read, but unless analyzed further, probably left one somewhat dissatisfied with the stories presented. As an allegorical writing its simple wording left more room to focus on interpretation and uncovering the deeper meaning embedded within the seemingly simple structure.

Lose or Gain

Having finished Tutuola’s novel, I have to say I really enjoyed it. It was refreshingly simple on the surface, but rereading certain chapters, Tutuola alludes to the cultural changes in Nigeria during a historic time period. One of these parts would have to be the relatively short chapter entitled the “Lost or Gain Valley.”

“Perhaps the clothes that they might meet there might cost more than their own, so it is their gain and if the one that they meet there are not worth their own it is also their loss” (132). This stripping down to one’s first ‘birthday suit’ in order to cross the valley could refer to the limited decisions granted to the natives: either cross on to the other side or stay behind. This seems to be reminiscent of some of the other novels we have read and like the protagonists, the couple leave behind their £100 clothing only to return with them being worn by another couple and then having to wear animal skins.

The way I see it and I’m probably stretching for this, but the nice “trousers, shirt, tie, socks, shoes, hat, and golden ring with [a] costly wrist-watch” are articles of primarily Western/European clothing. The couplet ghosts go for the abandoned attire instead of their animal skins. They are new, different, and shiny to where they catch their attention and forget their traditional garb. In fact, “no stranger would cross the valley without loss, because all the ghosts and ghostesses of that area are very poor and only living on this kind of exchange” (133). The word poor I feel could mean that they are all the poorer for choosing to leave their tradition and culture and substitute it all for a new one, which may not even accept them.

The Super Lady

I am quite amazed with the book so far. I like how it is telling colonialism through story telling and also intertwining Yoruba mythology for the fun. The book has a way of bringing the realism of what's going on in the country without boring you of facts like a history book. My favorite part of the book is the short chapter on "The Super Lady". I think it is cute how he finds the wife that he can be with even though he is fearful of her in this particular chapter. I felt like it was a sign of nervousness. He is going through life as most of us do and we start to have feelings for the opposite sex. It shows the normality of other people in other countries, when we often assume that others across the globe may not be like us. The super lady was ecstatic that he was an earthly being and to me that proved that she admired the intermarriage of the ghost world and earthly being. The style of each of the stories makes the book simply beautiful. The language allows for many interpretations and this was mine.

First Impressions

Currently I am frustrated with Tutuola's book, and left my reading largely confused. The way it is written, while probably important, is so infuriating! The bad grammar and the constant repetition of thoughts are interrupting the text, and causing me to constantly backtrack to make sure something was actually repeated versus simply in my imagination. Not to mention that the actual plot, while entertaining in its fantastical nature, is so unclear and vague. I am never really sure of what is going on, and simply have to grasp for clues to figure out what is unfolding. The scene with him and his brother in the forest was especially difficult, because I didn't know whether they were trying to climb trees or just hide under them or who actually ended up getting caught.

Also, the scene with the Smelling Ghost put Dangarembga's toilet scene to shame in terms of disgust. The Smelling Ghost almost made me want to put down the book, while Dangarembga's was something I could push through. Of course, here Tutuola would use ample description so that a vivid picture was present in my imagination, while leaving out all specifics where I needed them! Once we discussed how the book was an allegory in class, and the possibility of the urine being offered being a child's first encounter with tea, I was a little more appreciative of the book, however. Now I am trying to place what all of the vile things and the ghosts could mean in terms of a colonial education.

2 things certain

Despite whatever the dispute may be, it all comes down to death and taxes. “NO MORE TAX”, “NO MORE TAX”, the women chanted in the face of their sovereign. The courtyard reverberates with the demand of the working woman who have grown tired of watching middle class merchants profit off of their labor. This is an all too familiar scene, but one which is fitting given the thematic nature of our course. The retainers, “some of them with some minor palace titles, who usually lounged on mats in the courtyard” , are lucky peripheries lounging in affluence. The struggle between the wants of the masses, proclaiming in unison vs. the few, generally undeserving, holders of power is a climactic scene to draw a novel to a close. In finality the working woman of Egbaland beseeching their patron on the behalf of democracy and equality. It similarly could have been Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry. The whole scene screamed “no taxation without representation”, but with obvious palpable social ramificationis. The situation is plausible enough, is easily historical, and I suppose must be accepted in some fashion given the autobiographical nature of the book, but it seems fitting to end a novel about post colonial Nigeria with a consort with a king.

The women in Ake gave left me with so much more hope for Africa than the previous novels. The women are smart, well-rounded individuals who work hard and care about their neighbors. It was so refreshing to see a supportive, well-articulated mother figure, and a school mistress who wasn't there for anything more than the education of her students.

Wild Christian seems to enjoy her role as disciplinarian. She is tough, and intensely loyal to her family. She is also universally generous and even takes in underprivileged children. At the end of the autobiography, her activism comes to its pinnacle when she organized the Women's Union, concerned with women's social issues and the betterment of the community. While at the Union, Wild Christian shows her leadership abilities and mediates problems that arise in Egbaland and the surrounding countryside. In these instances, she transforms her feisty, aggressive nature into problem-solving and diplomacy. Like Beere, she believes in education and wants the best for Wole and the other children. Beere is a very progressive activist, and even travels to England on behalf of the people of Egbaland. These woman give the reader a positive hopeful attitude for the future of Wole’s homeland.

Wild Christian

The women and the part that they play in Ake, is very different from the women we have encountered in the other novels thus far. We see the women standing up for themselves and their families, as well as resorting to violence when need be. This is a complete 180 from Nervous conditions and the Book of Not. It seems this novel presents women that people who have been exposed to or grown up in "western culture" can more easily identify with. In class, when we were discussing Tambu, one of the things that we lamented most about her was that she and many of the women in her life wouldn't stand up for themselves. And when they did try to exert some independence, the results were almost always disastrous to their own self or their family.

Wild Christian is a very different "mother character" than most of the mothers already encountered in other novels. She seems to have brought everything into balance. Case and point: The large group of women want to exact vengeance on the tax collector who showed up late. Wild Christian would not allow them to harm him, and was able to persuade them only using her words. This is a complete flip from Tambu's mother, who is willing to sell out Babamukuru as well as berate and discourage her daughter. Her disposition is one I believe we can more easily identify with because we get the sense that she wants good things for her family, and she is willing to fight for them, but not resorting to unnecessarily violent means to get achieve the goal.

Conclusion of Ake

I think Wole's motivations behind joining the women's movement have to do with the fact that he can relate to their plight of wanting to stand up for something they believe in, even if they are not 100% taken seriously. He has often seen women in moments of humiliation - shame dance, maid crying when accused of dropping Folsade - and I think seeing them rally against the taxation in great numbers inspires him to rally for his own education and learning process.

The women in this book are different from the ones we met in Nervous Conditions and The Book of Not in that they are able to organize; I felt like Mai and Maiguru were never going to see eye to eye on anything, even if the cause was universally good. They let their class differences divide them more than the women in Ake, but that can even be a touchy comparison considering the women in Egbaland are a bit better off than those in Tambu's homestead. Also, the women in Ake are well-versed in multiple forms of communication, so that there is never complete reliance on one method over another. They make pamphlets, pontificate in speeches, send representatives to England, and make gestures. Their goals are always clear, whereas in Tambu's world, the women rely on verbal transfer and the occasional telephone. There is more room for miscommunication in Tambu's world, and therefore more opportunities for controversial tensions to arise that prevent unity.

Women's liberation in Ake'

The conclusion to Wole Soyinka's well written, yet factually suspect autobiography was a refreshing change of pace from the depressing endings we have seen in the books we have covered previously in this class. The main character doesn't end up dead or mentally damaged, and it ends on a happy, empowering note. The final confrontation between the tax collectors and the mob of angry women was an excellently written scene, where a feel-good atmosphere of people sticking up for themselves and standing up for their rights replaced the quiet, introspective, bitter musing about the injustices heaped upon undeserving people that frustrated me so much in the Book of Not. The humor of the scene was refreshing as well, especially with the withering one liner that the head of the women's mob delivered to the head tax collector and the scene in the shop where Wild Christian forces the tax collector to strip so he doesn't get accosted by the angry mob. I felt that this scene in particular shined a light on the complexity of Wild Christian's character, showing that while she is definitely assertive and authoritative, at her heart she is a compassionate, nonviolent woman who can't bear to see people suffer unreasonably.

Final thoughts of Aké

With parents willing to provide an atmosphere for their child's exploration, Wole was able to have these life experiences. Because Wole was capable of doing so, he was also responsible for being personable while engaging - a disposition of absolute equality amongst those that he encountered, whether inside or outside the home. Having a plethora of visitors entering and leaving the household may have been a huge motive for Wole's involvement with the women's movement. Having many guests in the home, and having "Wild Christian" and "Essay" as parents, allowed Wole to piece together the problems - a comprehension of the things that are permissible and those that are variable to the community.

This movement would represent triumph to the community - family, relatives, friends, house visitors, Nigeria - which helped him to be more conscious of social and political conditions. I think it ultimately helped Wole to come to the conclusion that there was a division between the people (especially the peasants), the king, and the British government. Therefore, if Wole was hopeful to fulfilling equality, then joining the movement was inevitable.

On a different note -

Soyinka's play with the Yoruba language is quite interesting. We haven't talked much about the complexity of language and the inclusion of Yoruba (for this novel) but as discussed beforehand, African language and their expressions are immersed into English writing for certain elements - local culture, clothing, songs, foods, dignitaries - whatever they may be.

In Aké, dialogues, songs, and phrases are translated but, in several, there is no explanation. In that case, the spontaneity of translation offers a different level, or amount, of importance to the idea or word being read. Additionally, I believe it extends to something natural and consciously created. While some are translated, others are simply untranslatable because, or would, if translated into English (in this case) lose emotional content. Wole, then, has only given a piece of each person's real identity because, in reality, they speak another language or speak their native tongue as well as English (and simply not just English). If we are as perceptive as we perceive ourselves to be then we would've learned the key word of Aké in it's true language: omo

Bonds of Sisterhood

While this novel is set during WWII, it seems that the concern for women’s rights in Nigeria is the bigger concern. In fact, the Nigerians in general are treated as outsiders for the war. The Nigerians consider themselves separate enough from their English colonizers and they identify with the Japanese when they hear about "'dropping the atom bomb over Hiroshima but not over White Germany'" (229). This is but another act of "'the white mentality: Japanese, Chinese, Africans, we are all subhuman'" (224). So, Nigerians have very little power and has slight involvement in the war.

Due to the economical unrest, “the women now dug in for a long siege” and even the “men became more fully involved” (219). There is a great amount of focus from Wole’s version of these gatherings. Unlike the other novels, there is more emphasis on the group rather than the individual. Wild Christian clearly states that “[a]s far as we women are concerned, [the king] is already gone” (224). This seems to be the moment that we had wanted to happen in “Nervous Conditions,” where all the women join forces and overthrow the overbearing patriarchal figure.

Women's Liberation

In class today, we discussed how women are much more powerful in this novel than in any of our previous novels. The women in this novel took a stand against paying taxes and were much more outspoken in their views. In the previous novels we have read, women were always depicted as timid people who would follow whatever men (their husbands, brothers, fathers, etc) told them to do. However, we see a contrast in "Ake" because here women like Wild Christian and Beere are not afraid of speaking up against men's laws. I think that because Wole grew up in an environment where women expressed themselves openly, he eventually became a feminist. Witnessing an angry mob of women standing outside a palace and demanding that taxes be lifted definitely must have left a powerful impression on young Wole. Also, the women most involved in Wole's life were not ordinary women. Wild Christian did not defer to her husband like Okonkwo's wives did nor did she keep quiet about injustices like Tambu did. Even Beere, who went to places like England and spoke for women's rights, must have had an influence on Wole. Overall, I enjoyed reading a novel that portrayed the strength of African women rather than only their oppression.

A Cinderella Story Without the Glass Slipper

I found the ending of the novel very interested. Throughout the autobiography, Wole has always experienced the world through his own eyes, made his own opinions, and developed his own story. I find it intriguing that at the very end, he is instructed to not wear the shoes. This entire "story" has been very well crafted and almost Cinderella like, compared to the other books we have studied so far. Wole has had his way, or at least, been able to be his own person, and at the end his dream of completing his school outfit is crushed.

The last paragraph says, " 'No shoes,' I sighed, feeling the oppressive weight of my years. It was time to commence the mental shifts for admittance to yet another irrational world of adults and their discipline." Wole is exhausted from his control on life, and the weight of attempt to be older and smarter is falling down on him. Wole has spent his whole life trying to be older, and understand the world around him, all he has wanted is to be an educated young man, with the complete office. We have already seen him attending school with his new math set and books, and finding himself at the bottom of the chain. Not wearing shoes, makes him fit in more, but Wole has never been that kid.

Without shoes when he attends school, Wole is like Cinderella without her glass slipper.

PROMPT

For this week, please write about Wole's participation in the women's movement in Nigeria. Why does he do it? What does he learn? What does this novel do differently in its representation of women than the other novels that we have read this semester?

Wole as an imperfect narrator

One of the main complaints in class that I've been hearing about Ake is the fact that while the novel is supposed to be about the life of a 6 year old boy, it is narrated as though the story is being told by a 60 year old man. While this is understandable, seeing as Wole wrote this several years after the events in the novel took place, it seems like some feel that his adult perspective on his young life compromises the integrity of the story. I would argue that while Wole's elevated and eloquent prose may not mimic the thought processes and outlook of a 6 year old boy, it serves a greater purpose of giving the reader a much richer reading experience. If Soyinka were to write a novel about his ten year old self from a normal ten year old perspective, perhaps it would have been a bit more believable. However, because Soyinka elevated his character to a higher than average level of mental faculty, Soyinka the adult, speaking through his younger self, can make subtle social commentary about the various intricacies and subtleties of African culture that he might have not otherwise been able to do. A clear example of this would be the utility of having a 3 year old Wole being able to read. If he were illiterate (as most 3 year olds are), Wole as an author would not have a way to so completely flesh out Wole as a character's surroundings and circumstances. Imagine writing the market scene without a literate main character. The scene would not have been nearly as descriptive without 3 year old Wole being able to read at a fairly advanced level and describe the signs he sees to the reader. As such, I think that Soyinka made the right choice in having a precocious protagonist rather than a normal one, empirical accuracy be damned.

Perspective

In class on Wednesday we spent a considerable amount of time talking about Wole's Child/Adult perspective. I have to admit that it really comes of as unlikely that the young Wole Soyinka was really anything like the little boy from the book. Perhaps he did get into these adventures that he writes about, but no one has memories from events that took place before they were three years old. It just doesn't really happen. Of course, that doesn't necessarily take away from the novel. Maybe Wole grew up hearing these stories, just like all of our parents have funny stories that they tell about their children. The more times you hear a story the more real it seems to you. Heck, maybe he made the stories up. Either way, the purpose of the novel is not to be a perfect retelling of Soyinka's life, it is supposed to be an anti-colonialism novel, and so, thats the way that these passages of questionable source should be looked at.

I also think its similar to the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, as far as the adult/child perspective question goes. Its more about how something is said than what actually happens sometimes. For instance, there is a scene in TKaM in which the main character, a young girl, demands that her father fire their maid. Remember, this is depression era Alabama, and money is hard to come by. It is an obvious childish reaction, andLee still manages to take her adult voice out of the situation, so you can see the girls point of view. This is similar to Wole's talks with Osiki about the Egungun. The conversation is ridiculous, but that isn't whats really important, what is important in the scene is the window we get into the understanding of a child's mind, and how these connections are established.

How Humiliating

I know we discussed this a little bit today in class but I thought I’d blog about public humiliation. A fanciful topic in the least that has consistently presented itself within the last 4 novels we have read. I was wondering why it seems to be a continuously emphasized issue within the memoirs of these colonized minds. Aside from usurping from numerous amounts of indigenous peoples their sovereignty and economic structures, colonization often resorts to public degradation of the local inhabitants as a means of forcing them into a more obedient state for subservience. In locales where individuals may become second class citizens in their own community, individuals on average I imagine, would begin to develop a heightened insecurity concerning their perceived image towards the external world. Their culture, their language, and in many cases their own personage, has been displayed back to them as a hindrance, as a vestige from an ignorant era. The impact of being in a constant insecure state of self awareness would leave an individual overly susceptible to humiliation. These memories of humiliation would conversely serve as less as a specific moment of spite in the comprehensive catalog of our memories, but more so lending to the overall depiction of self worth developed by the psyche. Colonization forces one to view how the ‘world’ views oneself, and in instances when the ‘world’ views oneself more negatively would leave a stronger psychological imprint.

Child/Adult Perspective

I want to clarify the point I was trying to make earlier in class about the way this novel is written. I love the way Soyinka has written his childhood memoir. I find the childhood Wole completely invigorating. I have no doubt that Wole Soyinka is an incredibly intelligent and talented author. The only difficulty I have had with connecting to the novel is when the language that is used to describe Wole's thoughts are beyond his intelligent level, no matter what standard they are compared too. Passage describing his perception on the "witches" proved to me to be thoughts of a true child, as well as the run in with the Sargent. Being embarrassed, wanting to run away and remembering it is rude to stare, are all sweet, simple ways that display Wole's child like persona. Even if the passages do appear to be written in an adult language, the true essence of the novel would be destroyed if it was not written that way.

Rose bush scene

For reference: p. 70-75

The trend I'm noticing in this class so far is that authors love to talk about plants. Plants and nature have been motifs in literature for years and years, but it is fascinating that they continue to be used in different contexts. When I arrived to this particular section of the autobiography, I became perplexed. Usually one can decipher the intended analogy or significance of the use of plants, but I had no idea what to make of the whole rose bush ordeal. (I am really open to your interpretations)

Possibility #1: Roses are a symbol for the perceived intellectual beauty that is achieved through literacy/education, hence the reason that Essay and Wole are illustrated as caretakers for the flowers. They treasure the educational opportunities they have, and the beating of the goats shows Wole's determination to preserve his position in society.

Possibility #2: Roses stand-in for traditional Nigerian culture -- Wole and Essay preserve what is rightfully theirs and the incident with Odejimi shows what happens when countries try to colonize other countries. Odejimi took the rose without asking for permission, and colonizing countries never "ask for permission" either. You can try and put the country back the way it was prior to colonization, and you can say that you want to preserve culture, but the culture can never be restored to the original state.

That's just to get us started, I guess, but I am really confused. Especially with the ending scene on pg. 75, when Wole has apparently had one of those moments of disconnect between mind and body that results in the destruction of several of the plants. What is going on here? What does Soyinka want us to understand? Why would Wole destroy something so meaningful to him?

The Writing Style of Soyinka

Though maybe somewhat questionable at times in his portrayal of thoughts as a young child, I have so far thoroughly enjoyed Soyinka’s style of writing and overall depiction of childhood events. Thought not always necessarily entirely believable, he has, nevertheless, created a work of writing undeniably readable.

In order for such a work to be wholly factual, as some might hope for an autobiography to be, there would have to be provided nothing more than the thoughts of the writing at the moment in which each event occurs. For a novel, however, one might see that such a method of writing simply would not work. In writing a novel one would of course need to know and plan out in advance exactly which episodes of life should be written out, how each individual episode ties into the overall story, and the ultimate effect which the author would hope to leave the reader with at the conclusion of the work. So, at the writing of each individual portion the writer would of course be aware of all of the future occurrences as well as future inferences and deductions made of each occurrence and would need to plan out how to portray each occurrence in relation to each of the others, as well as in relation to the overall themes and message of the writing. As was mentioned in class, in order to complete this task Soyinka incorporated a great amount of delayed decoding- presenting the character’s initial confusion, but then illustrating the steps in which he made sense of it from there. If he had simply left it at the character’s confusion, though it might have been more accurate, would not have made it nearly as interesting or easily comprehensible for the reader.

Wole and the Suspension of Disbelief

First, let me just say that from the short video we watched in class, if they made a third Bruce Almighty type movie and Morgan Freeman was not available to play God, Soyinka would be my next choice. He rocks the smarts AND the stylish white hair/ beard. Too cool.

I think the fact that Ake falls under the heading of "autobiographical" contributes to our unwillingness to believe the narrative Soyinka is leading us through. We are much more accepting of child narrators in novels like Huckleberry Finn; in novels like this, the author often contrasts instances of childlike ignorance of the way the world functions and moments of adult like lucidity and analysis. Wole is the same way- it is a stylized narrative, albeit non fictional, that represents the older Wole reflecting upon and glossing his own childhood and trying to relate it to the development of a nation. I cut Soyinka some slack- I much prefer this approach to a style that tries to accurately to depict childhood. What if three year old Wole kept a journal? Dear diary, today I ate some tasty dirt behind the mission. Dear diary, today I napped through dinner because I followed this band and got lost. It would be boring precisely because these would be unrelated, meaningless episodes. We need the older Soyinka to be there to give them structure and relate them to his life as a whole. What kind of conclusions could we draw from garbled incidents written in inarticulate three year old speak? Is it the truth? Was he really a genius? I don't know or particularly care. Perhaps he read the sign at age three, or perhaps he saw the sign so many times after that he can't remember not knowing what the words meant. However, the story is so much more enjoyable if you don't get too hung up on the details.

A Break From Reality

Although I do not believe everything that Soyinka is writing, I am relieved to be reading a childhood memoir. Reading the stories and memories make me remember what it was like to be a child, and how distorted things could be when you're younger. Wole is trapped in a mixed world. He is clearly well educated beyond his years, which take away from some of his experiences because he does have more elaborate thoughts, but he is still naive enough to not fully understand what the entirety of a situation means.

Because Wole is living in a mixed world, of higher education and childlike tendencies, it adds a twist to the story line and the individual stories. While I find some of the stories fabricated and hard to wrap my head around, I am enjoying the childhood memories from an non-tainted point of view, like we got in Nervous Conditions.

Maybe Wole was a Child Prodigy

Much has been said recently in class over the subject of Wole’s highly sophisticated account of his childhood. While we can be certain that his stories have been embellished, as they are told from the mental perspective of a Nobel prize winning author, I don’t consider it outrageous to believe that maybe Wole was an extremely intelligent three year old. After all, we are aware that his childhood is unique, and looking up to his father means glorifying those books and news papers which his father’s life revolves around. Universally, for most of youth culture across the world, school and schoolteachers take on forms that are authoritative and unappealing. There are exceptions, we all hold dear are favorite teachers and professors, however more than often we all have tales of figures in our educational experience that we didn’t like, sometimes if these figures are from our early education they may take on monstrous and mythical proportions. Wole’s experience is far from the norm. While most kids can agree that they would rather be at an amusement park then in a classroom, I get the feeling that Wole doesn’t fit this same mold. His fascination with books and other classroom materials is evidence of the unique personality and intense curiosities that have fostered as a result of his upbringing as the headmasters son. “Not feel like coming to school!” (25) Wole can’t imagine that kids his age aren’t in hurry to start school, and at the beginning of novel, he is unaware that books and maps are anything but tools for human amusement and pleasure. His curious appetite is, I believe, what separates him from your regular three year old, and makes his depictions believable. “In addition, I had made some vague, intuitive connection between school and the piles of books with which my father appeared to commune so religiously in the front room, and which had to be constantly snatched from me as my hands grew long enough to reach them on the table.” (pg. 25) Not all three year olds are cable of these kind of reflective intellectual insights, however not everyone goes on to win the Nobel prize either. Today in class, Professor Snehal made a Tiger Woods analogy, so allow me to make one of my own that has little to do with the adult Tiger but more to do with the child prodigy golfer. Tiger, like Wole, had a towering father figure in his life, one that he looked up to and emulated, and during his childhood he had an extremely mature golf game. So at the time other kids where learning to color within the lines, Tiger was sinking 18-foot putts that grown men who’ve played golf their whole life have yet to develop the skill to execute. So like the Tiger we remember before his days as a TMZ staple, maybe Wole is indeed simply special, and uniquely gifted.

"I was tired, I was sure of that now" (p.46).

In class today, we spoke about the scene wherein Wole realizes he's totally alone in the military compound. It was interesting to talk about his thought process regarding the sergeant and the "albino". However, I'd like to go a little further in the scene to when Wole is first recognizing how fatigued he is and then to when he is in the captain's office.
"I was tired, I was sure of that now. The thought of running away at once when the man looked up, saw me, pointed and said something to the sergeant and therefore remained just a thought" (p. 46). With these sentences, we come to realize Wole's fatigue, too. He has stopped walking and come to a sudden halt. We can imagine the tiredness which is settling into his body. When he is the captain's office, we can feel and observe the overwhelming fatigue again:
"I looked round the office for the first time, stretched my legs and took an interest in the papers on the table ... I was feeling drowsy... Half-awake, I felt myself lifted on to the cross-bar and the bumpy ride began... My head appeared to weigh a ton when I tried to come awake and respond to the babble of voices I heard around me... Then I dropped into oblivion" (p. 48-49).
Could this description be more accurate or spot-on? I have specific memories of leaving the Astrodome in Houston near the end of Astros' games, barely conscious of my surroundings, dependent entirely on the support of my parents to get into the car - then from the car to bed.
We see Wole start to gaze and put his focus on inanimate objects. We know he is "half-awake" when going from the office to the bike to go home. The bumpy ride was only more of a lulling motion and then the description of his head weighing "a ton"? Absolutely perfect. This is just another example of Soyinka's mastery of writing and describing feelings and sensation which are normally taken for granted or overlooked completely.

Believability

Today we discussed believability of the novel, so I wanted to add a few thoughts. First of all, although it may seem crucial at the time of reading the novel, I do not think we are supposed to believe the plot word for word- we are supposed to believe the insights.

How can an adult describe a childhood insight to another adult? If Soyinka spoke honestly as a child it would leave a majority of the book up to our interpretations, and the book would lose a large amount of power. Let's look at things that make this book successful- mastery of language, blend of culture and language, and of course, the humor. Keeping those things in mind when writing about childhood experiences is a smart decision on Soyinka's part. By being precocious, Wole better guides the audience towards how to feel and analyze these events. It's not just "I got lost" its an epic story about following the "band" and ending up alone. Without this extraordinary explanation, how is this event extraordinary? Any kid could get lost, so why is it important that he did?

We have to ask ourselves why Soyinka thought his life was important enough to write about. Why is it important to us?

I feel that this "believability issue" is trivial because in the end, it's the meaning that you extract from these stories that is really true.

I'm glad for the turn around!

I am very relieved to read a novel that does not sound so depressing but has a happy outlook on life through the eyes of an child. Wole does write in an adult voice using a child's perspective on life. Many speak on this in class and say that its not believable but how can one turn off all of their education to pick up the speech of an three year old? Wole's writing helps put you in the character's world. My favorite part of the book is that they all call him "lawyer". You just imagine a little three year old always questioning and wanting to prove his maturity to the household. He is so eager to find out about everything and his inquisitiveness keeps the reader wanting to read more and find out what he is discovering. I think the novel has given us the happier version of the view of colonialism and not the "I was not sad when my brother died" version.

Aké thus far...

As a precocious, intellectually hungry child, Soyinka's pseudo-autobiography presents this sense of social phenomena. Provided with ample opportunity, support, and encouragement, opposite that of Tambu, Soyinka's world of childhood is lovingly stimulated and evoked. For instance, this evocation is largely revealed by the young author's simple reference to his parents by using many nicknames.

Wole's initial exposure with the marching band presents this melding of cultures - a collaborative effort of harmony for the colonized and the colonizer. Effectively, he seems to gently mock his own precociousness. The outside world, apart from Aké, seems to compliment young Wole's world (the one in which he lives in and that of what is retained mentally). He describes many things encountered, suggesting largely this sensory richness of the world.

The marching scene certainly made me recall Tambu's initial reactions/sensations upon her arrival to Babamukuru's house. Along these lines, I reread the first few chapters and reassessed that this book, like Nervous Conditions, had many references to food. For example, Bukola (bookseller's daughter) was given fish-soup, opportunistically in a separate bowl when she had one of her episodic crises and requested for a sàarà, supplicating for a large feast. Similarly, young Wole described how his mother "enjoyed the roll played by the Headmaster's house," providing a place "with such stomachs for arguments and food" even when she "shook her head in despair" (19). In addition, Young Wole awaits for what he thought was a birthday party to provide food and festivities for his friends. Food continues to emerge throughout the chapters, but am I onto something that isn't intended to be that significant in this novel?

I think the unpredictable tangents help audiences to stay alert - allowing immediate contact with what is being communicated - suggesting that we must be just as alert as young Wole.

precocious youth

Thus far in the novel, we have met Wole, who is young and precocious in a way that is both endearing and aggravating to his immediate family. To me, what is so refreshing about is that Wole, unlike the characters we have read about thus far, seems to have found a “balance” between his native culture and the culture brought by colonization. But then again, he is living under different circumstances than the characters previously studied. As was already mention, Soyinka’s position in life (economically and educations, as mentioned in class) was markedly better than most in the community, which may have contributed to his adjustment. But nonetheless, he is still able to believe that St. Peter is both saint and egungun, without falling into this place of misery and melancholy. It’s interesting to see what he “thinks” as a three year old, and I’m sure it will be interesting to watch his progression throughout the book.It seems like it would be hard to write a book that is anti-colonization, but still maintain a light, fun storyline. But perhaps writing from a child's perspective helps. But I think also that everything in the book needs to be taken “with a grain of salt” also. It’s tempting, because of the defamiliarization effect, to “write off” what Soyinka says. While the articulation may not be the same as it was when Soyinka was three years old, it is still interesting to see glimpses of what he remembers feeling as a young child.

Little Lawyer

Through Soyinka’s writing, it is obvious how much he enjoys the memories of childhood. The imagination of 3-year-old Wole testifies against the irrational world of adults. Much to the frustration of his family, Wole’s habit of questioning everything helps him to apply his own reasoning (however fantastical) upon such debates that “there can be no rain without water” (54). While the novel does call for some suspension of disbelief, Soyinka introduces outlooks that I’ve never thought or contested. Soyinka portrays his need to hold onto imagination because the adult reality of Aké is far too depressing and I think this book offers a little breather from Dangarembga.

The scene-by-scene depiction makes Wole’s experiences just as immediate for the reader, especially the time where Wole is walking through the marketplace and the explosion of sensory overload of all the food. Only halfway through the novel, colonization is mentioned only in passing. This makes me wonder how Wole’s world will change as the book progresses? Will he lose his youthful wisdom under the tutelage of another Miss Plato character? Will Wole have the nerve to go against imperialism, unlike Tambu?

What is the Message?

So far, I love Soyinka's portrayal of himself as a child. He represents all the goodness there is in life. He has not yet been tainted by events of his life Tambu was and he he does not have an abusive family like Nwoye did. This is why I find "Ake" to be a refreshing novel. Soyinka wrote this novel as an autobiography and includes his accounts of encountering colonialism. Like we discussed in class today, Soyinka is against colonialism but so is Ngugi. And Ngugi would highly disagree with Soyinka's portrayal of colonization in this novel. So, this makes me think what message Soyinka actually wanted to portray. Was he trying to make us feel as if colonization is not that big of a deal by saying that it actually brings new ideas (like Christianity) that can be integrated into the African lifestyle? Both Achebe and Dangarembga's novels were straightforward in their view of colonization: that its wrong.I feel that Soyinka, however, isn't as clear because he shows himself as a happy go lucky kid who was not changed in a very negative manner by colonialism as Tambu was. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that he had a pagan father and a Christian mother so he really feels he can't say anything negative about either of them. He found his parents capable of a happy marriage so he might think that everyone else should also be able to live peacefully in a community where there are different cultures present.

Week 7 - Aké

Wole never returns to a voice that denotes observation for the reader leaving them to infer the thought process behind the situation at hand. Leaving people to unconscious argument would be fine if writing fiction, as we have already seen in the previous books we’ve read, but this case being almost negligent, where the author is trying subliminally to create discussion points based out of fact, authority is lost. The passivity which is faced when observing the issue of colonization (i.e. the marching troops) by the reader creates a dilemma that increases insecurity within them – we, as readers, can certainly infer what the intended meaning or subliminal reference is, but are we correct? (And, to digress slightly, I do understand that contextually our logic seems correct.) The nature of the book is autobiographical. But, because we are being sent convergent messages, our logical perspective is jeopardized – is this a book about someone’s life, or is it a fictional narration of colonial complacency? Wole’s voice, being that the initial one is only two and half years of age, is completely compromised for this fact. I absolutely cannot, wont, will never, accept that a three year old child has complex thoughts outside of whether this bug or that dirt looks better to put in its mouth. The fact that he organizes an erudite mission to his sister’s school, and does so with gustier and such serpentine flavor would be something someone three times his age would find difficult to do. If no one had told me that Wole’s factual life was wrapped up in the convoluted messages he’s sending to his readers, I think this book would have been the favorite I’ve read this semester. With that said, I will get through it, but consistently, the foundation created by the narrator will be shook with fierceness that topples all factual information leaving me to wonder – why, and a great big really?