ABSTRACT
Myths are
embedded in the cultural heritage of nations. This research analyzes the
treatment of myths evident in the African culture as seen in Okri’s The Famished Road. The text is imbued
with elements that are germane to the objectives of this study. This research
employs Northop Frye’s Archetypal theory which deals with recurring myths and
symbols of season, life and death as well as images, and character types. This
research maintains that myths are of great relevance in our contemporary
society, especially as The Famished Road
is almost an allegory of the Nigerian nation.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page
Abstract
Table of Contents
Chapter
One: Introduction
Background to the Study
Statement of the Problem
Objective of the Study
Significance of the Study
Scope and Limitation of the Study
Research Methodology
Chapter
Two: Literature Review
The Concept of Myth
Functions of Myths
Engaging Myths in African Literature
Ben Okri: A Short Biography
Chapter
Three: Review of Ben Okri’s The Famished
Road
Summary of The Famished Road
Mythic Characters in The Famished Road
Chapter
Four: Review of Ben Okri’s The Famished
Road
Dynamics of Mythic Exploration in The
Famished Road
Chapter
Five: Summary and Conclusion
Works Cited
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
The
life and activities of every community draw its vitality from the Weltanschauung of such a people
otherwise called their worldview. This worldview as it is, underlies the basic
tenets, norms and activities of a people; giving them a unique identity such
that it marks them out as a people distinct from the rest of humanity. A
people’s worldview is considered to be the cultural universal which is seen to
be the nucleus of a culture that admits of no change even while the particular
aspects of the culture (cultural particulars) constantly change. Language is a
central aspect of culture that derives from the very heart of the worldview of
the people that upholds such culture. This is to the extent that language is
seen as typical representation of culture in signs and symbols (both oral and
written). This is typical of literature across the world that portray
contextual cultural values of the culture from which they are written. The
African experience does not differ from this fact.
Since
the emergence of Things Fall Apart till now, Nigerian writers have
always resorted to what readers deem as verifiable in their narratives via
various realistic aids and indices. In an effort to carve a niche for what
could be validly regarded as African Literature, it has been the interest of
authors to build on the African experience. In this effort, some authors have
even set language barriers for what should constitute African literature in its
real sense. Ngugi (1986) states in The Language of
African Literature that it is an aberration to have African literature in
English language or African literature in French. He argues that “the
diplomatic way out of this problem is to ‘panel-beat’ the European languages –
English and French – so that they function just as languages for us but not as
carriers of our culture; then we infuse our culture in them. It is therefore
imperative that the English language is brought home (tailored) to meet the
demands of the aesthetics of the African languages – the Igbo-African
aesthetics or the Zulu-African aesthetics; this is also true of all other
tribes in Africa”. All this is an effort to relate a literary experience that
is truly African. (Ngugi, 1986. P.14)
Besides the use of language, African writers have tried also to contextualize
their works; drawing them from the lived experiences and cultural aspects of
what are truly adjudged African. This projects in a simpler manner the fact
that some African novelists employ myth in making their literary impacts.
Scholars
have engaged the question of myth and how African literature employs it. Many
of them consider myth as an integral part of a larger definition of oral
tradition which they take as the fulcrum of African literary thematic
preoccupation. Others have devoted intellectual energy to a thorough analysis
of myths and their paramount place in the African worldview; Soyinka (1976) and
Okpewho (1981) are classical examples. Myths, according to Akporobaro (2001):
Symbolize
human experience and embody the spiritual values of a culture. Every society
preserves its myths because the beliefs and worldview found within them are
crucial to the survival of that culture…Myths often include elements from
legend and folklore. They depict humans as an integral part of a larger
universe, and they impart a feeling of awe for all that is mysterious and
marvelous in life (emphases, added). (P.24)
Myths,
legends and heroism are usually in the realm of oral literature which according
to Akporobaro (2001) refers to “the heritage of imaginative verbal creations,
stories, folk-beliefs and songs of pre-literate societies which have been
evolved and passed on through the spoken word from one generation to another.”
(P.26) it is also the unwritten traditions of a nation, their religious
beliefs, stories, myths, and legends which express the artistic life and moral
beliefs of the people. Oral literature includes folktales, ballads and songs,
epic narratives, myths and legends, songs, riddles, proverbs, recitations, etc.
These forms constitute in a real and significant sense, the literary traditions
and achievements of indigenous African societies. They are the manifestations
of traditional creative imagination beliefs and perceptions of social reality.
They are modes which construct and deconstruct the social-cultural milieu of
the people. These are the verbal, auditory manifestations of man’s creative
impulse expressing his innate creative sensibility.
Emphasizing
the importance of myths, Owomoyela (1979) explains the interrelationships of
all things that exist and provide for the group and its members a necessary
sense of their place in relation to their environment and the forces that order
events on earth. From the assertion of Owomoyela (1979), it could be affirmed
that the use of myths in literary works has both cultural and literal impacts.
Culturally, such mythical works of literature help in the promotions of the
values and heritage of such culture. Another important point to note is the
literary import of the use of mythical method of writing. With the story
telling approach, the reader is glued to the literary piece. Therefore, the use
of myths is capable of capturing and sustaining the attention of the reader.
The evidence of the benefits of the mythical method could be shifted from the
number of authors who do not hesitate in taking advantage of the mythical
method of novel writing.
Background
to the Study
Ben
Okri’s The Famished Road is his “magnum opus” that seeks neither to
glorify the African past nor to push the cause of nationalism too far, though
it achieves both beautifully and without much effort, like any other true
classics. Okri does not bother to present the details of African culture and
social life or to argue for the preservation of the same. He is more interested
in capturing exaggeration. He pushes the bounds of belief and creates his real,
super-real world. All realms merge and run together, space is shattered and
time is pushed back to the beginnings of all folklore. The Famished Road by Ben Okri is largely based on the first hand
experiences of the author in relation to the Nigerian Civil War. This novel
displays a certain vibe in the cultural and ancestral roots of the author; he
states that his fiction more often than not bears the weight of certain
philosophical conundrums (Halpé, 2010).
However,
Olu-Owolabi (2011) contends that the present state of retrogression in Nigeria,
and indeed the rest of Africa, stems from the near absence of the critical
capacity to reflect and interrogate issues, concepts and circumstances by the
present generation. According to him “All these signs of impending perilous
times are products of our unexamined living,... but the good life, an ideal
that philosophers have sought since time immemorial, can only be realized by
constant rigorous and critical reflections”.
In other words, the seeming abyss in contemporary
society can only be challenged by the ability to engage those issues
critically. Added to this is OyinOgunba’s (1998) charge on the need for further
exploration of myths in order to deepen the thematic concerns of African
literature and further endear it to its enabling milieu. In other words,
Olu-Owolabi’s concern above can be located in the present endeavour in Ogunba’s
challenge with regard to the question of myth in African literature.
It should be stated that myths in African
sensibilities do not just centre on fictional stories or escapist attempts at
explaining away existential riddles. Rather, myths represent indigenous
attempts at either fictionalizing reality or injecting the elements of the realistic
into the fictional. In other words, myths in the African milieu are literary
forms which interconnect the states of being, or in philosophical parlance, the
different levels of being. The plight of Africa and its inhabitants is a
subject of enormous concern. This may explain why Okri uses post-independence
Nigeria as his setting with the narratives replete with satiric undercurrents.
Okri’s The Famished Road seems in-depth in terms of universalizing a
general angst over the state of the human self, thus making its satire less
biting but rather subtle.
Therefore, the present study seeks to critically
study myths in Ben Okri’s The Famished
Road. The interest is to underscore the mythical method of novel writing
towards identifying what truly can be defined as an African experience.
Statement of
Problem
It should be noted that myths in the African milieu
are literary forms which interconnect the states of being, or in philosophical
parlance, the different levels of being.
Against the above backdrop, the question that
agitates the critical mind is, why recourse to oral tradition? It may prove
worthwhile to focus once again on myths and how they are reconstructed in the
African creative context. It becomes imperative to examine, or re-examine the
mythic sensibilities of the African self, as mirrored in the African novel. As
a matter of fact, it is interesting to note that despite the fact that Ben Okri
is permanently based abroad, he is being driven by formal, stylistic and
thematic concerns as well as a quest for the roots. This shows that oral
tradition continues to influence the creative consciousness in Africa.
The present study seeks to examine the relevance of
the mythic in the portrayal of contemporary Nigerian/African society by Ben
Okri. This is with a view to showing that African writers, especially in
Diaspora, utilize the oral raw materials available to them in projecting
contemporary literature of twenty-first century.
Objective of the
Study
Certainly literary productions have the imprint of
the milieu which produces them, since art penetrates social psychology and
engages happenings in society. Accordingly, African literature has been said to
be self-reflexive, especially through pungent depiction of the enabling
situations. The African novel demonstrates a viable melting pot for the
philosophy, oral, religion and world-view generally. Ben Okri’s The Famished
Road represents African prose fiction which centres on African mythic
consciousness.
The main objective of this study is that African
literature is inward looking and root-seeking. The social and political angst
which runs in the world of The Famished
Road is archetypal of post-independence African states. The study also
seeks to appraise the mythical method of novel writing as a literary style
while at the same time, establishing it as a formidable way of contextualizing
African experience.
Significance
of the Study
This work, in addition to experimenting with the 'mythical
writing' adds to the existing body of works that have been done by different
scholars on the language problem of African literature. Therefore, this work
can be referred to in any study on the problem of African literature, and mythical writing, also, as a
concept or style of writing. It will also be useful on any discourse of writing
in African fiction.
The details of this work will be beneficial to students of
literature particularly those study boarder on African Literature. Researchers
will find this work handy and useful since it will be a veritable lead into the
entire gamut of African mythic literature. The study will be helpful for
academics who are in the field of literature and for other researchers, writers
and authors alike.
Scope and
Limitation of the Study
The content scope of this study is ‘Myth in Ben Okri’s The Famished Road’. This is an African
Novel not simply on the grounds that it was written by someone who is African by
birth, but because it qualifies to be identified as African Literature from the
fact of both its content and method. The content of the novel relates the
Post-Colonial African experience. It depicts a historical trend in the African
setting with specific pointers to Nigeria. The
Famished Road serves as the primary text for relating this African
experience.
This research focuses on the primary text The Famished Road in relation to its stylistics of mythical writing
and other texts that may be referred to.
This study is limited to the study of myths which
primarily belong to the oral tradition not circumscribed by time and
geographical boundaries.
Research
Methodology
The method of this research is qualitative and wholly analytical.
It draws most of its arguments from African and other literature. The present
study adopted an Archetypal approach which is considered
adequate since the approach places emphasis on recurring myths and archetypes
in the narrative, symbols, images, and character types. Secondary data from
other sources like the library, internet, reviews and critical analyses are
also legitimate.
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