For Thursday: The Palm-Wine Drinkard (read to roughly page 67-ish, when it says "The Work of the Faithful-Mother in the White Tree"

NOTE: This is a potentially difficult text, since it is so outside English/European novelistic traditions.  Indeed, it seems to exist in a world where the English novel never existed, so unaware is the author of the narrative conventions of the genre.  Some approach the work as a transcribed folk-tale, full of unstranslatable ideas and imagery; others consider it a wildly modernist work that dives into the collective pool of myth and the collective unconsciousness.  The ultimate question is how conscious was Tutuola of writing within (or against) the English tradition, or if he was more or less oblivious to this tradition's existence.

Some questions and ideas to consider...

* What passages or sections of the text seem to be calling attention to themselves as translations?  Why might Tutuola want this to read like a translation? 

* In what way is this story like a folk or fairy tale?  Consider the main character, his quest, and his relations/conversations with other characters along the way. 

* What kind of character is the narrator?  Is he reliable—do we believe he truly has superhuman powers and abilities?  Or is this merely a “tall tale” spun out to amuse local villagers and those gullible enough to listen?  


* Where do English/European ideas and words intrude into the text?  How do we understand these seeming anachronisms?  For example, time is often mentioned in English terms, as is distance.  Why not remove this European frame of reference?

* How might this work respond to Ngugi’s arguments about language and nationalism in “The Language of African Literature”?  What do you feel is Tutuola’s view on the purpose of African fiction in preserving indigenous culture? 

* What do we make of the demons and spirits the main character encounters on his journey, such as the “Skull” that borrows human body parts, or the demonstrative and all-powerful baby?  What do these horrors reveal about cultural values, morals, and terrors?