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The Political Agenda of an Enemy of the People and Its Impact on Ghanaian Politics

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The Political Agenda of an Enemy of the People and Its Impact on Ghanaian Politics THE POLITICAL AGENDA OF AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE AND ITS IMPACT ON GHANAIAN POLITICS Olivette, Marcia Thesis submitted to the Centre for Ibsen Studies, Faculty of Humanities UNIVERSITETET I OSLO [June 2014] 1 Table of Contents Acknowledgement……………………………………………………………………….3 Dedication ……………………………………………………………………………….4 Preface ………………………………………………………….......................................5 Chapter 1 – Introduction 1.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………6 1.2 Topic……………………………………………………………………………...8 1.3 Basic Question and Hypothesis…………………………………………………..9 Chapter 2 – Historical Background 2.2 Significance of research………………………………………………………….10 2.3 Data and Methods………………………………………………………………..13 2.4 Theoretical Foundation ………………………………………………………….17 Chapter 3 – Ibsen’s Translation in America 3.1 The Context – A Historical Background………………………………………...21 3.2 Authority and Individual Freedom of Expression in An Enemy of the People……………………………………………………………………………27 3.3 Political Authority, Dictatorship and the rule of law…………………………....32 Chapter 4 – Ibsen’s Transcreation in India 4.1 Theories in Film…………………………………………………………………36 4.2 From Text to Screen: Film Adaptation of An Enemy of the People ……………43 4.3 Culture and politics………………………………………………………………49 Chapter 5 – Ibsen on stage 5.1 The Context – A Historical Background ………………………………………...52 5.2 Dangers of Authoritarian Rule …………………………………………………..58 5.3 Performance and Reception ……………………………………………………..61 5.4 Ibsen’s reception in Egypt………………………………………………………..66 Chapter 6 – Conclusion………………………………………………………………...77 Bibliography ……………………………………………………………………………84 Appendix ……………………………………………………………………………….90 2 Acknowledgements I first of all give thanks to GOD for the knowledge and strength he gave me through the writing of this thesis. I owe many thanks to the Norwegian Government who supported me with a scholarship to study at the Ibsen Centre in Oslo. Most particularly, I thank Mr. Frode Helland – Head of the Ibsen Centre for taking time off his busy schedule to supervise my work; also Jon Nygaard and Ellen R. Rees who kindly provided me with the needed support and not forgetting Randi Meyer and Kamaluddin Nilu who helped and provided me with resourceful materials to support my research. I would also like to extend my profound gratitude to Mr. Hans Rossine – Head of Drama (NRK), Vibeke Kristoffersen (NRK), Mr. Terje Maerli, Mrs. Eli S Ryg and Anne Cath Sommerfeldt – who shared with me their knowledge and works on Henrik Ibsen. This work would not have been complete without the support from Mr. John Boadu – Deputy Communications Director of NPP Ghana, Mr. Issa Monnie – Media Consultant and News Editor of Peace Fm Ghana, Mr. Richard Mensah – News Editor of Citi Fm Ghana, Mr. Felix Kwakye – Deputy Information Minister Ghana, Mr. Aborampah Mensah – Programs Officer at Ghana Center for Democratic Development, Mr. Samuel A. Akuamoah – Director of Programmes at National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE), Mr. Samuel A. Bosompem – Deputy Director on Public Education and Research at Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Mr. Egbert Fabille Jnr – Legal Practitioner, Dr. Awo Asiedu – Director of School of Performing Arts, Mr. Aveh – Head of Theatre Arts Department, Rev Dr. Esiaman – Lecturer at the School of Performing Arts; University of Ghana and Elizabeth Amponsah – Student of the School of Performing Arts; who were interviewed on the Politics in Ghana and the study and performance of Ibsen’s Plays at the University of Ghana. I thank in addition my mum – Angelina Korsah for helping out with all things and Ms Roberta Gardiner – Lecturer at the School of Performing Arts and Christian Awoonor for their enormous support whenever I needed it. 3 Dedication I dedicate this work to my mum – Angelina Korsah for recognizing the process, respecting the effort, reading my draft and always acting the part of both mum and tutor. I thank her for offering encouragement, wisdom, and enthusiasm. I also dedicate this work to Mr. Martin A. B. K. Amidu – He is a Ghanaian Politician and also served as Attorney General of Republic of Ghana, from January 2011 till January 2012. 4 Preface The Identity of self in Ibsen My first encounter with Ibsen was during my undergraduate where I read two of his plays ‘A dolls house’ and ‘An Enemy of the People’ as a literary text to define what modern drama is. At that time my understanding of Ibsen wasn’t in-depth. I read and understood his plays as history in drama; and never saw any similarities of his themes to a Ghanaian setting and always interpreted his themes to the setting and background of his time. Moreover I was only exposed to two of his texts; ‘A doll’s house’ and ‘An enemy of the People’. I was always curious to know who he was as a Person, the kind of audiences he was writing for at that time and how theatre at that time was viewed with relation to his plays and subject matter. Another encounter I had with Ibsen’s text was to play the role of Nora in ‘A doll’s House’, to me as an acting student; I interpreted it the best way I can - as an European woman who through the norms and values of society at that time needed liberation; to free herself from a confined world to redefine and educate herself. For many students like me, they felt I had given it the best interpretation they needed to understand the text. Especially since the themes in ‘A dolls house’ were not similar to our social and cultural background as Ghanaians. In Ghana when there is a divorce or separation the custody of the child is always given to the woman and when in a situation where the woman leaves her husband due to misunderstanding or problems within the marriage, she will leave with her children, but in ‘A dolls house’ we see the opposite, Nora leaves her children behind. These two experiences did not give me much understanding of his text but having the opportunity to study him again for my post graduate, I am fascinated by the issues he writes about and would like to use the medium of film to present some of his themes to Ghanaians. 5 Chapter 1 1.1 Introduction The growth and development of every nation depends largely on the democracy of the country. As this research concerns itself with the underlying political agenda in An Enemy of the People and its impact on Ghanaian politics, this thesis will look at how the political agenda in An Enemy of the People is still relevant to today’s political situation in Ghana. The election in 2012 raises questions on how unstable Ghana’s democracy is since the declared winner was contested in court by the largest opposition party because they declared there were irregularities in the results. Even though a verdict was reached by the Supreme Court on the 29th of August 2013 to retain the declared winner as President, there were still unanswered questions about our electoral system and democracy. First and foremost, the democracy we practice is not true democracy but democracy related with tribalism, corruption and misuse of political power. In addressing the problems within Ghana’s political system, this thesis will be in six chapters. The first chapter will explain why I think the Enemy of the people should be produced in Ghana, situating the text within various ideological critiques in the play and further on look at an ideology critique that can be related to Ghana’s situation now. Drawing on the perceptions gathered from political leaders and activists who were interviewed, chapter two will constitute an overview of Ghana’s political situation – from independence till now and I will explain why the political agenda within An Enemy of the people could have an impact on Ghana’s politics. Further in this chapter I will examine the significance of my research to Ibsen’s performances in Ghana and whether it has been used in any political context. The next three chapters will explain the different political situations in three different countries and how Ibsen’s An Enemy of the people was used to critique some problems affecting them at a point in time. Starting from Arthur Miller’s adaptation of An Enemy of the People, in a period in America’s history where the political agenda at that time was that of McCarthyism. It was a time where individual’s freedom of expression was 6 repressed. In order to bring out my points clearly, I will do a close reading of the text and the analytical tool I will use here will be textual analysis. Here I will analyze the significance of Miller’s translation considered as an adaptation in its own right and in a specific cultural and political context. Chapter four of my thesis will focus on a film adaptation of An Enemy of the People from India, in a different Political context – the adaptation focuses on the misuse of religion for Political gains. Ganashatru, a contemporary version of Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People, which was produced 1989, 39 years after Miller’s adaptation brings out a different Political agenda altogether. The film focuses on religion and science and on how water in the name of religion can be used in politics. Chapter five will try to focus on a current stage production of Ibsen’s An Enemy of the people in Egypt. Looking at the current trends of uprising in that country, this chapter will look at the impact of the play’s performance and how it was received. Though this chapter will be based mostly on reviews written after the play was staged, I will also give my account of my perception when I saw it re-staged at the Ibsen conference in Skien from 16th – 17th September 2013. The sixth chapter sums up my observations and thoughts on the Political Agenda of an Enemy of the People and its impact on Ghanaian Politics and will try to critique whether art and politics can result in a public policy which will in effect help build a better democracy in Ghana and within Africa since the issue of corruption is a global thing.
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