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Half of a Yellow Sun

Half of a Yellow Sun. Love and Race/Class Relations as the Seeds of War and its Resolution. Joyce Chen and Kate Liu, Fall, 2011. Outline. I. Introduction: Nigeria-Biafra war (an example of nation as a “black man’s burden” ) Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and the novel

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Half of a Yellow Sun

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  1. Half of a Yellow Sun Love and Race/Class Relations as the Seeds of War and its Resolution Joyce Chen and Kate Liu, Fall, 2011

  2. Outline I. Introduction: • Nigeria-Biafra war (an example of nation as a “black man’s burden”) • Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and the novel II. Chap 1:Ugwu’s Education III. Chap II: Intellectuals in the City and the Country; Relations between • Olanna and her family • Olanna and her uncle’s family • Olanna and Odenigbo • Seeds of Independence and Conflicts IV. Notes & References V. Next Time

  3. Nigeria-Biafra War (1967-1970) Joyce

  4. Nigeria—Basic Data Joyce

  5. Nigeria—Before Colonization • circa 11th century onwards - Formation of city states, kingdoms and empires. • 1472 - Portuguese navigators reach Nigerian coast. • 16-18th centuries - Slave trade • 1809- Single Islamic state - Sokoto caliphate - is founded in north • 1850s - British establish presence around Lagos. Joyce

  6. Nigeria— Colonization to independence • 1861-1914 - Britain consolidates its hold over what it calls the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria, governs by "indirect rule" through local leaders. • 1923-Western-educated elites established the first political party NNDP; the rise of independence movement • 1960 - Independence, with Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa leading a coalition government. • 1964-First national election Joyce

  7. Nigeria-Biafra War—Causes • Race-Religion: Tribalism to regionalism • Religion and Ethnic differences • Hausa-Fulani: feudal society governed by Muslim Sharia. Conservative, undeveloped, yet most populous • Yoruba: feudal society governed by oba (monarch) • Igbo: republic system, governed by “titled men”. Convert to Christianity and enjoy the highest literacy in English during colonization • Economy: the discovery of oil reserves • Direct cause: • Coup in 1966 • genocide in the north –30,000 people of Ibo/Igbo ethnic origin were killed Joyce Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3ReFoFp0Gs 1:45 – propaganda war; 3:46 – three tribes

  8. Nigeria-Biafra War— International Intervention • Recognition by only a few nations: Gabon, Haiti, Côte d'Ivoire, Tanzania (the first) and Zambia • A continuous power wrestling between ex- colonizers • Interest of oil • Fear of Balkanization (seccesionism) – part 5: 4:50; part 6: beginning Joyce

  9. Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eppgEVwxCfk&feature=related 4:12 starvation The end of the War: Air raid, blockade, Starvation, and Ojukwu’s exile to Côte d'Ivoire Joyce

  10. Questions • Different perspectives of the researches on the war. • Civil war: meaningful or meaningless? • Why/ How do we (non-Nigerians) study the war? • How is the war presented—by American films such as Blood Diamond, The Last King of Scotland, and by African novels and documentaries such as War/Dance? End of the war: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZTpuVlKJ_Q&feature=related part 6: 6:00 Joyce

  11. Nation & War • “Nation” as the Black Man’s Burden ‘As Basil Davidson pointedly puts it, the “nation” that follows colonialism is usually not much of a gift; throughout Africa, in fact, it has been more akin to “the black man’s burden,” a problematic assemblage of peoples who frequently enough have little more in common than proximity. Reflecting on this irony, Imre Szeman notes that “the central insight into the phenomenon of the nation that is shared by all of the recent critical writing on the subject has been that all nations must • be seen as essentially arbitrary configurations of culture and power, which the phenomenon of nationalism tries to obscure and make timeless and natural” (117).’ (Hawley 16)

  12. Literary Presentation of the war— Earlier Generation • Witness: memoirs / diaries • Wole Soyinka (1934-) • The man Died: Prison Notes of Wole Soyinka • Elechi Amadi (1934-) • Sunset in Biafra: A Civil War Diary • Ken Saro-Wiwa (1941-95) • On a Darkling Plain: An Account of the Nigerian Civil War. Joyce

  13. Literary Presentation of the war— Earlier Generation • Allegory/fictions/ Poems • Chinua Achebe(1930-) • Girls at War • Christmas in Biafra and other poems • Christopher Okigbo(1932-67) • Labyrinths with Path of Thunder • Flora Nwapa (1931-93) • Wives at War and Other Stories. • Never Again. • Buchi Emecheta (1944-) • Destination Biafra: . Joyce

  14. Literary Presentation of the war—Younger Generation • Dulue Mbachu • War Games • Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie • Half of a Yellow Sun • Uzodinma Iweala • Beasts of No Nation film • Chris Abani • Song for Night Joyce

  15. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie • born (after Biafra war) in 1977 • the family's ancestral hometown is Abba (where Odenigbo comes from) • grew up in Nsukka, • left for the United States at the age of 19 • Got her BA degree in communication and political science at Eastern Connecticut State University, her master's degree in creative writing at Johns Hopkins University • Purple Hibiscus (2005) • Half of a Yellow Sun (2006) – Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction 2007 Source: http://www.l3.ulg.ac.be/adichie/ Two Talks at TED: 1) We should all be feminists 2) The Danger of a Single Story

  16. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Why write? • because I wanted to write about love and war, • because I grew up in the shadow of Biafra, • because I lost both grandfathers in the Nigeria-Biafra war, • because I wanted to engage with my history in order to make sense of my present, many of the issues that led to the war remain unresolved in Nigeria today, • because [my family] my father has tears in his eyes when he speaks of losing his father, because my mother still cannot speak at length about losing her father in a refugee camp, • because the brutal bequests of colonialism make me angry, • because the thought of the egos and indifference of men leading to the unnecessary deaths of men and women and children enrages me, because I don't ever want to forget. (source; youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QO8ZEtyuiZM )

  17. Half of a Yellow Sun • Three major characters: Olanna –born of an upper-class family, a teacher at Nsukku U. before the war U[u]gwu – O’denigbo's household servant from the village Richard Churchill – a British writer and journalist, lover of Kainene [kaineinei]

  18. Why the title Half of a Yellow Sun • Commemorates Biafra • The sun can be a rising sun, or a falling sun. • Who and what can survive the war?

  19. The Novel and the war (1) The characters as witnesses • Olanna -- witnesses the killing of Igbos in the streets of Kano, including some of her family (her uncle and aunt) • Richard -- sees the killing of Igbos in the airport while waiting for a plane; • Ugwu – forced to serve in the army, where he witnesses and gets involved in the violence of wartime (e.g. raping a woman). -- heard that the Nigerian soldiers had promised to kill five percent of Nsukka academics.

  20. Structure & the Theme of War and Love Parallel between two time lines: • Early Sixties: Part I, III (climax)--breaking up of family and lovers • Late Sixties: Part II (massacre war breaking out), IV • 8 chapters end with a fragment from The Book: The World Was Silent When We Died • Two kinds of [family and national] wars, trauma, and how to survive both. • (2) The characters as survivors and/or “writers.”

  21. The Book in the Novel Historical Analysis: e.g. “At Independence in 1960, Nigeria was a collection of fragments held in a fragile clasp.” (195) e.g. “Nigeria did not have an economy until Independence…But the new Nigerian leaders were too optimistic… • Who wrote it? • Title from Richard (“This war isn’t my story to tell, really” 530) • A poem modeled after Okeama’s poems • Ugwu wrote his dedication: “For Master, my good man.”

  22. “WERE YOU SILENT WHEN WE DIED?”Did you see photos in sixty-eightOf Children with their hair becoming rust:Sickly patches nestled on those small heads,Then falling off, like rotten leaves on dust?Imagine children with arms like toothpicks,With footballs for bellies and skin stretched thin.It was kwashiorkor—difficult word,A word that was not quite ugly enough, a sin.You needn’t imagine. There were photosDisplayed in gloss-filled pages of your Life.Did you see? Did you feel sorry briefly,Then turn round to hold your lover or wife?Their skin had turned the tawny of weak teaAnd showed cobwebs of vein and brittle bone:Naked children laughing, as if the manWould not take photos and then leave, alone (470). 7. THE BOOK: The World Was Silent When We Died For the epilogue, he writes a poem, modelled after one of Okeoma’s poems. He calls it:

  23. 8. THE BOOK:The World Was Silent When We Died UGWU WRITES HIS DEDICATION LAST: FOR MASTER, MY GOOD MAN.

  24. Chap I SEEDS OF INDEPENDENCE (OR THE RISING SUN)

  25. Reminder: Place Names … • setting of chaps 1-2 NsukkaLagos  Kano • (Kainene – Port Harcourt, running her father’s business); • Odenigbo from Abba War Game– Jos Amafor Abba Nsukka

  26. Reminder: Character Names … • Olanna – • [sister] Kainene (45) – [boyfriend] Richard (44-45) • [father] Chief Ozobia– [mother] (42-43) – Chief Okonji • [uncle] Mbaezi –[aunt] Ifeka –[daugher] Arize (49) --[Hausa friend] Abdulmalik (50) • [ex-boyfriend] Mohammed • [boyfriend] Odenigbo – • Ugwu (chap 1, end of chap 2)

  27. Characters in Different Places and Social Positions

  28. Chap 1:Ugwu’s Education • Ugwu as a villager: • What aspects of the town Nsukka and Odenigo’s house are new to Ugwu? • Where does Ugwa keep his traditional thinking? • Do we see similar responses to modernity in chap 2 (p. 34)? • Ugwu as a houseboy: • How does Ugwu settle down and win the master’s heart? Is he completely obedient? • What makes him special as a houseboy? How does he learn from Odenigbo and his colleagues? • Where do you see the seeds of Biafra independence?

  29. Discussion Questions • Ugwu’s Education • Village vs. City: Where do we see in Ugwu’s experience the contrast between the life styles of a village and the city Nsukka? • How does he learn? How does he look at Odenigbo? And Olana? • Seeds of Conflicts: Intellectual and Races • How is Odenigbo presented as an intellectual and a “revolutionary,” and his intellectual friends? • How is Olanna related to her family in Lagos and her uncle’s in Kano?

  30. Ugwu as a villager: • Ugwu -- the town Nsukka and Odenigo’s house • Street (3); • The house: too much space (5), bookshelf, ceiling too high and white (5), tap & fridge (7),bulb (8); • Master’s wearing slippers (7), Ironing the socks • chap 2 (p. 34)—the older woman’s response to the landing airplane • Ugwa’s traditional thinking • Desirous and Sexist – a) keeps chicken in his pocket; 2) Nnesinach - Anulika (9-10) • Wary of the traders in the North • Literal-minded: Cannot understand the analogy the Master makes (12) • Blames all on Evil spirit (17); curses those he doesn’t like (16) • Believes in dibia’s power e.g. using arigbe to win the master’s heart.

  31. Ugwu as a houseboy The Master’s emphasis on education: • (13-14) “Education is a priority” • Different from the other houseboys (21) Ugwu: attentive and open to learning • Careful in learning the rhythm of Master’s life (16)- • Reads the books though not understanding them completely (21) • Listens to the talk of Odenigbo and his colleagues (21-) “All Ugwu needed was the deep voice, the melody of the English-inflected Igbo, the glint of the thick eyeglasses” (26) • [chap 2] learning to cook from Olanna

  32. Ugwu as a houseboy (2) Ugwu: personally involved, he cares about both Odenigbo and Olanna. • Dislikes Ms. Adebayo (26) • Cursing her at first (27) • Finds the master’s English to be dignified and like music, and Olanna’s, magic (27-28) • Attentive to their interactions (pp. 30-31)

  33. Seeds of Independence and Survival • Independence: • Intellectuals –comments on racial inequality in American South, South Africa • pan-Africanism vs. pan-Igbo idea-- “The only authentic identity for the African is the tribe” (25) (24-25) • Survival • Ugwu: imitates the Master (25) • Ugwu: Feels confirmed (“tall”) by Olanna’s smile; appreciates her inner strength like a polished stone

  34. Chap II HUMAN RELATIONS & THE SEEDS OF CONFLICTS

  35. Olanna and her family • How do you describe Olanna’s parents’ class background and social position? (clues: airport scene, Lagos Life and the meeting with Chief Okonji). • How is Olanna related to her parents, and her sister Kainene? (36-46) • From their interactions, could you tell what the parents expect of Olanna and Kainene differently?

  36. Olanna’s Family– rich but cold and distanced from one another • Well-known and glamorous • airport scene: recognized by the ticket seller, who invites her to the VIP lounge (33) • Lagos Life (41) – a picture of her and her mother (Olanna –does not feel comfortable about “being a part of the gloss that was her parent’s life” (42) • the meeting with Chief Okonji. • the father has a construction company, which usu. gives the government 10% as a bribe. • They want her to marry one of these famous people in order to improve their business (43)

  37. Kainene vs. Olanna (36-46) • Kainene: critical/acerbic (尖酸嚴苛), sharp and detached • Calls her a sex bait (44); “So will you be spreading your legs for that elephant in exchange for Daddy’s contract” (44) • Calls Odenigbo Olanna’s “revolutionary lover” • The two –drifted away since their 2nd-school years (45) • a clue to future (dis-)connection: Richard (44)

  38. The trip to Kano (1): Olanna and her uncle’s family • What makes Olanna close to her uncle and aunt? • What types of racial differences, relations and/or antagonism does Olanna encounter in her uncle’s (e.g. her meeting uncle’s Hausa friend, her conversation with Arize), and then with her ex-boyfriend, Mohammed?

  39. Olanna and her uncle and aunt • Uncle Mbaezi – light-complexioned, earthy (47), admired by Olanna because of his differences from her mother • Aunt Ifeka – breastfeeding O and K; always kills a hen when O visits • Arize – (49) gives her an excited hug, • a Hausa friend gives her a pair of slippers friendly. Olanna’s parents look artificial by comparison. • The whole household: noisy, lively and intimate; • Olanna—avoids looking at the cockcroach eggs or worrying about the choking smoke (51)

  40. The seeds of Independence • Igbo: Uncle about The Igbo Union • Igbo Union Grammar School (47) • Anti-colonialist: Odenigbo – critical of Europeans’ views of Africa – Hegel “call[s] Africa a land of childhood” (62)  If Europe had cared more about Africa, the Jewish Holocaust would not have happened. (62) * • Okeoma – the function of WWII (63) –realizing that white man was not mortal.

  41. Seeds of Conflict (1): Racial Differences • Arize – • lack of appreciation of Ijaw culture and their stockfish (51) –cheap or delicious for Arize? Mischievous or condescending? • About a man from Abba – “so ugly” (52) • looks forward to getting married, but definitely not to a Hausa man • Mohammed’s mother: used to be “standoffish, speak stiffly …” (57)

  42. Seeds of Conflict (2) Olanna and Odenigbo • How did Olanna get to know him? Is their relationship sex-driven only? • Olanna: A mixture of ideal and sex. • Mohammed“you’re a nationalist and a patriot, and soon you will marry your lecturer the freedom fighter” (58) • Their sex being interrupted, she is reluctant to go meet his colleagues. (62) –Her connection to life is later also a means of survival. • But she talks more when feeling threatened by Ms. Adebayo (64)

  43. Tentative Conclusion: a collective history written about/by • Intellectuals who are idealist but beaten: • Igbo mathematician, poet (in the group are also one from the Caribbean, one from America, one from India) • Foreigners: Some indifferent and some sympathetic • Susan – escapes. • Dr. Patel -- Indian doc. who never eats kola nut but appreciates the joke; • Richard – a friendly foreigner who is sympathetic but still an outsider. • Olanna –in between her interest in intellectuals’ debates and the joie de vivre • Ugwu – in between his traditional thinking and learning from the masters.

  44. Notes (1) Black German Holocaust • Heroro people –In 1904, the Heroro tribe of German South-West Africa revolted against their colonial masters in a quest to keep their land; the rebellion lasted four years, leading to the death of 60,000 Heroro tribespeople (80% of their population). The survivors were imprisoned in concentration camps or used as human guinea pigs for medical experiments… • the Rhineland of 1936: Hitler retaliated against the African soldiers' occupation by targeting all Black people living in the Rhineland first. In particular,…Germany's 24,000-member Black community was the number one focus for Hitler's sterilisation programme. (source)

  45. Notes (2) • Kola nut (可樂果 ) -- offspring of the cola tree that grows in Africa, South America and the West Indies. Chewing this nut is a favorite pastime of natives who claim it diminishes fatigue and thirst and (for some) has aphrodisiac properties. (source)

  46. Note (3) Kwame Nkrumah • (21 September 1909 - 27 April 1972) was an influential 20th century advocate of Pan-Africanism, and the leader of Ghana and its predecessor state, the Gold Coast, from 1952 to 1966. • attempted to rapidly industrialize Ghana's economy. He reasoned that if Ghana escaped the colonial trade system by reducing dependence on foreign capital, technology, and material goods, it could become truly independent. Unfortunately, industrialization hurt the country’s cocoa sector. • As his government was overthrown, and Nkrumah deposed, Ghana fell from being one of the richest country in Africa to one of the poorest. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwame_Nkrumah

  47. Reference • http://www.historians.org/Tl/LessonPlans/nc/Trask/study.htm • http://www.nathanielturner.com/rememberingbiafraaliteraryreview.htm • Hawley, John. “Biafra as Heritage and Symbol: Adichie, Mbachu, and Iweala.”Research in African Literatures 39.2 (2008): 15-26. Print.

  48. Next Time – 1.2 • The first four chapters -- A child’s experience of escaping from a city to a countryside.

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