Abstract
Since the bringing to fore of Omenụkọ as a classical Igbo novel by critics like Emenyonu, no serious critical work has been done to place other Igbo novels appropriately as classic or non- classic novels. It is against this background that the present work sets out to analysis classicism in some selected Igbo novels. In order to realise the aim of this study, the objectives are to: find out the extent to which the selected early Igbo novels can be classified as classic, analyse and examine elements of the novel that make the selected novels classic, examine the linguistic devices that account for the classic nature of the novels; and identify other literary elements that lend credence to the classification of the novels under study as classics. The study adopts an eclectic approach of analysis using modified theory of analysis, imitation and practice originally formulated by Aristotle and modified by Corbett as theoretical framework. Under the methodology, the study adopts the survey design. The data used were excerpts of literary elements drawn from the texts that portray different aspects of classicism. The findings show that: (i) The texts studied are classical works because they have enduring linguistic and literary features, which transcend time and space, such as recurrent themes and stylised language use, (ii) the critical elements which qualify them to be classical include: setting, point of view, character and characterisation, while method of characterisation includes characterisation by dramatic conflict, block characterisation, allegorical characterisation, naming characterisation and emblematic characterisation, (iii) The language devices which contribute to designating the novels as classics include appropriate use of symbols (kolanut), animals’ figures of speech (hyperbole, irony) and figures of thought (metaphor, simile) etc. The implication of these findings portend that the novelists and their novels have stood out among others as yard-sticks for measuring subsequent literary works. Finally, the high degree of imitation of classic authors’ styles by later authors is an eloquent testimony of classicism. The study concludes that the works studied have everything it takes to be adjudged Igbo literary classics.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
The word ‘literature’ has no real consensus or an all embracing definition. Some definitions of some scholars are largely according to their wealth of experience within their locations. Literature is more human and personal in the way it handles its subjects than science or technology. It deals with feelings which are communicated in words or actions. A literary artist is not only concerned with the subject matter but also with the art of representing or recreating social realities, alien structures of imagination, through any of these genres, poetry, drama or prose. The primary tool for achieving this aim is through lofty language which the writer decorates figuratively rather than the use of everyday language. The effective use of figurative or loft language in combination with other literary elements such as characterisation, plot, content etc. gives room for classicism in literature.
Classicism is a term that when applied generally, means clearness, elegance, symmetry, and repose produced by attention to traditional forms. It is sometimes synonymous with excellence or artistic quality of high distinction. More precisely, the term refers to Roman literature, and architecture. Because the principles of classicism were derived from the rules and practices of the ancients, the term came to mean the adherence to specific academic canons. It is a specific genre of philosophy, expressing itself in literature, architecture, art, and music, which has Ancient Greek and Roman sources and emphasis on society. It was particularly expressed in the Neoclassicism of the Age of Enlightenment recurrent tendency in the late Antique period, and had a major revival in Carolinian and Ottonian art. There was another, more durable revival in the Italian renaissance when the fall of Byzantium and rising trade with the Islamic cultures brought a
flood of knowledge about, and from the antiquity of Europe. Until that time the identification with antiquity had been seen as a continuous history of Christendom. From the conversion of the Roman Emperor Constantine, Renaissance classicism introduced a host of elements into European culture, including the application of mathematics and empirism into art, humanism, literary and depictive realism and formalism. Classicism also introduced polytheism or “paganism” and juxtaposition of ancient and modern in its scope. Retrieved from https//search.credo referenccom /content/topic /classicism, asscessedon12 July, 2018.
It could be said that classicism as a literary movement refers to three distinct bodies of literature: the French seventeenth century, the English late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, and the very late eighteenth-century German literature known as Weimar Classicism. Classicism has its root in ancient Greek and Roman literature, philosophy, and art and classicists believe that the cows of nature could be rationally understood and explained purely by reason.
Generally, irrespective of different ideas or notions about classicism, the idea about its meaning borders on high quality which is a masterpiece that is a standard, worthy of emulation. Various views understand classicism this way and have been attributing the term “classics” to the cultures of the Greeks and the Romans because they attained perfect standards. This is shown in their languages- Greek and Latin. Classicism was challenged and this took place two times in modern literature. The first was during the prolonged quarrel of Ancients and modern in France in the 17th century as well as in England by the Battle of Books in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The second time was by Romantics in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The
‘moderns’ maintained that the classical idea is unchristian. They indicated that the work called
ancient ‘classics’ were in ‘bad taste’ and even ‘vulgar’. They stated that the law of progress deifies the idea that the classics cannot be surpassed in form and style. They then object to foreign utilisations and upheld that the national culture is enough. The Romantics considered classics as
too reactionary and then revolted against ideas imposed by Classicism. Retrieved from
https://ww.britannica.com/art /Neoclassicism,accesson12July, 2018.
By the middle of the 18th century classicism was attacked from two directions. The authoritative equation of classicism and beauty was challenged by longings for the sublime, so that romantics’ fantasias suggestive allusions and bizarre inventions came to be more highly valued than classicist clarity and dignity. Likewise the accepted superiority of Roman antiquity was challenged by supporters of Greece. After the mid-18th century, classicism in architecture became connected with rationalism. Various Neoclassicisms were spawned by reverence for Greek, Roman, or Renaissance models. By the early 20th century, classical demands for harmony, proportion, and the congruence of parts were applied to new technology to give order to many styles. Retrieved from https://ww.britannica.com/art/Neoclassicism,accesson12July, 2018.
There have been literary works adjudged classical in one culture or another, example European culture, African culture, France culture etc. These works might be the products of imitation or original standard of those that blaized the trail. In England of European culture, William Shakespeare, for a very long time now, has been considered as the author of classical works. He has been considered as a barbarian of genius and a “banner of romanticism” for academic laurels his works earned him. Finally Sheakepear’s, style and subject matter possess dignity and universality.
In Africa, Chinua Achebe’s (1958) Things fall apart is a classical work, written in a peculiar style of writing he christened ‘African’. The author has been considered a classic author because of his style of writing in which he presents anthropology in works of fiction. The beautiful ones are not yet born has attained a classical standard and this can be proved from the subsequent works of artists aimed at achieving the same success as Things Fall Apart. Such works include Elechi Amadi’s The Concubine, (1966) Flora Nwapa’s Idu (1970), Ayi Kwei
Armah’s The beautiful ones are not yet born (1968) etc. These subsequent works were based on the imitation of Chinua Achebe.
Period of classicism in literature and music have generally coincided with the classical periods in the visual arts. In literature, for instance, the first major revival of classicism also occurred during the Renaissance, when Cicero’s prose was especially imitated. When used to refer to an aesthetic attitude, classicism involves those characteristics normally associated with the art of antiquity-harmony, clarity, restraint, universality, and idealism. Because of the high regard accorded to ancient art, “classic” is sometimes used to mean that the example is the best of its type. By extension, “classic” is sometimes used to refer to a stage of development that some historian’s aestheticians have identified as a regular feature of what they have seen as the cyclical development of all styles. Since literature is the first revival of classicism, let us look at what literature is? Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/art/Neoclassicism. Accessed on March
25,2018.
There are many definitions of literature depending on the theoretical position or school of thought referred to at particular instances. The word ‘literature’ is derived from Latin ‘littera’- letter; it has different meanings depending on the usage and the context in which it is being applied. Aside this, it should be made clear from the onset that there is no real consensus or an all embracing definition of the term ‘literature’. Some definitions of some scholars are largely according o their wealth of life experience within their locations. Literature according to Ndubueze (2006), is a study that conern itself with the representation of the whole range of human life and activities (this includes every known manifestation of physical nature) in prose, poetry or dramatic form. She went further to say that literature presents to its reader what individual men found to interest them in a particular epoch/period, and it preoccupies itself with
the happening of everyday life. Eze (2009:1) defines literature as a subject or course of study in primary and secondary schools, colleges of education, universities and other institutions of higher learning. This definition also points at the specific meaning of literature or literature of power. To buttress his view, he maintains that the objects of study in literature are literary works-poems, novels and dramas. Literature is thus summed up as permanent expressions in words, specially arranged in pleasing accepted patterns or forms. Literature is more human and personal in the way it handles its subjects than scientific or technical writing. It deals with feelings which are communicated in words or actions. A literary artist is not only concerned with the subject matter but also with the art of representing or recreating social realities alien structures of imagination- poetry, drama and prose. The primary tool for achieving this aim is through language which the writer decorates figuratively rather than everyday language to rules and parametes. What a novelist, poet or playwright does is to select life experiences that appeal to the heart and the imagination and present them in such a way that the reader is not only entertained but transported. In a general sense, literature refers to available materials on a given subject. Our definition of literature will be incomplete without including oral literature because of our culture context and also because oral literature is the precursor of written literature (Lawal 2000:9). Oral literature has many custodians, which means that there are versions. Each custodian releases a different version on a different occasion, depending on his mood, the reaction of the consultant to his performance and the quality and quantity of material incentives provided by the client. Written literature is a communication in which language is employed in an extremely skilful manner, and in which the desire to touch others and share experiences with them is very paramount. It is an artistic social documentary; truth clothed in the glamour of the writer’s imagination.
Literature is not concerned with facts as they really are in real life as the science does. Thus, is not attached to rules and parameters. What the novelist, the poet or the playwright does is to select life experiences that appeal to the heart and the imagination and present them in such a way that a reader is not only entertained but transported. Literature greatly enables the mind by revealling to us the fundamental truth of life such as its dilemmas and ironies, its mysteries and understanding of human conditions. Additionally, literature reaffirms cherished virtues such as courage, determination, honesty, justice and love, thus contributing to nation-building by imbibing in individuals the most cherished qualities. Conversely, it also exposes our foible and shortcomings and indicates their consequences if not controlled. Literature was to raise or maintain the status of the black man which had endlessly suffered serious assault right from the era of the slave trade. Classic literature as in the literature of ancient Greece and Rome, is also a term used for the literature of any language in a period notable for the excellence and enduring quality of its writers’ works. For example, written literature in Igbo can be traced to the beginnings of formal studies in the Igbo language which dates back to the mid nineteenth century and pioneered by the missionaries and their activities. The growth and development of the Igbo literature and that of the language can be seen as Siamese twin not separated from each other. The later accounted for why the Igbo literature, suffered during the period of orthography controversy in 1926. The orthography which is called “the African Script” or “New Orthography” or “Adams- Ward Orthography” was to replace the “Lepsius Orthography” of 1854. The rise and development of written Igbo literature followed essentially the rise and development of Igbo language studies and since the latter suffered numerous detours and handicaps, the growth of Igbo literature had to follow suit in its development (Mba and Mba 2017).
The detailed account of Sierra Leonean Igbo publications as drawn from Nwadike (2008) are given here under. The Igbo language at a time was unwritten and it was largely owing to the efforts of Samuel Adjai Crowther and other missionaries like Rev. J .F Schon, and F. W Smart, G. C. .A Oldendrop, J. C. Taylor, F. .Miller, Johnson and Christaller, Dr. Watt, Julius Spencer and Rev. T. .J. Dennis. Rev. Samuel Ajayi Crowther was an ex-Yoruba slave turned missionary. He was selected to join the expedition, under the auspices of the Niger expedition equipped by the British Government to trade. The expedition was commissioned in London in 1840. Crowther and Rev. J. F. Shon were required to study those African languages that would be relevant to the work of evangelism on the Niger. They chose Hausa and Igbo. Schon began to study Igbo seriously with the help of freed slaves of Igbo origin in Sierra Leone. In 1840, he had collected a vocabulary of 1,600 Igbo words and had also succeeded in translating a few prayers. With this achievement, Schon felt that he had gained the mastery of the Igbo language but his greatest shock and disappointment came when the expedition sailed up the Niger and on getting to Aboh, he tried to communicate with the people in his own brand of Igbo but failed. Schon’s frustration to communicate intelligibly in Igbo despite his extensive study of the language, the Chief of Aboh grew bored of the stuff and demonstrated his inability to comprehend what was being said. Schon was unhappy of studying one dialect only to meet speakers of other Igbo dialects. In spite of Schon’s temporary setback, he later staged a comeback to the study of Igbo linguistics and even got to a point of becoming a consultant. Nwadike (2008), asserts that proper documentation was made of the written language by the early missionaries, and what looked like creative literature then were largely translations from foreign literatures. Ije Onye Otu Kraist by Mr. Udensi Ogan of the Methodist Mission, was translated from the Pilgrims Progress that written by John Bunyan, Grimm’s Fairy Tales (Akụkọ Ifo Grimm Koro), Arabian Nights, and Tales from
Shakespeare. These literary pieces were also used in the schools for teaching the pupils how to read and create literature (Nwadike 2008).
In 1926, International Institute of African Language and Culture (IIALC) in London came up with the objectives to promote the understanding of African languages and social institutions, and to study the possibilities of their use as instrument of education to assist in the production of education literature in the mother tongue, and publish same for studies in African languages. The result of its objectives was a competition set up among Africans, in collaboration with the colonial officer in London which established annual prizes, challenging the Africans to produce fiction in their native languages. In this competition, Pita Nwanna’s Omenụkọ won the first prize, and was subsequently published in the same year, (1933) as first, full length work of Igbo written literature in (1933) and for over three decades, it became the dominant literary text in schools. Scholas and critics agreed that Omenụkọ is the first work of the modern novel in Igbo literature in view of the above expression on it, Emenyonu (1978:33) says:
The First Igbo to Publish Fiction in Igbo was Pita Nwana. His novel Omenụkọ was published in 1933 after it had won an All African Literary Contest in Indigenous African languages organized by the International Institute of African Languages and Culture (IIALC).
Ever since Omenụkọ by Pita Nwana as a pioneer classic novel, there have been, other writers and their works such as D. N. Achara’s Ala bingo (1935), which came out of the same competition with Omenụkọ, D. N. Achara’s Elelia na ihe o mere (1952), Leopold Bell-Gam’s Ije odumodu jere, and T .K. Oguamana’s Ọsọndụ (1960). When we take a look at these early novels, we observe that Ala bingo is a folkloric novel of five distinct folktales dovetailed into one elongated story portraying many different themes and settings. Elelịa na ihe o mere is also a folkloric novel having different episodic story lines and plots. Leopold Bell-Gam’s Ije odumodu jere is also episodic. Leopold Bell-Gam towed the same line of story like that of Omenụkọ.
Omenụkọ was a great influence on Ije odumodu jere both in plot and theme. The two novels Omenụkọ and Ije odumodu jere followed the same pattern from the beginning to the end, it talked about sojourn and returnee, sin and repentance. The two heroes, Omenụkọ and Eleịa Ukpaabi of their respective novels, left their respective communities without anything but returned with something. They left very poor and returned as wealthy personalities and therefore appointed by their communities to be lords over them.
Ala bingo, Elelia na ihe o mere, Ije odumodu jere came after Omenụkọ, but they have no single story line, thereby its plot and structure are episodic as opposed to the linear structure style of Omenụkọ. A critical look at the movements and actions in Omenụkọ, shows linear story line in, its plot and structure, even the simple structure help to expose the themes which allow readers to easily read and learn without any inhibition.
The four novels in reference (Omenụkọ, Ala bingo, Elelia na ihe o mere, and Ije odumodu jere) created the awareness that the Igbo language is capable of portraying and carrying Igbo people’s literature. The ability of these early novelists to co-ordinate the language, style, structure, plot, theme and characterization in their movements and actions effectively, has given some authors the impetus to write and publish in Igbo which made it possible for our schools to have preponderance of reading texts today. Another major contribution of these early novels and their writers is that they stimulated and gave rise to subsequent creative works like J. U. Tagbo Nzeako’s Chi ewere ehihie jie (1971), L. N. Oraka’s Ahụbara eze ama (1975), Julie N. Onwuchekwa’s Chinagọrọm (1978) and Uchenna Ubesie’s Ukwa ruo oge ya ọ daa (1973). However, none of these writers nor their works have been described as classic as Ubesie who came after them. Uchenna Tony Ubesie and his novels which include Ukwa ruo oge ya ọ daa
(1973), Isi akwu dara n’ala (1973), Ukpana okpokob buuru (1975), and Jụọ obinna (1977), have been described as classic by some scholars as well as critics and lay men.
Literary critics like Emenyonu (1981, 1982), Nwadike (2001) and Onyekaonwu (2001) agreed that Ubesie is a classic writer. Emenyeonu (1981) notes that, Ubesie has achieved for writing in Igbo language what Chinua Achebe has achieved for African writing in English, a worthy balance between the medium and the message. Nwadike (2001) comments thus, Ubesie’s position in Igbo fiction is similar to that of Chinua Achebe in African Fiction in the English language. The views of the scholars mentioned above tend to give the impression that Ubesie’s novels stand apart above those his contemporaries. The comments of these critics therefore, give us the inspiration to investigate their claims or attributes of classicism to Ubesie and his novels.
Classicism refers to the admiration and imitation of Greek and Roman literature, art and architecture. Since the principles of classicism were derived from the rules and practices of the ancient, the term came to mean the adherence to specific academic canons. However, in world literature, there are writers whose works have been referred to as classical works. They include Harvard, Henry, Shakespeare, Elliot, Achebe, and others. Their works are referred to as classic literature not only because they are creative works of production of imitation but also they are more widely studied more than those of their contemporaries. The works of these writers have been adjudged to be standard and excellent from one culture to another as well as one period to another in terms of their recurrent themes and language used for expressing them. In the same manner, each nation or culture has its own method or criteria for adjudging standard and excellent literary works. This reason is the reationale behind the present study that is, establishing the early Igbo novels as classic.
In the present research, the following Igbo novels: Omenụkọ (Pita Nwana, 1933), Ala bingo (D.N. Achara, 1935), Elelia na ihe o mere (D.N. Achara 1952) and Ije odumodu jere (Bell- Gam 1952) and all Ubesie’s novels Isi akwu dara n’ala (1973), Ụkwa ruo oge ya (1973), Mmiri ọkụ e ji egbu mbe, (1973), Ụkpaka mịịrị onye ụbịam (1975), Ụkpana okpoko buuru (1975), Jụọ obinna (1977) have variously been described in terms of classicism by scholars and critics like Nwachukwu- Agada (1979), Emenyonu (1981), Nwadike (2001).Onyekaonwu (2001), to mention but a few. The works of these scholars did not go into details to show why the above Igbo literary works should be seen as classics. The present study will subject these novels to the test for classicism with a view to identifying those literary features that stamp universality or acceptability of classics to them. This is done against the background of the elements of literature identified in the novels under study.
1.2 Statement of the problem
The first Igbo novel, Omenụkọ, was published in 1933, and thus, became the fore runner and prototype of the Igbo novels. Since the bringing to fore of Omenụkọ as a classical Igbo novel by critics like Emenyonu, no serious critical work has been done to place other Igbo novels appropriately as classic or non-classic novels. Since then, studies have been conducted by scholars on the Igbo novels and their authors essentially in relation to elements of theme, style, and characterisation, but to the knowledge of this researcher, none has taken up the authors and their novels holistically based on the critical elements of literature. Again, researchers have not studied literature across different Igbo novelists as to establish the classic nature of the writers with a view to placing them in a similar or different pattern of creativity as those adjudged classics in other cultures. It is in the light of this lacuna that the present researcher has decided to
study the early Igbo novels earlier mentioned and their authors so as to situate them within the context of classic novels.
To the knowledge of the researcher, nobody has done any elaborate or extensive study on classicism in relation to Igbo novels and this has created a gap in what may be called the serious study of Igbo novels. It is this gap that the present study tends to fill.
1.3 Objectives of the study
Having stated the nature of the problem which the present study attempts to tackle, it is necessary to state here the objectives of the study. The main objective of this research is to examine the literary features of some Igbo novels which qualify them as classics. Specifically, the objectives of the study are to:
i. identify the thematic features that qualify the selected Igbo novels as classics;
ii. analyse critical elements of the novel that make the selected novels classics;
iii. examine the linguistic devices that account for the classic nature of the selected Igbo novels; and
iv. identify other literary elements that lend credence to the existence of Igbo literary classicism in the selected novels.
1.4 Research questions
The present study seeks to answer the following research questions.
i. How much salient thematic features qualify the selected Igbo novels as classics?
ii. To what extent can analysis of critical elements of the Igbo novels qualify as classic works?
iii. What linguistic devices account for the classic nature of the selected Igbo novels?
iv. What other literary elements that can lend credence to the existence of Igbo literary classicism in the novels are of study?
1.5 Significance of the study
The study will bring into sharp focus, the contributions of the early Igbo authors and their novels, which hitherto have not been carefully documented and brought to the fore. A work such as this which sets out to study classicism based on four Igbo novelists, namely, Pita Nwana, D. N. Achara, Leopold Bell-Gam and Tony Ubesie will contribute meaningfully to Igbo literary scholarship, thereby adding to the body of literature in the study area. Furthermore, it will help to assess and appreciate Igbo classic authors and their works as determined by the study.
The study will bring to limelight literary elements of the selected Igbo novels in terms of what makes them classics. It will also explore elements of literature such as setting, character and characterisation. In addition the study will expose Igbo literary scholars to the thematic features that are recurrent in Igbo novels and how such recurrence has sustained authorship and readership of the present day Igbo novels. The findings of this research will stimulate research interests in future researchers and scholars into Igbo literary criticism. The study is important because it will expose the literary ingenuity of the authors.
Finally, a research of this nature will serve as a guide to literary scholars who may want to study classicism especially, as it relates to Igbo literature. It will serve as a reference material in the libraries for future researchers.
1.6 Scope of the study
The study is restricted to examining early Igbo novels to account for their classical nature. The study also looks at critical elements of literature such as setting, character and characterisation. It explores thematic features that account for classicism in such novels. It further examines the linguistic devices inherent in the novels that account for their classical nature. It will be a difficult task for a study of this nature to cover all Igbo novels, hence the selection of some pioneer authors and their works for analysis. Again not all Igbo modern novels are investgated.
1.7 Limitations of the study
The subject matter of classicism is wide and varied. Classicism in literature involves the analysis of canon of literature which makes a literary piece enduring and relevant over time. This may be found in the three genres of literature, names prose, poetry and drama. However, in this work analyzing classicism in the three genres of literature will be unwieldy. Not much work has been done in Igbo novel or literature in the area of classicisim it is, therefore necessary that the scope be delimited to classicism in prose and in selected literary piece in the Igbo language. The study has therefore adopted, for analytical elegance and consistence, the theory of analysis, imitation and practice which is eclectic in nature (partly linguistic, literary and stylistic).
1.8 Research Methodology
This section deals with the procedure used in collecting and analysing data for the study. The sub-headings to be discussed in this chapter include research design, method of data collection and procedure for analysis of data.
1.8.1 Research design
The research design that is adopted in this study is the descriptive survey type. According to Nworgu (2015), survey design aims at collecting data on the subject, and describing it in a systematic manner, the characteristic features or facts about the subject. This type of design, therefore, helps to ascertain the facts about any given phenomena. In a descriptive survey research design, a group of people or item is studied by collecting data from only a few people or item considered to be a representative of the entire group.
1.8.2 Method of data collection
The purposive sampling technique is used to select the Igbo novels. This enabled the researcher to collect excerpts from the selected Igbo novels used as data, as well as identify facts and points relevant to the study. The researcher also browsed the internet; made use of publications and other works relating to classicism and literature in general and the novel in particular.
1.8.3 Method of data analysis The data collected were analysed using the theory of analysis, imitation and practice by Aristotle (1842) and reviewed by Corbett (1971). This theory is used to investigate critically, the classical nature of all the novels selected for the research. Using the theory of analyses, imitation and practice, the study looks at the critical elements of the novel. Other theories include formalist approach and stylistic approach. The formalist approach looked at the form of the work while stylistic approach looked at the styles of the work. The theories used as their bases in Forster (1927)’s clements of the novels.
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