Topic: Language study of The African literatureRoll No : 09

Paper No : 14

Subject : African Literature. Course: M.A. Semester: 4.

Submitted to : Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University. (Department of English).

African Literature

We have studied novels and plays like :

THE SWAMP DWEELERSTHINGS FALL A PARTWAITING FOR BARBARIANS THE GRAIN OF WHEAT

The use of English

Achebe presents the complexities and depths of an african culture to readers of other cultures as well as to readers of his own culture.

By using english — in which he has been proficient since childhood — he reaches many more readers and has a much greater literary impact than he would by writing in a language such as igbo.

Writers who write in their native language must eventually allow their works to be translated, often into english, so readers outside the culture can learn about it.

One of the primary tasks of things fall apart is to confront this lack of understanding between the igbo culture and the colonialist culture.

In the novel, the igbo ask how the white man can call igbo customs bad when he does not even speak the igbo language.

An understanding of igbo culture can only be possible when the outsider can relate to the igbo language and terminology.

Title of the Things Fall Apart

Turning and turning in the widening gyreThe falcon cannot hear the falconer;Things fall apart, the center cannot hold;Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world. – W.B Yeats, "The Second Coming“

 Things Fall Apart The phrase “things fall apart” is from a poem by W.B Yeats The novel documents the falling apart of the Igbo tribe due to the

coming of the Christian missionaries and the rule of the English government.

Colonial aspect can be visible here that though he was interesting in writing in his native language but he has taken a title of his novel from this above poem which is in English poem so no can be stay far away from colonial effect of mind.

Pronunciation of Igbo Names and WordsLike Chinese, the Igbo language is a tonal one; that is, differences in the actual voice pitch and the rise or fall of a word or phrase can produce different meanings. for example, Achebe describes how the missionary's

translator, though an Igbo, can not pronounce the Mbanto Igbo dialect: "Instead of saying 'myself' he always said 'my buttocks.‘ "Igbo names usually represent meanings — often entire ideas. Some names reflect the qualities that a parent wishes to bestow on a child; for example, Ikemefuna means my power should not be dispersed.

Other names reflect the time, area, or other circumstances to which a child is born; for example, Okoye means man born on Oye Day, the second day of the Igbo week. And Nneka means mother is supreme.

Other names reflect the time, area, or other circumstances to which a child is born; for example, Okoye means man born on Oye Day, the second day of the Igbo week. And Igbo parents also give names to honor someone or something else; for instance, Nneka means mother is supreme.

When Achebe writes about Okonkwo's father, he writes,

" Even as a little boy he had resented his father's failure and weakness, and even now he still remembered how he had suffered when a playmate had told him that his father was agbala." A reader may not know what agbala means first hand, but then Achebe goes on to say that agbala is a word for " a man who had taken no title.“

Strong religion, morals, and culture of the country The novel contains native sayings that represents the

strong religion, morals, and culture of the country. An example is seen early on in the novel when Achebe

writes, "If a child washed his hands he could eat with kings,"

referring to Okonkwo, who "washed his hands" of his bad reputation which came because of his father's lifestyle.This is parallel to Nigeria's circumstances, and implies that if Nigeria " washed their hands" the country could be just as important as Britain.

The strong religious beliefs of the tribe are clearly seen when Achebe writes,

" Those whose palm kernels were cracked for them by a benevolent spirit should not forget to be humble,"

showing that they try to be thankful for everything that they have. Also,

Achebe goes on to write, " when a person says yes, his Chi( personal God) says

yes to him," This implying that the natives believed that if you

humble yourself to your God he will not say no to you.

Finally, he also uses the proverb "A man that makes trouble for others also makes trouble

for himself,“ This being similar to the Golden Rule that the British

knew and were very familiar with. These proverbs say the exact opposite of the European opinion, providing evidence that this highly religous , moral culture is civlized.

BOOKER'S SEVEN BASIC PLOTS ANALYSIS Christopher Booker is a scholar who wrote that every story falls into one of seven basic plot structures: Overcoming the Monster, Rags to Riches, the Quest, Voyage and Return, Comedy, Tragedy, and Rebirth. Shmoop explores which of these structures fits this story like Cinderella’s slipper. 1.Anticipation StageOkonkwo sets out to make his own reputation and fortune. 2.Dream StageOkonkwo becomes one of the top dogs in Umuofia. 3.Frustration StageOkonkwo’s luck is running out. Big time.

4.Nightmare StageOkonkwo sees his clan falling apart but can do nothing to prevent it. 5.Destruction or Death StageOkonkwo has a death wish…And he acts on it.

Waiting for the Barbarians

In Coetzee’s words Waiting for the Barbarians is a novel about “the impact of the torture chamber on the life of a man of conscience”

In this novel language is seems to be in sense of fear ,torture ,silence of a barbarian girl and power of Empire.

“I cast my mind back, trying to recover an image of her as she was before. I must believe that I saw her on the day she was brought in by soldiers roped neck to neck with the other barbarian prisoners. I know that my gaze has passed over her when together with others (…). My eye passed over her; but I have no memory of that passage. On that day she was still unmarked; but I must believe she was unmarked as I must believe she was once a child (…). Strain as I will, my first image remains of the kneeling beggar-girl. (Coetzee, 1982: 33).”

In this quote we found that Magistrate was recalling his memories when he saw a barbarian girl for the first time and she was so innocent and pure.

But now she was changed she was carring a tag of the ‘other ‘and other means she was not a part of them and now she was carring a scares of the Empire . Her otherness is carried to her body by the novelist.

Her deformed tortured body actually visualizes the deformed ideology of imperialism which perceives her other  because of her “barbarian” identity.

So, now the language is to study from her “body” means now the the scares will speak rather than the words.

Magistrate’s dream of children playing. Snow and a faceless child. He doesn’t know about her origin, identity, and culture.He feels guilty and he want to help her to come out from torcher room’s painful memories which she has faced.

According to Coetzee, torture room is a metaphor “for relations between authoritarianism and its victims.

He questions: How do you find it possible to eat afterwards, after you have been working with people? (...) I have imagined that one would want to wash one’s hands. But no ordinary washing would be enough, one would require priestly intervention, a ceremonial of cleansing, don’t you think? Some kind of  purging of one’s soul too – that is how I imagined it. Otherwise how would it be possible to return to everyday life- to sit down a table, for instance, and break bread with one’s family or one’s comrades? (Coetzee, 1982: 126)

Washing the traces away from the girl’s body which the torturer has left is impossible, but it is impossible too, to wash away the responsibility from the torturer’s hand.