Beginnings of a Paper

Entry #17
Work: The River Between by Ngũnĩ Wa Thiong'o

I've decided to switch my paper topic to the work above after the initial revulsion I spoke of in my last entry. I'll use this entry to pound out my ideas a little.

I'm seeing an awful lot of the matriarchy that Waiyaki's father, Chege told him had existed in days gone by, even though the tribal religion seems to be centered, at least on the surface, around a patriarchal order. According to the tale, the women drove the men too hard, were unfair, and the men revolted.

And this matriarchy no longer exists, or so Chege tells Waiyaki -- but is this true? So much of the Gikuyu religion is earth-based, and therefore mother-based. They are close to the land. I'm seeing the two ridges, opposing mountains as breasts, the river as a birth canal. Even the cover art depicts it in this way. Is a goddess religion possible without a matriarchy? Or, if not a matriarchy, can it exist in the presence of a patriarchy?

Their religion descends from two shared parents, Gikuyu & Mumbi. Christianity has only a male godhead and each of the subsidiaries (the Christ and the Holy Ghost) are male. Yes, the virgin served as an incubator for the Christ, but she was a vessel only; chosen, yes, but not a goddess in her own right.

It is only through a male-centered religion that the white man was able to infiltrate peacefully these people. Christianity appeals to the disgruntled male, owner of property, head of household -- and with Christianity, Mumbi can be forsaken. Joshua's rebellious daughters can be forgotten, cut off because they are female and they are not in the image of the perfect One.

I'm merely hammering out these thoughts as I have them. No idea if I can find the textual support yet or independent research to support the point -- which I realize I haven't made yet.

The tribal culture of the Gikuyu and the white man's Christian religion are both forms of control of a people. Gikuyu people remain close to the earth because the earth feeds them. Waiyaki's attempt to blend learning with the tribal customs is honorable, but doomed, as the earth is lost in Christianity. The Gikuyu roots are in the earth, and the Christian religion transcends the earthly, therefore they cannot coexist. One necessarily negates the other.

There. That's as close right now that I can come right now to a thesis statement. I still have the last several dozen pages to read before morning, so I'd better get on it.

Till later...

Spring Break

Entry #16
Work: The River Between

I've been watching, in dribs and drabs, a PBS video collection entitled This Far By Faith. I'm looking for material for a somewhat topic-defined paper for Reading Black, Reading Feminist (WMNST 462). It's facinated me in reading black feminist writing that Christianity seems to have such a central role in their lives, in their psyches, and yet, the institution of Christianity is in most cases very patriarchal in its execution. (I just re-read that sentence and was struck by the juxtaposition of the words "Christianity" and "execution." Hmm...)

I'm on disk five now, and the story has progressed to the civil rights era, Black Power, return to African beliefs and religious practices. And it reminded me that I need to finish reading The River Between.

I'm in no hurry. Spring break stretches out before me, and I feel obligated to fritter away some of it. Then again, I also have the urge to make the most of ever moment, and if that involves enjoying the soft flannel of my nightgown for a few extra hours on a Monday morning, so be it.

This post is intended to relate to The River Between. And I'm thinking about my women's studies paper as well. TRB focuses much on the traditions of the people being usurped by a moral righteousness of the "saving" white man. The same moral righteousness here, in this country, being used as a method of control of an enslaved people. I'm trying to work this out in my own mind as I write -- how pure were the native religious beliefs of the people when they were brought here? How many of them found Christianity to be not so foreign? I need to check the timelines. Islam was also widespread in Africa. Facts gathered, I think this relationship requires more reflection. I will come back to it.

The hardest part of reading The River Between is maintaining objectivity. I think, for understanding, it's necessary to view what was rather than what I feel about what was. As tolerant as I believe myself to be, I'm seeing that it isn't so in the reading of this book. The issue of circumcision is repulsive to me, and not only female circumcision. The description of the ritual for young men is, in my realm of experience, barbaric, and I do believe I know something of the barbaric. I'm trying, though. I am truly trying.

I'm very near the end of TRB, and I hope to finish it before day's end. Then, perhaps, I can begin to discuss it in literary and philosophical terms, and hopefully then, with some sort of objectivity.

Till later...

Exam, and Beginning African Literature

Entry #15
Work: Final Thoughts on Nō
and Ngũnĩ Wa Thiong'o, The River Between

Tuesday brings the first exam, first midterm of the semester. I will meet with Dr. McCarthy tomorrow morning, and in reviewing the study guide, I see my questions will be many. Keeping track of details has never been my strong point, but I will do my best.

Regarding Nō, I have had some handwritten notes jotted down that I have yet to flesh out here--just a bit more of my rebellion. This idea of the form being primary and that the art would appear where the form was correct -- this is something that makes me cringe every time I read perfectly rhymed, perfectly metered lines of verse that are absolutely atrocious. Like Hallmark cards. Perhaps I'm not disciplined or perhaps I just do not appreciate the idea of boundaries, but in writing, either prose or poetry, I want to break the rules. I like things that break the rules.

And when I have thoughts like this, I have to remember the vision of chaos while meditating and how beautiful and ordered it really was. It was a long time ago (and a long story to tell, if I ever really could) that I saw what I still don't have adequate words to describe, and it was everything I want my free verse to be (or have potential to be) but still possessed, at least upon years of reflection, some sort of framework that kept it within bounds of being.

I digress.

I could not understand what art could emerge within such a strict form. The stage in Nō is identical in each play. The backdrop never changes. Each character and actor has a specific role without much variation. How could art possibly emerge under the thumb of these dictates? It's oppression! I thought. And yet...would we still read it if it was any other way? Would Nō have survived? I doubt it. It survived because of the form, not necessarily because of the art.

I've been reading too much of Bradbury and his charge to aim for truth, not popularity, not literary acclaim, but merely truth, and if there is enough life in the truth, the art will emerge. Perhaps Nō is not so terribly different. This is not 1400 A.D., and in 1400 A.D. perhaps discipline was more important. And, again perhaps, maybe we could possibly benefit from more of the same today. And maybe it's just ego that the artist today feels that s/he is beyond discipline.

I am tired, and it's been a long week of pain and frustration with pain, so I will end this with a few thoughts on The River Between.

I wasn't sure, when beginning it, if I would be able to involve myself in the story. And then, after getting so far, I questioned whether I had the stomach to read it. That's been an issue with some movies and television shows; I can't stand violence, and the coming-of-age circumcision rites in The River... strikes me as very violent. However, during the reading, I have discovered something. I'm only at about the mid-way point, not having the concentration to read long at any one sitting, and I'm detecting a subtext of mother-religion. It's mentioned in the conversation between W & his father, and if it's not brought to the surface by the end of the tale, I think I will write my paper on it. If I choose to, however, I think I'll have to ask Dr. McCarthy if I can expand the paper a bit beyond five pages. Being economical with words is not my strong suit (even more so than ability to remember details).

Till later...