LITR 5831
World / Multicultural Literature: Tragedy & Africa
Lecture Notes
Things Fall Apart
. . . tonight I’ll propose a possible change for
our seminar’s final text—the decision will be yours, so tonight I’ll only bring
the choice up and review why I’m even thinking of it.
Current text for last 2 classes (25 April, 2 May): Ngugi
wa Thiong'o, A Grain of Wheat (1967; great modernist novel concerning
Kenyan independence generation of 1960s, powerful tragic themes and characters,
plus early national setting)
Possible substitution for last 2 classes: Lorraine
Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun (1959, first African American play on
Broadway with tragic themes, characters, + an African character)
Sorry to spring this on you in an email an hour before
class, but we won’t decide tonight anyway.
For consideration:
two great works of literature, written 9 years apart
Ngugi wa Thiong'o,
A Grain of Wheat
(1967; great modernist novel concerning Kenyan independence generation
of 1960s, powerful tragic themes and characters, plus early national setting)
advantages:
another African text, more Modernist in style (e.g. stream-of-consciousness, fractured time-sequences)
Tragedy & Post-Colonial literature as emergence of nation-states; related to imperialism, though differently
challenges:
long and demanding novel, many characters, classic that needs to be read twice
teaching it at prison, some students couldn't finish or keep up with the text's challenges, so discussion trailed off at end of semester
Lorraine Hansberry,
A Raisin in the Sun
(1959, first African American play on Broadway with tragic themes,
characters, + an African character)
advantages:
another woman-authored text
another drama (instead of more fiction)
faster read, less demanding as semester winds up
more likely to be in American school curricula, increasingly a standard of American canon
Can give us a chance to discuss modernization of Tragedy in American literature
challenges:
Other considerations:
You might read Grain of Wheat on your own
I can do a presentation / review of Grain of Wheat during final weeks (along with V.S. Naipaul's A Bend in the River, also concerning Kenya)
I have a (somewhat marked-up) photocopy of Raisin in the Sun; I can make copies for class, or used or library copies are easy to find
Elements or themes of Tragedy in Things Fall Apart
Okonkwo as good, reputable, powerful man with flaws
family issues or problems, esp. b/w generations, e.g. Oedipal Conflict
oral / traditional culture in Things Fall Apart
7 proverbs + elders
10 Ogbuefi Ezeugo was a powerful orator . . . white head, white beard
"Yaa!"
20 ritual / ceremony + proverb
31 cultural memory
34 folk tales, local flavor
53 mother’s stories
Uncle Remus and the Wonderful Tar-Baby Story
Question: How do these spoken traditions reinforce other aspects of traditional culture?
novel as narrator + dialogue
narrator as central, controlling, authoritative voice (though this can be undercut, esp. with first-person narrator of "unreliable" variety)
characters' dialogue: variety of viewpoint, expression, dialect
narrator: neutral-sounding, official, schooled or bureaucratic voice; even tone (plus or minus "omniscience"); gives context, explains situation
characters: language is colorful, extravagant; figurative speech (contrast with bureaucratic grayness and lack of figuration; also context or lack of context--characters' speech wouldn't make sense out of context provided by narrator)
example: Things Fall Apart, 112-113
conclusion or outcome:
the different voices of the narrator (narrative) and characters (dialogue) may be differently distanced
compare in Heart of Darkness the scene where Marlow overhears the conversation between the station manager and his uncle--intimacy or internality of moment collapses distance between narrator and characters' dialogue
the narrator may represent "modern culture": literate, universal, everything in larger context
the characters may represent "traditional culture": localized, eccentric, colorful but limited
tradition / modernity discussion
What about African people qualifies as “traditional?"
What attractions and risks to tradition?
How do these risks define the plot crisis concerning Okonkwo’s adopted son?
How does a traditional culture manage change?
adoption of Ikemefuna:
traditional cultures do not "convert" as much as they adopt
Instead of trying to make all the earth in their image, make the variety of earth conform to one system . . . .
a traditional culture "absorbs" change, so that the new becomes part of tradition rather than disrupting or upending it
tradition and modernity in Things Fall Apart
66-7 Obierika provides middle position
69 law of land must be obeyed
Ob: "don't know how we got that law"
124 nothing like this had ever happened
133 elder = knowledge
143 [revolutionary religion]
144 not my father; 145 all sons of God
152 school = read & write
forsakes parents = blessed
Next class: look for passages where the white men's entry is associated with upending of tradition, introduction of events without precedent
notes on women from Things Fall Apart
13 fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father
father agbala, not only another name for a woman . . a man who had taken no title
23 women's crops, man's crop
28 To show affection was a sign of weakness
29 Week of Peace, year Okonkwo broke the peace
punished, as was the custom, by Ezeani, the priest of the earth goddess
Nwoye's mother lies to minimize Ojiugo's thoughtlessness
beat her very heavily
37 women’s art
43 desire to conquer and subdue cf desire for woman
44 "boy's job" Okonkwo specially fond of Ezinma
45 working, solvent man like a god
53 mother’s stories
64 "She should have been a boy."
68 strong man + woman (O doubts)
75 as silly as all women's stories--cf53 masculine stories
87 the ceremony was for men
89-9 villages, 9 sons of 1st father [cf founding fathers]
109 [woman's viewpoint]
110 woman's ceremony + male-identified women
113, 11-12 medicine = old woman
117 good wife = 9 sons
153 a woman for a son
--consequences not individual
69 law of land must be obeyed
Ob: "don't know how we got that law"
125 offense against the land and not just on the offender
133 elder = knowledge
--symmetry of plot
--lack of precedent
124 nothing like this had ever happened
158 x-precedent > story
187 such a thing had never happened before.
203 Our fathers never dreamed of such a thing . . . . But a white man never came to them.
--flexibility in traditional society
66-7 Obierika provides middle position
--"Things Fall Apart" > revolutionary religion/culture
62 something had given way inside him
138 oracle on white man
143 [revolutionary religion]
144 not my father; 145 all sons of God
147 [new religion answers Nwoye's questions]--cf 62
148 [Nwoye] already beginning to learn some of the simple stories they told
152 school = read & write
forsakes parents = blessed
155 religion + government
admitting outcasts
157 royal python = "Our Father"
166-7 young > older
kinship, speak with one voice
man can now leave father and brothers
tradition and modernity in Things Fall Apart
66-7 Obierika provides middle position
69 law of land must be obeyed
Ob: "don't know how we got that law"
124 nothing like this had ever happened
133 elder = knowledge
143 [revolutionary religion]
144 not my father; 145 all sons of God
152 school = read & write
forsakes parents = blessed
Notes for Things Fall Apart
ch 1
3
the nine villages
solid personal achievements
eighteen years old, threw Cat
20 years or more [thus Okonkwo in late 30s]
fame
tall and huge
4 pounce
stammer > fists
unsuccessful men = father (Unoka), x think about tomorrow
palm-wine, debtor, good on his flute
5 sing -- when young
grown-up failure, loafer--People laughed at him
neighbor Okoye
6 [proverbs, sayings]
honor
prayed to their ancestors x enemies
ancestral feast, impending war
with
intricate rhythms
Okoye musician but not failure--3 wives + Idemili title
7 the next half a dozen sentences in
proverbs
Among the ibo the art of conversation is regarded very
highly, and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten.
Our elders say . . .
8 taken no title at all, heavily in debt
Okonkwo ashamed
Fortunately, among these people a man was judged
according to his worth and not according to the worth of his father.
third wife, two titles, prowess in wars
already one of the greatest men of his time
age respected, achievement revered
ill-fated Ikemefuna
ch 2
9 gather at market place; something was
amiss
Darkness held a vague terror for these people
snake never called by name at night, ecause it would hear
. . . called a string
10 his fifth head
10,000 men
Ogbuefi Ezeugo was a powerful orator . . . white head,
white beard
"Yaa!"
11 Mbaino
normal course of action
war or young man and virgin as compensation
powerful in war and magic
war-medicine as old as the clan itself--active principle
an old woman with one leg
12 medicine shrine in centre of Umuofia
The Oracle of the Hills and the Caves
fight of blame x just war
Ikemefuna, sad story told in Umuofia unto this day
elders, or
ndichie
13 Okonkwo ruled his household with a
heavy hand.
life dominated by fear of failure and weakness
fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble his
father
father
agbala, not only
another name for a woman . . a man who had taken no title
ruled by one passion--to hate everything that his father
Unoka had loved . . . gentleness . . . idleness . . . .
Nwoye, incipient laziness
14 Each of his three wives had her own
hut . . .
"medicine house" or shrine where Okonkwo kept the wooden
symbols of his personal god and of his ancestral spirits.
sacrifices
3 wives, 8 children
most senior wife
ch 3
16 Oracle called Agbala
crawl through hole, dark endless space, presence of
Agbala
17 priestess Chika
sacrifice cock to Ani, owner of all land
god of yams
"You, Unoka, are known in all the clan for the weakness
of your machete and your hoe."
18 Go home and work like a man
bad
chi or personal god
no grave . . . died of the
swelling which was an abomination to the earth goddess . . . .
could not be buried in her bowels
first or second burial
took with him his flute
With a father like Unoka, Okonkwo did not have the start
in life which many young men had.
foundations of a prosperous future
possessed by the fear of his father's contemptible life
and shameful death
19 Nwakibie = "Our father"
[ritualized drinking] + 20 first wife drinks first
anklet of
her husband's titles [cf HD
60]
[proverb]
21 [anecdote elicits reaction from
Okonkwo, separation from group; comedy as inclusion]
[riddle; formulaic answer]
22 "I can trust
you.
I know it as I look at you." [presence]
Share-cropping
But for a young man whose father had no yams, there was
no other way.
23 women's crops, man's crop
It seemed as if the world had gone mad.
24 I shall survive anything
25
"It is more difficult and more bitter when a man fails
alone."
love of talk
ch 4
26 an old man [proverb]
O's industry x brusqueness
kill a man's spirit [i.e., O plays out Oedipal conflict
on others]
27 lucky x struggle
proverb: man says yes his chi says yes also
elders decide > forget Ikemefuna
28 Ikemefuna
To show affection was a sign of weakness
Ikemefuna called him father
29 Week of Peace, year Okonkwo broke the
peace
punished, as was the custom, by Ezeani, the priest of the
earth goddess
Nwoye's mother lies to minimize Ojiugo's thoughtlessness
beat her very heavily
30 man who has no respect for our gods
and ancestors."
Okonkwo tried to eexplain to him what his wife
had done, but Ezeani seemed to pay no attention.
"You have committed a great evil.
. . .
can ruin the whole clan
31 repentant
enemies [story, myth]
32 clan is full of the evil spirits of
these unburied dead, hungry to do harm to the living."
always found fault with their effort
33 Yam stood for manliness
"I will not have a son who cannot hold up his head in the
gathering of the clan."
34 so nature was not interfered with
Ikemefuna folk tales, local flavor of a different clan
35 children singing
ch 5
36 Ani, earth
goddess, fertility
She
37 wives' relations
happier working
38 motherland
He had an old rusty gun made by a clever blacksmith
not a hunter
40 Ekwefi + Ezinma + 41 Ezigbo "the good
one"
41
That means . . . [cf HD]
43
drums beat unmistakable wrestling dance [cf HD
drums 37 war, peace, or prayer, --we could not tell
The prehistorical man was cursing
us, praying to us, welcoming us--who could tell.
41 "Good God, what is the meaning . . . "]
43 desire to conquer and subdue cf
desire for woman
43 Ikemefuna
44 Obiageli
"boy's job"
Okonkwo specially fond of Ezinma
45 working, solvent man like a god
ch 6
46 smooth logs on forked pillars [video]
46 drummers, drums, possessed by the
spirit of the drums
47 intoxicating rhythm [compare Af-Am &
Southern Baptist religion
48 [nice scene; backdrop as human] [cf
Achebe on backdrop]
48 Chielo: my daughter, Ezinma
I think she will stay
(10, 6)
49 Chielo = priestess of Agbala
51 song in print
174 church, government, court, prison
religion trade government
176 custom = language
178 lunatic religion + trading store $
181 knowledge/power
182 Nwoye > Isaac
185 stories by Devil
194 administer justice just as it is done in my own country
207 administrator, student of native customs; cf 181
208 book he planned to write
Bacchae Presentation Four (lines 540-814):
preview BT on Euripides, Aristotle on Euripides
Part 1: Dionysus on stage, from Asia, just starting to move through Greece
Cadmus is judged honorable, Semele's shrine is maintained, but other family troubles: sisters' disrespect for Semele and Dionysus
drives aunts from homes
part 1 ends on transformation theme
Part 2. Other women (chorus): followers, devotees from Asia (Nietzsche concentrates on male followers as satyrs > chorus)
women insist on holiness, not debauchery (cf. Nietzsche on satyr)
l. 147 confusion of Dionysus's identity
215 Tiresias as comic figure (incongruity)
240 young and try the dancing [cf. chorus of old men in Lysistrata]
253 respect traditions of ancestors
Pentheus enters, disrespects Bacchic women and older men incl. grandfather
l. 297 Pentheus threatens to capture Dionysus
Part 3.
421
You should live among us,
not outside traditions.
424
if, as you claim, this man is not a god,
why not call him one? Why not tell a lie,
a really good one?
436 PENTHEUS: Keep your hands off me! Be off with you—
441
go quickly to where this man,
Tiresias, has that seat of his, the place
where he inspects his birds. Take some levers,
knock it down. Demolish it completely
450 a new disease
468
I'm not saying this as a prophecy,
but on the basis of what's going on.
500
Our life is brief—that's why
the man who chases
greatness
fails to grasp what's
near at hand. [tragic flaw?]
528
The god gives his wine equally,
sharing with rich and poor alike.
It takes away all sorrow.
537
So I take this as my rule—
follow what common people think—
do what most men do.
earthiness of Euripides
what Nietzsche calls "naturalism" (& scorns Euripides for--that is, Euripides fails to transcend the everyday logic of mortal human life)
Part 4.
Euripides "most modern" of Greek tragedians, confusion of plots and characterization anticipates confusions of modern existence
Bacchae teems with confusions over identities, values, appropriate behaviors
Are the Bacchantes / Maenads (devotees) religious and holy or drunken and debauched?
Are Tiresias and Cadmus foolish old men or wise prophets and mentors? (they're dressed funny but warn Pentheus to be careful with Dionysus)
[concluding action stems from confusion over Pentheus's identity]
ambiguity of Dionysus's identity--god or mortal?
on stage or on Olympus?
offstage, Pentheus reportedly mistakes a bull for Dionysus
phantom image of Bacchus attacked by Pentheus
called by many names: Dionysus, Bacchus, Bromius, Silenus, Dithyrambus
cf. Nietzsche, ch. 8: Satyr as highest devotion (not sentimental or debauched)
Bacchus / Dionysus often represented as sexually ambiguous
Pentheus also sexually ambiguous
Question(s) for discussion at end:
What positive or negative dramatic effect do all these ambiguities have on an audience today? (or whenever)
What kind of climax may these ambiguities build toward?
542 The beast you see here
[beast = Dionysus]
was tame with us. He didn't try to run.
No, he surrendered willingly enough,
without turning pale or changing colour
on those wine dark cheeks. He even laughed at us,
inviting us to tie him up and lead him off.
He stood still, making it easier for me
to take him in.
552
something else—
those Bacchic women you locked up, the ones
you took in chains into the public prison—
they've all escaped.
560 amazing tricks.
563
Well, stranger, I see this body of yours
is not unsuitable for women's pleasure—
[!]
567 your hair . . . flows across your cheeks That's most seductive.
576
PENTHEUS:
Why do you bring these rituals to
DIONYSUS:
Dionysus sent me—the son of Zeus.
584
PENTHEUS:
Tell me what they're like,
those
rituals of yours.
DIONYSUS:
That information
cannot be
passed on to men like you,
those
uninitiated in the rites of Bacchus.
601 barbarians
609
PENTHEUS:
You must be punished for these evil games.
DIONYSUS:
You, too—for foolishness, impiety
610
towards the god.
625
DIONYSUS:
He sees my suffering now—and from nearby.
628
He's insulting
636
Lock him up—in the
adjoining stables. . . . As for all those women,
those partners in crime you brought along with you,
we'll sell them off or keep them here as slaves,
647
He's the one
you put in chains when you treat me unjustly.
716
DIONYSUS: [shouting from
within the palace]
Io! Hear me, hear me as I call you.
Io! Bacchae! Io Bacchae!
741
[Enter Dionysus, bursting through the palace front doors, free of all chains,
smiling and supremely confident.]
767 After a while, Bacchus came and shook the place, [again a confusion of identity b/w speaker & god]
