Ben Okris Spirit-child- Abiku Migration and Postmodernity

  • Upload
    bibito

  • View
    223

  • Download
    1

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

  • 8/10/2019 Ben Okris Spirit-child- Abiku Migration and Postmodernity

    1/11

    Ben Okri's Spirit-Child: "Abiku" Migration and PostmodernityAuthor(s): John C. HawleyReviewed work(s):Source: Research in African Literatures, Vol. 26, No. 1, New Voices in African Literature(Spring, 1995), pp. 30-39Published by: Indiana University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3820085.Accessed: 13/03/2012 10:56

    Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at.http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

    JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

    content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

    of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

    Indiana University Pressis collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access toResearch in

    African Literatures.

    http://www.jstor.org

    http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=iupresshttp://www.jstor.org/stable/3820085?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/3820085?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=iupress
  • 8/10/2019 Ben Okris Spirit-child- Abiku Migration and Postmodernity

    2/11

    Ben Okri's

    Spirit-Child:

    Abiku

    Migration

    and

    Postmodernity

    John C.

    Hawley

    "It

    s

    a

    long

    farewell

    It

    is

    now

    a

    matterof

    meetingalong

    the

    road,

    It is now indreams."

    -Yoruba

    prayer

    celebrating

    he

    change

    in

    relationships

    wroughtby

    death

    The

    widespread

    notion

    of the abiku

    in

    Nigerian

    culture

    says

    volumes about

    the

    heartrending

    eathsof countless

    newborns

    hroughout

    he

    region's history.

    It also

    testifies o a belief in the

    permeability

    f

    the

    membrane

    ep-

    aratinghespiritworldfrom"our"world.Astheabikuputs t, in hisfamilyhe is sur-

    rounded

    by people

    "who

    are

    seeded

    in

    rich

    lands,

    who still believe

    in

    mysteries"

    (Fam

    6),

    people

    who hold that"one

    world contains

    glimpses

    of

    others"

    Fam

    10),

    and

    people

    who

    acknowledge

    a

    personal elationship

    with these

    spirits

    n

    the course

    of

    daily

    life.

    In

    western

    Nigeria,

    however,

    a mother

    who

    suspects

    hather

    newborn

    is

    one

    of

    these

    child-spirits

    must

    do

    whatever

    he can to

    persuade

    he

    baby

    to

    stay

    in

    this difficult

    world,

    rather

    han

    have it return o the

    spirit-world

    where it will be

    bathed

    "in

    the

    ecstasy

    of an

    everlasting

    ove"

    (Fam

    18).

    Mothers

    will

    give

    suchchil-

    dren names like "Malomo-Do Not Go

    Again";"Banjoko-Sit

    Down And

    Stay

    With

    Us";

    "Durooro ike-Wait And See How You

    Will

    Be

    Petted";

    and "Please

    Stay

    And

    Bury

    Me"

    (Maclean

    51,

    57).

    Special jewelry

    and foods are

    prepared

    o

    tempt

    the

    baby

    to choose

    life,

    and circumcision or such

    young boys

    is

    frequently

    postponed

    (56).

    John

    Pepper

    Clark

    has recorded a

    poem

    from

    one concerned

    observer'sview:

    Coming

    and

    going

    these severalseasons

    Do

    not

    stay

    out on the

    baobab

    ree,

    Follow

    where

    you

    please your

    kindred

    pirits

    If

    indoors s

    not

    enough

    for

    you.

    Then

    step

    in,

    step

    in

    and

    stay,

    Forherbodyis tired,

    Tired,

    hermilk

    going

    sour

    Where

    many

    more

    mouths

    gladden

    heheart.

    cited

    in

    Maclean

    51)

    TheFamishedRoad

    dramatizes he abiku'sdifficult

    choice,

    an

    interior

    truggle

    hat

    adult

    onlookers

    recognize

    as

    beyond

    their

    ken

    (Fam

    20).

    Wole

    Soyinka

    has a

    poem

    from such a

    child's

    point

    of view:

    In

    vain

    your

    bangles

    cast

    Charmed ircles at

    my

    feet,

    I

    am

    abiku,

    calling

    for the first

    And therepeated ime.(citedinMaclean51)

  • 8/10/2019 Ben Okris Spirit-child- Abiku Migration and Postmodernity

    3/11

    John C.

    Hawley

    31

    But Okri

    nicely

    stresses he abiku's

    perceived

    responsibilities

    oward

    his

    world,

    as

    well:"Iwanted o makehappythebruised ace of thewoman who wouldbecome

    my

    mother"

    Fam 5).

    As I

    hope

    to

    suggest,

    Okri's choice of this

    narrators

    particularly ignificant;

    but

    youthful

    narrators ave

    always

    fascinated

    him.He will

    not talk

    abouthis

    own

    childhood n

    interviews,

    pecifically

    because

    he

    believes thatone's

    youth

    s

    inevita-

    bly

    the stuff of

    one's fiction

    (qtd.

    in

    Wilkinson

    77).

    His first

    novel,

    Flowers

    and

    Shadows

    (1980),

    written

    when he

    was

    19,

    is a

    study

    of

    the

    impact

    of the

    sins

    of

    the

    fathers

    upon

    their

    sons. As

    Adewale

    Maja-Pearce

    otes in

    a

    foreword,

    his violent

    story

    s

    nonetheless"anovel of

    great

    optimism:

    The

    cycle

    of

    corruption

    ndevil

    has

    been

    played

    out andJeffia

    [theyoung protagonist]

    an

    begin

    all over

    again" x).

    In

    the short

    story

    "Laughter

    Beneath

    the

    Bridge"

    (Incidents

    at the

    Shrine),

    a man

    reflectsback on

    his

    girlfriend's

    murder

    by

    the

    military

    when the

    boy

    was

    only

    ten.

    Honing

    his

    artistry,

    Okri

    briefly

    does

    here what t took him

    many

    more

    pages

    to

    do

    in

    Flowers and

    Shadows;

    as

    AlastairNiven

    notes,

    "in

    twenty-one

    pages

    a

    boy

    has

    been

    educated n

    the harshest

    essons that ife can offer"

    (279).

    But

    since

    the

    story

    is

    presented

    as a

    memory,

    we have little

    way

    of

    knowing

    the

    impact

    he

    murderhas

    had

    on the

    narrator's

    wn

    subsequent

    ife.

    In

    the

    title

    story

    from Stars

    of

    the New

    Curfew,

    on

    the other

    hand,

    a

    young

    man

    earns

    he

    cynical

    realities

    of

    a

    political

    sys-

    tem,

    and

    earns,

    as

    well,

    how

    to

    makethe most

    of

    it.

    Okri's

    preference

    for

    youthful

    protagonists

    inds echoes in the

    writings

    of

    many

    of

    his

    contemporaries,

    f

    course.

    In

    comparing

    he

    portrayal

    f

    the child in

    stories

    rom

    Africa,India,

    and

    Australia,

    S.

    K.

    Desai

    notes that

    the

    concept

    of

    the child as

    manifested

    n

    the

    Africanstories

    is,

    what

    one

    might say,

    moder.

    The

    child is

    no Romantic

    angel;

    he is

    a raw

    soul,

    a

    bundle of

    impulses,

    sensations,

    emotions

    and

    perceptions,

    facing

    life,

    struggling

    o

    comprehend

    t,

    trying

    o

    piece together

    his

    fragmentary

    xpe-

    riences;

    he is

    a

    complex

    being

    with an

    unformed

    mind,

    often

    more com-

    plex

    than he

    adult,

    subjected

    o

    an

    unpredictable

    rocess

    of

    growth.

    45)

    Okri'suse of

    the abiku

    s,

    perhaps,

    he most

    cogent

    and

    concentrated

    ersion

    of

    the

    poignancy

    of such

    a witness:this

    is a

    characterwho

    still

    remembers

    bits of

    knowl-

    edge

    acquired

    n his

    former

    ife,

    one

    who can often

    see

    through

    he

    materialworld

    of

    objects,

    one

    whose

    apparent

    ewilderment

    "I

    prayed

    or

    laughter,

    a life

    without

    hunger.

    I

    was

    answered

    with

    paradoxes"-Fam

    6)

    is

    really

    clairvoyance

    ("As

    a

    child I

    could read

    people's

    minds.

    I

    could foretell

    their

    utures"-Fam

    9).

    But Okri's

    choice

    of

    an

    abiku

    narrator

    oes more

    than

    ntensify

    youthful

    pow-

    ers

    of

    observation.

    Describing

    a

    broadly

    African

    aesthetic,

    he

    says

    that "it's

    not

    something

    that

    is

    bound

    only

    to

    place,

    it's

    bound

    to a

    way

    of

    looking

    at the

    world...in morethanthreedimensions.It's the aestheticof

    possibilities,

    of

    laby-

    rinths,

    of

    riddles-we

    [Africans]

    ove

    riddles-of

    paradoxes.

    think

    we

    miss this

    elementwhen

    we

    try

    to

    fix

    it too

    muchwithin

    nationalor

    tribal

    boundaries"

    qtd.

    n

    Wilkinson

    87-88).

    The

    significance

    of an

    abiku

    narrator,

    n

    termsof

    this

    aesthetic,

    is that t moves

    African

    iterature

    loser to the

    postmodern

    movement.

    In

    a

    recent

    nterviewwith

    Alastair

    Niven,

    Chinua

    Achebe

    turned

    his

    attention

    to the new

    generation

    of

    Nigerian

    writers,

    among

    whom could

    be

    numbered

    Festus

    Iyayi,

    Adewale

    Maja-Pearce,

    Niyi

    Osundare,

    and

    Bode

    Sowande.

    He

    mentioned

    thathe

    particularly

    dmiredBen

    Okri,

    andsaid

    this,

    Niven

    relates,

    as if

    consciously

    passingthetorchto theyoungerman(Niven277). When BenOkriwas laterasked

  • 8/10/2019 Ben Okris Spirit-child- Abiku Migration and Postmodernity

    4/11

    32

    Research

    in

    AfricanLiteratures

    how he relatesto the older

    generation

    of

    Nigerian

    writers,however,

    he

    responded,

    "Iacceptthem" qtd. n Wilkinson82). His lukewarmacknowledgment f his fore-

    bears

    suggests

    that

    his

    agenda

    or fiction

    s not whathe

    imagines

    heirs o have been.

    In

    this

    respect,

    The

    FamishedRoad offers

    support

    o AlastairNiven's

    analysis

    of a difference

    between the writersof Okri's

    generation

    and

    those in whose foot-

    steps

    they

    follow:

    "Always

    n

    Achebe,

    Ngugi,

    Armah,

    Soyinka

    andOusmane

    here

    is the

    judgement

    hatthe future

    development

    of Africa must

    lie in

    political

    action,

    whether hatcomes frombetter

    eadership,

    s Achebe would

    hope,

    or from he force

    of

    popular

    action,

    as advocated

    by Ngugi

    and

    Ousmane.Okri

    does not

    have that

    faith

    in

    a

    political possibility.

    He turnsthe

    problems

    of Africa into self-examina-

    tion"(281). Storiessuch as "LaughterBeneath heBridge"andSongs ofEnchant-

    mentare

    implicit

    condemnations

    f

    tribalbattleswithin

    Nigeria,

    but,

    in

    wordsthat

    practically

    cry

    out

    for

    misinterpretation y

    the more

    politically-minded,

    Okrihas

    stated hat

    "...there'sbeen too muchattribution f

    power

    o the

    effect of

    colonialism

    on our consciousness. ....

    A]

    true nvasiontakes

    place

    not when a

    society

    has been

    takenover

    by

    another

    ociety

    in termsof its

    infrastructure,

    ut in termsof its mind

    and ts dreamsand ts

    myths,

    and ts

    perception

    of

    reality....

    There

    arecertainareas

    of the Africanconsciousness

    which will remain

    nviolate"

    qtd.

    n Wilkinson

    86).

    This

    consciousness

    s less

    personal

    han t is "African."

    While Niven's analysis s basicallycorrect, herefore,hisdescription f Okri's

    storiesas "self-examination"

    may

    be focusedtoo

    narrowly

    n the individual.

    n

    The

    Famished

    Road and

    Songs

    of

    Enchantment,

    Okri is not intent

    upon

    replacing

    one

    rulingsystem

    by

    another,

    but

    neither

    s he

    writing

    raditionally

    ealisticnovels that

    thoroughly nvestigate

    Azaro's

    psyche.

    He wishes instead to

    recognize

    and cele-

    bratea distinctive

    way

    of

    encountering

    and

    describingreality:

    he has an

    aesthetic,

    rather

    han

    overtly

    political

    or

    psychological,

    aim. In

    comparingMongo

    Beti to

    Wole

    Soyinka,

    Abiola Irele

    suggests

    that he

    former

    emphasizes

    "the

    criticaldocu-

    mentation

    of

    the

    objective operations

    and effects

    of

    the

    political system

    he exam-

    ines,"and the latter"inclinesmore towarda generalmeditationuponthe inward

    significance

    of

    the

    relationsof

    power

    and the tensions of

    history,

    [and]

    upon

    their

    repercussions

    on the individualas well as the

    collective

    sensibility"

    (77).

    Okri,

    I

    would

    suggest,

    moves

    beyond

    Soyinka's

    examination

    of

    characters.

    He

    says

    of

    TheFamishedRoad that

    "this

    book is

    my

    modesteffort to...alterthe

    way

    in

    which

    we

    perceive

    what

    s valid

    andwhat

    s

    valuable"

    qtd.

    n

    Wilkinson

    87):

    he wishes to

    grind

    a lens andteach

    us its use.

    If

    Soyinka

    can be taken

    as a mediatorbetween the

    overtly

    political

    and the

    more

    self-consciously

    aesthetic,

    t is

    interesting

    o note his own

    use

    of

    the

    trope

    of

    theabiku.Inhis HerbertReadMemorialLecture,deliveredat the Institute or Con-

    temporary

    Art

    in

    London n

    1985,

    he

    notes that t

    is

    tempting

    o use the abikuas a

    metaphor

    or the

    phenomenon

    of

    creativity.Suggesting

    the

    controversy

    over

    the

    role

    of

    politics

    in

    artand ts

    proliferation, hough,

    he

    goes

    on

    to ask:"would t be an

    optimistic

    metaphor

    r an

    expression

    of doom.... Will the

    creativehandearthAbiku

    once for

    all,

    or has the worldbeen

    handedover

    to Dr.

    Strangelove-Third

    Worldor

    Netherworld,

    no difference?

    The

    problem

    s whetherone

    sees,

    on the

    cover

    of

    an

    Ake,

    an

    idyllic

    image

    of

    recaptured

    hildhood,

    or a

    figurefleeing

    in

    terror rom

    an

    uncomprehended

    isaster"

    196).

    The

    true

    artist,

    Soyinka

    seems to

    suggest,

    leaves

    thequestionhanging ntheair,seekingtowedoutrage ohope.Whether rnot Okri

  • 8/10/2019 Ben Okris Spirit-child- Abiku Migration and Postmodernity

    5/11

    John

    C.

    Hawley

    33

    explicitly acknowledges

    it,

    his

    own

    artistry

    embodies such ambivalence

    and

    suggestshisgeneration's ophisticatedblendof artistic xperimentationndpoliti-

    cal

    savvy.

    The

    debate over the

    possible points

    of

    intersectionbetween

    postmodernism

    and

    post-colonialism

    s

    by

    no

    means

    settled,

    and

    he case

    of

    Ben Okriraises

    nterest-

    ing questions

    n

    this

    regard.Stephen

    Slemon

    notes that

    postmodernism

    s

    variously

    defined

    by

    FredricJameson

    as

    "the

    pastiche energetics

    of

    Western

    society

    under

    late

    capitalism,

    where a 'new

    depthlessness'

    n

    representation-one

    grounded

    n

    the fetishizationof the

    image

    as simulacrum-marks off

    a

    profoundly

    ahistorical

    drive

    which seeks to efface the

    past

    as 'referent'and eave behind tself

    nothing

    but

    'texts"'

    (Slemon 4-5),

    and

    by

    IhabHassan

    and

    others

    as "a

    catalogue

    of

    figurative

    propensities(indeterminacy,

    multivalence,

    hybridization,

    tc.)

    whose ludic cele-

    brations of

    representational

    reedom...are

    grounded

    in

    a

    'dubious

    analogy'

    between artistic

    experimentation

    and

    social liberation"

    Slemon

    5).

    Linda Hut-

    cheon

    strategicallyargues

    that

    postmodernismdisplays

    a

    "contradictory

    epen-

    dence on

    and

    independence

    rom that

    which

    temporallypreceded

    it

    and

    which

    literally

    made t

    possible"

    Poetics

    18).

    In

    Hutcheon's

    view,

    it

    seems,

    postmodern-

    ism is

    a victim of colonization

    by history,

    an

    anxiety

    of

    influencewrit

    arge.

    But

    if

    postmodernism

    necessarily

    admitsa

    provisionality

    o its truth laims"

    (Slemon5),

    Slemon andothers

    argue

    hat

    "an nterested

    post-colonial

    critical

    prac-

    tice wouldwantto allow for thepositive productionof oppositional ruth-claims"

    (9).

    There is

    in

    much

    post-colonial

    fiction,

    in

    Slemon's

    view,

    a

    great

    deal

    that

    is

    postmodern:

    t

    may

    be

    "fundamentally ragmented

    and

    hybridized;

    t

    engages

    overtly

    n

    a

    decentring

    and

    decanonizing

    abour;

    t is

    enormously

    elf-reflexiveand

    ironic;

    t

    draws

    obviously

    and

    excessively

    on

    the

    devices

    of

    'fiction' to

    demystify

    imperialist

    versions

    of

    'history';

    t 'uses

    and

    abuses' the received

    codes of

    popular

    culture

    n

    order o effect

    a serious ntervention n the

    Production ndcirculationof

    majority

    opinion"

    Slemon

    10)-and

    muchof

    this can be seen

    in

    Okri's

    works.But

    post-colonial

    fiction also "retainsa

    recuperative mpulse

    towards he

    structure

    f

    'history'andmanifestsa Utopiandesiregrounded n reference" Slemon 10).As

    Linda

    Hutcheon lsewhere

    argues,

    "the

    post-colonial,

    ike the

    feminist,

    s a

    disman-

    tling

    but also

    constructive

    political

    enterprise

    nsofar

    as

    it

    implies

    a

    theory

    of

    agency

    and

    social

    change

    that he

    postmodern

    econstructive

    mpulse

    acks"

    "Cir-

    cling"

    171).

    In

    Benita

    Parry's

    words,

    this involves

    a

    recuperation,

    remembering

    and

    relearning

    of

    "therole of the native

    as

    historical

    subject

    and

    combatant,

    pos-

    sessor

    of

    an-other

    sic]

    knowledge

    and

    producer

    f

    alternative

    raditions"

    34).

    And

    Parry's

    words

    aretrueof Okri.

    But

    Hutcheon's

    description

    of "a

    theory

    of

    agency

    and social

    change"

    are

    vaguelypresent,

    at

    best,

    in

    Okri.Before

    the

    publication

    f

    The

    FamishedRoad,

    rit-

    ics

    turned their attention

    principally

    towards The

    Landscapes

    Within,

    his

    1981

    Kunstlerromanhathas

    been

    compared

    o

    Joyce's

    Portrait

    of

    the

    Artistas a

    Young

    Man

    (see

    Porter,

    Mamudu).

    In

    discussing

    the

    book,

    these

    critics

    grapple

    with

    Omovo's

    frequent

    withdrawal

    rom the

    problems

    of

    the

    world

    around

    him,

    his

    apparent

    ttempt

    o

    findor create

    a

    quiet

    zone

    for the creationof

    something

    beauti-

    ful.

    A

    bit

    defensively,

    these

    critics nsist thatOkri's

    protagonist

    hows

    more

    gump-

    tion than his

    counterpart

    n

    Ayi

    Kwei

    Armah's The

    Beautyful

    Ones

    Are Not

    Yet

    Born

    (1969),

    despite

    Omovo's

    obvious

    desire

    for

    protection.

    Thus,

    Abioseh Porter

    writes

    that,

    "unlike

    Armah's

    anonymous

    protagonist,

    who

    merely

    drifts

    aimlessly

    and helplessly in a sea of corruption...Omovo...become[s] apable of making

  • 8/10/2019 Ben Okris Spirit-child- Abiku Migration and Postmodernity

    6/11

    34 Research

    in

    African

    Literatures

    down-to-earth ssessments

    of eventsaround

    im andable

    to act

    accordingly"

    204).

    The"action"owhichherefers,however, s principallyhecreationof art-art that

    is

    honest

    and,

    herefore,

    politically

    dangerous

    esponse

    o thechaos fromwhich

    he

    has

    temporarily

    withdrawn,

    but

    hardly

    he

    sort

    of action

    that

    will

    topple

    a

    govern-

    ment.But Omovo does

    learn

    whatDr. Okocha ells

    him,

    that

    "[i]t's

    always

    a

    duty

    o

    try

    and

    manifest

    whatever

    good

    visions

    we

    have....

    In

    dreams

    begin responsibili-

    ties"

    (LW 119).

    Eleven

    years

    later,

    Azaro

    learns

    the

    same lesson

    in

    Songs

    of

    Enchantment.

    Ayo

    Mamudu

    describes

    he artist

    Omovo's

    "suspended

    nimation" s

    escapist,

    but

    "only

    n

    the sense

    that,

    n

    the

    flights

    of

    fancy,

    detachment,

    ndretreats

    nto

    self,

    Omovo

    seeks relief for his

    perfervid

    consciousness"

    (88).

    All

    the

    ugliness

    that

    oppresses

    him,

    becomes

    grist

    for hisartisticmill. For

    Omovo,

    nMamudu's

    words,

    "passionate

    nvolvement

    and

    detachmentare

    paradoxically

    inked,

    in

    leading

    to

    momentsof

    heightened

    onsciousness"

    88).

    It

    is

    interesting

    hatbothof these

    crit-

    ics show

    a need

    to

    demonstratea

    political

    consciousness

    in

    Okri's

    character,

    implicitly

    asserting

    he

    author's

    ineage

    as

    a

    like-mindeddescendantof the

    estab-

    lished

    generation

    of

    Nigerian

    novelists. But he

    is

    not,

    in

    fact,

    all that

    ike-minded.

    In

    the

    "compromise"

    eached between

    Stephen

    Dedalus and his

    alter-pater

    Leopold

    Bloom,

    the

    modernist ames

    Joyce

    moves

    away

    from

    the cool aesthetic

    he

    hadearlieradvanced n

    Portrait.

    By

    contrast,

    n

    his own

    most recent

    work

    Okri

    spe-

    cificallyendorses heaesthetiche earlierespousedthroughOmovo:"When think

    of

    Omovo,"

    he

    writes,

    it's

    not

    just

    as the

    young

    artist:he's

    what the

    artist in his

    progression

    through

    ime,

    through

    age, through

    xperience

    would end

    up

    as.

    So

    that's

    what

    you

    are when

    you're

    young,

    but that's

    what

    you

    should

    be,

    on

    a

    higher

    evel,

    as

    you

    get

    older:

    seeing experience

    pure,

    seeing

    without

    pre-

    conceptions....

    He's an

    ideal

    filter,

    a

    prism:

    n

    thatsense

    he's an

    ideal

    art-

    ist.

    He's a

    complete

    contrast rom

    the

    artistswho have

    ideas,

    distort

    he

    world n termsof

    their

    deas,

    and

    hen

    reflectan

    dea-distorted niverse.

    So

    it's not the worldthey're really writingaboutbut something produced

    from a

    refusal o see.

    (qtd.

    n

    Wilkinson

    81)

    If,

    as

    another

    critic has

    written,

    "the

    outstanding

    attribute f

    the moder

    African

    writer...is

    his

    immediate

    engagement

    with

    history"

    (Irele

    69),

    one is

    at a

    loss to

    shoehorn

    Okri

    nto such

    a

    scheme. The

    political

    struggles

    of

    The Famished

    Road

    and

    Songs

    of

    Enchantment re

    airly

    imeless."We

    haveto

    change

    our

    perception

    f

    how we

    speak

    of

    people's

    accomplishments,"

    e

    recently

    argued.

    "Pyramids

    s

    one

    way,

    but there

    are

    pyramids

    of the

    spirit" qtd.

    n

    Wilkinson

    86).

    Or,

    as the

    abiku's

    father

    puts

    t,

    sounding

    a

    bit

    like

    Jung,

    "the

    whole of human

    history

    s

    an

    undiscov-

    eredcontinentdeepinoursouls"(Fam498). ThismaysupportNiven'scontention

    thatOkri

    s

    interested n

    self-examination,

    but Azaro's

    father s

    speaking

    of

    a

    col-

    lective

    consciousness.

    We

    shouldalso

    note

    Mamudu's

    econd

    observation: he

    "swings"

    between

    wo

    extremes.

    This

    dynamic

    becomes

    the

    central

    structural

    device

    in

    The

    Famished

    Road,

    and

    suggests

    Okri's

    characteristic

    urn

    away

    fromovert

    politics

    and

    towards

    what

    might

    be described

    as the

    politics

    of

    the

    interior.He

    has

    elsewhere

    signifi-

    cantly

    described

    narrative tself as

    "tension,

    opposites,

    anything

    hat

    pushes

    for-

    ward"

    qtd.

    in

    Wilkinson

    79).

    If this

    suggests

    thatOkri's

    principal

    demand or

    his

    literature s

    that it move

    forwardwithin ts

    self-contained

    ictive

    world,

    it

    is

    none-

    theless truethat The LandscapesWithin,while acknowledging he tropeof the

  • 8/10/2019 Ben Okris Spirit-child- Abiku Migration and Postmodernity

    7/11

    John C.

    Hawley

    35

    artist's

    escape

    to

    a

    romantic

    etreat,

    proposes

    a

    theory

    of art hat s

    confrontational,

    not lovely (he calls his art "scumscapes").The confrontation s first with the

    self. Omovo

    says

    "I

    need

    to

    face

    myself

    before

    I can face the

    terrors

    f this

    world"

    (LW

    164).

    He can

    "speak"only

    "whenthe

    landscapes

    without

    synchronised

    with

    those

    landscapes

    within"

    (LW

    206).

    Then the confrontationbecomes social.

    As

    Okri

    puts

    t,

    "The

    moment

    you

    see

    it,

    you

    have to

    say

    it. That'swhere

    responsibility

    begins" qtd.

    n

    Wilkinson

    78).

    Whether he

    "political"activity

    is interior

    or

    exterior,

    t is clear thatAzaro

    is

    not

    realistic

    in

    any

    sense that a

    nineteenth-century

    uthorwould

    recognize.

    He is

    more

    accurately

    described as a

    late-twentieth-century oorkeeper

    between

    two

    imagined

    worlds:thatof the

    spirits

    and that of the mortal.The

    "self,"

    n

    the

    tradi-

    tional

    Western

    sense,

    is

    therefore

    not

    as

    rigidly

    defined,

    nor

    as amenable o exami-

    nation. For

    the

    abiku,

    one's

    personal

    vision is a shared

    possession

    of the

    community,

    andone's

    idea

    of

    self

    is a

    directresult

    of the

    interchange.

    We

    do well to make a

    distinctionbetween

    Omovo,

    the

    youthful

    artist,

    and

    Azaro,

    a

    non-Western reation mbedded

    n his

    community.

    Both The

    Famished

    Road

    and

    Songs of

    Enchantment

    mbody

    several

    aspects

    of

    Omovo's

    aesthetic,

    but

    they

    do so

    ironically.

    He

    asserts, irst,

    hat"theartistneeds to

    see the one

    thing,

    the

    one

    experience,

    n

    relation o all

    thingstimelessly"

    Mamudu 9),

    and

    Azaro

    seems

    to have little

    choice but

    to

    follow this

    norm. Omovo furtherassertsthat

    "the

    [art-

    ist's]

    heightened

    stateof

    consciousness...represents

    n

    intellectualeffort at order-

    ing

    the

    universe"

    (89).

    But this

    blessed

    rage

    for

    order takes on a

    markedly

    postmodern ymmetry

    n

    Azaro's

    universe,

    one that

    pays comparatively

    ittle

    atten-

    tion to

    space

    and floats

    in

    a

    transcultural

    ynchronicity.

    Omovo

    says,

    "...[T]he

    sky

    has no

    meaning.

    The

    meaning

    s

    hidden nside me as

    are

    many

    othermad

    things"

    (LW

    164).

    But

    Azaro's

    experience

    s

    different:he finds

    meaning

    flooding

    into the

    world

    hrough

    ts

    objects

    n

    such

    a

    madtumult hathe

    reels

    between

    he

    animate

    and

    the

    inanimate.

    "'Everything

    s

    alive,'"

    his

    father ells him

    (Song

    222).

    In

    Azaro's

    life

    it is

    theplenitude

    of these hidden

    meanings,

    rather han heir

    vacuity,

    hat

    comes

    to thefore. Hecannotorder hem,but

    they

    arenot"his"

    meanings

    oorder,and t is

    largely

    irrelevant o

    describe

    his

    efforts as

    "intellectual."

    How should

    I

    use

    my

    eyes?"

    Azaroasks his

    father

    n

    Songs

    of

    Enchantment,

    ndhe

    is answered:

    "By

    not

    using

    your

    head first"

    261).

    The

    resulting

    narrative eveals

    history

    as

    partial

    ven

    as

    it

    suspends

    all

    hermeneutics.Closure

    cannot

    be

    brought

    about,

    simply

    because,

    as Azaro's

    mother

    eaches

    him,

    "All

    things

    are inked"

    Songs

    270).

    But

    is

    this

    postmodern?

    Like

    Slemon,

    Helen

    Tiffin

    agrees

    thatthere

    are

    many

    elements of

    post-colonial

    writing

    that have

    postmodern

    characteristics-"...the

    move

    away

    from

    realist

    representation,

    he

    refusalof

    closure,

    the

    exposure

    of the

    politicsof metaphor,he interrogationf forms,therehabilitation f allegoryand

    the attackon

    binary

    structuration

    f

    concept

    and

    language"

    172)-but

    she

    argues

    that

    "they

    are

    energisedby

    different

    heoretical

    assumptions

    nd

    by

    vastly

    different

    political

    motivations"

    (172).

    Therefore,

    "the

    postmodern

    label

    should...be

    resisted"

    171).

    Acknowledging

    hese

    distinctions,

    believe it

    is

    nonetheless

    help-

    fully

    descriptive

    o

    apply

    the

    label

    "postcolonial

    postmoderity"

    to

    writers

    who

    do

    two

    things:

    first,

    hey

    "resist he

    European

    master

    narrative f

    history

    because

    they

    can

    essentially

    oppose

    its

    incursions with

    alternative

    ontological

    systems...

    [especially]

    within he

    societies

    whose own

    opposing

    or

    differing

    epistemes

    arestill

    recuperable"asTiffinsaysChinuaAchebeandRajaRao do [176]);and,secondly,

  • 8/10/2019 Ben Okris Spirit-child- Abiku Migration and Postmodernity

    8/11

    36 Research

    in

    African

    Literatures

    they

    are

    markedly

    xperimental

    n

    their

    narration,

    arrying

    nto theirfiction

    many

    of thepostmoderntylisticcharacteristics escribedabove.

    This,

    I

    think,

    s

    whatOkri s

    doing

    with

    the

    concept

    of the

    abiku.It

    portrays

    n

    ontological

    system quite foreign

    to

    the

    colonizer's,

    at the same time

    that t

    does

    not

    display

    a

    "recuperativempulse

    towards

    the structure f

    'history"'

    (Slemon

    10).

    Okri's

    discussionof "The

    African

    Way"

    (Song

    158-61)

    suggests

    whathe does

    feel

    to be

    recuperable,

    ut it

    is

    hardly

    ystematic:

    "The

    Way

    that

    develops

    and

    keeps

    its

    secrets

    of

    transformations.

    hriving

    n

    a

    universeof

    enigmas,

    our

    accomplishments

    denied

    by

    the dominant

    history

    of the

    short-sighted

    onquerors

    f the times"

    160).

    As

    with Western

    postmodernists,

    his

    resistance

    o

    the

    fixing

    of boundaries s

    one of the strongestcharacteristicso emergefrom Okri'sdiscussion of his own

    work.

    His

    choice

    of

    a

    liminal

    figure

    ike

    the

    abiku o serve as

    his

    spokesman,

    trad-

    dling

    both

    worlds and

    drawingpower

    from

    both,

    summarizes

    his

    determination

    o

    imagine

    something

    new. If

    his choice of a

    child-witness

    places

    him

    firmly

    n

    the tra-

    dition of

    the novel

    of

    the

    sixties and the

    seventies,

    the

    unself-conscious

    movement

    backand

    orthbetween

    he worldof the

    spirits

    and

    thatof

    everyday

    ife in The

    Fam-

    ished Road

    places

    him

    alongside

    such

    protean

    extravaganzas

    as the

    Trinidadian

    RobertAntoni'sDivina

    Trace

    (1992).

    Like

    the

    unique

    child-narratorf

    that

    recent

    novel,

    the

    abiku sets

    himself,

    Okri

    says,

    "against

    he

    perception

    of the world

    as

    being

    coherentand

    therefore

    readableas a text. The

    world isn't

    really

    a

    text,

    con-

    trary

    o

    what

    people

    like

    Borges say.

    It's

    more hana text.

    It's moreakin

    o

    music....

    Texts

    without words.

    That's

    why

    I

    probably

    ean more

    towardsdreams"

    qtd.

    in

    Wilkinson

    85).

    Strictlysequential

    narrations

    not

    a

    value,

    so

    when Azaro's

    mother

    complains

    to her

    husband,

    "Your

    story

    isn't

    going anywhere,"

    he

    receives the

    reply,

    "A

    story

    is

    not a

    car.... It is a

    road,

    and

    before that

    t

    was a

    river,

    a river

    that

    never

    ends"

    Song

    266).

    Narration

    s

    "akin

    o moments

    n

    tidal

    waves"

    (Okri

    qtd.

    n

    Wilkinson

    83).

    Not

    tidalwaves as

    such,

    butmoments

    within hem:

    a

    forceful

    moving

    ahead

    of

    the

    mass,

    but

    experienced

    rom within

    as

    a series of

    relationships

    and

    counterva-

    lences. "Thenovel moves towards

    nfinity,

    basically.

    You're

    dealing

    with a

    con-

    sciousness...which

    is

    already

    awareof

    other ives

    behind and in

    frontand

    also

    of

    people

    actually iving

    their

    futures

    n

    the

    present"

    Okri

    qtd.

    in

    Wilkinson

    83).

    A

    confusing

    world, herefore,

    but

    "so

    many

    things

    that

    will

    seem

    puzzling

    n

    the

    book

    are

    actually

    n

    the

    possibility

    of

    a life

    lived

    simultaneously

    t

    different evels of

    con-

    sciousness and in

    different

    erritories"

    83).

    We are

    dealing

    with a

    type

    of

    realism

    here,

    or

    at least

    verisimilitude,

    but

    the

    worldthat

    shapes

    his

    character's

    onscious-

    ness is

    shapedby

    a

    non-Western

    mythology,

    an

    animistic

    appreciation

    f a

    surging

    and

    constantly

    ransmogrifying eality.

    In

    Okri,

    he

    Western

    dilemmaof the

    disso-

    lutionof the

    subject

    s celebrated."Isn't t

    just

    possible,"

    he

    asks,

    "thatwe areall

    abikus?....

    [Since]

    there

    areno

    divisions

    really

    n

    life,

    just

    a

    constant

    low,

    forming

    and

    reforming..."

    qtd.

    n

    Wilkinson

    84).

    This

    is

    muchthe

    conclusion

    drawn

    by

    the

    abiku's

    father,

    who,

    sounding

    a

    bit

    like

    Mikhail

    Bakhtin,

    ells

    his son that

    "many

    people

    reside in

    us...many

    past

    lives,

    many

    future

    lives"

    (Fam

    499).

    The

    masks

    employed

    n

    his

    novel-those

    of the

    egungun

    and

    gelede

    (Maclean

    58),

    those

    of

    the

    political

    parties,

    those

    even

    of

    sequential

    ime-are

    recognized

    as masks

    by

    the

    abiku.It

    is the

    forces

    of

    negativity

    hat

    say

    otherwise,

    and

    thatseek

    stasis:

    Madame

    Koto,

    the blind

    old

    man,

    the

    thugs,

    and

    even

    the

    spirits,

    attempt

    o

    hold him in

    their

    world(Wilkinson84).

  • 8/10/2019 Ben Okris Spirit-child- Abiku Migration and Postmodernity

    9/11

    John C.

    Hawley

    37

    The

    Famished

    Road's

    opening,

    with its

    play

    upon

    the

    logocentricmetaphor

    f

    John'sGospel, saysasmuch:"In hebeginning herewas a river.The riverbecame

    a roadand he roadbranched

    ut to

    the

    whole world.And because he roadwas

    once

    a

    river t

    was

    always hungry"

    Fam 3).

    But

    the

    abiku's father ells

    him,

    "[M]y

    son,

    our

    hunger

    an

    change

    the

    world,

    make

    t

    better,

    weeter"

    Fam498).

    The

    hunger

    of

    the

    road,

    somewhat

    incomprehensible

    but nonetheless

    threatening

    o

    a

    Western

    mind,

    s "our"

    hunger

    o

    Azaro-a

    part

    of

    us,

    as

    "we"

    are

    a

    part

    of it.

    This

    is rather

    disturbing magery,

    butOkrihas "cometo realize

    you

    can'twrite

    about

    Nigeria truthfully

    without

    a

    sense

    of violence"

    (qtd.

    in Wilkinson

    81).

    We

    have seen him

    assert

    hat hereareessentialelementsof the African

    consciousness,

    the

    "mythic

    rame" hat

    "shapes

    he

    way

    we

    affect the worldand

    the

    way

    the world

    affects

    us.

    It's

    these invisible

    things

    hat

    shape

    he visible

    things....

    The unbreakable

    things

    in us"

    (qtd.

    in Wilkinson

    88).

    They

    are here

    embodied

    n

    the

    frangible:

    he

    garishrepresentations

    f life-and-death

    attles,

    drenched

    n

    the blood

    of

    riots,

    box-

    ing

    matches,

    and sacrificed

    chickens,

    a world

    of

    intoxication and

    gleaming

    machetes.

    Little

    wonder,

    then,

    that the abiku

    recognizes

    that

    "being

    born

    was a

    shock

    from which

    [he]

    never recovered"

    Fam

    7).

    Okri

    accepts

    the fact that

    "suffering

    s

    one

    of the

    great

    characters f the

    book,

    the different

    ways

    people

    suffer."

    His

    ratio-

    nale for

    its

    pervasivepresence

    s

    important

    o our theme:

    "It

    defines

    the

    boundaries

    of selfbut also breaksdownthe boundaries f individual dentifications....Anyone

    of

    [the]

    children

    elling

    their stories would be

    telling

    a

    story ust

    like

    this

    one,

    but

    with its own

    particularity.

    herearehundreds f

    variations,

    but

    there s

    just

    one

    god

    there,

    and that

    god

    is

    suffering,pain.

    But

    that's

    not

    the

    supremedeity.

    The

    higher

    deity

    is

    joy" (qtd.

    in

    Wilkinson

    85).

    This

    seems

    a

    bit

    Manichaean,

    but

    is

    another

    instanceof the wave-like

    consciousnessof the book.

    If

    you

    listen

    carefully,"

    Azaro's father

    ells

    him,

    "the air

    is full of

    laughter"

    (Fam

    499),

    and the

    abiku achieves a sense of

    joy,

    and even

    peace.

    At

    novel's

    end,

    the airhas

    cleared,

    he

    spirits

    seem

    in

    abeyance.

    The

    next

    day

    begins,

    and,

    t is

    true,

    herecognizes hat"thegoodbreeze"willnot lastforever-but he is nolongerafraid

    of Time

    (Fam

    500):

    he has learned

    o

    swim in

    it.

    His

    consciousnessremains

    ocused

    and

    courageous,

    and

    comfortable

    n

    its stateof flux.This

    stands

    him in

    good

    stead

    n

    Songs of

    Enchantment,

    when the usual strainsof

    adolescence are

    complicatedby

    the

    estrangement

    f his

    parents,

    he

    deathof his best

    friend,

    andthe

    collapse

    of

    the

    political

    system.

    Yet

    if,

    as the

    Greek

    philosopher

    noted

    ong ago,

    all

    things

    are

    flowing,

    t is little

    wonder hat

    many

    on this

    "road

    of...vulnerability"

    178)

    are

    not

    as

    resilientas

    the

    abiku.

    Okri

    s

    obviously

    awareof this

    fact,

    and it is

    significant

    hat

    the

    struggling

    artist

    who

    figured

    n

    an

    early

    novel

    like The

    Landscapes

    Withinhas been

    replaced

    n

    The

    Famished Road

    by

    the

    figure

    of a

    photographer.

    Like

    that

    photojournalist,

    whose

    eye

    fixes

    reality

    n

    the civic

    memory

    who,

    in

    effect,

    does a "freeze-frame"n

    life's

    ongoing

    film),

    Okri

    says

    that one of the

    things

    he himself

    wantedto do

    was

    'just

    to

    make

    visible one

    of

    the

    stories of

    the

    river,

    that's all.

    Just one...."

    (qtd.

    in

    Wilkinson

    88;

    emphasis

    added).

    It

    is,

    admittedly,

    more

    static

    han

    he

    flowing

    aural

    account rom a

    griot,

    but

    an

    abiku

    spokesperson

    s

    as

    close as

    a writer

    can

    get

    to the

    semblanceof

    images

    passing away

    and

    coming

    into view.

    Critics ike

    Niven lament hat

    "Okri

    andhis

    generation

    will

    be

    more

    ntrospec-

    tive,

    more

    personal,

    ess

    historically

    ambitious,

    ess

    radical,

    han

    Achebe and

    his

    peers" 282). Okri, n turn, s concerned hattherelative"quietude" tnovel's end

  • 8/10/2019 Ben Okris Spirit-child- Abiku Migration and Postmodernity

    10/11

    38 Researchn

    African iteratures

    might

    be mistakenfor an

    easy optimism.

    The abiku's fatheradvises his son

    that

    "God s hungry orus togrow....We are reer hanwe think....Themanwhoselight

    has come

    on in

    his

    head,

    in

    his dormant

    un,

    can never be

    kept

    down or

    defeated"

    (Fam 498).

    If

    his words

    strike

    other

    African

    novelists as

    naively optimistic,

    Okri

    wishes

    to demonstrate hat he knows what he is

    doing.

    "One

    should be

    very,

    very

    seriouswhenone is

    going

    to talkabout

    hope,"

    he

    writes. One

    has

    to

    know

    about he

    very

    hard acts of

    the

    worldandone has to

    know how

    deadly

    and

    powerful hey

    are

    beforeone can

    begin

    to thinkor dreamoneself into

    positions

    out of which

    hope

    and

    then

    possibilities

    can come. It's one of the

    steps

    I

    try

    to take

    in this book"

    (qtd.

    in

    Wilkinson

    88).

    Inthe sequel,theoptimisticfatherof The FamishedRoad becomes blind and

    spends

    his

    days

    shoveling

    manure.But

    his

    life-affirmingphilosophy

    becomes,

    if

    anything,

    tronger.

    n

    the earlier

    book,

    the abikuconcluded hat"adreamcan be

    the

    highest

    point

    of a life"

    (Fam500).

    Here

    n

    the

    increasingpoverty

    of his

    earthly

    ami-

    ly's

    life,

    he

    puts

    it

    differently:"Maybe

    one

    day

    we will

    see that

    beyond

    our chaos

    therecould

    always

    be a new

    sunlight,

    and

    serenity"

    Song

    297).

    If this

    "manifestsa

    Utopian

    desire

    grounded

    in

    reference"

    that

    is

    typical

    of

    post-colonial writing

    (Slemon

    10),

    the

    abiku,

    n

    his tenuous

    earthlypresence,

    irstchooses

    the

    chaos.

    WORKS CITED

    Desai,

    S. K. "TheTheme

    f

    Childhoodn

    Commonwealthiction." ommonwealthitera-

    ture:Problems

    f

    Response.

    d.C.D.

    Narasimhaiah.

    adras,

    ndia:

    Macmillan

    ndia,

    1981.38-48.

    During,

    imon.

    PostmodernismrPost-colonialism

    oday."

    extural

    ractice

    .1

    1987):

    32-47.

    Hutcheon,

    inda.

    'Circling

    he

    Downspout

    f

    Empire':

    ostColonialismnd

    Postmodern-

    ism,"ARIEL0.4(1989):149-75.

    A

    Poetics

    of

    Postmodernism:

    History,Theory,

    Fiction. New York:

    Routledge,

    1988.

    Irele,

    Abiola."Parablesf the

    AfricanCondition:

    Comparative

    tudy

    of ThreePost-

    ColonialNovels."

    Journal

    of

    African

    and

    Comparative

    Literature1

    (1981):

    69-91.

    Maclean,

    Una.

    Magical

    Medicine:

    A

    Nigerian Case-study.

    London:

    Allen

    Lane

    Penguin,

    1971.

    Mamudu,

    yo.

    "Portraitf a

    Young

    Artist

    n

    BenOkri'sThe

    Landscapes

    Within."

    ommon-

    wealth:

    Essays

    and

    Studies

    [Dijon]

    13.2

    (1991):

    85-91.

    Mbiti,

    JohnS.

    African

    Religions

    and

    Philosophy.

    London:

    Heinemann,

    1969.

    Niven,

    Alastair. Achebe ndOkri:

    Contrastsn

    the

    Response

    o CivilWar." hort iction n

    theNewLiteraturesnEnglish.Ed.Jacquelineardolph.ice:Charlet,989.277-83.

    Okri,

    Ben. Flowers and

    Shadows.London:

    Longman,

    1980.

    [FS]

    The

    Landscapes

    Within.Harlow:

    Longman,

    1981.

    [LW]

    Incidentsat

    the Shrine:Short

    Stories.

    Heinemann,

    1986.

    Stars

    of

    theNew

    Curfew:

    Short

    Stories.

    Penguin,

    1988.

    The

    FamishedRoad. New

    York:

    Doubleday,

    1991.

    [Fam]

    Songs of

    Enchantment.New York:

    Nan A.

    Talese/Doubleday,

    1993.

    [Songs]

    Parry,

    Benita.

    "Problems

    n

    Current

    Theories of

    Colonial Discourse."

    Oxford

    Literary

    Review9.1-2

    (1987):

    27-58.

    Porter,

    biosehMichael.

    BenOkri'sThe

    Landscapes

    Within:

    Metaphor

    or

    Personal

    nd

    NationalDevelopment."WorldLiteratureWritten nEnglish28.2 (1988):203-10.

  • 8/10/2019 Ben Okris Spirit-child- Abiku Migration and Postmodernity

    11/11

    John C.

    Hawley

    39

    Slemon,

    Stephen.

    "Modernism'sLast

    Post."ARIEL 0.4

    (1989):

    3-17.

    Soyinka,Wole.Art,Dialogueand Outrage:Essays onLiteratureandCulture.New York:

    Pantheon,

    1994.

    Tiffin,

    Helen.

    "Post-Colonialism,

    Post-Modernism nd the

    Rehabilitation f

    Post-Colonial

    History."

    TheJournal

    of

    Commonwealth

    iterature

    3.1

    (1988).

    169-81.

    Wilkinson,Jane,

    ed.

    Talking

    With

    African

    Writers.London:

    Heinemann,

    1992.