Historical sociological and philosophical dimensions reflected in tho novels of selected african writers

i THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines HISTORICAL, SOCIOLOGICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL DIMENSIONS REFLECTED IN THE NOVELS OF SELECTED AFRICAN WRITERS A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School Batangas State University Batangas City, Philippines In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Major in English by NGUYEN THI MINH LOAN 2015 ii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines APPROVAL SHEET This dissertation entitled “HISTORICAL, SOCIOLOGICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL DIMENSIONS REFLECTED IN THE NOVELS OF SELECTED AFRICAN WRITERS” prepared and submitted by NGUYEN THI MINH LOAN in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy major in English has been examined and is recommended for Oral Examination MARIA LUISA A VALDEZ, Ph.D Adviser PANEL OF EXAMINERS Approved by the Committee on Oral Examination with a grade of _ DR MATILDA H DIMAANO Chairman DR AMADA G BANAAG Member DR FELIX M PANOPIO Member DR MYRNA G SULIT External Representative Accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy major in English Comprehensive Examination: PASSED Date MATILDA H DIMAANO, Ph.D Dean, Graduate Studies College of Arts and Sciences iii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines ABSTRACT Title: HISTORICAL, SOCIOLOGICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL DIMENSIONS REFLECTED IN THE NOVELS OF SELECTED AFRICAN WRITERS Author: Nguyen Thi Minh Loan Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Major: English Year: 2015 Adviser: Maria Luisa A Valdez, Ph.D _ Summary From the beginning of colonial situation, literature was the sharp weapon of African writers to oppose colonialism and proudly assert the values of the cultures that the colonials had tried to destroy Therefore, many of African writers chose to use their works to explore, portray, and expose these social experiences in their different works Among African writers, Chinua Achebe, Ayi Kwei Armah and Tsitsi Dangarembga are the pioneers in using the pen as the weapon against colonialism The wisdom embodied in the selected works of these African writers could be one of the motivating factors that could help readers in the world understand about internal and external pressures African people suffered as iv THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines well as the values they lost in colonial and post-colonial periods The representative literary works were analyzed: No Longer at Ease by Achebe, Fragments by Armah and Nervous Conditions by Dangarembga The said selections were chosen because of the correlation between the aforementioned themes, literary devices and approaches which helped in unveiling the authors’ philosophy of life The study yielded the following findings: Although No Longer at Ease cannot strictly be considered a historical document, it is still an ethnographic record of a chaotic African society in a period of social transformation from traditional tribal life to modern urban life and from colonial to postcolonial Fragments deploys the image of a neo-colony in order to sustain the fact that Ghana in particular and Africa in general are still controlled by the West Set in the Rhodesia of the 1950s to early 1970s, Nervous Conditions spans important historical periods in the history of Zimbabwe Although for a reader unfamiliar with Zimbabwe’s history, the political significance of some important years is not apparent in the novel, three events all allude to the national events Sociological characters of the time conveyed through these novels refer to the following issues: customs, traditions and beliefs These writers mention a fact that the old African ways and customs have been nearly or completely v THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines abandoned for the new system in their novels The literacy devices used in No Longer at Ease, Fragments and Nervous Conditions play a crucial role in enhancing these novels’ themes and bring the novels their widespread acceptance as quality pieces of literature The author’s talent is highly appreciated with their flexible use of symbolism, flashback, foreshadowing, and figures of speech In the treatment of Achebe’s three novels, the study used the following approaches The historical approach attempts to show that the function of Achebe, Armah and Dangarembga's fiction is to investigate historical conditions of African societies Secondly, using sociological approach, the researcher clarified the elements of the African society including customs, traditions and beliefs social organization in No Longer at Ease, Fragments and Nervous Conditions Finally, the philosophical approach clarifies African philosophy in three novels such as fatalism, principle of balance and co-existence, the notion of life and death, and the philosophy of unhu The study drew Achebe’s philosophy of life as a realist and Armah’s philosophy of life as an existentialist Dagarembga may be considered as a feminist in the way that she functions as a role model for African women to fulfill their own dreams vi THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines ACKNOWLEDGMENT The researcher wishes to express her personal thanks and appreciation to those, in one way or another helped her accomplish this work First and foremost, to Batangas State University and the Thai Nguyen University, for giving her the opportunity to finish this dissertation under their International Academic Cooperation Program Sincere thanks also goes to Dr Dang Kim Vui, the President of the Thai Nguyen University, Assoc Prof Dr Nguyen Tuan Anh, Assoc Prof Dr Dang Xuan Binh, Prof Dr Nguyen The Hung, the former Directors of the TNU International Training and Development Center, Dr Hoang Thi Bich Thao, the current Director of TNU ITDC, Dr Le Hong Thang, the Dean of the TNU School of Foreign Languages, for their motivation and wisdom that helped hasten the completion of this study She also would like to thank Dr Maria Luisa A Valdez, the Dean of Colleges and Head of the Graduate School of the Batangas State University ARASOF Nasugbu Campus, the researcher’s dissertation adviser, for her constant motivation, support, and patience, which inspired diligent research for the realization of this study To Dr Matilda H Dimaano, the Chairman of the Panel of Examiners, for vii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines her thorough dissection and candid remarks that drew up the essential and relevant dimensions in this research To Dr Amada G Banaag, Dr Felix M Panopio, and Dr Myrna G Sulit, the Members of the Panel of Examiners, for their valuable suggestions and criticism which motivated conscientiously the researcher during the conduct of this study To Dr Remedios P Magnaye, the Recording Secretary and Ms Le Quynh Anh, the ITDC Administrative Staff, for their words of encouragement and kind gestures To the writers whose works were included in this study for their emboldened wisdom in every page of this dissertation The researcher’s colleagues and friends, all of whom generously gave their time, advice, and prayers They made her realize the value of truth and principles about people and human experiences The researcher is also very grateful for the wholehearted support and love that her husband, Pham Duy Hiep and her children, Minh Pham and Quan Pham along with her parents, have extended during the writing process Their spiritual support accompanied the realization of this paper Nguyen Thi Minh Loan viii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines DEDICATION To the essence of my existence, my loving husband Pham Duy Hiep and my ever dearest sons Minh Pham and Quan Pham, Nguyen Thi Minh Loan ix THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TITLE PAGE i APPROVAL SHEET ii ABSTRACT iii ACKNOWLEDGMENT vi DEDICATION viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ix LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………………………… xi CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM Introduction Statement of the Problem Scope, Delimitation and Limitation of the Study Significance of the Study 10 II REVIEW OF LITERATURE Conceptual Literature 13 Research Literature 31 x THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Synthesis 37 Theoretical Framework 41 Conceptual Framework 44 Definition of Terms 47 III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Research Design 52 Treatment of Materials 53 IV ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION 57 V SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION Summary of Findings 188 Conclusions 194 Recommendations 195 BIBLIOGRAPHY 197 APPENDICES…………………………………………………………… 204 Summaries of the Novels…… ……….………………………… 205 CURRICULUM VITAE…………………………………………………… 210 ccix THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Crystal, D (2004) The Oxford Companion to the English Language Oxford New Yolrk, Oxford University Press Diamond, L (1989) Fiction as Political Thought African Affairs 88 (352), 435445 Dangarembga, T (1988) Nervous Conditions Oxfordshire, UK: Ayebia Clarke Eckert, L S (2006) How does It Mean?: Engaging Reluctant Readers through Literary Theory Heinemann Ezeigbo, A.T (1989) Ayi Kwei Armah: Neocolonialism and the African Woman Ernest Emenyonu (Ed) Literature and National Consciousness Ibadan: Heinemann Educational Books Ltd Gelfand, M (1973) The Genuine Shona Gwelu, Zimbabwe: Mambo P Print Gikandi, S (Ed) (2009) The Routledge Encyclopedia LiteratureLondon: Routledge Taylor and 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Selden, R and Widdowson (1993) A Reader’s Guide to Contemporary Trends New York, USA: Harvester/Wheatsheaf, Inc Suter, W N (2012) Introduction to Educational Research: A Critical Thinking Approach Thousand Oaks, CA, Sage ccxi THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Teoxon, L.J.F (1990) The Quest for Truth Quezon City, Philipines: New Day Publishers The Encyclopedia Americana, 1986, Vol 11, p 195-198 USA: Grolier Incorporated Tomeldan, Y V., et al (1986) An Introduction to Literature Manila, Philippines: National Bookstore Publishers Wixson, K.D (2002) “Women and Food in Tsitsi Dangarembga s Nervous Conditions.” Negotiating the Postcolonial: Emerging Perspectives on Tsitsi Dangarembga Ed Willey E Ann and Jeanette Treiber Eritrea: Africa World P B UNPUBLISHED MATERIALS Ahmad, Hena, Z (1998) Postnational feminism in Third World women's literature Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest Paper AAI9909144 http://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9909144 Ayivor, M.G.K (1998) A Saga of Black Deglorification: the Disfigurement of Africa in Ayi Kwei Armah’s Novels Doctoral Dissertation University of Cape Town Axiotou, G (2008) Breaking the Silence: West African Authors and the Transatlantic Slave Trade Doctoral Dissertation The University of Edinburgh Baek, K.S (1992) Colonial And Post-Colonial Discourse in the Novels of Yom Sang-sop, Chinua Achebe and Salman Rushdie Doctoral Dissertation University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Brown, M.L (2008) Scream Somehow Echoing: Trauma and Testimony in Anglophone African Literature Doctoral Dissertation University of Maryland Bubenechik, M (2012) Trauma Novels in Postcolonial Literatures: Tsitsi Dangarembga, Nervous Conditions, and Tomson Highway, Kiss of the Fur Queen Doctoral Dissertation Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf ccxi THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Graham, J.J.G, (2006) Writing the Land: Representations of 'the land' and Nationalism in Anglophone Literature from South Africa and Zimbabwe 1969-2002 Doctoral Dissertation University of Warwick Makau, K (2014) Rhetorical Strategies in the Novels of Chinua Achebe Marima, T (2011) Suns of the Mbira: A Critical Exploration of the Multiple Figurations of Femininity in Selected Fiction by Tsitsi Dangarembga and Yvonne Vera Doctoral Dissertation, Goldsmiths, University of London Goldsmiths Research Online Nnaemeke, O (1997) The Politics of Mothering London: Routledge Nwafor-Orizu, J.U, (2011) Disillusionment and Alienation in Selected PostColonial African Novels Doctoral Dissertatio Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka C JOURNALS, ARTICLES AND PERIODICALS Alkire, S (2014) Teaching Novels in EFL/ESL Classes The English Learning and Language Review Retrieved from http://www.lingua.org.uk/novteach.alkire.html 10/10/2014 Anand P (2014) Revisiting and Retelling the History: Achebe’s Novels and the 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Staudt, K The Characterization of Women in Soyinka and Armah Ba Shiry (University of Wincosin, Madison), 8, 2, pp.63-69 Wellek, R, (1970) The Term and Concept of Symbolism in Literary History New Literary History Vol 1, No 2, A Symposium on Periods (Winter, 1970), pp 249-270 The Johns Hopkins University Press D ELECTRONIC REFERENCES Braiman, J (2007) Literary Devices; url: https://kohner.wikispaces.com/file/view/LITERARY+DEVICES.pdf http://literarydevices.net; date retrieved: 11/2/2015 David-Maramba, Asuncion (1993) Philippine Contemporary Literature in English and Filipino Bookmark, Inc Manila, Philippines; url: ccxi THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines http://www.scribd.com/doc/27042364/APPROACHES-TOLITERATURE#scribd; date retrieved: 11/2/2015 Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2015) Meaning of Life: Contemporary Analytic Perspectives; url: http://www.iep.utm.edu/mean-ana/; date retrieved: 11/2/2015 Jennings, 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EASE by Chinua Achebe After studying in England at a university for four years, Obi Okonkwo returns to Nigeria He was given a scholarship to study law in England by the Umuofia Progressive Union (U.P.U), and he has to pay back upon his return However, while in England, he changes his law course of study to English Besides, he meets Clara in London and they begin a relationship Once back in Nigeria, Obi receives a post on the Scholarship Board of the Civil Service, and he witnesses the popular phenomenon of bribery, which he rejects at first However, a series of events happen to his life, which forces him to change his idealism Clara tells him that she is an osu, an outcast, so she cannot marry him Despite this fact, Obi decides to marry her anyway However, his parents not agree with his marriage with Clara More seriously, Clara is pregnant Obi arranges an abortion for Clara, and after that their relationship is broken After Obi’s mother’s death, he takes his first bribe He is caught when he has taken his last bribe ccx THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines FRAGMENTS by Ayi Kwei Armah Baako Onipa is a “been-to,” a member of the educated elite who has spent five years studying in the United States Baako returns home unannounced to avoid the inevitable ritual ceremony He does not want to face his family because he brings no gifts and because he knows that he will be unable to fulfill his mother’s expectations Although he has the means to satisfy the expectations of his family, especially his mother, he is unable to sacrifice his personal integrity to take advantage of his opportunities Baako, in his rebellion against this imitation of Western values, goes to his former teacher, Ocran, for advice Ocran has himself chosen to pursue his profession as an artist in solitude, because he sees no possibility for useful work within contemporary Ghanaian society Against Ocran’s advice, the less experienced Baako has decided to make the attempt by writing numerous television treatments and journal entries about the African slave trade and colonial oppression for the state-run Ghanavision His producer rejects Baako’s subject as unbefitting the national agenda of celebrating its glorious culture Baako quits Ghanavision, begins a journal, and falls ill His family commits him to a mental health facility and Juana, a Puerto Rican ccx THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines psychologist who becomes Baako’s confidant, prepares a space for him in her apartment The ending suggests that Juana will assume a directive role in relation to Baako after his institutional release Their partnership suggests the possibility of formulating a transnational, anti-patriarchal family model ccxi THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines NERVOUS CONDITIONS by Tsitsi Dangarembga Despite the family’s poverty, Tambu’s parents were able to send Nhamo to school while Tambu must raise the money herself to affrod her own study Babamukuru chooses Nhamo to go to the mission school, but after his sudden death, Tambu is selected to replace him Tambu is excited by her new life on the mission school grounds Tambu becomes absorbed in her studies and makes friends with Nyasha, her cousin In Babamukuru’s house, Tambu witnesses Nyasha’s confrontation with her father During the school vacation, Tambu and her relatives head back to the homestead Maiguru learns a fact that her economic contribution to the family is not recognized She leaves the next day and stays with her son, Chido To make matters worse, Lucia is pregnant with Takesure’s child Babamukuru declares that Jeremiah and Ma’Shingayi must be married in a formal Christian ceremony as soon as possible Tambu’s mother comes to the mission hospital and gives birth to a son Lucia asks Babamukuru to find her a job She cooks at the school and begins taking classes ccx THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Tambu is offered a scholarship to study at the esteemed mission school Tambu leaves for the convent school Busy with her studies, she soon falls out of touch with Nyasha Tambu returns to the mission to find Nyasha suffering from a severe eating disorder Tambu fears she is succumbing to the negative, colonial influence that made Nyasha mentally ill Tambu declares her intention to begin questioning her world and the influences that it exerts on her ccx THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines CURRICULUM VITAE PERSONAL DATA Name Gender Nationality Date of Birth Place of Birth Address Gmail : Loan Thi Minh Nguyen : Female : Vietnamese : October, 21, 1979 : Thai Nguyen City Vietnam : Nuoc Hai Village, Thai Nguyen City, Vietnam : loantnu@gmail.com EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND Doctor of Philosophy Major in English International Academic Cooperation Program Between the Thai Nguyen University, Vietnam and the Batangas State University, Philippines (2015) Master of Arts in English Language Teaching Concentration: Teaching English as a Foreign Language Ha Noi University of Foreign Languages Hanoi, Vietnam (2007) Bachelor of Arts in English and Teaching English as a Foreign Language College of Education Thai Nguyen University, Vietnam (2001) ccx THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCES 2012 up to the Present : Head of English Language Department The School of Foreign Languages Thai Nguyen University The Study of the United States Institute for Secondary Educators, California State University, Chico, California, America (2014) Vietnamese Teacher Training Program Wellington, New Zealand (2012) 2008 - up to the Present : English Instructor and English Teacher Trainer The School of Foreign Languages Thai Nguyen University, Vietnam 2007 - 2008 : Participated in the VietnamNetherlands Higher Education Project; Taught Experimental Program and Instructed Tourism Projects 2001 - 2008 : English Instructor College of Education Thai Nguyen University OTHER PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCES 2013 - up to the Present : Senior Advisor Community English Club The School of Foreign Languages Thai Nguyen University Vietnam ccx THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines PUBLICATIONS Effects of Question Generation Strategy on First Year English Majors’ Reading Comprehension and Question Quality at Thai Nguyen College of Education (2011) Thai Nguyen University Journal of Science and Technology: Volume 11 (87), 111-118 CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS English Majors’ Listening Comprehension Strategies at Thai Nguyen University (2014) ThaiTESOL, ChiengMai, Thailand Effects of Question Generation Strategy on First Year English Majors’ Reading Comprehension and Question Quality at School of Foreign Languages (2015) CamTESOL, Phnompenh, Cambodia ... the historical, social and philosophical insights of these novels While these studies have made insight interpretations of content and meaning of the African works, less is known of the influence... concepts and categories; linking and combining abstract concepts; extracting the essence; organizing meaning; writing an understanding; and drawing conclusions The essential features in the treatment... the interest in the influence of historical events of a period on writers and their works, offering readers and students many possibilities for inquiries into literature, history, and their intricate