Overview for Midterm

Above is a picture of Igbo elders in council.  Below is a quick overview of our material.

Genres:

novel -- a fictional prose narrative of at least 50,000 words, which emphasizes character over plot, focuses on a protagonist with whom we are supposed to sympathize, and has a realistic-seeming setting

life writing -- non-fictional writing about an individual's life.  Sub-genres are biographies, autobiographies, memoirs, letters, and journals or diaries.

autobiography -- covers the whole of the author's life

memoir -- covers part of the author's life

Works --

Apocalypse Now (1979) dir. by Francis Ford Coppola.  Set in Vietnam although it is an adaptation of Heart of Darkness.  Capt. Willard is the narrator.  He is sent on a mission to kill Col. Kurtz, a Green Beret who has gone rogue.  The men on the boat escorting Willard include Chef (remember the tiger scene) and Lance the surfer.  Along the way we meet Col. Kilgore (who wants to see Lance surf) and a photojournalist (played by Dennis Hopper) who is Coppola's version of Kurtz' Russian.

Heart of Darkness (serialized 1899, published as a book 1902) by Joseph Conrad for whom English was *not* his first language.  This novel is a frame narrative, beginning with an unnamed Englishman's narration and then moving to Marlow's narration.  Marlow is a merchant marine who goes to the Belgian Congo as an employee of the nefarious Company.  He is sent to captain a boat rescuing Kurtz, a star of the Company.  Along the way we meet the Accountant (who may remind you of Kilgore), many pilgrims, the Helmsman and the Fireman, the Russian, and Kurtz' Intended.  Is Marlow on the hero's journey as he moves from the center (London) to the margins (Congo, esp. Kurtz' trading post)?  Note that London has not always been the center.  It has been one of the dark places like the Congo.

"An Image of Africa" (1975) -- African novelist Chinua Achebe strongly criticizes Conrad's depiction of Africa and Africans.  He focuses on Conrad's description of the landscape and his refusal to let Africans speak for themselves.

Achebe on writing in English -- Achebe feels that he has been given the gift of English.  He argues for his choice to write in English.  (Ten or fifteen years later Kenyan Ngugi wa' Thiongo will argue for his choice to write in Gikiyu, his first language.)

Things Fall Apart (1958) -- This is not only Chinua Achebe's first novel but also one of the first works of modern African literature. Achebe wrote this novel shortly before Nigeria gained its independence from the UK.  Things Fall Apart is a third-person narrative set in the 1890s when missionaries were active in the British colony.  Its protagonist is Okonkwo, a forceful man whose downfall may be his pride, his anger, or his desire NOT to be like his father.  Is he a tragic hero?  Okonkwo has three wives and many children.  We focus on Nwoye, his son who repudiates his father to become a Christian, and Ezinma, his daughter whom Okonkwo wishes were his son.  She has "the right spirit."  We also meet Ikemefuna, Okonkwo's foster son whom O. kills.  Ikemefuna's death naturally alienates Nwoye.  Along the way, we learn much about Igbo culture (especially its reliance on oracles, proverbs, and a council of elders).  We also watched a TV miniseries of TFA that includes scenes NOT in the novel.

 
Turkish Embassy Letters (not published during the life of their author, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu).  Lady Mary wrote these letters while accompanying her husband, the ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1716 to 1718.  At this time, the British Empire was not yet dominant, and the Ottoman Empire was powerful and prosperous.  The letters we read included Lady Mary's letters to the poet Alexander Pope (she makes many literary and cultural references and even translates some Turkish poetry), her friend Susan Chiswell (about vaccination for smallpox), and her sister Lady Mar (about trips to the harems or homes of two Turkish women of high rank).  Does it make a difference that Lady Mary edited these letters?

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (1789) -- Afro-British businessman, anti-slavery activist, and former slave Olaudah Equiano writes his autobiography.  We discussed his depiction of being taken onboard the Europeans' slave ship (he was already a slave), of seeing snow for the first time, of being betrayed by his first English owner Captain Pascal, of witnessing the sexual harassment of female slaves, and of finally buying his freedom.  How does Equiano represent himself?  How does he address his audience?  Who is his audience?  Some scholars question whether Equiano was born in Africa, but most do not.  Equiano was also an Igbo, but he lived on the coast of what is now Nigeria.

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861) -- American social activist, educator, and former slave Harriet Jacobs writes her autobiography.  However, she calls herself Linda Brent in this work.  (At the time she wrote, slavery was still legal in the US, and the Fugitive Slave Act was in effect.)  Jacobs emphasizes what it was like for a child and then a young woman to be a slave.  We see that she grew up in a community of slaves who were thwarted in their efforts to be free.  As a young woman, she was menaced by her owner's father, Dr. Flint, a "hoary-headed miscreant, " yet she had an affair with a white neighbor.  From this affair, she bore two children.  She also distinguishes between womanly women (like her grandmother) and unwomanly women (like Dr. Flint's wife).  Jacobs eventually escaped from slavery, spending almost seven years in her grandmother's attic before finally traveling to the North.  There, as we learn, she was not free until (against her wishes) her employer bought her freedom from Dr. Flint's son-in-law.

We also watched scenes from TV versions of Dickens' David Copperfield (contrasting David's joy with his nurse Peggotty's family and his fear with his stepfather Mr. Murdstone) and Jane Eyre (focusing on her mistreatment by her aunt and cousins).  Below is an original illustration of David with his nurse's family.


The Story of the Stone (written during the 1740s & 1750s, published in 1791) by Cao Xueqin (vol. 1-3) and Gao E (4-5).  This very long novel (five volumes in its English translation) narrates a wealthy young boy (Bao-yu)'s growth from a spoiled child to a man.  He is also involved in an emotional triangle with his delicate, sensitive cousin Dai-yu and the more resilient and emotionally intelligent cousin Bao-chai whom he will marry.  This novel has a complicated and dense frame narrative!  Along the way, we meet Bao-yu's Grandmother Jia, his father Jia Zheng (the masculine ideal for his class), many girl-cousins, and Bao-yu's maid and later chamber wife Aroma.

We watched scenes from Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring Again (2000), a film by Korean filmmaker Kim Duk-ki.  This film is set in a secluded, rural monastery that was built in the middle of a small lake.  It follows the relationship between a monk and his adopted son, a passionate man who will eventually kill his wife.  We looked at scenes from Spring (the son's boyhood) and Fall (the son's young adulthood). 

Finally, we watched Raise the Red Lantern (1991), a film by Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou.  This film, adapted from a novella by Su Tong, follows a former university student, Songlian, as she becomes the fourth wife of a wealthy man from rural Northern China.  We do not see much nature except for human nature as the women of the compound compete with each other and the servants look on and comment.  Important characters are not only the Master whose face we rarely see but also the second wife Zhouyan (a scorpion with the Buddha's face), the third wife Meishan (a former opera singer), Songlian's disgruntled servant Yan'er, Meishan's lover Dr. Gao, and Feipu, the Master's older son.  Is Songlian a tragic heroine?


Presentations

Sean's presentation on the life of Black Nationalist, entrepreneur and Pan-Africanist Marcus Garvey (1887-1940)

Bryan's presentation on the history of Liberia

Concepts

mimesis -- art that imitates life...or elements of art that imitates life

orality -- characteristics that arise from or remain from a preliterate society (or a society without writing).  Some of these characteristics may include a reliance on proverbs, performance, and an audience.  In a preliterate society, memory is especially pragmatic and flexible...since there are no written records.  An oral performer also relies on set phrases to jog his or her memory.

imperialism -- refers to one country's political, economic, and sometimes cultural domination over another

colonialism -- refers to the practice of settling a country as the British settled in America (before we became independent), India, or their territories in Africa

post-colonialism -- refers to the aftermath of independence.  Post-colonialist writing is generally by individuals whose lands were occupied and depicts experiences from their perspectives.

center/margins

hero's journey -- Joseph Campbell's term.  Stages include birth, call to adventure, crossing the threshold, helpers/amulet, tests, climax/final battle, return, elixir, and return home.  Is Marlow a hero?  If so, what is his elixir?

hypermasculinity

misogyny -- hatred for and distrust of women or the feminine

tragic hero -- is often of noble stature but is not perfect, is capable of both good and evil, experiences a downfall because of his/her tragic fall, and does not deserve his/her punishment.  Yet his/her fall is not completely negative and depressing.  There is room for his/her awareness and our catharsis (or purging of emotion).

nature/human nature

film as literature

film's visual elements

film's aural elements