Tiến Sĩ Khía cạnh lịch sử, xã hội và triết học phản ánh trong tiểu thuyết của một số nhà văn châu Phi

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TITLE PAGE .
APPROVAL SHEET .
ABSTRACT
ACKNOWLEDGMENT .
DEDICATION .
TABLE OF CONTENTS . i
CHAPTER I: THE PROBLEM . 1
Introduction 1
Statement of the Problem 7
Scope, Delimitation and Limitation of the Study 8
Significance of the Study . 10
CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE . 14
Conceptual Literature 14
Literature and Philosophy of Life . 14
Significant Works of African Writers 23
Literary Techniques . 30
Critical Approaches for Novel Analysis . 32
Research Literature . 37


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Synthesis of the Literature Reviewed . 45
Theoretical Framework . 48
Conceptual Framework . 54
Definition of Terms 57
CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 60
Research Design 60
Treatment of Materials 62
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION 65
CHAPTER V: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 179
Findings .180
Conclusion .189
Recommendations .190
BIBLIOGRAPHY 222





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CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM

Introduction
There is a close link between philosophy and literature. While
philosophy supplies ideology and themes for literature, literature, on the
other hand, provides vivid illustrations of the meaning and abstract
thought of philosophy. Literature is considered as a channel to show the
author’s philosophy of life. Indeed, in literature the philosophical theme
is conveyed through literary works and is an essential part of their
aesthetic value. There is a considerable number of well-known works in
the world literature in which philosophical views are put forward,
suggested, or play a central role such as Dostoyevsky’s Brothers
Karamazov, Crime and Punishment, and The Idiot; Tolstoy’s War and
Peace; Proust’s In Search of Lost Time; Mann’s MagicMountain, etc. By
studying literary works, readers are introduced central philosophical
issues relating with freedom, responsibility, religious belief, personal
identity, etc.


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Beside reflecting on philosophy, literature also reflects the historical
and sociological dimensions of the society. That literature is a reflection
of the society has been widely acknowledged. Literature influences the
society, and the society is reflected in literature; therefore, there has
been a close interaction between them. The readers can explore a
variety of historical and socio-political themes in many works of famous
writers such as colonialism, post-colonialism, morality, racial identity,
oppression, politics, leadership, gender issues, war, etc. According to
Diamond (1989), a literary work can provide a more detailed picture of a
society in terms of cultural, social, religious, and political dimensions
more than any history textbooks and anthropological records do. This is
exemplified in the works of many world famous writers. For example,
Wordsworth creates wonderful poems to praise humanitarian aspect of
the French revolution in the earlier phase, but later his poetry focuses on
its bloodiness and violence. Another example is Charles Dickens’ novels
whose themes consist of the consequences of industrialization like the
sufferings of the poor, hypocrisy of the privileged class, government
corruption, and many others.
Africa experienced a variety of cultural clashes and political crises
from the early colonial days when the Europeans came and conquered
this continent. Achebe, a Nigerian writer, wrote that the time and place in


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which he was raised was “a strongly multiethnic, multilingual, multi-
religious, somewhat chaotic colonial situation” (Achebe, The Education
of a British-Protected Child: Essays, 2009, p.39). These words describe
Nigeria in particular and other countries in Africa in the period from the
end of the 19
th
century to the 21
st
century.
For the countries in Africa, the experience of colonialism is
considered as the one of the most important factors in understanding the
present condition of the African continent, the African people and their
history. Therefore, a close examination of the phenomenon of
colonialism is essential to assess not only the economic and political
development in Africa but also the African people’s perception of
themselves.
African literature has increasingly gained much interest in literary
research for the last three decades. Many critics have devoted much
energy to identify western influence on modern African literature.
However, the concept of influence have been subject to re-evaluation
and revision because critics often impose Western norms on analyzing
African literary works in terms of themes, techniques of writing,
philosophy, etc. While these studies have made insight interpretations of
content and meaning of the African works, less is known of the influence


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of the African traditional roots on African literature and the influence of
African writers as philosophers on African people’s perception.
From the beginning of colonial situation, literature was the sharp
weapon of African writers to oppose colonialism and proudly assert the
values of the cultures that the colonials had tried to destroy. Fictional
works in many African nations has been very much influenced by the
cultural and political experiences of the country. Therefore, many of
African writers chose to use their works to explore, portray, and expose
these social experiences in their different works. As Ojaide states, “there
is, culturally speaking, no art for art’s sake in Africa. Every literary work
has a social function” (Ojaide, Modern African Literature and Cultural
Identity, 1992, p.44). Among African writers, Chinua Achebe, Ayi
Kwei Armah and Tsi-tsi Dangarembgaare the pioneers in using the pen
as the weapon against colonialism.
Chinua Achebe defines his writings as part of a “process of re-
storing peoples who had been knocked silent by the trauma of all kinds
of dispossession” (Achebe, Home and Exile, 2000, p.79). Achebe takes
up the responsibility as an Igbo writer who is to help his people regain
belief in itself and dignity that is destroyed by Western colonialism.
Ayi Kwei Armah is undoubtedly one of the most excellent writers of
the second generation of African writers which comes after Achebe. In


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an autobiographical article, “One Writer's Education” (West Africa,
1985), Armah described himself as not simply a Ghanian and a West
African but “ most significantly as an African”. One of the strengths of his
writing is his use of African history and myths to emphasize the
originality and complexity of African cultures before the incursion of
colonialism into the continent. His writings are realistic descriptions of
the African continent in such a way that his novels can be seen as a
sociological report on the social and politcal situation of Africa.
Tsi-tsi Dangarembga is a fabulous African female writer. Her
writings transmit political messages regarding female oppression and
colonial domination. She earned much praise from literary critics
because of her complex depiction of racial and gender struggles in a
rural African society.
Therefore, the researcher intended to analyze the three novels by
Achebe, Armah and Dangarembga respectively: No Longer at Ease
(1960), Fragments (1971) and Nervous Conditions (1988) because an
exploration of the three chosen writers of the three different African
countries (Nigeria, Ghana and Zimbabwe) and of two ***es would
reveal a number of common concerns in terms of historical, sociological
and philosophical dimensions. The historical basis for this search is that
throughout Africa there are close similarities in both traditional cultures


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and contemporary situations. The researcher attempted to make
comparisons and drawing parallels among these novels by Achebe,
Armah and Dangarembga in oder to generalize the whole Africa.
The wisdom embodied in the selected works of these African
writers could be one of the motivating factors that could help readers in
the world understand about internal and external pressures African
people suffered as well as the values they lost in colonial and post-
colonial periods. Therefore, the readers may establish their high
appreciation of African culture and history.
Besides, many scholars have already studied the various themes of
No Longer at Ease, Fragments and Nervous Conditions such as
classes, cultures, corruption, etc. However, there is not much analysis
on the historical, social and philosophical insights of these novels. Also,
these African writers’ philosophy of life gleaned from the three novels
has not received enough attention from the literary circles.
Last but not least, Achebe, Armah and Dangarembga’s life, works
and life philosophy exemplify noble values of a person and a nation,
which is worthy of attention. Therefore, as a teacher, the researcher
would like to expose her students to literature and culture outside of an
Eastern country. She wants her students to gain an appreciation of a
foreign culture while also gaining insight into their own culture, seeing


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their own society through a different and objective lense. Moreover, she
wants to equip her students with a sense of values to guide and allow
them to embrace a good philosophy of life and clarify life goals.
With this objective in her mind, the researcher was deeply
motivated to explore and undertake an analysis of how historical,
sociological, philosophical perspectives reflected in the selected works
to bring out the philosophy of life of Achebe, Armah and Dangarembga.

Statement of the Problem

This study primarily aims to analyze the historical, sociological,
philosophical dimensions in the novels of selected African writers.
Specifically, the study answered the following questions:
1. What historical events are reflected in the novels of Chinua Achebe,
Armah and Dangarembga?
2. How do the novels convey the sociological character of the time as
regards:
2.1. religious practices;
2.2. social practices;
2.3. educational practices; and
2.4. political practices?