Colonialism and After: a Study of Select Fictional Echoes from India and Africa Thesis

Home , Goa Inquisition, Mahabaleshwar Sail

COLONIALISM AND AFTER: A STUDY OF SELECT FICTIONAL ECHOES FROM INDIA AND AFRICA

THESIS

Submitted to GOA UNIVERSITY

For the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English

Dattaguru Gopal Joshi

Under the guidance of

Dr. (Mrs.) Kiran J. Budkuley,

Professor and Head, Department of English,

Goa University, Taleigao Plateau, Goa.

India- 403 206

November, 2016.

CERTIFICATE

As required under the University Ordinance, OB-9.9(viii), I hereby certify that the thesis entitled, Colonialism and After: A Study of Select Fictional Echoes from India and

Africa, submitted by Mr. Dattaguru Gopal Joshi for the Award of the Degree of Doctor of

Philosophy in English has been completed under my guidance. The thesis is the record of the research work conducted by the candidate during the period of his study and has not previously formed the basis for the award of any Degree, Diploma, Associateship,

Fellowship or other similar titles to him by this or any other university.

Dr. (Mrs.) K. J. Budkuley, Research Guide, Professor and Head, Department of English, Goa University.

Date:

DECLARATION

As required under the University Ordinance, OB-9.9(v), I hereby certify that the thesis entitled, Colonialism and After: A Study of Select Fictional Echoes from India and

Africa, is the outcome of my own research undertaken under the guidance of Dr. (Mrs.) K. J.

Budkuley, Professor and Head, Department of English, Goa University. All the sources used in the course of this work have been duly acknowledged in the thesis. This work has not previously formed the basis of any award of Degree, Diploma, Associateship, Fellowship or other similar titles to me, by this or any other University.

Dattaguru Gopal Joshi Research Scholar, Department of English, Goa University. Taleigao Plateau, Goa. Date:

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is my humble duty to thank all those who have directly or indirectly helped me during this research. My sincere thanks to my research guide Dr.(Mrs.) Kiran J. Budkuley, Professor and Head, Department of English, Goa University, who made me see this day with her strict, motivating and affectionate approach. Frankly, the deepest gratitude is beyond words. My sincere thanks to all my teachers at the Department of English, Goa University. This includes, Prof. K. S. Bhat, Prof. Nina Caldeira, Dr. A. R. Fernandes, Dr. Anjali Chaube and also Dr. Isabel de Santa Rita Vas for their constant encouragement. I am also grateful to Dr. Prakash Paryekar, Head, Department of Konkani for his assistance from time to time. Also my sincere thanks to the administrative staff of the English Department, particularly, Mrs. Nutan Mohite, Mrs. Felcy Cardoso and Mr. Santosh Halankar. I thank my fellow research scholars Ms. Glenis Mendonca, Ms. Svetlana Fernandes and Ms. Palia Gaonkar for their continuous inspiration and valuable support. My sincere thanks to all my colleagues at Gogate-Walke College, Banda, especially the Principal Dr. S. B. Sawant, the President of Shikshan Prasarak Mandal, Shri Umesh Phatarphod and ex-president of SPM Dr. B. B. Gaitonde. The two important companions in this endeavour, who went through equal hardships, were my wife Gauri and son Atreya. They have been a continuous source of unconditional inspiration. I am very grateful to my parents, who have always been there with me through their words and blessings. My sincere and humble gratitude to the Almighty for the blessings and motivation without which this would not have been possible. Dattaguru Gopal Joshi Research Scholar, Department of English, Goa University. Date Taleigao Plateau, Goa. iii

CHAPTER ONE: Introduction Sr.No Contents Page No. 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Aims, objective and hypothesis of this study 2 1.3 Scope and range of study 3 1.4 Delimitation 4 1.5 Methodology adopted 4 1.6 Interest in Study 4 1.7 Primary Texts 5 1.7.1 Raja Rao‟s Kanthapura 6 1.7.2 Mahabaleshwar Sail‟s Yug Sanvar 7 1.7.3 Margaret Mascarenhas‟ Skin 8 1.7.4 Chinua Achebe‟s Things Fall Apart 9 1.7.5 Alan Paton‟s Cry, the Beloved Country 10 1.7.6 Ngugi Wa Thiongo‟s Petals of Blood 11 1.8 Historical context(s) of study 12 1.8.1 Yug Sanvar and Skin and the History of Goa 13 1.8.2 Things fall Apart History of Nigeria 16 1.8.3 Kanthapura and the Indian history 17 1.8.4 Cry The Beloved Country and the South African history 19 1.8.5 Petals of Blood and the Kenyan history 21 1.9 Role of Religion in India and Africa 23 1.9.1.1 Religious Conversion in Goa 24 1.9.1.2 Inquisition 25 1.9.1.3 An earlier example: the Spanish Inquisition 26 1.9.1.4 The Portuguese Inquisition 27 1.9.1.5 Inquisition in Goa in India 27 1.9.2 The Traditional African Religion 28 1.10 Focus of study 30 1.11 Literary Survey 31 1.12 Brief chapter outline 35 1.13 Conclusion 36

iv CHAPTER TWO: Colonialism: Notion, Analysis and Manifestation vis-a-vis India and Africa Sr.No Contents Page No 2.1 Introduction 38 2.1.1 Colonialism and Imperialism 40 2.2 Types of colonies 41 2.2.1 Settler Colonies 41 2.2.2 Dependencies 41 2.2.3 Plantation Colonies 42 2.2.4 Trading Posts 42 2.3 Exploration and Exploitation as twin planks of colonisation 42 2.3.1 The Driving forces behind Imperialism/Colonisation 44 2.3.1.1 Ideological props of Colonialism 45 2.3.1.2 Industrial Revolution: Its contextual and functional role 46 2.4 Expansion under Colonisation 47 2.4.1 Colonisation: Case of the erstwhile British India 48 2.4.1.1 Goa:Portuguese Colonialism and Religious conversion 49 2.4.2 Colonisation in Africa 50 2.5 Colonialism through theoretical prisms 52 2.5.1 Orientalism 54 2.5.2 Nativism 55 2.5.3 Mimicry and Hybridity 56 2.5.4 Subaltern studies 57 2.5.5 Manichean Allegory 60 2.5.6 Negritude 61 2.5.7 Diaspora 61 2.6 Models of study adopted to analyse colonialism and related issues 63 2.6.1 National or the Regional Model 63 2.6.2 Racial or the Ethnic Model 63 2.6.3 Comparative Model 63 2.6.4 Colonizer and the colonized model 63

2.6.5 Hybridity or the syncreticity model 64 2.7 Conclusion 64

CHAPTER THREE: Before and after colonial encounter: Case of India and Africa (Things Fall Apart, Yug Sanvar, Skin)

Sr.No Contents Page No 3.1 Introduction 65 3.1.1 About the novels 70 3.2 Native and „savage‟ vis-à-vis colonisation and „civilization‟ 72 3.3 Religion and religious conversion 74 3.3.1 Christianity in India 76 3.3.2 Goan society at the advent of colonialism 77 3.3.3 The mind-set of the Portuguese: 79 3.3.4 Religious Conversion in the Igbo society 80 3.3.5 The Gods and their place in the indigenous faith tradition 83 3.4 The men, the modes and the methods used for religious conversion 86 3.4.1 The Role of preachers in Things Fall Apart, Yug Sanvar and 86 Skin 3.4.2 Humiliating the indigenous 90 3.4.3 The Nativisation of the Church 91 3.4.4 The positive side of the Missionary activity 92 3.4.5 Denationalization of a community 93 3.5 The community life 94 3.5.1 An individual as a part of the larger society 95 3.5.2 Women characters in the patriarchal set-up 97 3.5.2.1 Expectations of patriarchal society 100 3.5.2.2 Women‟s role as mother 101 3.5.2.3 Place accorded to women characters in the text and context 102 3.5.3 The dehumanizing effects on the weaker section of the 105 community 3.5.3.1 The Caste System in the Indian society 105

3.5.3.2 Slavery in Africa 106 3.6 Conclusion 109

CHAPTER FOUR: From Colonial Crisis to Post-Colonial Predicaments: Question of Leadership (Kanthapura, Cry the Beloved Country, Petals Of Blood)

Sr.No Contents Page No 4.1 Introduction. 114 4.1.1 Reasons that led to rise in Colonial Enterprise. 114 4.1.2 Colonialism and post-colonialism: Range of implications . 115 4.2 Re-visiting the novels 118 4.2.1 Kanthapura as an anticolonial ‘Sthalapurana’. 118 4.2.2 Cry,the Beloved Country and the case of South Africa. 119 4.2.3 Petals of Blood as a critique of Neo-colonialism: 121 4.2.4 A thematic and comparative statement. 122 4.2.4.1 Cry, the Beloved Country and Petals of Blood. 122 4.2.4.2 Kanthapura and Cry, the Beloved Country. 123 4.3 The novels as mirrors of revolution and social change. 123 4.4 Nature of Leadership: Objective and inspiration. 125 4.4.1 Moorthy, the iconic leader in Kanthapura. 127 4.4.2 Emergence of women as potential leaders in Kanthapura. 129 4.4.3 Arthur Jarvis, the leader in absentia in Cry the Beloved 131 Country. 4.4.4 Stephen Kumalo and Msimangu as „Mimic Men‟ turned 134 leaders. 4.4.5 Failed leadership in neo-colonial phase in Petals of Blood 137 4.5 Challenge for Leadership: The broken tribe 138 4.5.1 Cry, the Beloved Country and the fiction of reciprocity 141 4.5.2 Popular leadership and the process of neo-colonisation 142 4.5.3 Afro-pessimism in Cry, the Beloved Country and Petals of 145 Blood: 4.6 Solutions to the problems: 147

4.6.1 The Trusteeship Theory: 149 4.6.2 Empathizing and empowering the rural masses 154 4.7 Conclusion 157

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CHAPTER FIVE: Locale of Engagement and Response: The Sthalapurana and The Sthalamahatmya of Nativity.

Sr.No Contents Page No 5.1 Introduction: 158 5.1.1 The Sthalapurana and the Sthalamahatmya as space 159 5.2 The land, the mind and colonisation 161 5.3 The place accorded to „sthala‟ in the novels. 164 5.3.1 Elucidating the grandeur-eurlogizing the locale 165 5.3.2 The urban „sthala‟ as a corruptive force 167 5.3.3. Depiction The rural „sthala‟ as a sacred „space‟ 170 5.3.3.1 Sacredness and the tangible „spaces‟ 170 5.3.3.2 Sacredness vis-à-vis „impurity‟ 172 5.4 Novels as echoes foreshadowing Nativism 174 5.5 The history of the land and the people 180 5.6 Disintegration of a society 181 5.7 Conclusion 184 viii

CHAPTER SIX: Conclusion

Sr.No Contents Page No 6.1 Introduction 185 6.1.1 An overview of Chapter One 187 6.1.2 Observations of Chapter One 187 6.1.3 Findings of Chapter One 187 6.2 The overview of Chapter Two 188

6.2.1 Observations of Chapter Two 188 6.2.2 Findings of Chapter Two 189 6.3 The overview of Chapter Three 189 6.3.1 Observations of Chapter Three 190 6.3.2 Findings of Chapter Three 191 6.4 The overview of Chapter Four 192 6.4.1 Observations of Chapter Four 193 6.4.2 Findings of Chapter Four 195 6.5 The overview of Chapter Five 196 6.5.1 Observations of Chapter Five 196 6.5.2 The findings of Chapter Five 197 6.6 Revisiting the hypothesis 198 6.7 Relevance of the Study 199

CHAPTER ONE Introduction

1.1 Introduction The historical facts reveal that around ¾th of the world was under the colonial yoke of the European powers for the last 500 years or so, some nations for a shorter duration while some others for a longer period of time. This process of colonisation ushered in changes in almost every realm of human existence of the colonised lands.

Of these, India and Africa are two geopolitical entities which had gone through life altering experiences. Although richly endowed both in terms of resources and culture, they were left impoverished and undermined by the experience of colonialism under the colonial regimes. This social alienation and suppression of the native populace by the colonisers resulted in a society divided on the grounds of religion, race and colour.

The situations as seen in the African nations did not arise in India in the post-colonial era. In India, this could be credited to diverse cultural heritage, high standard of literary evolution, both written and oral, use of English as „the lingua franca’ by the elite groups though not at the cost of erasing the regional languages, which have survived and grown. Further India has been a culturally developed society even prior to colonisation. Further, the adoption of a democratic model of a republic and the formation of states on the basis of languages after independence has been of great help to sustain and nurture regional ethos, identities and curtailment of centrist hegemony to a large extent.

The case is found to be different with Africa, as the creative output has been predominantly through „orature‟ and the language of the coloniser has come to be accepted as the dominant language of education, politics, diplomacy, etc. The local native language, which has been the carrier of culture and tradition, was slowly sidelined and made non-functional.

At the end of 60 years after Indian independence in 1947, the country stands on the path of democracy. Even after 150 years of British rule in the erstwhile „British India‟ and 450 years of Portuguese rule in the Estada da Goa (liberated by Indian 11

Army in 1961), the people‟s response to democracy was not hampered. On the other hand, although the African nations, attained independence much later, viz. Kenya in 1963, Nigeria in 1960 and South Africa in a phased manner from 1910 onwards, (with Apartheid being abolished in 1993), these nations are still facing internal unrest and fighting to attain political stability, peace and global parameters of societal development.

1.2 Aims, objectives and hypothesis of this study Below are indicated the Aims of this study:  to understand the response of the colonial psyche to colonialism as reflected in the works of fiction.  to discuss whether colonisers or decolonisers have to pay a price for their stand.  the validity of certain notions and concepts which are considered as a part and parcel of the colonial and post-colonial discourse The Objectives of this research are to study:  any shift in perspective and change in approach of the writers who wrote in the colonial era and those in the post-colonial times.  the effects of colonisation on the society which once broken could not be reverted to its original state.  the various means of struggle for independence adopted by the communities, writers and their fictional protagonist.

Hypotheses: The hypotheses proposed are the following:  more than half a century away from the colonial yoke, the term post-colonial is still valid for the writers of today.  the need for independence is supreme and imminent, irrespective of any geographical area.  novels located in history and narrating societal struggle against colonial yoke tend to elucidate the locale and perhaps glorify it.  a novel fundamentally based on individual experience and growth tends to limit itself to an individual‟s identity quest at the cost of locale or historical context.

1.3 Scope and range of study The six novels selected represent the two major regions of the world, namely, the subcontinent of India in Asia and the continent of Africa. The novels Yug Sanvar (2004), Skin (2001) and Kanthapura (1938) describe among them the colonial predicament of the Indian subcontinent, colonised by Britain and Portugal (in Goa). Skin also draws attention to the Indian diaspora in the contemporary world, narrating the colonial past, albeit through the memory of her protagonist.

The three other novels, Things Fall Apart (1958), Cry, The Beloved Country (1948) and Petals of Blood (1977)are predominantly set in Africa: the first in Nigeria, describing the Igbo tribe; second is set in South Africa highlighting the issue of apartheid, rural –urban divide, break-up of social order and so on; and, the third is set in Kenya highlighting the issue of neo-colonisation and portrays the social psyche and acts as a critique of the society after colonialism.

The present research is a study of six novels which represent different eras in the history of mankind. The texts selected being novels, have a wide range of themes and characters, thus offering multi-dimensional perception of social and intellectual life of the age described in their respective plots. What happened in India as a result of colonialism, also occurred in Africa, but the severity of occurrences and the manner in which each society faced it makes a difference to their history and their present.

Hence, these six novels will form the primary texts of study for understanding colonialism and its aftermath in the two socio-culturally rich societies of the world, namely, India and Africa.

The six novels help to analyse the following questions: whether colonisation is limited to a society or extends to the nation as a whole? Is it a tendency in individuals or a process that envelops systems and structures? And further, do the novels under study also function as a fictionalized historical document of colonisation of the society that they portray?

1.4. Delimitation i. Only novels have been undertaken as primary texts for this study. ii. Only the writers who have handled colonialism and related issues in their fiction have been shortlisted for study.

1.5. Methodology adopted 1. Minute reading of the texts and making annotations. 2. Compilation of detailed historical context of the regional locale of the text. 3. Mobilizing relevant theoretic approaches for the analysis of a given text. 4. Corroboration of fictional data with historical facts wherever possible. 5. Use of select critical insights to support the argument of the thesis.

Since the study entails colonial societies and texts born of colonial experiences, the concept, types and manifestations of colonialism have been studied at length. The locale is analyzed in the light of the notion of „Sthalapurana‟ and „Sthalamahatmya‟ elucidated in the relevant Chapter.

This study adopts a comparative approach to the texts. The comparative analysis focuses on the use of history as depicted in the novel, colonial intervention in the native life, portrayal of major characters, female experiences, depiction of culture and tradition among other issues.

1.6 Interest in Study The interest in choosing this topic for research has its genesis in the two novels, namely Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and Yug Sanvar by Mahabaleshwar Sail. Both the novels present the breakup of a society, which was not so uncivilized as Macaulay wrote about in his Minutes, but it is a historical fact that these societies were colonised by western powers. The reasons for the colonisation, as seen from these texts, were not only the better equipped weapons of the colonisers or the scientific development of the colonising nations, but also the shortcomings within the indigenous societies that faced the yoke.

This necessitated looking at other instances of fictional writing across the world, depicting colonialism as an important issue. As the above-mentioned novels are set in two different continents, there was an interest to understand whether the impact of

colonisation on two different continents are similar or different. But then, the whole of Africa could not be understood by merely analyzing Things Fall Apart, so two other novels were chosen as primary texts, namely, Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton and Petals of Blood by Ngugi wa Thiongo. This helped include the history of two other African nations, namely, South Africa and Kenya respectively. The study revealed another issue of neo-colonisation and Petals of Blood depicted it. Hence, the interest is colonialism in Africa is studied through three primary novels Things Fall Apart, Cry, The Beloved Country and Petals of Blood.

Yug Sanvar depicts colonialism in Goa, where the socio-political conditions were comparatively different in comparison to those in other parts of the Indian subcontinent under British colonial domination. This prompted in choosing Kanthapura as another primary text since it depicts the colonial times under British India. The third novel chosen as the primary novel has been Margaret Mascarenhas‟ Skin, which offers the quest of an individual for identity across colonial, diasporic and contemporary global circumstances shaped by explorations and exploitations across centuries.

Interestingly, the western exploration and exploitation has a long history starting from the early sixteenth to the mid-twentieth century. It is a long time span in the history of mankind across the world. The communities, both colonised and colonisers which went through these processes have undergone innumerable and irreversible changes. The changes have been named and explained through nations such as hybridization, mimicry, Manichean allegory, thingification, animalization, and the like.

The study is objective as well as subjective, because, as a young nation freed from the colonial shackles, the analysis is an attempt by a product of colonial history to understand what the colonised and the colonisers lost and/ or gained in the whole endeavour. It is also of interest to understand whether colonisation is or will be attempted again in the age of globalization and liberalization, in another form and perhaps with some other name.

1.7 Primary texts As mentioned earlier, altogether six well-known writers have been shortlisted for this study. Three of them have written of colonial times in the context of India (both 15

British India and Portuguese Goa); the other three represent three distinct countries of the African continent, namely, Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya. Of these, only one, that is, Margaret Mascarenhas is a woman writer. Interestingly, her novel is more of her protagonist‟s individual quest for roots and identity rather than a comment on the colonial experience per se. The writers chosen for this study and their works are discussed below.

1.7.1 Raja Rao’s Kanthapura(1938) Raja Rao was born in South India in 1909. He went to Aligarh for higher education and further went to France to study French language and literature on a government scholarship. He completed his Doctorate degree at University of Sorbonne under the guidance of Prof. Cazamian.

The literary output of Raja Rao, apart from literary and critical essays includes: Kanthapura (1938) which he wrote while in France, The Cow of the Barricades and Other Stories(1947), a collection of nine stories written between 1933-1944; The Serpent and the Rope (1960) also referred to as a spiritual autobiography; The Cat and the Shakespeare (1965) which Rao describes as a “Philosophical Comedy”; and The Policeman and the Rose and Other Stories (1978), a collection of short stories. His writing presents his philosophical and spiritual concerns, in the context of his times.

Rao‟s Kanthapura (1938) is one of the famous novels in the Indian history written during the early days of national independence. In fact, Kanthapura brings out the Indian life in transition. The Gandhian idea which instilled moral courage among masses of India is symbolized through the actions and thoughts of the protagonist named Moorthy. The novel presents the pre-independent rural Indian social structure with all its social ills of caste, religion and other discrimination. The Gandhian thought brings about change thereby, giving rise to the “village Gandhi” in the form of Moorthy.

Raja Rao‟s Kanthapura also features the Gandhian ideals and the leadership qualities of the freedom fighter who believed in non-violence as the weapon against colonial forces. As Mahatma Gandhi was for India, so is the protagonist of the novel Moorthy

to the villagers of Kanthapura. In fact, the fictional village of Kanthapura is India in a microcosm.

The other contemporary Indian authors, with whom Raja Rao‟s work has been compared, are his notable contemporaries Mulk Raj Anand and R. K. Narayan. M. K. Naik (2006) observes of them:

[T]he most significant event in the history of Indian English fiction in the nineteen thirties was the appearance on the scene of its major trio: Mulk Raj Anand, R. K. Narayan and Raja Rao, whose first novels were published in 1935, 1935 and 1938 respectively; and it is a mark of their stature that they revealed, each in his own characteristic way, the various possibilities of Indian English fiction. (154-155)

1.7.2 Mahabaleshwar Sail’s Yug Sanvar (2004) Mahabaleshwar Sail is a well-known name in Konkani literature and due to the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award he won in 1993, is known across India as a major fiction writer and novelist. He was born in Majali, Karwar District in Karnataka and began his career as an army-man at the age of 17 and served in the Indian Army. He participated in the 1965 Indo-Pak war and later joined the Indian Postal Service. His literary career includes more than 13 books in the form of novels, short stories, and novelettes. The important ones among them include Paltadecho Tarun (1989), Tarangam(1991), Aranyakand and Adrusht(1997), Kali Ganga (1998), Kalbhonvro, Yug Sanvar (2004), Havthan (2009), Nimano Ashwathama (2009), Dishtavo, Tandav and Srijan Urja (2012).

Two of his works, namely Kali Ganga (2003) and Kiln (2011) have been rendered into English translation by Vidya Pai and have been published respectively by National Book Trust, India and Vishwa Konkani Bhas ani Sanskruti Pratishthan, Mangalore and they have been well-received by the readers. The speciality of his work is the importance given to the folk traditions, the native culture and problems of the simple rural farmers of the Konkan region including Goa.

Yug Sanvar deals with life in Adolshi village, home to a peaceful agricultural community that lives in accordance with age-old traditions, when the Portuguese

arrive in Goa in 1510. The novel describes the effect of Holy Inquisition(1560-1812) imposed in Goa by the Portuguese colonisers for more than two and a half centuries. This forcible religious conversion brought in innumerable socio-cultural changes, especially for the erstwhile native populace. The protagonist of the novel, Padre Simao- a Vatican educated priest- who ironically undergoes hardships at the hands of Holy Inquisition, for his supposed blasphemous remarks. The novel portrays on one hand the sufferings of the natives, while on the other hand, the moral corruption which may enter an institution like religion, if supported with unlimited power.

1.7.3 Margaret Mascarenhas’ Skin (2001) Margaret Mascarenhas is a product of the Goan diaspora, but an apparently global citizen. She is of Goan origin but a citizen of America, who grew up in Venezuela. She is a novelist, independent curator, consulting editor and a columnist. She wrote two novels, namely, Skin (2001) and The Disappearence of Irene Dos Santos (2010). The novel Skin has been translated into French and Portuguese. Her poetry and sketch collection Triage-Casualties of Love and Sex was released in 2013.

The novel by Margaret Mascarenhas, namely, Skin strictly adheres to social structure or the layers of feudalism. The characters in the novel stick to their social position and, especially the master-servant relationship. The members of Miranda Flores family are always at the helm of affairs, and Pagan, the female protagonist, is the carrier of the repository of the Angolan Queen Nzinga Nganga. The whole novel looks at two histories. The first is that of the Miranda Flores and second is of the Angolan descendant, captured as slave who later becomes a part of the Miranda Flores family.

The novel also talks of continuation of a certain strain of sensitivity and attachment to the motherland of Esperanca and her ancestors i.e. Angola. Even after centuries, the „umbilical cord‟ or the consciousness about one being different is always felt, especially by the female characters. The plot of Skin is multi-layered, a saga that spans many generations and centuries with the story moving from America to Africa to Goa and Daman. The whole novel is about the journey that Pagan undertakes – physical, emotional and spiritual – in tracing her roots and reconciling with the past.

1.7.4 Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart (1958) Albert Chinualumogu Achebe was born in Nigeria in 1930. During his college education, he encountered Joyce Cary‟s much praised novel Mister Johnson (1939) which presented Africa through a racist-colonialist approach. This prompted Achebe to write his first novel Things Fall Apart (1958). This novel is identified as a path- breaking novel, with more than eight million copies sold worldwide.

Through his novels, Achebe presents two cultural settings: one is the pre-colonial one, while the other is dense with neo-colonisation and the process of decolonisation. His novels Things Fall Apart (1958) and Arrow of God(1964) represent the first category, while No Longer at Ease (1960), A Man Of The People (1966) and Anthills of Savannah (1987) represent the second. Chinua Achebe has been quite vocal about his political view and has lashed out at the biases of colonial and neo-colonial perspectives though his critical works and interviews. Achebe has written five novels, short stories, poems, a collection of four children‟s books and non-fictional work, which includes critical essays and political commentary.

Chinua Achebe‟s Things Fall Apart was published in 1958. On the one hand, it presented the world readership with the immense literary potential of Africa, and on the other hand, inspired Africans towards writing. The novel is about the protagonist Okonkwo, belonging to the Igbo tribe. The beauty of the novel lies in its recapturing of the rich social life of pre-colonial Africa. The title of the novel is taken from the famous poem „The Second Coming‟ (1919) by W. B. Yeats, and the author laments the indifference of the colonisers as well as the internal weaknesses within the Igbo community, which have led to the disintegration of a well-knit society. The novel is a befitting reply to those prejudicial critics who believed that Africa is the land of the blacks who are barbaric and lacking in human values.

It is to the credit of the author that Things Fall Apart has been critiqued by a wide range of scholars ranging from Killam (1969), Peters (1978), Wren (1980), Okoye (1987), Gikandi (1991), Rhoads (1993), Mackenzie (1996), Begam (1997), Nnoromele (2000) and others.

1.7.5 Alan Paton’s Cry, the Beloved Country (1948) Paton was born in Pietermaritzburg, Natal Province in 1903. He served as the principal of Diepkloof Reformatory for young (African Black) offenders from 1935 to 1949, where he introduced controversial progressive reforms, including policies on open dormitories, work permits, and home visitation. During his time in Norway, he began work on his seminal novel Cry, The Beloved Country (1948), which he completed over the course of his journey. In 1948, four months after the publication of Cry, The Beloved Country, the separatist National Party came to power in South Africa.

In 1953 Paton founded the Liberal Party of South Africa, which fought against the apartheid legislation introduced by the National Party. Paton's second and third novels, Too Late the Phalarope (1953) and Ah, but Your Land is Beautiful (1981), and his short stories, Tales From a Troubled Land (1961), all deal with the same racial themes that concerned the author in his first novel. Ah, but Your Land is Beautiful was built on parallel life stories, letters, speeches, news and records in legal proceedings, and mixed fictional and real-life characters. Paton was also a prolific essay writer on race and politics in South Africa. In Save the Beloved Country (1989) he discusses many of the famous personalities of South Africa's apartheid struggle. His Anglican faith prompted him to write Instrument of Thy Peace (1968). Paton also wrote two autobiographies: Towards the Mountain(1980) which deals with Paton's life leading up to the publication of Cry, the Beloved Country, while Journey Continued (1988) takes its departure from that time onwards .

Cry, the Beloved Country was first published in New York City in 1948 just prior to South Africa being ushered into the phase of Aparthied. Cry, the Beloved Country chronicles the search of a father for his son. The protagonist is Stephen Kumalo, a black Anglican priest from a rural area of Ndotsheni, who is searching for his son Absalom in the city of Johannesburg. Paton combined actual locales, the historical events and occurrences, the political turmoil and the social divide between the Blacks and the Whites throughout this novel. The novel contains Biblical references and allusions that enhance its creative worth.

The novel looks at the massive social inequalities where Black South Africans are allowed to own only limited area of land while the Europeans own the most of it. As a result, the soil of Ndotsheni, for example, is exhausted by over-planting and over- grazing. This in turn results in most young people leaving the villages to seek work in the cities. The novel presents problems on the one hand but on the other, it also suggests solutions through the characters of Arthur Jarvis, Msimangu and others.

1.7.6 Ngugi Wa Thiongo’s Petals of Blood (1977) Ngugi Wa Thiongo is well-known as a novelist, playwright, essayist, journalist, film maker, political thinker and an academician. Ngugi writes in the preface to Secret Lives (1975), “[M]y writing is really an attempt to understand myself and my situation in society and history”(1).

The works of Thiongo bring out the consequences of the colonial cultural depreciation, the neo-colonial economic exploitation and the disillusionment among masses in the post-independence era. His literary output includes the novels Weep Not Child (1964), The River Between (1965), A Grain Of Wheat (1967) and Petals of Blood (1977); collection of plays This time Tommorrow (1970); collection of essays Homecoming (1972); short stories Secret Lives (1975), polemical essays Writers in Politics (1981) and Barrel of the Pen (1983).

Thiongo‟s most influential work has been Decolonising the Mind-The Politics of Language in African Literature (1986). It focuses on the problem of linguistic and cultural displacement along with the issue of mental colonisation. Ngugi co-authored a play The Trial of Dedan Kimathi (1976) based on the captured Mau Mau guerilla leader Dedan Kimathi. His significant auto-narrative is Detained-A Prison Writer’s Diary (1981).

He switched from English to his mother tongue Gikuyu, so that his works may be read and appreciated by the Kenyan peasantry. The first novel in Gikuyu while in prision was Caitaani Mutharab-ini (Devil on the Cross) published in 1980. The second novel in Gikuyu was Matigeri (1987). As the Professor of Comparative Literature at New York University, he published a collection of his essays Moving The Centre: The Struggle For Cultural Freedom (1993). In 1998, Ngugi published a

collection of his lectures in Penpoints, Gunpoints and Dreams. Towards a Critical Theory of the Arts and the State in Africa (1998).

His writings focus on the process of cultural and linguistic colonisation in the third- world countries by the neo-colonial forces and International Capital working within the system to destabilize the cultural and social homogeneity of a community. Moreover, his writing is a sharp critique against such hegemonic forces.

Ngugi Wa Thiongo‟s novel Petals of Blood (1977) focuses on the bond that an individual has with his/her native land and its surrounding, the history or the past, and the issue of the present including the question of livelihood. In his view, the past, present and the future are always present in any context, hence any change is always cyclical in nature.

Petals of Blood encompasses the historical past of the African nations right from the early stage of the evolution of the native society to the shifts in predicaments which lead to colonisation, the subsequent war of independence followed by the liberation from the foreign rule. But, ironically the result was of neo-colonisation and/or internal colonisation, whereby the system remained the same, although the people changed. The struggle for independence was fought to reclaim the identity and the land. However, colonial encounter bred the seeds of urban-rural divide, systematically broke the traditional systems, the religion of the colonisers was imposed on the natives and the worst was the creation of „hybrids‟ who could carry on the legacy of the colonisers even after their departure.

1.8 Historical context(s) of study The novels Things Fall Apart, Cry, the Beloved Country and Petals of Blood represent the colonialism in the African continent. The first novel shows the beginning of this process, while the second reveals the society after the process of colonialism is complete, and, the third unfolds the post-colonial issue of neo-colonisation. Similarly, Yug Sanvar, Kanthapura and Skin are based on the colonial experiences of the Indian subcontinent. The first novel, Yug Sanvar, shows an Indian village on the west coast, attacked, and forcibly converted to another religion and plundered by a foreign power at the beginning of the sixteenth century. This is when colonialism has entered the land for the first time. The second novel Kanthapura, shows the reaction 22

of the native populace to the colonisers and portrays the spirit of independence and process of the decolonisation, using non-violent means. The third novel Skin looks at the issue of the history of the colonised as a secondary aspect in its narration.

To get a better grasp of all this, the historical context in brief has been delineated. The history is discussed here with special reference to the colonial activity the communities went through and the fictionalization of history in the select works. The novels Yug Sanvar and Skin refer to the Goan history, Kanthapura to the Indian history, Things Fall Apart to the Nigerian, Cry, the Beloved Country to the South African while Petals Of Blood refers to the Kenyan history. A short description of the historical context of each work will assist in understanding the society which moulded the authors who fictionalized history and historicized fiction. History inculcates belongingness of the people to the land and its glorious past, but if distorted, history itself can be detrimental to the overall development of the society.

The history of Goa, India or the African nations has witnessed innumerable visitors from across the world, who primarily reached the respective destination or the (sub) continent with these common aims, namely, a. sole motive of establishing trade and commercial relations. b. exiles seeking asylum, the refugees fleeing oppressions of different kinds. These people are known to live peacefully and cordially with the native population. c. the conquerors and oppressors under the pretext of being the torch bearers of knowledge and culture.

1.8.1 Yug Sanvar, Skin and the History of Goa Yug Sanvar(2004), a novel in Konkani, is a fictionalized version of what a certain part of Goan society went through immediately after the Portuguese conquest of a part of Goa and religious conversion with the implementation of the Holy Inquisition.

The novel weaves a fabric of incidents and facts that bring to mind historical details, such as the order passed in 1546 to exile Brahmins, ban Hindu religious practices and destroy idolatry in Goa, forcing entire communities to uproot themselves and move away in a bid to save their religion and their gods. Temples were razed and churches built on those sites. Those who remained behind were forced to convert to 23

Christianity, but they often persisted with their old traditions and culture. The Order of the Inquisition (1560 -1812) unleashed ruthless, inhuman punishments on the new Christian converts in a bid to retain them within the folds of the Church. This caused a major upheaval in the socio-cultural history of Goa.

Skin(2001) narrates the story of the Goan upper caste Christian community beginning with the Portuguese conquest to the post-independent Goa. While narrating the story, the author weaves the web of African lifestyle, slavery, independence and how the human lives were changed from an independent being to slavery. However, history becomes just a tool to assist the reader to look at the events. The fiction superimposes itself on history, making it less objective and less relevant. It is necessary to understand the history of Goa within the context of the two novels. This facilitates in understanding the importance of the place, both historically and geographically, along with the consequences of colonial experiences.

Goa has been generally looked upon as either as the “Rome of the East” or “Konkan Kashi”. The first is because of the Portuguese colonisation of Goa, and the spread of Christianity under that regime. The second is due to the socio-cultural and mythological relevance. In both the cases, the religious relevance of the place is established. In the Medieval period, i.e. from 1st to 15th century A. D. Goa was ruled, either fully or part of it by Indo Parthians, Abhiras, Bhojas, Chalukyas of Badami, Rashtrakutas of Malkhed, Kadambas, Yadavas of Devgiri, the Vijaynagar Empire and the Bahamani Sultanate. The rule of Kadambas from 1006 A. D. to 1356 A. D. is considered an important era in the development of the state. The Dynasties ruled the land through traditional ways of organization, by controlling the villages through the allegiance they held with the rulers.

The port of Gopakapattana had trade contacts as far as Zanzibar (Zaguva), Bengal (Gauda), Gujarat (Gujrana) and Sri Lanka (Sinhala). Thus, this place was where several cultures culminated. Delio De Mendonca (2002) claims that the city of Goa was a cosmopolitan place filled with people of different religions, nationalities and ethnic groups. In this regard, he observes that “[t]he presence of so many foreigners in the city made it look like the Rua Nova in Lisbon” (71). Thus the importance of Goa attracted innumerable merchants and other seekers across the globe.

The history of Goa had glorious moments and held an important place on the trade map of the sub-continent, well before Vasco-da-Gama navigated to India in 1497, breaking the Arab monopoly on spice trade, and within a short span of 13 years, by 1510, Alfonso de Albuquerque had conquered Goa from Ismail Adil Shah.

However the conditions of the native populace seems to have drastically deteriorated, so much so the native Hindus were denied even their basic right of public worship. The Muslims too were sent into banishment. In this regard, Ivar Fjeld (2014) quotes Jose Nicolou Da Fonseca in “An historical and archeological sketch of the city of Goa” where Fonseca writes:

The population (of Goa) was composed of men of different races and creeds. There were, according to Linshchoten, merchants from Xirabia, Armenia, Persia, Cambay, Bengal, Pegu, Siam, Malacca, Java, the Moluccas, Chma, and various other Eastern countries. There were Venetians, Italians, Germans, Flemings, Castilians and Englishmen, but scarcely any Frenchmen. There was at this time a considerable number of Musalmans, though in the first few years of the Portuguese rule they had been almost banished from the city. There were also Jews, who had their own synagogues and their own mode of worship, but the Hindus were not allowed the public exercise of their religion. (qtd in Fjeld 16)

Although historically Goa was an important place ruled by various dynasties prior to Portuguese, much of contemporary historical fiction writing surrounds the Portuguese rule in Goa. The reasons for this are: i. The present era is the immediate one after the Portuguese rule of Goa. Hence the memories are fresh. ii. The earlier dynasties in Goa were comparatively less interfering in local governance and religious practices of the native populace in comparison to the Portuguese colonisers. iii. The earlier rulers did not practice what Jan Mohammad calls the Manichean Ideology so strongly as the Portuguese did, whereby they considered themselves superior to the native population.

Goa was liberated from the Portuguese colonial rule by the Indian Armed Forces through „Operation Vijay‟ launched on 16th December 1961. On 19th December 1961

Goa was officially declared independent and an integral part of India. Thus, Goa had to wait for fourteen years after India was independent to attain its own freedom from colonial rule. On the basis of the above discussion, it is possible to infer to what extent the two primary texts, Yug Sanvar and Skin, provide an objective and analytic depiction of the society in colonised Goa.

1.8.2 Things fall Apart and History of Nigeria The history of Nigeria dates back to at least 11,000 B.C. Three civilizations settled in Nigeria, namely, Nri Kingdom, Housa States and Songhai Empire. With the Housa States, Islam entered Nigeria in 11 A.D. The British occupation with the region began as late as 1885.

The Igbo culture, which is the fulcrum of the novel Things Fall Apart(1958) developed with the Nri Kingdom. The decline of Nri Kingdom in 1400-1600 A.D. lead to its break up which created powerful but smaller states. Igbo gods were numerous and their inter-relationship was based on equality, reflecting the inner spirit of the Igbo society as a whole. A number of oracles and local cults attracted devotees while the central deity, the earth mother and fertility figure Ala, was venerated at shrines throughout Igboland.

The popular theory that Igbos were stateless is historically incorrect. There is a huge gap between the archaeological finds of Igbo Ukwu, which reveal a rich material culture in the heart of the Igbo region in the 8th century, and the oral traditions of the 20th century. Following the Napoleonic wars, the British expanded trade with the Nigeria. In 1885, British claims to West Africa received international recognition. In 1900, the Royal Niger Company (as the chartered company was known) and its possessions came under the control of the British Government, which moved to consolidate its hold over the area of modern Nigeria. On 1 January 1901, Nigeria became a British protectorate, a part of the British Empire, the foremost world power at the time. Later, in 1960 Nigeria attained independence from the colonial rule.

The European missionaries, who accompanied the colonisers, visited Africa for the sole reason of converting the natives to Christianity. They usually belonged to Portugal, France, Britain or Germany. But, they actively and passively assisted in

the process of colonisation of Africans, and many a times, these conversions according to „Global Black History‟(2012) appeared to be like “[…]European Capitalist conversion”(n.p.). The preaching by Missionaries resulted in converted Africans rebelling against the traditional African family values and society.

Again, there was a belief among new European missionaries that Africans were lazy people and the native land was not adequately used, hence, they believed that the Europeans should use it. Some developed acquaintances with local tribes and used this for the purpose of strengthening colonialism. Whenever the tribe leaders approached the missionaries for advice, most of the time the missionaries deceived them.

1.8.3 Kanthapura and the Indian history It is pertinent to understand here the history of Indian freedom struggle, the social and caste based structure of the society and in this whole gamut, the place accorded to the Gandhian ideology. In fact, Kanthapura lists down the happenings in the country during the first half of the twentieth century. Hence, the fiction is imbued with historical facts and happenings.

India was under the British colonial rule for around one hundred and sixty years. The British who came as merchants through East India Company (1612–1757) slowly took over the weaker and unstable parts of the Indian territory, ultimately occupying the major part of the Indian subcontinent. The British used two major ways for territorial expansion, which included conquest and annexation.

Usually the colonies are divided into four types, namely Settler Colonies, Dependencies, Plantation Colonies and Trading Posts. The British Raj in India was an example of dependency. In such colonies, the colonisers did not settle in the colonies, but administered the native population by use of force or other means, like social division, religious conversion, etc. This was administered where the native population was in large numbers and a system of administration was possible.

The colonisers had a major task of running the country, thus the policies were framed in such a way so as to create a schism in the society. The government policies in various fields namely education, economy, political, were implemented with a view to 27

facilitate the British. The implementation of policies in India under the British Crown further strengthened their hold after the 1857 war, as there was less resistance to the British Imperialism. The largest national organization against British Imperialism was the Indian National Congress founded in 1885. But in 1895, the Congress was divided into two factions, that is, the Moderates led by Ranade and Gokhale and the Extremists led by Tilak and others. Although both wanted freedom, the means and the priorities differed.

The nineteenth century also saw the political resistance against the colonisers and social reforms aimed at uprooting social ills like superstition, illiteracy and orthodoxy, then rampant in the society. Enlightened social reformers and teachers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo, Rabindranath Tagore were the luminaries who lead the country to the Indian Renaissance in the late 19th century.

With Gandhi‟s arrival on the national scene, the momentum and the forcefulness for attaining freedom increased. He added a new life and vitality to the freedom movement. On the political front, there was a sense of mass-consciousness and a great mass-awakening was taking place among the countrymen. The countrywide agitations included Non-co-operation Movement, Civil Disobedience Movement, Dandi March or the Salt Satyagraha, the historic Quit India Movement, almost all under the able leadership of Gandhi.

During this era of post First-World War, Gandhi‟s philosophy of truth and non- violence as also his principles of satyagraha, swadeshi, and self-reliance shook the foundations of the British Empire, thus shaking the coloniser‟s domination in the entire sub-continent. His influence was strongly felt across the country between 1920 to 1948 and every walk of life was touched by his views. Hence, the age is also termed as the Gandhian era or the “heroic age”.

As M. K. Naik (2006), puts it,

[…]the Gandhian whirlwind began to sweep over the length and the breath of the land, upsetting all established political strategies and ushering in refreshingly new ideas and methods which shook Indian life in several spheres to the core. (114)

This inspiring change in the political ferment of the age equally inspired the fiction writers of the times.

Two major outlooks may be observed in the fiction written about Mahatma Gandhi. The first is from the group of writers, who being Gandhi‟s contemporaries, saw and experienced the “Gandhian whirlwind.” They wrote fiction where either Gandhian ideology, Gandhi in person as a character or a character inspired by Gandhi was introduced in their narrative. Raja Rao‟s Kanthapura (1938), Mulk Raj Anand‟s Untouchable (1935) and R. K. Narayan‟s Waiting for the Mahatma (1955) are a few examples of this phenomenon.

The second group of writers writing in 1960s and 1970s, brought in the Gandhian ideology in their works. In post-Independence era, the nation building was a difficult enterprise and the writers were confounded by the moral degradation starkly visible in almost every walk of Indian social and political life. This made the writers to look back to the days of Gandhi and his views, which valued morality the most.

India attained Independence on 15th August 1947 from the colonial rule. The nation, unlike the African countries, became a democratic republic.

1.8.4 Cry, the Beloved Country and the South African history The history of South Africa may be divided into four periods namely pre-colonial; the colonial period; the post-colonial and apartheid era; and the post-apartheid era. With reference to the study of the novel, it would be necessary to concentrate on the colonial and apartheid era.

The first European to sail to the Cape of Good Hope was Bartholomew Dias in 1488. However, later, it was the Dutch East India Company, which established a permanent settlement. This base camp assisted the ships by providing shelter and necessary supplies of food items and other necessities to the voyagers. But the company had difficulty because the indigenous Khoikhoi were not agricultural farmers, hence trading in necessary goods was not possible. Solution was seen in importing Dutch farmers who could settle there, grow the required produce and help the sailing ships. Initially, they were the men from Netherlands belonging to Calvinist Reformed Church, although others also joined them.

By the end of the 18th century, the British had emerged as a major colonising and mercantile power. With the increasing influence of British, the Dutch speaking inhabitants or the Afrikaners, also referred to as Boers of the Cape Colony decided to migrate inwards. This migration is also referred to as the Great Trek. Three issues were important to the people who joined the Great Trek, the first was the religion, the second was the love of the Dutch language and the third was the law implemented by the British banning slavery. To the Boers, religion was very important, and interference in the matters of belief was unacceptable; the change over from Dutch to English language was again not acceptable to them; and the third reason was the law banning slavery implemented by British on 1st December 1838 through the Emancipation Day. As Boers managed their work through slaves, the emancipation of slaves was objectionable to them.

The scarcity of labourers due to emancipation of slaves resulted in British bringing the Indians as labourers to South Africa. Another important dimension in the history of South Africa was the discovery of deposits of diamond, gold and other precious metals. This had a very drastic change in the socio-economic status of the community from an agricultural economy to a mining-based economy, which led to urbanisation. By the end of nineteenth century, the mines at Kimberly were producing ninety percent of the world‟s diamonds, and mining being a labour-intensive industry, it attracted not only labourers but professionals and fortune-seekers from across the world.

The conditions between the Boers and the British were not always conducive, as they went to war against each other on two occasions. These are referred to as Anglo-Boer Wars. Ultimately, the British took control of the whole of South Africa. Britain attempted at unifying the four colonies namely Cape Colony, Natal, Transvaal and Orange Free State into the Union of South Africa through South Africa Act 1909. It was on 31st May 1910 when Africa became the Union of South Africa. In 1913, the Natives Land Act allocated only eight percent of the available land to black occupancy, while the twenty percent white population held ninety percent of the land.

The legalization of discrimination and Apartheid may be seen taking its shape here. The roots of the apartheid are seen through the 1920s to 1940s, when the Afrikaners

began to believe themselves as the chosen people to rule the land of South Africa. This resulted in establishing their own cultural organisations and secret societies. Thus, the interest of Afrikaners in accomplishing socio-political power became important in comparison to that of the English or the indigenous communities. The impact of the world wars, the antipathy towards the English-speaking mine magnates and the fear of Black competition for jobs led to the Nationalist Party winning elections in 1949 on the platform of apartheid.

Cry, the Beloved Country presents the social conditions during this era of turbulence and transition. The Nationalist Party, which constituted of Afrikaners shaped the government policies in favour of Whites in general and Afrikaners in particular, thus denying the Africans, Asians or colourreds their rights as citizens or participation in the political process. Apartheid as a rule was implemented from 1948 and continued till 1991.

1.8.5 Petals of Blood and the Kenyan history The history of Kenya may be divided into three parts, namely the pre-colonial, the colonial and the post-colonial.

During the pre-colonial period, Kenya had more than forty ethnic groups under three clusters, namely the Cushites, the Nilites and the Bantu. The Cushites, supposed to be the first group to settle in Kenya, were basically involved in hunting and gathering. The Nilites originated in the Nile valley and adopted farming and fishing. The third was the largest group that is the Bantu whose occupation was farming and cattle rearing. There has been interaction between the groups through trade, association, assimilation, absorption and even through ethnic conflict.

Kenya was colonised in 1895, although initially it was maintained as a protectorate, before officially becoming a British colony in 1920. It attained its independence in 1963. The colonial phase began with Britain‟s encroachment of Kenya for commercial and political reasons. Fertile Kenyan highlands were seen as an attraction for European settlement. The availability of raw materials, the rat-race amongst European nations for colonisation and market for finished goods provided impetus for colonisation. Another reason was the strategic location of Kenya, which was the source of river Nile. Colonising Kenya would result in controlling the lifeline of 31

Egypt, which would in turn help controlling the Suez Canal, which was opened in 1869.

The result of colonisation led to land alienation, that is alienating African land from indigenous users like Kikuyu, Masaai and Nandi, who lost their land to European settlers. This resulted in a strong settler population and equally strong settler economy. The railway was constructed linking Kenya and Uganda and it passed through Kenya‟s arable areas with economic potential, resulting in exploration of the hinterlands and exploitation of men and resources. Taxes were levied by the colonial government, which included hut and poll tax. It was a major source of revenue. Every person above eighteen paid hut tax, while above sixteen paid poll tax.

The acquisition of labour for settlers and colonial administration was done through either forced labour or wage labour. The colonisation consisted of continuous conquest of African groups. Strict punitive actions were initiated against opponents to colonialism. The resistance to colonialism was at the level of ethnic groups. Some groups, arrested initially, were subdued and later collaborated with the colonisers.

Among the resistance to the colonialism included the Mau-Mau rebellion by the Kikuyu ethnic group. Their armed resistance in 1950 contributed extensively to the Kenya attaining independence in 1963. The Mau-Mau Uprising or Revolt or the freedom struggle was a military rebellion fought from 1952 to 1960. The capture of the rebel leader Dedan Kimathi on 21 October, 1956 signalled their defeat. Mau-Mau failed to capture widespread support due to the British policy of „divide and rule‟.

Apart from the armed struggle, there was the Constitutional Movement of talks between Kenyan nationalist leaders such as Toni Mboya, Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi, Ronald Ngala among others and the colonisers, which ultimately lead to Kenya‟s independence. Jomo Kenyatta ruled from 1963 to 1978, while Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi ruled from 1978 to 2002.

It is necessary to understand the issue of post-independent Kenya, as the novel Petals of Blood (1977) looks at the nation facing the problems of neo-colonialism in the post-colonial era.

The post-independence period saw inability of the nation in breaking the shackles of colonisation. It is still tied to the British and western world for its economic and other needs, thereby facing a growing neo-colonialism. The country still continues the centralized system of government inherited from the colonisers, thus resulting in emergence of „personalized rule‟ of powerful Presidents whose powers were above the law. Willfried Feuser (1984) describes this condition as Messianism of early leadership, which turned into Caeserism (52).

The country which has been referred to as the cradle of mankind, based on archeological evidence from the excavations at Koobi Fora in Northern Kenya, is today facing grave problems of neo-colonialism, viz. poverty, unequal distribution of the wealth and faulty systems of development.

1.9 Role of Religion in India and Africa In the whole gamut of colonial encounter, religion and religious conversion play a major role in influencing the indigenous population either for or against the colonisers. Kiran Budkuley considers religion as the, “[I]nstitutionalizing the seats of power or authority that govern the form and modes of belief and authenticate the content of belief. This is religion and around it is built a congregation”(n.p.).

The novels comment either directly or indirectly on the effects of religious conversion on the indigenous population. Thus the role of religion in the Indian context, the issue of Inquisition in the European nations and Goa and the understanding of African religious consciousness are discussed below.

The pre-colonial societies in India and Africa considered religion as an integral part of living. S. Radhakrishnan (1956) describes the aim of religion as “the universality and development of fellowship among the citizens of the world” (120). It is an inspiration to grow into the “likeness of the Divine” (120). It is to help us to live from the depths of spirit. Meditation and worship are the means by which mind, temper and attitude to life are refined (Radhakrishnan 120).

1.9.1 Religion in India By „Indian religions‟ one would mean religious practices that were founded in the Indian subcontinent, also referred to as „Dharmic religions‟. „Dharma’ refers to

specific duties one is expected to perform in one‟s lifetime. The word Dharma comes from the root „Dhru‟ which in Sanskrit means „to possess, to uphold, to sustain and to nourish‟. Dharma is, According to Radhakrishnan (1956), “[…] the norm which sustains the universe, the principle of a thing in virtue of which it is what it is” (107). It also includes religious rites, performance of duties, desirable object defined by a direction, that from which happiness and beatitude result (107). Although, according to Mahadevshastri Joshi (2009), the meaning of „Dharma‟ has changed from time to time since „Rigveda‟ to the „Manusmruti‟ to the present day texts (558 ).

The religion in the Indian context, from the point of view of the novels chosen for study, is the Hindu religion which was divided into different „Panths‟ or sects and philosophies. The present Hinduism is the religion which has been a way of life or Dharma in which followers believed unquestionably, sharing common concepts like Pooja, Karma, Caste, Reincarnation, Mantra, Yantra, Darshana, along with common religious texts such as the Veda, the Upanishada and the Puranas. In the Goan context, the native communities residing in Goa during pre-Portuguese era were Hindus. These communities then, although fragmented into cults, were integral part of Hinduism.

During the Portuguese era, all the non-Christians were referred to as „Ifiel‟, a derogatory word meaning „infidel‟. However, historians like P. P. Shirodkar and Laxmikant Vynakatesh Prabhu Bhembre have stressed the use of the word „Hindu‟ to denote the indigenous Goan population. The temples that were demolished by Christian missionaries during Portuguese colonisation were Hindu. The Hindu community certainly remembers these actions of some religious fanatics in the colonial history of Goa with displeasure, if not pain.

Thus, when Mahabaleshwar Sail‟s Yug Sanvar(2004) talks of the people of Adolshi, it means that they were Hindus. Similarly, Margaret Mascarenhas in Skin presents the Kamat family, the Hindus who converted to Christianity during colonisation. This calls for a brief discussion of religious conversion vis-a-vis Goa.

1.9.1.1 Religious Conversion in Goa A multi-religious population resided in Goa prior to Colonisation, although the majority were Hindus. According to Fr. Cosme Jose Costa (2012), there were 34

Synagogues, Mosques, Cross and Temples. Whether there were Christians prior to Portuguese invasion, who left the place to move further south of India, is a question of discussion and debate (122). The religious conversion in the sixteenth century Goa was done using modes like violence, appeasement and other unethical methods. Two institutions which assisted in this endeavour included the „Holy Inquisition‟ and „The Provincial Councils‟.

Thus, it becomes necessary to understand the institution of Inquisition, its style of working, its implementations in the past and other relevant information about it.

1.9.1.2 Inquisition The general meaning of the word 'Inquisition' would mean „thorough investigation', but in the present context A. K. Priolkar (2008) describes it as “[...] an ecclesiastical tribunal for the suppression of heresy and punishments of heretics”(1). It is officially styled "The Holy Office". Although the first case of Inquisition is sometimes referred to as the condemnation of Adam and Eve. The sentence of Adam was the type of the inquisitorial reconciliation (Priolkar 1).

The novel Yug Sanvar is about the violent conditions the society faced during the Inquisition in Goa. Unlike in Things Fall Apart, this novel primarily looks at the Hindu religion and its practices, which could not stand against the onslaught of religious oppression committed with the connivance of the state in the name of Christianity.

Vinay Dharwadker (2002) writes,

[…] Christianization in British India was less extensive than in Portuguese India, since Portuguese State- and Church- policies were much more coercive throughout- including, as they did, the introduction of the Inquisition to Goa in 1560 and its application to Goan Catholics as late as 1812. (108)

The issue of Inquisition can be understood through the manner of its implementation in other contexts namely Spain and Portugal, before its implementation in Goa.

1.9.1.3 An earlier example: the Spanish Inquisition In order to understand the process of Inquisition, in Goa, it is necessary to take a close look at its working and the manner in which it was implemented in Spain. Later, however, it became a part of the Portuguese religious policy also.

A. K. Priolkar (2008) delves in detail into the issue of Inquisition in Spain. It is necessary to understand the issue as it happened in Spain against the Jews, who were forcibly converted to Christianity, as it was the only way left to save their life and property. New converts, though Christians, maintained their loyalty to the old faith and practiced rites secretly. The Curate of Los Palacios at Andalusia put the condition thus: [T]his accused race were either unwilling to bring their children to be baptized, or if they did, they washed away the stain on returning home. They dressed their stews and other dishes with oil instead of lard; abstained from pork, kept the passover; ate meat in Lent; and sent oil to replenish the lamps of their synagogues, with many abominable ceremonies of their religion. (Priolkar 5)

In the Spanish context, it was the Dominican Order, which pressed for the Inquisition. In Spain, after the consent of the king then, the work of the Inquisition began in January 2, 1481.

Within four days of its establishment, the first Auto da Fe' took place, during which four persons were burned to death. In the same year, 300 persons were condemned to be burnt at Seville and 80 to imprisonment for life. In other parts of the province, another 2000 persons were condemned to death, and 17,000 were given diverse penalties.

Thomas de Torquemada was appointed as the Inquisitor General of Castile and Aragon, who actually implemented the new constitution of the Inquisition. The new decrees led to banishment of Jews from the kingdom. They were allowed to leave without carrying with them any precious items. Many Jews, trying to escape the Inquisition, migrated to other neighboring countries, and some entered Portugal for asylum. It is believed that during the regime of Torquemada, 8,800 New Christian converts were condemned to be burnt, while 96,504 were given other penalties by Spanish Inquisition ( Priolkar 8). 36

1.9.1.4 The Portuguese Inquisition The fleeing Jews received temporary shelter in Portugal under the rule of King D. Joao II (1481-1495). They were allowed temporary asylum for eight months at a cost, but provided they baptized their children. Under an order from the King, the children between three and ten were snatched away from their parents, and sent to island of St. Thome, which was then being colonised. Among other rules, the synagogues were not permitted to hold real estates as the churches did. The Jews were made to pay extra tax. In case a Jew embraced Christianity, he was entitled to both the paternal as well as maternal property. Such measures were incentives to conversion.

Interestingly, the same type of rules were implemented in Goa during the first few years of Portuguese colonial rule. The Papal Bull for establishment of Inquisition in Portugal was issued on 17th December 1532. The Portuguese Inquisition started functioning in 1541 and in October of that year the first Auto de Fe' took place. In Portugal, activities under Inquisition continued till 1774, before being finally abolished in 1820. Until 1732, it condemned 23000 people to various forms of punishment and 1454 persons were burnt at the stake, although, many more lost their lives during the torture and punishment.

If this was the case in Spain and Portugal, it becomes necessary to understand the issue of Inquisition as it happened in Goa, India, because the novel Yug Sanvar dwells considerably on this issue.

1.9.1.5 Inquisition in Goa in India The first demand of establishing Inquisition in India was intermittently made by St. Francis Xavier as early as in 1545. The first members of the Holy Inquisition sent to Goa were Alex Dias Falcao and Francisco Marquis. Although it was in 1560 that the Inquisition was established, it continued its work till 1812, almost for 260 years. In this context A. K. Priolkar (2008) writes:

The cruelties which in the name of the religion of peace and love this tribunal practiced in Europe, were carried to even greater excesses in India[...] There are many well-known books dealing with the working of the Inquisition in countries like Spain and Portugal, but there exists no comprehensive account of the

Inquisition in Goa, which is known to have surpassed all its counterparts in severity. (28)

Historians have made an attempt to find out the details of Inquisition in Goa, but without the availability of relevant documents, the facts had to be built up through whatever available documents. In this regard, A. K. Priolkar observes, “[...] there is a reason to believe that they (records) were destroyed”(x).

The Novel Yug Sanvar (2004) presents the erstwhile fierce social conditions in Goa and Inquisition, which broke up the society on religious lines. Inquisition sadly presented the darker and harsher side of Christianity which otherwise would present itself as the religion of love and peace.

In Skin (2001), the protagonist Pagan, who is sent to the Convent of the Belgian nuns, is confused when Sister Lourdes says that Christianity is a religion of love, because the facts which Pagan recollects are different. She remembers the Inquisition and the ascetics who live in desert and starve in order to see the divine. Pagan reminisces about the Inquisition thus:

Devout Catholics hated to be reminded of Inquisition. They believe it to be a mistake; the misdemeanor by some overzealous priests, who thought they were doing the right thing at the time, priests who should be forgiven. Forgiven! As though several hundred years of oppression and forced conversion could be so easily erased from the collective memory of the people. And why should be forgiven? Had they asked the people to forgive them? Had they made amends? (Skin 177; Skin-Henceforth all references to this text will be indicated by the abbreviation Sk)

That was around 450 years ago. But, even in the present era, Pagan feels sorry for the Hindu girls who are “covertly coerced into participating in the religious activities of the nuns. These actions make them conflicted within themselves, and inferior if they resisted” (Sk 177). This goes to suggest the presence of missionary zeal, though not the kind of inhuman approach of Inquisition.

1.9.2 The Traditional African Religion Chinua Achebe in Things Fall Apart presents the Igbo society that adheres to the traditional African religion. This means following those traditions and certain beliefs which are „oral‟, including belief in a Supreme Creator, belief in spirits, veneration of ancestors etc. In such religions, the role of the humanity is one of harmonizing nature, with the supernatural and the religious practices being handed down from one generation to another.

In the view of Jacob K. Olupona (2014), the African traditional religion refers to the indigenous religions of the African people. It deals with their cosmology, ritual practices, symbols, arts, society, and so on. Hence, it relates to the native culture and society as they affect the worldview of the African people. The traditional African religions are dynamic and constantly changing and reacting to the shifting influences.

The point of similarity of the traditional African religions and the Indian religious system is the importance accorded to the „lived traditions‟ than the „faith traditions‟. Hence, they are less concerned with doctrines and much more focused on rituals, ceremonies, and lived practices. There is concern for community, peaceful coexistence and within the community, the three important issues, namely, health, wealth, and procreation are central to these religions. That is why they have developed institutions for healing, for commerce, and for the general well-being of their own practitioners and adherents of other religions as well.

Traditionally, the indigenous African religion and the Hindu religion are not prone to conversion like Islam and Christianity. They tend to propagate peaceful coexistence, and they promote good relations with members of other religious traditions that surround them.

Women play a key role in the practice of these traditions, and the internal gender relations and dynamics are very profound. There are many female goddesses along with their male counterparts. There are female priestesses, diviners, and other figures. The traditional approach of indigenous African religions to gender is one of complementarity in which a confluence of male and female forces must operate in harmony.

These religions contain a great deal of wisdom and insight on how human beings can best live within and interact with the surrounding environment. Thus, they have a great deal to offer the world at large. They provide strong linkages between the life of humans and the world of the ancestors. Humans are thus able to maintain constant and symbiotic relations with their ancestors, who are understood to be intimately concerned and involved in their descendants‟ everyday affairs. Unlike other world religions that have written scriptures, oral sources form the core of indigenous African religions. These oral sources are intricately interwoven into arts, political and social structure, and material culture. The oral nature of these traditions allows for a great deal of adaptability and variation within and between indigenous African religions.

However, in the gamut of Indian and African religious traditions, the natural forces or beliefs have been further broken up into compartments, which are controlled through various gods and goddesses.

1.10 Focus of study The present research is a comparative study of six novels which represent different eras in the history of mankind. The selected works are important literary monuments which are also critically significant. Being novels, they are wide-ranging texts. They depict multi-dimensional perception of social and intellectual life. Hence, special emphasis on their historical context is necessary to understand the import of the novels and their thematic focus.

Of the six novels, two novels, i.e. Chinua Achebe‟s Things Fall Apart and Alan Paton‟s Cry, The Beloved Country portray the African society and colonialism. The novels Yug Sanvar by Mahabaleshawar Sail and Kanthapura by Raja Rao depict the issue of colonialism in the context of the Indian subcontinent.

The approach and depiction of incidences and characters in Things Fall Apart and Yug Sanvar seem similar and both portray the native society, with their customs, traditions, practices in toe, along with a fair portrayal of their strengths and weaknesses too. These lands are captured or seized each by an external power, and both the novels function as a critique of this phenomenon.

The other two novels, Kanthapura and Cry, The Beloved Country portray societies which are already colonised. The process of colonisation which began in Things Fall Apart and Yug Sanvar has taken roots in the society and this process has resulted in serious and fast changes in the society. Kanthapura and Cry, the Beloved Country ruminate on the concept of colonialism, why this happened and how colonialism can be done away with. The „diagnosis‟ of the problem and possible „prescribing‟ of solution is found in both these novels. Kanthapura by Raja Rao is about how some villagers unite and fight against British imperialistic attitudes in the Gandhian way of „Ahimsa‟. Cry, the Beloved Country shows the African nation already colonised and divided into blacks and whites, further divided into rural and urban; rich and poor. The author accepts the reality and works at finding out possible solutions to the problems. Petals of Blood begins in the era of post-independence, but unfortunately, the situation has not changed. The country still faces the problems including break-up of rural and tribal society, new ethics of the urban world, a serious discrimination in the distribution of wealth, which has given rise to crimes, are the issues discussed in the novel.

The select novels are an attempt to find a solution to the problems of the indigenous community, the process of colonisation, solutions to colonial problems and the perspective of freedom from the colonial or the neo-colonial forces.

1.11 Literature Survey The survey is undertaken on two levels: literary and critical. The fictional works on colonial encounter attract the reader, especially if one belongs to the group or a community at the receiving end. Things Fall Apart aroused the interest in literature of the colonial encounter and its subsequent effects on the community. However, the Indian sub-continent also went through such experiences. In this regard, Gandhian ideology of passive resistance played an important role in combating colonial oppression. The novels Waiting for the Mahatma(1955) by R. K. Narayan, The Untouchables(1935) by Mulk Raj Anand and Kanthapura(1938) by Raja Rao depict the erstwhile colonised society and the Indian freedom struggle.

After meticulous reading, Kanthapura has been chosen as one of the primary texts. However, the British were not the only colonial power to operate in India; the

Portuguese, the French and earlier Dutch too had their presence in India. However, the Portuguese colonisation of a relatively tiny part of India, i.e. Goa was very rigorous and highly oppressive. A glimpse of this kind of religious persecution is seen in Mahabaleshwar Sail‟s Yug Sanvar, a novel in Konkani, which has been translated into English and awaiting publication in its abridged form. The translator Vidya Pai in 50 writers 50 Books (2013) prefers to call it as The Age of Frenzy. However, it is the original Konkani novel Yug Sanvar which is the primary text. Other novels portraying issues of Goan populace which attracted attention included, Lambert Mascarenhas‟s Sorrowing Lies My Land (1955) and Heart Break Passage (2009), Savia Viegas‟ Tales from the Attic (2007), Carmo D‟souza‟s Angela’s Goan Identity (1994) and Margaret Mascarenhas‟ Skin (2001), of which Skin is chosen as the fourth primary text.

The anti-colonial stand is strongly felt when native tendencies become strong. This led to reading of Mahabaleshwar Sail‟s novels Havthan(2009) and Kaliganga (2003) along with Rajan Gawas‟ Marathi novels, namely, Bhandarbhog (1988) and Tankat( 2001).

In comparison with the above, the conditions on the African continent needed a wider spectrum of fictional representation. Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton depicts the colonisation of South Africa, first by the Dutch, their assimilation in the surrounding environment followed by British colonisation. In this whole system, the experiences of native blacks and the white colonisers are well portrayed by Alan Paton. Hence, this text has been chosen as the fifth primary text. The wider reading suggested the issue of neo-colonisation and the novel Petals of Blood by Ngugi wa Thiongo -the sixth primary text- presents the conditions of a free post-colonial society, but reeling under the clutches of neo-colonisation of the indigenous men. Thus, together the six fictional works chosen as primary texts present for study the two vast landmasses viz. Africa and India colonised by various European powers and the time frame from early 16th century to the mid-20th century, covering around 450 years of colonial encounter.

If fictions present one aspect, the critical readings present the other aspect of understanding the reasons prompting colonisation. The critical books consulted are single authored books as well as the collection of critical essays.

The critical works include the Wretched of The Earth (1965) by Franz Fanon, Orientalism(1978) by Edward said, The Location of Culture (1994) by Homi Bhabha, The Decolonisation of the Mind(1986) by Ngugi wa Thiongo, The Denationalization of the Goans(1955) by T. B. Cunha, Manichean Aesthetics: The Politics of Literature in Colonial Africa (1983) by Abdul Jan Mohammed, Discourse on Colonialism (1950) by Aime Cesaire, Empire Writes Back (2002) by Bill Ashcroft and others, and Nativism(2009) by Bhalchandra Nemade.

The following books were referred in order to understand the history and society of Goa:

Manohar Malgaonkar‟s Inside Goa (2004) recreates the Goan history, more like a literary masterpiece and supported by beautiful illustrations by Mario Miranda. The work encompasses the Goan history from the early sixteenth century to the end of the twentieth century.

The History of Goa from Bhojas to Vijaynagar (1999) by V. R. Mitragotri provides a picture of what Goa was prior to Portuguese conquest. Mitragotri‟s areas of historical research as presented in the book include political history, society, position of women, religion, deities, iconography, scripture and architecture.

Farar Far: Local Resistance to Colonial Hegemony in Goa 1510-1912 (1999) by Pratima Kamat is published by Institute Menezes Braganza. Kamat historically analyses the Goa‟s freedom struggle with special reference to resistance and revolt by the indigenous populace against the Portuguese colonial hegemony in different forms.

Conversion and Citizenry (2002) by Delio de Mendonca draws a picture of the Portuguese colonial intervention and influences on the small state of Goa, especially with reference to religious conversion of the native populace.

Goa: A Social History (2010) by P. D. Xavier ponders on the social issues namely the social structure of the erstwhile community, slavery, the church and the society, the 43

position of women, education and the social life. The book covers the important time frame in the Goa‟s colonial history i. e. from 1510 to 1640.

The Goa Inquisition: The Terrible Tribunal for the East (1963) by A. K. Priolkar is an in-depth study on the institution of Inquisition and how the same was implemented in Spain and Portugal in the fifteenth and sixteenth century before being formally initiated and ruthlessly implemented in Goa. The book presents supporting documents to present the horrors of Inquisition in Goa.

Katolikanche Bharatatil Dhrmaprasarnache Marg (1987), a book in Marathi by Laxmikant Vyankatesh Prabhu Bhembre gives a well-researched account of the religious atrocities committed by the Portuguese regime by enacting various rules and regulations against the native Hindus. The author was exiled from Goa and sent to Portugal for his participation in freedom struggle. During his exile, he spent his valuable time and energy to work on the present book which is based on authentic data collected from libraries in Portugal. The book is divided into forty chapters describing in detail the decisions taken by the Provincial Councils and other governing bodies on issues detrimental to erstwhile Hindus.

In the Indian context, the works of G. N. Devy‟s After Amnesia(1992), M. K. Gandhi‟s Hind Swarajya (1910) and The Mind of Mahatma Gandhi :Encyclopedia of Gandhi’s Thoughts (1966) and M. K. Naik‟s A History of Indian English Literature (1982) provided necessary background.

Among the collection of essays in edited books included The Post-Colonial Reader(1995) by Bill Ashcroft and others, and Ngugi Wa Thiongo: An Anthology of Recent Criticism(2007) by Mala Pandurang which provided a wider perspective of understanding and looking at the issue of colonisation in various forms.

The two African authors, namely, Achebe and Thiongo are also social activists and express their views openly. So, their interviews in print and their essays have also been of much interest to this study.

1.12 The Chapter Outline: The research thesis contains six chapters.

Chapter One: Introduction Chapter One covers the areas which include objectives, scope and range, the hypotheses, the methodology adopted, delimitation of the research work, the literature survey and the reasons for choosing the topic. Being the introductory Chapter, a discussion in a nutshell of the primary texts i.e. six novels and their authors is offered here. As the select novels cover the colonial era in the select erstwhile nations, the history of Goa (as a Portuguese colony), India (as an English colony), Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya is discussed. The imposition of religion as a colonising tool is one of the areas of study. The role of religion in Goa, India and Africa is examined along with a detailed description of Inquisition as implemented in Goa by the Portuguese.

Chapter Two: Colonialism: Notion, Analysis and Manifestation vis-à- vis India and Africa Chapter Two draws attention to the theoretical aspect of colonialism. The focus is on the types of colonies and problem of exploration and exploitation as twin planks of colonisation. This leads to the analysis of driving forces behind imperialism or colonialism as examined in the case of Africa, India including erstwhile Portuguese Goa. The various theories of colonialism are discussed along with the models used to analyse the six selected novels.

Chapter Three: Before and After Colonial Encounter: Case of India and Africa This Chapter concentrates primarily on three novels, namely, Things Fall Apart, Yug Sanvar and Skin. A short note on the novels is followed by a discussion on the difference between „savage‟ and „civilization‟ as supposedly representing the „Native‟ and „Colonisation‟ respectively.

Religious conversion is an important tool for the colonisers, hence, the issue of religious conversion and the impact of such religious conversion on the indigenous faith/traditions is critically analysed. The role of missionaries and the overall impact of religious conversion leading to denationalization of a community is deliberated upon here. 45

This led to analyzing the place of an individual in a community and the place accorded to women characters in the narrative. This brings into focus the role of women characters in patriarchal set-up, the role of women as mother, and the place accorded to women in the traditional indigenous communities. The caste system in India along with the issue of slavery in Africa is also discussed here.

Chapter Four: From Colonial Crisis to Post-Colonial Predicament: Question of Leadership Chapter Four primarily covers three novels, namely, Kanthapura, Cry, the Beloved Country and Petals of Blood. The focus of this chapter is on the evolution of leadership among the indigenous populace as a reaction to or result of the colonial enterprise in the select novels. The Chapter also discusses the notion and the types of leadership in the context of a given society. There is an attempt to highlight the possible solutions to the problems.

Chapter Five: Locale of Engagement and Response: The Sthalapurana and the Sthalamahatmya of Nativity The Fifth Chapter ponders on the issue of narration and celebration of native spaces and „sthala‟. Colonisation meant usurpation of spaces, both at the tangible and intangible levels. Thus on the one hand, the tangible physical locale, and on the other, the intangible psychological space finds a mention in the fiction under study. The related issues like the rural and urban divide, the „rootedness‟ of an individual and a community in one‟s own culture along with the problem of nativism are analysed.

Chapter Six: Conclusion Chapter Six is the Conclusion. It draws the conclusions based on the observations of this Study. It also indicates to what extent the hypotheses stated in the Chapter One have been established through this study. Relevance of this study is also briefly mentioned here.

1.13 Conclusion This being the introductory chapter, has marked the boundaries of research and set a direction for this study. The introduction to the primary texts along with the historical context has helped in setting the course of analyzing and reviewing the important components of study. 46

In the following discussion, Chapter Two will focus on the theoretical aspects concerning colonialism in the context of Africa and India and on the relevant critical framework that will be used to analyse the primary texts.

CHAPTER TWO Colonialism: Notion, Analysis and Manifestation vis-a-vis India and Africa

2.1 Introduction Since times immemorial, the urge to take over or control the possession of others has been manifest and noticed in humankind. All forms of collusion, complicity and coercion have been used by individuals and regimes for doing so. Pacts have been made, treaties signed and violated, wars have been fought, people have been cheated, nations divided so that taking control over them may become easier. In recent history, Colonialism has been one of the blatant modes of gaining such unabashed control by one country over the territory, wealth and destiny of another land. In fact, it is a major phenomenon of the last half-a-millenium, which not only took over or conquered other lands or colonies, but also brought about a drastic, and often irreversible change, in both the colonisers and the colonised.

The term „colonialism‟ has been described and defined in multiple ways. The Encyclopaedia Britannica (2010) refers to colonialism as, “[…] the exercise of political and economic sovereignty by a country on a country or territory outside its borders[…]”(728). The Macmillan Family Encyclopedia (1991) refers to it as “[…] a system of control by a country over a dependent area or people outside its borders” (111-112 ). Further in elucidating European Colonialism, it places its fingers on “economic aims” and “the economic policies of Mercantilism” (112).

Likewise, The World Book Encyclopedia (1993) describes colonialism as,

[…] the rule of a group of people by a foreign power. The people and their land make up a colony. Most colonies are separated from the ruling nation by an ocean. The foreign power sends members of its own populace to live in the colony, to govern it, and to use it as a source of wealth. The rulers and the local people usually belong to different ethnic groups. (185)

These definitions bring out the important aspect of colonialism: the human attitude and behavior which has attempted to incur into „others‟‟ space and explore and exploit the belongings of „others‟.

In fine, colonialism can be said to give rise to a series of actions and reactions. In other words, it gives rise to cause and effect relationship. In fact, it is a complex process in which both the coloniser and the colonised suffer the consequences because while it exploits the colonised, it tends to dehumanize the coloniser too. In this context, Aime Cesaire‟s (2010) observation becomes very relevant. He writes:

[c]olonisation dehumanizes even the most civilized man; that colonial activity, colonial enterprise, colonial conquest, which is based on contempt for the native and justified by that contempt,[…]coloniser[…]gets into the habit of seeing the other man as 'an animal' accustoms himself to treating him like an animal, and tends objectively to transform 'himself' into an animal. (41)

Cesaire refers to this as 'boomerang effect of colonisation' (41).

These experiences of colonisation are applicable to both the coloniser and the colonised, as both undergo a series of changes, which, in most cases, are irreversible. Thus colonialism as a dynamic 'living' experience continues, although the names and forms have changed. It is not just an historical event, but an attitude and a process which may change its outer looks. However, this 'metamorphosis' continues to fuel inner core of power politics.

Although, human history has had several examples of one nation occupying the other, the world had not witnessed the extent of the conquest of other nations as well as occupation of their territory as seen during the period ranging from 16th to 20th century. By the end of the 19th century, European powers, especially England, France, Portugal, Spain and a few other countries acquired sizeable areas across the world. As per Encyclopaedia Britannica (2010), “[...] during the late 19th and earliest 20th century, new colonial powers emerged: Belgium, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States [….] by 1900 almost every country or region in the world had been subjugated by European colonialism at one time or another” (745).

In this context, Bhalchandra Nemade (2005) pertinently observes:

[…] the countries which colonised in the 18th century were not so developed in terms of culture or knowledge, in short, a few handful culturally backward powers, overpowered and ruled many culturally rich nations for many years, and within a

span of one hundred and fifty to two hundred years, reaped all kinds of profits. (7)

Such has been the enterprise of conquest or subjugation experienced by the colonised world at the hands of European Colonialism and/or Imperialism.

2.1.1 Colonialism and Imperialism As such, the present discussion cannot confine itself to merely colonialism or postcolonialism. It has to take into account new modes of similar or comparable acquisition and control, that may be described under umbrella terms like Neo- colonialism, Double colonialism, and so on. Another word used to mean colonialism is „Imperialism‟ and many a times both the words are used interchangeably to mean the same. But there is a difference between the two.

Basically, both these terms are intended to express political and economic domination of the other country or nation by the conquering one. As discussed earlier, colonialism points to the political condition, when a nation assumes control over the other and rules over the other‟s regions. It refers to exploitation of the resources of the country conquered for the benefit of the conqueror. Colonialism carries with it the power to alter the social, physical and economic structure of a region. This results in the conquered group or nation knowingly or unknowingly imbibing the socio-cultural traits of the conquerors. This may be seen in nations like India, Brazil, Algeria and so on. Colonialism may also involve relocation or the movement of people with a view to settle them permanently.

On the other hand, imperialism stands for political or economic control either through formal or informal means. If colonialism is the practice, imperialism may be referred to as the idea driving the practice. In imperialism, a foreign government governs a territory without significant settlement. This also involves exercising indirect control through sovereignty or indirect mechanism of control. The examples may be the American domination of Puerto Rico and Philippines.

Edward Said in Culture and Imperialism (1994) differentiates the two thus:

[…] “imperialism” means the practice, the theory, and the attitude of the dominating metropolitan center ruling a distant territory; “colonialism”, which is almost 50

always a consequence of imperialism, is the implanting of settlements on distant territory. (9)

The World Book Encyclopedia (1993) defines imperialism as “[…] the policy or action by which one country controls another country‟s territory. Most of such control is achieved by military means to obtain economic and political advantages”(44).

Another word to discuss this policy is “Expansionism” (44). J. D. Hargreaves (1993) defines imperialism as “[T]he use of state power in order to advance national interests and to exercise control over weaker people” and further defines Economic Imperialism as, “[T]he influence exercised by capital enterprises in less developed part of the world”(XV). However, the issue of colonisation as a process marks its beginning with the settlements of the European societies across the world in the form of colonies. Here, it may be gainful to discuss the various types of colonies for further reference.

2.2 Types of colonies Colonialism did not manifest itself in the same mode of settlements or establishments of colonies over the world. Broadly, the various types of colonies that have been identified include Settler Colonies, Dependencies, Plantation Colonies and Trading Posts.

2.2.1 Settler Colonies The emigration of people from the mother country to the new colonised lands gave rise to the settler colonies. This may be seen in the countries like America, Canada, South American countries like Argentina and also in Australia. The permanent movement of people to the new settlement did involve the problems of strained relationships of the colonising communities with the natives. This also included problems of adjustments of the colonisers to the new world and other related problems associated with displacement.

2.2.2 Dependencies In case of dependencies, the colonisers did not settle in the colonies, but administered the native population by use of force or other means, like social division, religious

conversion, etc. This was administered where the native population was in large number and a system of administration was possible. The British Raj in India is an example of the same.

2.2.3 Plantation Colonies The need for plantation colonies grew with the colonisation of great expanse of lands and when faced with the difficulty in recruiting labour for agriculture. This involved movement of workforce in the form of bonded labour or slaves, who were transported from one part of the world to another, to work as labourers in the farms. Transportation of slaves lead to rapid increase in their number and this created problems with the colonisers and the natives. Plantation Colonies include Barbados, Jamaica and others.

2.2.4 Trading Posts Trading posts were usually the places near the sea coast which helped in the movement of goods. Colonisation with the western countries began by trading posts before they ventured in the hinterlands, thus converting the traders into rulers and exploiters. Trading posts include places like Macau, Singapore, Malacca and others. These colonies became a starting point in the colonised lands to embark upon the missions of exploration and exploitation.

2.3 Exploration and Exploitation as twin planks of Colonisation Colonisation began with exploration, but exploitation was the outcome of exploration. Exploration was attempted out of a spirit of quest for new lands as well as knowledge. It was as much propelled by a spirit of expedition , an adventure into the new world, as it was eventually transformed into a venture for trade as well as enterprise for proselytism.

To such ends, the technological development in the field of navigation was important. The early 15th century saw new development in the ship-building and navigational equipment. The compass brought in from the orient (see Encyclopedia Britannica 746) was further developed to suit the sea-farers. The astrolabe, which is a technique used to determine the latitude by the altitude of stars was improved upon. The harbor finding charts or the portolanic charts used as early as 1300 in the Mediterranean were effectively put to use. The use of guns also gave –though at a later stage- an upper 52

hand to the colonisers while dealing with the opposition to colonialism. Although, it is a well-known fact that China had been using gun powder for centuries in fire- works, the European powers developed gun-powder for their fire-arm, which in turn became important weapons of subjugation of the colonised.

It can be discerned that exploration and exploitation were being attempted simultaneously. When Vasco-da-Gama and Christopher Columbus set sail to find a route to India, they were furthering the vested interests, or in other words, exploring the business possibilities of their respective countries. Ultimately venture did not limit to trade or religion, but resulted in conquering vast land masses, subjugating various native communities and imposition of their own regimes, cultures and laws.

Of the European countries, Portugal and Spain were better equipped as compared to other European nations and pioneered the overseas explorations. The competition between the Spain and Portugal lead to tension and in order to diffuse the possibility of political conflict between the two, the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) was signed, thereby dividing the world into two by an imaginary line. Portugal could explore, exploit and conquer all the land in the east while Spain could do so with those on the west of the globe. Interestingly, although for nearly a century Portuguese were the sole leaders, they did not succeed in ousting the Arabs in the trade, especially with the Indian sub-continent.

Meanwhile, Spain laid its hands on Latin American countries like Mexico, which brought in large quantity of gold and silver. The Spanish conquests resulted in the creation of new countries such as Colombia, Argentina, Ecuador among others. In order to regulate trade and to maintain law and order in the colonies, the Spanish created House of Trade (Casa de Contratacion) and the Council of the Indies (Consejo de Indias) respectively.

The general belief among the colonists was that the so called “First Nations” or native American Indians (then termed disparagingly as Red Indians) were inferior beings who were destined to be natural slaves, to be subdued and converted forcibly to Christianity. It will not be out of place to cite here the example of the Spanish settlements in Latin America. They resulted in continued dwindling of the native population of the aborigines either due to the old world diseases or due to the killings. 53

The “Legenda Negra” (Black Legend) is about the cruelty exercised by Spain over the colonised aborigines. These legends were the political and religious propaganda that blackened the characters of Spaniards and their rulers to such an extent that Spain became the symbol of repression, brutality, religious and political intolerance, and intellectual and artistic backwardness.

The creator of the term, Julián Juderías, described it in in his book La Leyenda Negra (1914) as the milieu created by the bizarre stories about the incongruous narratives that have always been made of the character of Spaniards as individuals and collectively. There is a mixed response to these incidents. For example, Eduardo Galeano in Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent (2008) and Julio Le Riverend in Economic History of Cuba (1967) have discussed the inhuman and brutal treatment given to the erstwhile Latin American populace. Thus „Legenda Negra’ is not totally untrue either.

Incidentally, this is the same nation which committed brutal attack on the Jews through „Inquisition‟. Interestingly, this ungodly exercise of inhuman torment, torture and elimination of supposed heretics and neo-converts relapsing into idolatory was emulated with equal zeal and vigour by Portuguese colonisers in Goa (Estada da Portugal) for over two centuries, beginning in 1560. This is a comment on the modus operandi of rival coloniser nations out to prove themselves as fervent defenders of faith in the eyes of the Church of the day. It is, therefore, necessary, as well as interesting to dwell on what were the ideological planks on which these coloniser nations operated on the pretext of bringing enlightenment and true faith in the nations which they colonised.

2.3.1 The Driving forces behind Imperialism/Colonisation Although imperialism has its roots in history, serious study to understand the driving forces took momentum, only in the early 20th Century. Major thinkers of the day who expressed their views include John Atkinson Hobson, Lenin and Joseph Alois Schumpeter. Hobson in his study Imperialist, a Study (first published in 1902) pointed to patriotism, philanthropy and the spirit of adventure in explaining the advancement of the imperialist cause. It were the financial interests of the working class that resulted in imperialism. Larger firms, according to him, in order to have a

better distribution and decrease wastage, opted for new markets and new investment opportunities in foreign countries, obviously through imperialism.

In his work published in 1917, Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism, Lenin observes that capitalism was fomenting imperialism, but in capitalism itself he saw an answer to abolishing imperialism through bringing about social reforms. Lenin proposed three-pronged changes, at the level of economic, social and political arenas. In his essay, „The Sociology of Imperialism‟ (1919) Schumpeter argues that imperialism exists because there is a basic tendency in humankind to war and conquest. This leads to more rational expansions without any utilitarian aim. Although man is not born with these tendencies, they have evolved over the centuries. This moulding has made certain men into warriors, with warrior mentality who may also be referred to as warrior class. Although the need of war has waned, yet the mentality persists. Schumpeter also observes that there is a certain ruling class which supports war, as it tends to benefit from the same.

Common to the three thinkers is the significant role of mercantile policy and mercantilism as an important instigation to imperialism. It is therefore useful to understand the extent of the influence of related thought as an ideological support to the enterprise of imperialism and colonialism.

2.3.1.1 The ideological props of Colonialism The Mercantile Theory proposed by Adam Smith (1776) considered that the national wealth should be measured in terms of the amount of gold and silver possessed by a nation. Mercantile theory held that the colonies existed for the sole purpose of helping the colonisers, and that the mother country had the right to draw as much raw material as desired from colonies and sell back the finished goods to the ready market in the colonies. Monopoly too was well accepted as a system of trade and commerce.

British companies followed this practice, though not the French. In the 18th century, the French Physiocrats, a school of thought then, “advocated an agricultural economy and holding, that productive land was the only genuine wealth, with trade and industry, existing for the transfer of agricultural goods” (Encyclopaedia Britannica 745). This concept, also understood as Laissez Faire, was popularized by Vincent de Gournay, a French Physiocrat and intendant of commerce in the 1750s. He is said to 55

have adopted the term from François Quesnay's writings on China. It was Quesnay who coined the phrase laissez-faire, laissez-passer (“Let do and Let pass”).

The physiocrats were reacting against the excessive mercantilist regulations of the Government of France of their day. They expressed a belief in a "natural order" or liberty under which, individuals, in following their selfish interests, contributed to the general good, since, in their view, this natural order functioned successfully without the aid of government. Thus, laissez-faire, was conceived as the way to unleash human potential through the restoration of a „seemingly‟ natural system, unhindered by the restrictions of government.

Another issue, which concerns colonial upsurge apart from mercantilism and laissez faire policy, is slavery which was revived by the Portuguese during Prince Henry's (1394-1460) rule. Slavery was practiced in Africa but the Portuguese gave it a much wider dimension of human trafficking for slave trade, with slaves being transported from one region to another region, often to a different continent altogether, as chattel.

Colonialism resulted in enormous political as well as territorial and societal changes. Resultantly, the world itself became accessible to extraneous control and the transportation of goods, as well as of humans as commodity was made possible. New institutions of social, cultural, religious nature evolved, and economics and governance, in particular, underwent a drastic change.

Another important phenomenon which laid the foundation for a rapid change in all the spheres of life and became a catalyst for colonial expansion and capitalistic exploitation was the Industrial Revolution, and perhaps became an antecedent for Marxist ideology. Marxism as a school of thought was the result of the enormous social and economic changes resulting in inequity and exploitation in the society in the aftermath of rapid industrialization.

2.3.1.2 Industrial Revolution: Its contextual and functional role The Industrial Revolution in Europe was effective from mid-eighteenth century and this brought in a change in the outlook and implementation of colonialism. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, colonisation simply meant occupying areas around the globe that supplied precious metals, products and slaves. It also meant establishing

white settler colonies across the coast. Trading posts and Forts were built - equipped with military- all aimed at keeping in mind the interests of the European ultra-marine merchants.

Industrialization brought about the following changes: the first is the overhaul of existing land and use of the same by the white settlers. Agriculture became more a commercial activity like mining, and this involved forced or bonded labour. In case the colonies already had a certain industry, than the colonisers systematically ousted these producers, thus giving an opportunity for all-out monopoly of the colonialist/settler over the native producers. This may be seen in the manner in which the British administration imposed tariffs over the native Indian cotton goods. This helped Britain in exporting cotton to the mills and in turn selling the finished products. However, all this was not possible without its own set of problems, because, in some cases, the colonisers, in order to extend their powers, entered deeper into the continent.

Such extensions involved clearing the land of its native inhabitants in order to develop settler colonies. In the words of Franz Fanon (2001), “[T]he appearance of the settler has meant in the terms of syncretism the death of the aboriginal society, cultural lethargy, and the petrification of individuals” (73). Another aspect of this exercise was to make the native suitable for the benefit of the colonisers. This involved slow injection of foreign value system and the complicit or coerced submission of the colonised to the orders of the colonisers. This was sought to be achieved through „education‟ as well indoctrination of the „native‟. T. B. Cunha (1955) refers to this as “[t]he aping culture” (25). This kind of relationship resulted in “ the indigenous man into an instrument of production” that Aime Cesaire (2010) refers to as “[T]hingification”(42). Notwithstanding the nature of this relationship, its outcome was to enhance the interests and expand the sphere of the colonial enterprise.

2.4 Expansion under Colonisation The post-industrial revolution era, i.e. after the mid-nineteenth century brought about a shift in the colonial outlook especially in Asia and Africa. Thus, the colonial powers did not stop their expeditions only with the establishment of commercial outposts, but became a developed military power and expanded their political hold by

invading the interior areas of countries of colonial contact by using various coercive methods. In most cases, the military was closely followed by commercial agents, officials and Christian missionaries. The activities undertaken under the East India Company, which entered as a commercial enterprise but ended up conquering a sizeable part of India, is an apt example of this political process.

2.4.1 Colonisation: Case of the erstwhile British India The East India Company (EIC), originally chartered as the Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading into the East Indies, commonly associated with trade in basic commodities, which included cotton, silk, indigo dye, salt, saltpetre, tea and opium. The government owned no shares and had only indirect control over the company which traded mainly with the Indian subcontinent, North-West Frontier Province and Balochistan. Eventually, it came to rule large areas of India with its own private armies, exercising military power and assuming administrative functions. Company rule in India effectively began in 1757 after the Battle of Plassey and lasted until 1858 when, following the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the Government of India Act 1858 led to the British Crown assuming direct control of India in the era of the new British Raj.

However, during the early 19th century, the geopolitical dominance and empire holding in India remained with the East India Company. During this era, there was a systemic disrespect for Hindu and Muslim modes of faith, indigenous castes and ethnic groups. The growth of tensions between the EIC and the local religious and cultural groups grew in the 19th century as the Protestant revival grew in Great Britain. These tensions erupted at the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and the company ceased to exist when the company dissolved through the East India Stock Dividend Redemption Act 1873.

However, during its era of political power, the East India Company made a long lasting impact on the Indian Subcontinent. It helped considerably in the expansion of power and the growth of the British Empire and played a key role in introducing English as an official language in India. However, due to the fact that hundreds of princely states, with varied equations with the British rule, also operated in India, the colonisation did not affect all the societies simultaneously in the same manner.

The British colonial activity in the Indian subcontinent lasted for around 150 years, unlike the Portuguese colonial activity in Goa (a tiny part on the western coast of India) which lasted for more than 450 years. It began with the arrival of Vasco-da- Gama in 1510 and continued over 14 years after Indian Independence in 1947. However, Portuguese colonial rule was imposed in two broad waves- the Old Conquests and the New Conquests.

2.4.1.1 Goa: Portuguese Colonialism and Religious conversion Goa, a Portuguese colony, may be taken as an example of colonisation and religious conversion. The Portuguese conquered Goa, beginning in 1510. The earliest conquests are known as Old Conquests, while the New Conquests were acquired by the mid-eighteenth century. They consolidated their rule through oppressive legislation and religious persecution institutionalized by the Inquisition (from 1560 to 1812). The Portuguese ruled for 451 years, before being forced to leave as a result of freedom struggle that compelled Government of India to undertake an armed action against the foreign rulers in 1961. The Indian military action was named „Operation Vijay‟. But during the 451 years, they ruled over 5 percent of the area, the rest 23 per cent for 418 years and remaining 77 percent of geographical area for an average of 176 years. Religious conversions which were more through coercion and force, lead to discrimination and schism in the society. As T. B. Cunha (1955) observes, “[C]onversions were only possible with the active help of the civil and military power and not merely through preaching” (12).

The issues regarding conversions involved charity and medical aid to Christians, imposition of new taxes on poor Hindus, destruction of Hindu temples, forbidding Hindus from holding any public office, privileges to Hindus who converted and such other dicta resulted in society with a confused state of existence. The Holy Inquisition was supposed to have been instituted for the 'work of inquiry' lasted for nearly two hundred years from its installation in 1560 before finally being curtailed of its horrifying and horrendous activities in 1812. A. K. Priolkar (2008) writes,

[…] the story of the Inquisition is a dismal record of callousness and cruelty, tyranny and injustice, espionage and blackmail, avarice and corruption, repression of thought and culture and promotion of obscurantism[…]. (ix)

The novel Yug Sanvar by Mahabaleshwar Sail, a primary text of this study and another equally significant novel Saiba Bhogos (2013) by Vincent John Peter Saldhana „Khadap‟ (1925-2000) bring out the tremendous oppression and turmoil the society of the day went through as a result of Inquisition among other things. This is what happened to a culturally, socially and economically well-developed part of India, i.e. Goa. The cases of some other societies were more sad and equally horrifying, like those of the African or South American countries.

2.4.2 Colonialism in Africa By 1913, the whole of the African continent in view of Richard Grinker (1997) looked like “a huge jigsaw puzzle”(426). This was the time when almost all the European nations were vying for some space in Africa. For example the inventor of “Realpolitik”, Bismarck, pushed the vision of “Weltpolitik” meaning “world politic”, which considered colonisation a necessary part for the emerging German power. There seemed to be a wild competition among western colonialists to conquer a part of Africa as their respective colony and this process continued up to the beginning of the First World War. In fact, after the Conference of Berlin in 1885, the entire continent of Africa except for Ethiopia and Liberia was divided among European powers. The deals were made on paper between the colonial powers, which were drawn arbitrarily without any concern to the ethnic unity, regional economic ties, tribal migratory pattern or even paying any heed to the natural boundaries.

Conference of Berlin was organized by Otto Van Bismarck, the first Chancellor of Germany in 1884-85. This is also referred to as the Congo Conference. This conference involved the presence of European Colonising Nations who sat across the table and divided the African continent on the basis of Latitudes and Longitudes. The sudden rise of Germany as a colonial power was seen as a threat by others; hence it was decided to settle the matter of the occupation in Africa across the table. The division was done for the sole benefit of the colonial powers.

Overtly, it seemed to have some philanthropic intentions, since certain humanitarian issues like the slave trade, sale of alcoholic beverages, a concern over the missionary activities were discussed and condemned. Again, token action such as prohibition of firearms in certain regions was mooted. But this was only a façade and in reality it

was the strong urge to possess the vast African resources which was the propelling force behind it. The 'Principles of Effective Occupation' was made mandatory on the part of colonial powers. This meant that the powers could acquire rights over colonial lands only if they actually possessed them; in other words, if they had treaties with local leaders. In Central Africa, for instance, the traditional rulers were mostly coerced into signing treaties with the colonial powers.

The 'Scramble for Africa' or the race between the European nations to possess the vast continent was a result of what may be referred to as the New Imperialism from 1870- 1914. This involved invasion, occupation, colonisation and annexation of African territory by European powers. The Berlin Conference may be seen as a regulating authority to legitimise European colonisation. Olusoga and Erichsen (2010) in an attempt to counter the argument that Africa's modern day borders were strategically planned and dictated to the benefit of European powers, observe:

It is common misconception that the Berlin Conference simply divided up the African continent between the European powers. In fact, all the foreign ministers who assembled in Bismarck's Berlin villa had agreed was in which regions of Africa each European power had right to 'pursue' the legal ownership of land, free from interference by any other. The land itself remained the legal property of Africans. (44)

However, the last statement appears a mere fig leaf that barely conceals the historical brutality endured by the African society and the native culture. Heinous crimes against humanity occurred in the wake of the post Berlin Conference in Africa. This includes the brutality of King Leopold II (1835-1909) of Belgium in Congo, which resulted in death of almost half the nation's population, nearly eight million native inhabitants between 1885-1908, who according to British Diplomat Roger Casement perished for four major reasons, namely, war, starvation, reduction of births and disease. The Congo State under French occupation also resulted in the death of twenty thousand forced labourers who died during rail road construction. An estimated one lakh twenty thousand men died during the construction of Suez Canal either due to over-work, fatigue or disease like cholera.

In fact, Africa is facing the fallouts of this turmoil even to this day, and one of the reasons may be this arbitrary division of the continent. Franz Fanon(2001) observes, “ [A] Berlin Conference was able to tear Africa into shreds and divide her up between three or four imperial flags[…]the important thing is not whether such-and-such a region in Africa is under French or Belgian Sovereignty, but rather the economic zones are respected” (51). The division became an issue concerned with capital and nothing more. Consequently in the words of Aime Cesaire (2010) this brute colonialism had “[…]drained (societies) of their essence, cultures trampled underfoot, institutions undermined, land confiscated, religions smashed, magnificent artistic creations destroyed, extraordinary possibilities wiped out” (43). While describing the old African societies and their age-old values that were torn apart, he emphatically states:

They were communal societies, never societies of many for the few. They were the societies that were not only ante-capitalist, as has been said, but also anti-capitalist. They were democratic societies, always. They were co-operative societies, fraternal societies. I make a systematic defence of societies destroyed by imperialism. (43)

On the basis of the above discussion, it can be deduced that, of the various steps leading to the systematic colonising of Africa, the Berlin Conference was certainly an instrument of legitimizing the inhuman colonial designs of European nations. In response to this gigantic colonialist subversion of native societies and the subjugation of their peoples, various theoretic approaches have been proposed to understand and introspect such and other excess of political and cultural undermining of other nations and races.

2.5 Colonialism through theoretical prisms This part of the Chapter discusses the development of different theories dealing with colonialism. The ideological response to colonial activity began rather late i.e. in the twentieth century, although a major part of the globe had faced the brunt of colonialism during the last two hundred years or more. But the theoretic perspectival interpretation gained depth and momentum only during the last century, possibly with the shell-shocking experiences of the two world wars; the cold war brought an end to 62

colonial regimes, and due to the objectivity born of temporal distance, and the rational analyses of the present conditions in the erstwhile colonies. Thus the theory in discussion is not only about colonialism but related issues like Post-colonialism, Neo- colonialism, Double-colonialism and problems associated with colonialism such as Nativism, Negritude , Hybridity, etc .

Ketu N. Katrak (2003) in the essay, “Decolonising Culture: Toward a Theory for Post-colonial Women‟s Texts” highlights the problem of “Colonisation” within the “post-colonial theory” itself, especially with reference to women writers. She points out three problem areas: one is, whereby, the theoretical production of postcolonial writers is either given little importance or is totally neglected, all using the western standards; the second issue is the use of postcolonial texts as raw material for the theory producers and consumers of western media, and, third issue concerns the

[…] theoretical production as an end in itself, confined to the consumption of other theorists who speak the same privileged language in which obscurity is regularly mistaken for profundity. (256)

There is a new hegemonial network in place. On the one hand, it excludes important literary and critical material while concentrating on the popular concepts associated with post-colonial theory.

As Soyinka puts it in the preface to Myths, Literature and the African World(1976):

We black Africans have been blandly invited to submit ourselves to as second epoch of colonialism- this time by a universal humanoid abstraction defined and conducted by individuals whose theories and prescriptions are derived from the apprehension of „their‟ world and their history, their social neuroses and their value systems. (X)

Postcolonialism as a theory emerged after the 1980s. Hence, most books on literary theory prior to 1980 do not have any mention of the same. The frequently used M. H. Abrams‟ A Glossary of Literary Terms also has no mention of it in the earlier editions. The major part of the thought process in this direction may be seen with thinkers like Franz Fanon‟s The Wretched of the Earth (1961) and the path breaking work of Edward Said, namely, Orientalism (1978). The other major works include In

Other World (1987) by Gayatri Spivak, The Empire Writes Back (1989) by Bill Ashcroft and others, Nation and Narration (1990) by Homi Bhabha, Culture and Imperialism (1993) by Edward Said.

Postcolonialism does not believe in the universality of the literary art, as stressed by the liberal humanist critique. Because these so called „universalist‟ claims ultimately end up becoming „Eurocentric‟, and hence, fail in honest representation of colonised communities and issues concerning them. In a Eurocentric view, the colonised nations and their representations are either marginalized or pushed to a subsidiary position. Hence, such claims of universalism are summarily rejected by the postcolonial critics.

It is helpful, at this juncture, to briefly sum up the role of postcolonial criticism as under: a. Rejection of the universalistic claims of European scholars/ humanists, as such claims marginalize native experience and subjugate the native expressions. The claim of universalism seems limited to the European texts as against texts worldwide. b. Examination of how the other cultures are represented in the text. c. Scrutiny of the authorial and critical silence or one-sidedness with regard to colonialism. d. Assessment of the cultural and ethnic difference especially between the colonisers and colonised and the effect of colonisation on the native culture and life. e. Studying „hybridity‟ in the context of individuals and society to understand amalgamation of various cultures. f. Looking at the issues of marginality, plurality and perceived „otherness‟.

The postcolonial critique requires and uses certain critical terms and notions towards its specific objective and analysis. Some of those will be used in the present study. The significant ones are discussed below.

2.5.1 Orientalism The term was used by Edward Said in Orientalism (1978). In his view, the „Orient‟ was the invention of the Europe and since antiquity had been seen as “[…]a place of 64

romance, exotic beings, haunting memories and landscapes, remarkable experiences” (1). Thus all that orient holds is the image of the „other‟ to the Europeans. Said feels that it is the orient which is the contrasting image, idea, personality and experience. The orient is an integral part of Europe and „material‟ civilization and culture. The European culture gained strength and identity by setting itself as against the Orient. It is this idea of „Orientalism‟ which resulted in the production of idea and opinions about the Orient, which further assisted in a stereotyped outlook while governing the conquered lands or military conquest.

Said argues that knowledge of the Orient was not for knowledge per se. It was a strategy for colonising land and people, by infusing colonisation as a necessity into that discourse, justifying the West as a Protector (police, army), Educator (teacher), Administrator (bureaucracy and political presence) and Savior (Missionary) of the Orient.

2.5.2 Nativism Nativism is a part of a world-wide phenomenon of cultural nationalism and self- assertion in which colonised and other marginalized literary cultures express their differences from Euro-American (or it‟s so called universalist) critical discourse. For the colonised societies, the only goal had been to break the shackles of foreign rule and achieve independence. This needed a feeling of „one nation‟ and the rallying point for „[A]ll against the imperialist power‟. But for the post-colonial societies, the need to understand and preserve nativist traditions becomes imminent.

Nativism looks with suspicion at the issues like nationalism. Ngugi Wa Thingo puts the fears of nativists, thus,

The primary thing is to look at power discussed in terms of power relations, and in terms of production and distribution of knowledge. If you look at the United Nations, you will find that only five or at most six languages dominate it[…]Four or five of those languages are European[…]. (qtd. in Nayyar 87)

Like Ngugi, authors in the postcolonial era emphasize and affirm local identities of linguistic, caste, community or tribe. Nativism or „Desivad‟ in the Indian context believes in the existence of two traditions existing simultaneously, namely „Margi‟

and „Desi‟ traditions, almost synonymous with „great‟ and „lesser‟ traditions. „Desi‟ means what is „inherited‟ or „traditional‟ or „folk‟, while „Margi‟ indicates „refined‟, „cultivated‟ or „elite‟. The scholars and writers like G. N. Devy, Bhalchandra Nemade, Makarand Paranjape are the flag-bearers of this ideology.

2.5.3 Mimicry and Hybridity These two concepts are associated with Homi K. Bhabha, who discusses the issue of identities of both the coloniser and the colonised, as being constantly in a state of flux. The coloniser gets his power though creating set stereotypes of the native as treacherous, noble or lustful. In fact, the coloniser can construct his identity only through the stereotypes of the other. Hence, the colonial master and his identity is dependent upon the native. Consequently, he finds his place and identity through his relationship with the colonised. As such, the colonial discourse on the one hand, seems to desire unity with the native, while on the other, also carries an element of fear or phobia of the nature of the native.

In Bhabha‟s (1994) words,

[H]ybridity is the revaluation of the assumption of colonial identity, through the repetition of discriminatory identity effects. It displays the necessary deformation and displacement of all sites of discrimination and domination. It unsettles the mimetic or narcissist demands of colonial power but reimplicates its identifications in strategies of subversion that turn the gaze of the discriminated back upon the power. For the colonial hybrid is the articulation of the ambivalent space where the rite of power is enacted on the site of desire, making its objects at once disciplinary and dissiminatory. (112)

With regard to mimicry, Bhabha points out that the colonial power believes that the native should adopt the ways of the coloniser and become like the colonial master. This means that in a way, he should mimic the master. But this so called “mimicry” does not work as intended by the connoisseur. Rather it helps the native to stand up against the coloniser, albeit in a disguised or camouflaged form. In an attempt to produce “same as me” in a native, a distorted image of the colonial-master gets created, a hybrid is produced through this. Postcolonial criticism is interested in analysing the relationship between hybridity and mimicry. In The Empire Writes

Back, mimicry is discussed as the outcome of a situation where the dominant culture and/or the colonial power encourage the colonial subject to imitate the cultural values of the imperialist.

In fact, hybridity may be found in almost all cultures that have undergone the experience of colonisation. The post-colonial novels like Petals of Blood, deal with the issue of colonial past and its inheritance, which has altered the native‟s psyche and culture. The characters in this novel are “mimic men” because they are in a state of “hybridization”. Characters like Munira and Wanja have been hybridized and face a problem of dualism, i.e. on one hand they find it difficult to abandon their native culture while on the other hand they are equally keen in acquiring the colonial culture, legacy and tendencies. Such characters find solace in neither situations.

2.5.4 Subaltern Studies This critical approach was promoted at the end of 1970s by a group of English and Indian historians which led to the launch of a journal named „Subaltern Studies‟ edited by Ranjit Guha. He later published volumes containing essay on „Subaltern Studies- Writings on South Asian History and Society‟. Gayatri Spivak has also closely dealt with the term. These critics foreground the previously marginalized sections of the society. Originally the term „subaltern‟ was used by the Italian Marxist critic Antonio Gramsci. For him, „subaltern‟ meant the non-elite social class or the „proletariat‟, but for Gayatri Spivak, the term included the downtrodden groups on the social ladder, which included tribals, untouchables and the women within these groups. Gayatri Spivak‟s famous essay “Can the Subaltern Speak?” (1988) looks at the groups in the world who are “silenced” by the very forces which are supposed to expose and retrieve their voices. She believes that the past of a society, especially the pre-colonial past is not retrievable because there have been interpretations and reinterpretation of the past that are not recognizable.

„Subaltern‟ constitutes the groups that are so marginalized that more often than not their voices have to be expressed by others. In other words, they have to be spoken for. She cautions that the „subaltern‟ may not be used with homogeneous connotations, as there are innumerable subtle differences. Spivak also suggests that the so-called Third World countries cannot be looked at as per Saidian version of

Orient as a monolithic homogenizing entity. The variation of oppressions needs to be admitted first so as to understand them.

During the colonial era, the British assumed the responsibility to speak for the oppressed, especially the women, as may be seen with reference to „Sati‟. The woman who was fighting for liberation was put down and instead the colonisers assumed the role of the liberator of the native woman, that too on the pretext of modernization. The nationalists also portrayed women in their own way. But the voice of woman is “ventriloquized” or spoken for, whether it is under the rubric of „colonialism‟ or „nationalism‟. This has given an impetus to the subaltern women life-writing.

The subaltern women‟s writing includes life writing as an important aspects of looking at the state of women, who belonged to the community which was at the end of the social ladder. They being woman were again subjugated to the oppression of patriarchy. The feminists belonging to this group resist the idea of considering the whole bulk of writing under one homogenized umbrella of “third world women writing”; and the experiences, although personal, may be called “testimonio” and may represent what the whole community and the women of the community went through. To extend the words of the famous Dalit writer Bama written in the context of her novel Karukku ( 1992), such writing makes sense:

[T]he story told in Karukku was not my story alone. It was the depiction of a collective trauma of my community- whole length cannot be measured in time. I just tried to freeze it forever in one book so that there will be something physical to remind people of the atrocities committed on a section of the society for ages. (qtd. in Nayyar 151)

Likewise, in Skin by Margaret Mascarenhas, the fate of the slaves, especially the women characters, is about the person as well as that of the whole community which faced a similar fate. Although not an auto narrative, it is still a narrative of trauma, pain, resistance and protest.

Thus, in such works one finds the experience of poverty, violence, rejection and suffering. Moreover, the whole colonial enterprise can be looked upon as a masculine enterprise pitted against the natives and their landscapes as feminine.

Edward Said‟s (2001) following observation lends support to this premise, although it is made in the context of Orientalism. He notes:

[O]rientalism itself, furthermore, was an exclusively male province; like so many professional guilds during the modern period, it viewed itself and its subjects matter with sexist blinders. This is especially evident in the writings of travellers and novelists: [where] women are usually the creatures of a male power- fantasy. They express unlimited sensuality, they are more or less stupid and above all they are willing. (Emphasis added, 207)

Such an exercise to equate the female body with the pro-colonial adventure or even to identify it with the conquest and ravaging on native territory is well brought out by Anne McClintock in her book Imperial Leather: Race, Gender and Sexuality in the Colonial Conquest (1995). She perceptively points out at the map of King Solomon‟s Mines in the novel by the same name by H. Rider Haggard (1856-1925) which represents two mountains named Sheba‟s Breasts. The journey is the exploitation of the land which simultaneously also represents as that of a woman‟s body. Hence, such colonialist narratives express not only male fantasy and coloniser‟s exploitation of natural resources but also fuels the patriarchal hermeneutic that feminizes the colonial land, which is ready (perhaps willing) for subjugation at the hands of the European powers.

Although feminists have put up their voice strongly since the Victorian era, the European feminists of the day consider themselves to be of a higher status than the women of the colonised societies. Thus, they help to carry forward the philanthropic agenda of the colonisers of civilizing the colonised, “the white man‟s burden”. As such, even today, looking at the issue of feminism from single angle is detrimental to the understanding of the feminist point of view and position. The Marxist critics‟ discourse of feminism takes off from position that the basic dichotomies of „haves‟ and „have nots‟ or of the capitalist and the proletariat. The feminists have tried to highlight the need to look at the issue at much deeper level within varied experiences

across the globe spread over centuries. Hence, new concepts like Islamic Feminism, African Feminism, Dalit Feminism are the concepts which are gaining momentum.

2.5.5 Manichean Allegory This idea has been strongly propounded by Abdul Jan Mohammed. According to him, the European colonisers worked on the basis of what he terms as Manichean Allegory: that is, the European colonisers felt that the colonised nations, especially African, were incapable of self-governance because they were supposedly barbaric. Jan Mohammed (1983) puts it thus:

[J]ust as imperialists „administer‟ the resources of the conquered country so colonialist discourse „commodifies‟ the native subject into a stereotyped object and uses him as a „resource‟ for colonialist fiction….(they all look alike, act alike and so on.) Once reduced to his exchange-value in the colonialist signifying system, he is fed into the Manichean allegory, which functions as the currency, the medium of exchange, for the entire colonialist discursive system. (40)

By this measure, the European would stand for “civilization” and the African for “barbarity”. Thus, the African was considered to have no affinity with sensibility, humanity and heterogeneity. The more the „putative‟ difference between the two, the more is the scope for colonisers in „civilizing‟ the „natives‟. In fact, Jan Mohammad observes rather sarcastically, “[I]f the differences between the Europeans and the natives are so vast than clearly […] the process of civilizing the natives can continue indefinitely” (40).

Postcolonial Studies include various theoretic angles of looking at the concepts such as Manichean Allegory, Orientalism, the Subaltern Studies, and dwell on the notions of the idea of universality, ethnocentrism, eurocentrism, cultural imperialism, representation and resistance, nationalism, hybridity, negritude, cultural politics, indigeneity, authenticity, ethnicity, race, nativism, feminism, language, the politics of language, the body and performance, history, place, education, neo-colonialism, production and consumption, literary colonialism, diaspora, globalization, environment, ecological imperialism, the religion and religious conversion. These may be used eclectically in the cause of this study.

2.5.6 Negritude The Negritude movement took shape in 1930s in Paris, supported by the African and West Indian students under the leadership of Leopold Sedar Senghor, Aime Cesaire and Leon Damas. As Pal Ahluwalia (2006) puts it, “[N]egritude needs to be contextualised against the general background of colonisation and the manner in which the African‟s very being was degenerated” (233).

The French claimed that their colonies were the extension of their nation, hence all the citizens enjoyed rights similar to the French. But the African and West Indian students who reached Paris found the actual experiences contrary to the claim. The said rule applied only to the white settlers and not the blacks. Thus, in the words of Ahluwalia, “[T]hrough negritude the colonised sought to reverse the representations ascribed to them, to turn those negative identities into positive images” (233). It is apparent that the so-called representations were based on absence rather than presence and implemented on the basis of racial discrimination. For the blacks, this was tantamount to lose of selfhood and identity.

As Aime Cesaire (2010) would admit,

[…]I have always though that the black man was searching for his identity. And it has seemed to me that what we want is to establish this identity, then we must have a concrete consciousness of what we are- that is, of the first fact of our lives: that we are blacks; that we were black and have a history, a history that contains certain cultural elements of great value; and the Negroes were not[…]born yesterday, because there have been beautiful and important black civilizations[…]we affirmed that we were Negroes and that we were proud of it[…] we asserted that our Negro heritage was worthy of respect[…]that its values were values that could still make an important contribution to the world. (91-92)

Negritude did not develop into a full-fledged political movement, but remained an attempt to dismantle the racial binaries then extant in the society.

2.5.7 Diaspora In postcolonial studies, the term „diaspora‟ is used to describe the groups of people displaced from one place to another either due to man-made or natural calamities.

The term „diaspora‟ is derived from Greek word „diasperein‟ („dia‟-across and – „sperein‟- to sow or to scatter); thus it denotes the people who are scattered or displaced from their homeland. Oxford Encyclopedic Dictionary (1983) refers to Jews as first diasporic people as they were dispersed from their homeland (461). Robert Cohen in Global Diasporas (1997) identifies several kinds of diasporic experiences which include victim diasporas, labour diasporas, imperial diasporas, trade diasporas, „homeland‟ diasporas and cultural diasporas. According to him, this assists in understanding the causes of migration, displacement and movement.

The diaspora-based literary works mostly dwell on the following issues: meaning of home and homelessness; identities of insider and outsider; political discrimination; domination of one culture over the other; the concept of cultural identity as fluid and heterogeneous; relationships between the dominant and resistant; and, problems related to national and cultural identity.

Ashcroft, Griffith and Tiffin in Key Concepts in Post Colonial Studies (1998) look at “diaspora” as the outcome of European imperialism, which led to forced movements of African and other societies as slaves and indentured labour. All these were either directly or indirectly the result of Europeans imperialism. Theorists of diaspora like James Clifford and Robin Cohen lay emphasis on the issues of identification, alignment and affiliation in the immigrant consciousness.

„Diasporic‟ suggests an individual‟s linkage of the hyphenated attachment to a former home and the loyalty to the present one, or the twig of a culture left behind and a culture now adopted.

The dominant themes included under the diaspora writing are naturally: the relationship between the „centre‟ and the „periphery‟, where the „centre‟ is the homeland, while „periphery‟ is the place where they are; emanation of nostalgia, both individual and communal, for home; feeling of alienation in the alien or foreign land; attempt to retain the features of the „homeland‟, including rituals, language, behavior, culture and other social or group activities; and, feeling of anxiety and fear associated with adaptation. The novels Skin, Petals of Blood and Yug Sanvar present various diasporic situations. These post-colonial writers are interested in re-visiting the pre-colonial indigenous experience lost under imperialism, because the native 72

culture has changed radically and at times irredeemably in the course of the imperial domination.

2.6 Models of study adopted to analyse colonialism and related issues The various angles of post-colonial studies and critical approaches provide perspectives to analyse and interpret the issues arising out of colonisation or the colonial experience. For convenience these have been referred to as „models‟. They have helped study the texts and social conditions along with issues such as nation, region, religion among others. These approaches or models include:

2.6.1 National or the regional model: This involves an emphasis on the study of history and culture of a nation or a region. Here, the position is taken visa-a-vis the previously silenced native population and marginal groups.

2.6.2 Racial or the ethnic model Here, the issues are analysed from the point of view of the race or ethnicity. Negritude movement and the issue of 'black consciousness' has been considered. This model gives prominence to the linguistic, social, traditional, cultural and religious practices of a race or an ethnic group.

2.6.3 Comparative model In this model, the importance is given to stylistic and thematic concerns that traverse nation and region. The language is looked upon as an effective tool of colonisation which carries an enduring ideological impact on the colonised psyche. Chinua Achebe and Ngugi Wa Thiongo have strongly revolted against the forceful implementation of language of the colonisers. The focus of study is also on exile, loss of native language, colonial education and the issues concerning women.

2.6.4 Coloniser and the colonised model This model concentrates on the dichotomy. The questions asked are related to the levels of colonisation in the colonised society itself, and whether de-colonisation is really achievable. The break-up of the world into the so called First, Second and the Third Worlds has also been the indirect outcome of colonisation, among other reasons.

2.6.5 Hybridity or the syncreticity model This approach develops from the post-structuralist theorists who deconstruct the binary oppositions of centre and the periphery; master and the slave; civilization and the savagery etc. The concentration of study is thus on the effects of colonial contact, on both, the colonisers and the colonised.

2.7 Conclusion In the twenty-first century the world looks at the problems faced by postcolonial societies in the context of definite socio-political conditions, which historically prevailed in the respective regions of the colonial world. Today a large segment of the European world along with other economically stronger nations like America is surging ahead in comparison to the developing or the underdeveloped countries. Democracy and capitalism are the two planks which have made them well-equipped. Without colonialism, capitalism would not have taken the form it has assumed today. As Ania Loomba (1998) puts it,

[C]olonialism was the midwife that assisted at the birth of European Capitalism, or that without colonial expansion the transition to capitalism could not have taken place in Europe. (4)

Apart from the social change which was ushered in by the diktats of imperialism and colonialist policies, the literature and literary criticism in the world has also undergone a sea change in the last century. The following Chapter discusses three primary texts in the light of these changes by undertaking an analysis of the process of colonialism and its impact on the writer and his creative work.

The concepts and theoretical prisms discussed earlier have been used to discuss and analyze the texts selected for study. For instance, Yug Sanvar is analyzed from the view point of nativism, hybridity and manichean allegory and the impact of helpless self-conversion and compulsive religious conversion on the society in general and the subaltern in particular. The novel Skin is analyzed through the use of the notions of hybridity and mimicry, diaspora, the subaltern and feminism. Kanthapura is seen as a nativist response to the coloniser apart from the perspective of manichean allegory, nativism, use of English language, the status of women and the downtrodden, the social divide, and the issue of caste system prevalent in the society. 74

Of the novels of the African context, Petals of Blood has been seen as an example of neo-colonialism apart from the issue of patriarchy and the urban-rural divide that dominate it; Cry, the beloved Country is discussed as an example of hybridity, neo- colonialism, rural-urban divide, issue of White-Black divide and problems faced by the subaltern; in Things Fall Apart the issues of double-colonisation, issue of the subaltern, the status of women in the patriarchal set-up, manichean allegory and the onslaught of religion have been taken up for discussion.

Thus, the further course of the study will involve analyzing the texts by eclectically using the critical approaches within postcolonial theory. These will be supplemented with indigenous notions of „sthalapurana‟ and „sthalamahatmya‟ in chapter Five.

CHAPTER-THREE Before and After Colonial Encounter: Case of India and Africa (Things Fall Apart, Yug Sanvar, Skin)

3.1 Introduction Writers of fiction from erstwhile colonial societies often tend to analyse the issue of colonialism and the effects of the colonial encounter on the society of the time, both directly and indirectly. The work of fiction may be set during the colonial regime or in the post-colonial era, depending upon the requirement of the narrative. But these writers imagine and thematise the problems associated with the relevant phase of colonial rule. Often seeking historical references to authenticate their narrative, they interrogate the fall out of colonisation drawing attention to the cultural alienation resulting in the generation of what Bhabha(1994) calls, the „mimic men‟, who are “almost the same, but not quite”(86) and who are caught in a state of free-fall between the native and the coloniser cultures.

No wonder, these writers often end up rewriting and „correcting‟ history, if it is perceived as presented predominantly from the western or coloniser‟s point of view, and provide an interpretation of historical events in the light of the native colonial experience. These works also highlight the struggles which led to the rise of nationalism in the respective societies to resist colonial excesses and subvert, if possible, the colonial rule. Hence, it is interesting to analyse and interpret such works of fiction.

This Chapter analyses the impact of colonisation on native culture, its people and the social systems of the time as portrayed in the three novels under study, namely Things Fall Apart (1958) by Chinua Achebe, Yug Sanvar ( 2004) by Mahabaleshwar Sail and Skin ( 2001) by Margaret Mascarenhas.

In fact, these novels can be read as case studies of cultural colonialism, native identity and anti-colonial resistance. Things Fall Apart, a Nigerian novel, fictionally represents the African countries colonised by western powers and which faced conditions similar to those in the novel. Likewise, Yug Sanvar, an Indian novel in Konkani, looks critically at the colonial encounter in Goa, one of the earliest and

lengthiest era of colonisation on the Indian subcontinent, from 1510 A.D. to 1961 A.D. under the Portuguese rule. While, the third novel Skin by Margaret Mascarenhas covers a wider spectrum of time, place and perspective, it also touches the histories of Goa, as well as Africa and refers in passing to other regions across the world as well. Interestingly, all the three novels widely contextualize the socio-historical reality of the so-called „third-world‟ countries to a greater or a lesser extent.

Achebe writes about the Igbo society, which is a part of Nigeria while Sail presents the Adolshi village set in Goa, then a part of the larger Indian subcontinent. Mascarenhas‟ Skin is also set largely in colonial Goa. In these novels, there is no direct concern for „nation‟ per se. But the native community culture, indigenous religious faith and the land which has nourished them are thrown into relief.

In Things Fall Apart, the Umuofia and breakdown of the age-old traditions get focused. In Yug Sanvar, the disastrous outcome of the mindless interference of the colonisers and their agents into the indigenous community systems of Adolshi village are discussed at length. In Skin the concerns are more personal than social, yet willy- nilly the societal reality of the colonial society does get focussed time and again.

The moot question here is whether these novels represent the history of their respective nations. For instance, the two novels Things Fall Apart and Yug Sanvar are necessarily nationalistic literature while expressing their spirit of anti-colonialism. They may speak of the Igbo and the Goan society, yet they portray the colonial structure in the two nations, namely, Nigeria and India respectively. The fictions may dwell on the innocuous advent of colonisation and the deep-rooted changes felt by a small section of that native society. Notwithstanding this fact, these experiences, albeit at a miniscule level, are representative of that nation moreover of that community.

Hence, a brief discussion about the political history of these countries, which gained political independence after a long struggle for freedom becomes relevant. In the case of Africa, the “Berlin Scramble” in 1884-85 resulted in breaking up the major part of the African continent into „nations‟ from the European colonial point of view. What this meant for the colonised Nigeria, or for that matter for the continent

of Africa itself, is best expressed in the article, 'Achebe's Arrow of God' by Olakunle George (2005) where he perceptively observes,

[…] the boundaries of the nation states of contemporary black Africa were drawn by European powers at Berlin Conference in 1884-85. This act of mapping and naming was in line, by and large, with the interests of the main European powers themselves[…]In this sense, the project of nation-building advocated by pan- African nationalists since the decolonisation struggle of the 1950s might be thought of as one of engineering African version of a pre-constituted Western model. Black African nationalism of the mid- twentieth century was all along an attempt to 'translate' a western category of the nation-state by recreating it in an African political space. (344)

Under such circumstances, in the African context, the nation seems to draw less importance and is replaced with the wider perspective of „Black‟ and „White‟. Okonkwo, the protagonist in Things Fall Apart, stands not only for Umuofia or the Igbo or Nigeria but represents the stand of the Black colonised individual who is battling tooth and nail against the „White‟ colonial forces. The battle is between the faith in the age-old indigenous forces resting in traditions and customs as against the colonial forces of change, ready to usurp and overthrow them or cast them apart into disarray.

Wole Soyinka (1996) also writes in a comparable tone about his own country Nigeria, and believes that territorial boundaries are less relevant than justice and ethical life. He writes:

I accept Nigeria as a duty; that is all. I accept Nigeria as a responsibility, without sentiment. I accept that entity. Nigeria as a space into which I am bound to collaborate with fellow occupants in the pursuit of justice and ethical life… Expression such as „territorial integrity‟ and the „sacrosanctity of boundaries‟, those relics of colonial master- slave bequest that abjectly glorify the diktat of colonial powers, are meaningless in such a context. (233)

In the Nigerian context in particular, and African context in general, the colonial encounter created more problems than what it is claimed to have solved. The short term of colonial occupancy in most of the African countries, covering a period of not

more than one hundred years, broke down the social structure and state boundaries, the repercussions of which are being still felt in volatile situations across African nations.

Ostensibly, Things Fall Apart is the novel which revolves around the life of the ambitious and harsh protagonist Okonkwo, living in Umuofia, and the suffering he goes through due to the offence against the Earth Goddess. This problem is further complicated due to the influx of the „white‟ man. The word „white‟ stands for the European colonisers. The response to these complex depictions has been distinctly varied, depending upon the bias of the critic concerned. As Wren (1982) observes:

[T]he white chauvinist may complain briefly that Achebe has blackened the white man and civilized the savage, while the black chauvinist will delight in recognizing the falsity of the very notions of „African Primitive mind‟ and the „civilizing influence of the European‟. (x)

Much like Things Fall Apart, the novel Yug Sanvar also describes the socio-religious happenings in the small fictional village of Adolshi, set somewhere between the end of the Portuguese colonial policy of non-interference in the native religion and the establishment of „Inquisition‟ in Goa in 1560 A. D. It uncovers the fierce religious intolerance and mindless conversion undertaken by the clergy at the behest of the colonial powers and the erstwhile Catholic Church.

Inquisition is a sensitive issue in the history of Goa and represents the dark side of proselytization. The novel presents myriad characters and their reactions to the conversion from their indigenous faith to Christianity. The novel reveals the lament of the author, wherein he portrays the indigenous population as docile and dormant. Very few raise their voice or their arms against the oppressors. The society mutely accepts its fate.

There are certain characters who present their meek protest against atrocities and religious conversions, but they too fail in getting adequate support from others. The character of Padre Simao represents the essence of Christianity – human love and kindness -as opposed to the ruthless missionary activity of using Inquisition as a

tool of terror and power. Ironically, Padre Simao himself becomes a persona non grata and is tried under the severe Inquisition.

Both the novels portray native society as civilized in its own way. Basically, both the societies are agrarian. As in all the agrarian communities, the native life revolves around Nature, hence around ploughing, sowing, reaping and then the celebrations when the farmer has attained plenty from the earth with his hard work. Thus, there is time for hard work and merry-making. The whole life moves in a set cyclical pattern, which seems to continue till eternity.

Interestingly, one novel is set in the last decade of the nineteenth century in the African continent and the other in the Indian subcontinent, in the mid sixteenth century. Yet, despite the distance of time and place, the invaders‟ attack is difficult for the indigenous populace to comprehend. This leads to commotion and the „white man‟ renders the traditional mechanisms ineffective, leading to disorder. Hence, as portrayed in respective novels, both the villages, , namely, Umuofia and Adolshi, experience confusion, social division, hopelessness, tremendous loss and an uncertain future.

As such, based on the fictional depictions in the primary texts shortlisted for study in this Chapter, the issues analyzed mainly include the following: denationalization of the communities as the result of colonialism; the issue of conversion and its after- effects on the basically religion-centered native societies; the anti-colonial voices; the strengths and weaknesses of the pre-colonised society; and the author‟s social responsibility.

3.1.1 About the novels Of the three novels, Things Fall Apart and Yug Sanvar come close in their presentation of indigenous societies and the impact of colonisation on them. They throw into focus the issue of denationalization of the native community, by portraying its status prior to the colonial encounter followed by its altered status due to the changes-both willful and forceful- that it went through. The community is left in a complex situation of self-search as never before.

Margaret Mascarenhas‟ Skin is a multi-layered saga that spans three continents, across several generations and many centuries. The story moving from America to Africa to Goa, uses multiple narrative modes, which include folk-tales of Angola, dreams, myths and other folklore. On one hand, the plot presents in passing the historical colonial situation in Goa, and on the other, it depicts magic realism and allied elements of the supernatural. Skin is a complex tale woven across the past and the present. Unlike Things Fall Apart and Yug Sanvar it is not a historical fiction per se, yet the family narrative gets presented through the flitting pages of history.

In fine, all the three novels consider history as an important element in their fiction. Thus, it becomes pertinent to look at the three novels discussed in this Chapter from the point of view of the historical changes which the societies of the day underwent due to colonisation.

Interestingly, when such texts are analyzed by different minds, at different times in the context of other works of fiction set in different climes and times, the results can be insightfully revealing. Such can be the result of a careful comparison between Things Fall Apart from Africa and Yug Sanvar from India.

Things Fall Apart and Yug Sanvar depict the socio-cultural conditions in the erstwhile communities. The novels are statements on the society of the day and the impact of colonialism. Achebe narrates a story of the Igbo society, the protagonist Okonkwo and the issue of colonialism and how the community itself falls apart. Sail narrates the story of a society, which is again imperfect and beset with lacunae. But he narrates the story of the defeated and the beaten. He is sorry about his own society and hints at the weaknesses within than without, which culminated in the things falling apart with the advent of colonisation in Adolshi village.

3.2 Nativity and ‘Savagery’ vis-à-vis Colonisation and ‘Civilization’ One of the purported reasons cited for colonisation was to civilize the natives. However, the men of Umuofia as depicted in Things Fall Apart or those in Goa as seen in Yug Sanvar and Skin are not savage.

According to P. D. Xavier (2010), “[W]hen Portuguese landed in India, they did not meet unlettered or savage men” (203). The community was cultured in their

behavior and followed their own socio-politic-economic-religio system. The European colonisers whether in Goa or in Nigeria with their prejudiced mind ended up becoming savage themselves.

The three novels in discussion, present incidents from history, fictionally rewritten to show the barbarity and savagery of the colonisers. The two cases fictionalizing history, one from Things Fall Apart and the other from Yug Sanvar are given below. The available records from history are also provided below each case, to substantiate this claim.

In Things Fall Apart, Obierika narrates incident in Abame when a white man with his “iron horse” loses the path and is captured by natives. The Oracle warns that “the strange man would break the clan and spread destruction among them”(TFA 101). The natives kill the man and tie his “iron horse” to the sacred tree. But later when it is discovered by the other white men, they retaliate by opening fire on the unarmed native men who had gathered on a market day. In all, there are only three white men with guns while others are native black. Yet the former massacre and destroy Abame (TFA xv; Things Fall Apart-Henceforth all references to this text will be indicated by the abbreviation TFA).

A similar incident had happened on 16th November 1905 when Dr. J. F. Stewart set off to go on a bicycle but lost his way. He was captured by the black natives and as Robert M. Wren (1982) describes the incident as narrated by the then colonial officer H. M. Douglas, “Stewart was stripped, bound and beaten and afterwards he was cut and shared. His bicycle was also broken up and shared” (13). After a month of this incident on 13th December, Captain Fox and some black soldiers came, intending a surprise attack, but the market had very few people. But on 16th December the group killed 19 men in retaliation. This incident of Dr. Stewart was a major impetus and a justification for the “Bende-Onitcha Hinterland Expedition”(13). This further lead to building of motorable roads in the hinterlands of Africa, subduing or destroying the clans and opening up of the lands for colonial enterprise and missionaries (Wren 13).

Similar intervention of Portuguese regime is seen in the case of the Chodan incident as presented in Yug Sanvar. The Portuguese systematically destroy the goddess Chamundeshwari Temple at Chodan, which was considered to be of utmost 82

importance to all the Hindus of Goa and surrounding areas. Portuguese felt that once this temple is brought down and desecrated, the process of religious conversion could catch up speed (YS 55-58; Yug Sanvar-Henceforth all references to this text will be indicated by the abbreviation YS).

On the orders of Joao III ( 1502-1557 ), Viceroy Francis Barreto is awaiting an opportunity for speeding up religious conversions. It comes when an accident occurrs while pulling the “Rath” or the Chariot of the Goddess in which three native Hindu devotees die. The Portuguese ban the 'Rath Yatra' but devotees still continue with it the next year, and the Viceroy sends a strong force of 60 policemen to stop it.

Clashes break out, resulting in deaths of the Hindu pilgrims and injuring the police. As a mark of retaliation to what the Hindu devotees have done, the whole temple is destroyed. The temple is desecrated by cutting two cows in the temple itself. Later the whole temple is broken down.

Mahabaleshwar Sail writes in the fictional narrative, “For three days continuously they were breaking down the temple, while only two soldiers guarded with mere swords in their hands” (YS 58). All the land belonging to the temple is distributed among New Converts.

This has a severe effect on the Goan society. Fear reigns and rumors about conversions spread like wild fire. Such incidents of pulling down the Hindu temples and their desecration, as seen in the novel, were carried out meticulously and with precision. Prabhu Bhembre (1987) and A. K. Priolkar (2008) list down the details of destruction of temples in the sixteenth and seventeenth century Goa.

It can be seen from such historical records that the colonisers and their interventions in the name of civilizing the natives created more violence than they might have prevented. Ironically, all such high-handed oppression and violence appears to have been considered legitimate and necessary.

Such is the classic example of the manichean allegory being at work here. There is a duel between the coloniser and the colonised. Each one trying to emphasize the genuineness of one‟s action. The violent reaction in the two cases shows the least

consideration the coloniser had towards the life and beliefs of the colonised. Manichaeism is a process of polarizing the society, culture and the people into coloniser and colonised with their binary oppositional category of good and evil. The „white‟ coloniser sees everything „other‟ as „black‟ and uncivilized.

The word „White‟ denotes the European coloniser, and for him the shooting at Abame (Things Fall Apart ) or the desecration and destruction of temple at Chodan (Yug Sanvar) are sanctified acts. The „Boomerang effect of colonisation‟ occurs when the coloniser inculcates the same behavioral patterns he abhors or planned to abolish.

The colonial encounter is broadly divided into Trade, Governance and Religious engagements. The beginning is usually with trade but result in the emergence of the remaining two aspects of the engagement. Of these two, the religious engagement works as an effective socio-cultural tool in favour of the colonisers and their interests. Hence, it is important to discuss this fact of colonial encounter.

3.3. Religion and religious conversion Religion played a dominant role in all ancient cultures whether in India or Africa, where it was the main factor moulding the lives of the people for ages. This leads to a realization that man is more than just the physical body or the mind. In fact, he is particularly gifted with a spiritual dimension to his nature. Religion is nothing but the path which helps an individual to transcend all that is relative and finite in him and enter into communion with the infinite or the Supreme Being.

Although, in Goa, the forms of worship differed among people, there was no intervention of the rulers in such matters before the Portuguese. Prior to 1510, Goa was historically and culturally attached to the erstwhile India. Vaishnavism, Shaivism and Shakti worship in the form of Sateri, Bhumika, Kelbai, Gajalakshmi, Mahalakshmi and Mahalasa was present. The rulers were not intolerant towards other religions. As V. R. Mitragotri(1999) observes, “[T]he kings of all the dynasties who had ruled Goa were tolerant towards other religions. No evidences of religious persecutions are found till the end of the Vijaynagar period”(98).

In Goa, religion acted as binding factor in all the spheres of lives, both after or prior to the colonial encounter. As P. D. Xavier states, “[…] religion played a vital role in the social development of an individual and that religion and society were inseperable”(123). However, the state of affairs with the colonial polity of the two Iberian nations namely Portugal and Spain were exactly opposite.

In the Goan context, the Portuguese lent full support both in financial and administrative terms for conversion drive in their conquered territories. Delio Mendonca (2002) puts it vehemently that the Portuguese have been taken as “religious fanatics”, “[…]because they interfered ordinarily and aggressively with the local religious practices and social customs”(8).

The Portuguese sailing to India had two priorities in their mind, the first was the profit motive and the second which was equally important, was the religious conversion. Maria Couto (2004) describes it as, “Almas e especiara, Christians and spices, Vasco-da-Gama is supposed to have said in 1498” (103).

Interestingly, in British India, Portuguese Goa or erstwhile colonised African nations, conversion meant not just a change in belief, worship or approach to God, it meant Europeanization and acculturation to Western way of life along with an expected fluency in the coloniser‟s language, namely, English, Portuguese or any other, as the case may be.

It becomes necessary here to look at the point of view of Mahabaleshwar Sail as expressed in the Foreword to Yug Sanvar. Sail claims, “I believe in God but not in any organized religion”(YS 6). With reference to the religion and religious conversion Sail claims, “[B]y confining God within the framework of organized religion, we breed intolerance of other faiths. By interpreting the teachings of the prophets in a manner that suits our own ends, we create immense havoc [...]” (YS 6).

It is this “havoc” unleashed by a powerful conqueror with a crucifix in one hand and a sword in the other on an unsuspecting mass of people caught up in rituals and taboos, fragmented by issues of caste and social hierarchies that forms the theme of the novel.

3.3.1. Christianity in India It is a well-known fact that the Portuguese were not the first to introduce the Christian religion to this part of the world. Fr. Cosme Jose Costa in The Heritage of Govapuri (2002) refers to the finding of a “Cryptic Cross” in Goa which is said to be as old as 800 years, which raises an issue whether there were any Christians prior to 1510 (122). Delio de Mendonca provides references of chroniclers and historians about the issue and concludes, “There was no Christian settlement here before 1510”(105).

However, it is an issue to ponder, because during the Inquisition period the Portuguese burned manuscripts and books that were found in the possession of the so- called heretics. Even the books stored in Ela were turned to ashes. Hence, there is very less known about the rule of Yousuf Adil Shah, the presence of Christian community prior to 1510 and hardly anything about the foundation of the city of Ela on the banks of Mandovi river. This city was in operation at least 40 years prior to the Portuguese conquest .

Jawaharlal Nehru in his Glimpses of World History (1934) comments as follows:

[Y]ou may be surprised to learn that Christianity came to India long before it went to England or Western Europe and when even in Rome it was a despised and proscribed sect. Within 100 years or so of the death of Jesus, Christian missionaries came to South India by sea. They were received courteously and permitted to preach their new faith. They converted a large number of people, and their descendants have lived there, with varying fortunes to this day. Most of them belong to old Christian sects which have ceased to exist in Europe. (87)

In the context of Goa, there were two elements for conversion from 1560 to the end of the 17th century. One was the proselytizing zeal of the missionaries and second was the acquiescence of the converts to secure his person and his property. But it was the Inquisition which was instituted in Goa in 1560, the dark period which devastated the region for the next two and a half century.

Delio de Mendonca (2002) lists down three phases of conversion during the 16th century. The first is from 1510-1540: this was the era when tolerant religious attitudes were accepted till 1540; the second being from 1540-1580, when drastic 86

steps were taken to eliminate or reform the local Hindu practices. The obstacles to conversion were forcefully eliminated, “[T]he missionary zeal and intolerance reached their peak in the sixties”(Mendonca 100). It was in 1545 that King D. Joao III (1502-1557, Reign 1521-1557) had ordered to eradicate idolatry and erect crosses at appropriate places. His successor, D. Catarina, the queen regent (1557-1562) upheld the intolerant religious practices and policies. Provincial Council of 1567 and 1575 adopted various reforms. The third phase is from 1580-1610: this phase saw continuity in conversions with special attention given to the new converts. The Goa was no more “The Golden Goa” as it lacked funds and also faced various problems like famine, poverty and wars with Adil Shah.

The religious conversions and destruction of temples in Chodan (Chorao) are seen differently by Maria Couto. In her view, the mass conversion of the whole villages in Goa is a classic example of leader- based change of faith. It was the village chiefs who discussed the pros and cons of survival and at last decided to convert to Christianity en masse. Even those who had left the village, joined in on the assurance of getting back their land; Couto (2004) refers to it as “[…] change of faith that was linked to an identity based on soil and ownership of land”(114). The novel Yug Sanvar brings out the turbulent period the erstwhile Goan populace faced. It was a human tragedy.

The history of Goa discussed here looks at the incidences which took place in the state of Goa during the sixteenth century A. D.

3.3.2 Goan Society at the Advent of Colonial Conquest The Goan society prior to Portuguese invasion was a part of the larger India. So the customs, traditions and the religion practiced in Goa were somewhat similar as in the other parts of India. P. D. Xavier (2010) declares, “[I]t was against these customs and tradition that the Christian missionaries in Goa and the state mounted this attack and partly succeeded in transforming the Goan society to western ways […]” (183). Laxmikant Vyankatesh Prabhu Bhembre (1987) looks at the different laws and regulations passed and decisions taken by the Portuguese government on the religious practices which ultimately resulted in arduous situations for the Goan society then. This eventually lead to proselytization or migration of the indigenous populace. The

Religious congregation and decisions taken thereby are important in understanding the enthusiasm with which the Portuguese administration worked.

In all, one conference and five regional congregations were held as under: (i)1562- Mahatparishad –Tridantnagari; (ii)1567- First Provincial Council; (iii)1575- Second Provincial Council; (iv)1585- Third Provincial Council; (v) 1592- Fourth Provincial Council; (vi)1606- Fifth Provincial Council.

The detailed analysis of each conference held to pass decisions concerning the governance and religions practices have been carefully presented by Prabhu Bhembre (1987) in his well-studied work.

By 1540 all the Hindu temples were demolished under the supervision of Padre Minguel Vaz (Bhembre 5). By 1544 Portuguese forces had partly taken control of the talukas Salcete and Bardez.

Laxmikant Vyankatesh Prabhu Bhembre discusses following details about various dictums passed by the provincial councils. Some selected ones are listed here. In the conference of 1567 in its activity-II, Order no. IX stated that the Hindus should not be permitted to keep the religious books with them. In the third conference held in 1585, idolatry was summarily rejected and anybody practicing the same was entitled for punishment. The free movement of Hindu preachers, Jogi, Joshi, etc. was stopped through an Order No. VII passed during the fourth Regional Conference held in 1592.

The decisions taken during the council meetings include destruction of temples, desecration of idols, destruction of religious books, excommunication of Brahmins, Prabhu, Gurav, Joshi etc., ban on Hindu vaidya and nurse, pressurizing the children, ban on programmes which involved a joint gathering of Hindus and Christians, financial restriction on Hindus and rewards to new converts, restrictions on pilgrimages, ban on folk arts and folk culture of the masses, misuse of caste system, and many such decisions were passed which restricted the indigenous Hindu populace and pushed them into hardships.

Why did Portugal attempt at proselytizing with such zeal and fervour? This question requires meticulous study, because it is a well-known fact that Portuguese had continued with this practice even at the cost of social displeasure of the colonised and economic hardships it faced back home. Thus, it becomes necessary to understand the mindset of the Portuguese.

3.3.3 The mind-set of the Portuguese In the foreword to Goa: The Rachol Legacy, Sadashiv Gorakshkar (1997), the Director of Prince of Wales Museum of Western India, makes the following observation, “[T]he history of Goa with the advent of the Portuguese who came with a sword in one hand and a cross in the other, is one of agony and ecstasy; agony for those natives who suffered at the hands of Proactive Jesuit missionaries and ecstasy for the latter whose proselytizing activity brought a mistaken glory to their faith‟(vii). Delio de Mendonca (2002) has deduced the following reasons which prompted Portuguese to undertake forceful religious conversions, especially in the colonies.

1. The Church of Rome accorded itself the divine right to preach and spread the spiritual development. Thus, it strongly believed that the Empire should assist it in this endeavour. 2. The citizens of Portuguese colonies were considered to be Portuguese and it was the responsibility of Portugal to make them accept the religion of their rulers, enhance spiritual development and help in freeing the nation that they believed lived in utter „barbarity‟. 3. Religious conversion, initially involved only baptism which was a religious as well as socio-political act. Later the noose was tightened against non- believers. Rules and regulations as introduced in Europe were implemented here. This involved total abstinence from idol worship, which was considered to be the greatest sin. 4. Forceful conversion did develop a dislike for Portuguese rule, yet some viceroys were of the opinion that it was the service in the interest of the State, the King and the Religion. 5. Religious conversion was as an act of reformation of customs which could be only attained through knowledge of the Christ (Mendonca 100).

If this is what happened to the native population of Goa, the effects of religious conversion on the Igbo society also deserves a closer look for comparative understanding of the situations.

3.3.4 Religious conversion in the Igbo Society The process of evangelization is a part of the larger colonial process. But to label all the missionaries as the emissaries of colonial power would be incorrect. Some of them stood firm on religious conversion only, thus sometimes criticizing the policies adopted by the colonisers in the field of trade or governance. In the context of Things Fall Apart, the new religion is not accepted en-mass but by the weak and the destitute. Chielo, the priestess of Agbala, calls the converts the excrement of the clan and the new faith as a mad dog that has come to eat it up. The missionaries who have come to Umuofia build their church and send evangelist to the surrounding towns and villages. The leaders of the clan are unhappy about this development and believe that “[W]hite man‟s god would not last” (TFA 107). Those who convert first are called “efulefu” or the worthless or empty men.

The missionaries, one white and remaining five blacks in Mbanta are an unwelcome guests. The white man speaks while the interpreter translates. He talks about universal brotherhood because it is the Creator who created all. He is bold enough to announce that the indigenous gods they worship are false. He says that all men go to Him after death for judgement: “[E]vil men and all the heathen who in their blindness bowed to wood and stone were thrown into a fire that burned like palm-oil. But good men who worshipped the true God, lived forever in His happy kingdom”(TFA 108). He says, “[W]e have been sent by this great God to ask you to leave your wicked ways and false gods and turn to Him so that you may be saved when you die” (108).

The white missionary compares the two religions: the native Igbo way of life and the new Christian religion. He summarily denounces their (Igbo) religious practices as “false” and their ways of worship as “wicked”. Worshipping Gods of stone and wood was “blindness” and the “Great God” who has sent him is the only Savior.

What made a white preacher preaching a religion unknown to the Igbo to be so bold and sarcastic? One reason is the strong faith in his own religion, i.e. Christianity. The second reason is the strong belief he has in the administration and the „white‟ military 90

power which was strongly behind him. The third reason is the belief in the „backwardness‟ of the native African population. The fourth reason is the accommodative nature of the African society. Although Okonkwo thinks of driving away the evangelists, Uchendu along with other elders grant them a place to build their church in the evil forest. The fifth reason is that the community takes a group decision, hence, although the missionary denigrates their Gods, the native populace listen, without any violent reactions.

In the Igbo society, as in the Goan society, God is visualized as the power which is seen, felt or believed to respond when the need of the individual or a community is dire. As such when the old man in Things Fall Apart remarks, “[W]hich is this god of yours […] the goddess of the earth, the god of the sky, Amadiora or the thunderbolt, or what?”(TFA 107), it is evidence enough of a distinct but firm belief from that of the European colonisers.

The Igbo society treats the elements of nature as their gods along with the worship of ancestors, also prevalent in that society. This is anathema to the preaching of Christianity which the colonisers believe in. Consequently, the white missionary rejects out right the local beliefs and instills the same skepticism in the minds of the neo-converts about the supposed “falsity” of their native “Gods”.

The significant remark which instills courage in the new converts towards committing apparently sacrilegious acts, is the statement, “[y]our gods are not alive and cannot do you any harm”(TFA 107). As though an illustration of this new-found boldness, the three converts boast openly that all the native Igbo gods were dead and impotent and they were prepared to defy them by burning their shrines (TFA 116). Such an approach may seem unwarranted, but in the given circumstances, it was necessary for the new converts to reinforce their new-found religious beliefs. The seeds of such re-enforcement are sown in the minds of the new converts through the teachings about new religion by the missionaries in the novel. Moreover, inculcating an attitude of looking down upon their past with contempt, also helps the native convert to overcome his apparent sense of guilt or fear for having given up a centuries-old system of belief.

Another incident, the unmasking of Egwugwu -the masked spirit- is an act of desecration committed by Enoch, the overzealous convert. Enoch boasts aloud that none could dare to touch a Christian, receives stroke of cane from the egwugwu. Enoch in retaliation tears off the mask of egwuwgwu, which means that he has killed an ancestral spirit, thus throwing Umuofia into confusion. As a retaliation, the church is attacked and destroyed. Ajofia, the leading egwugwu of Umofia talks to Mr. Smith with controlled anger, restraint and dignity in his speech. He begins thus, “the body of the white man, I salute you?”(TFA 138) He says further that they liked his brother that is Mr. Brown and for his sake they do not wish to harm Mr. Smith.

The matter of co-existence even in such dire circumstances may be observed when Ajofia says, “[Y]ou can stay with us if you like our ways. You can worship your own god. It is good that a man should worship the gods and the spirits of his fathers. Go back to your house so that you may not be hurt. Our anger is great but we have held it down so that we can talk to you” (TFA 139).

These words are not of a savage race, that believed in revenge and reaction. The matter of co-existence is supreme, but the problem occurs due to misunderstanding and misdeeds. In this context, Chinua Achebe makes his point in the discussion with U. R. Ananthamurthy published in Indian Literature (2013):

Most of our cultures were tolerant; the Ebo culture, for instance, sees the world immediately as a place where different ideas and different points of view could flourish. if I have my own God, youy have yours, so why don‟t we just go on eh? With two gods? And if somebody comes and says there are three, why not? So you are more or less predisposed, to accept others on the basis of trust. And Somebody comes who is so single minded, that he says that this is the only way, the only truth, you are going to be in difficulty, for this man is a fanatic and you are not; a fanatic fights and the other man doesn‟t fight. He will say rather than fight, you take it. And it is an appeasement. (17)

The taboos followed by the clan again are rooted in the religious beliefs. The twins were left to die in the evil forest. People like Unoka who suffer from the swelling in the stomach and the limbs are considered an abomination to earth, hence not buried after death. They die and rot away above the earth. The osu‟s who are the outcasts

suffer in the indigenous system and thus find respite in Christianity. Of all, Ikemefuna is the tragic character who receives importance in the story. Jonathan A. Peters (1978) refers to him as a Christ figure because of his suffering and death (106). It is Ikemefuna‟s killing which motivates Nwoye towards conversion, as it provided respite and relief from the Igbo mindset. The social schemes have been too rigid for Nwoye. The first woman who joins them is Nneka, wife of Amadi, a prosperous farmer. She is pregnant for the fifth time. The earlier four times she had given birth to twins and the family members are highly critical about such a woman. She joins the Christians to save her unborn children, in case they are born as twins. Her flight is considered as “a good riddance”(TFA 113) by the family members.

If this was the situation in Nigeria, or to be more precise the Igbo society, the condition in Goa as seen during the pre-colonial and colonial times differed. The novels Yug Sanvar and Skin depict the colonial encounter and forced conversions. In this context it becomes pertinent to understand the Goan social structure prior to colonisation and later the effects of colonisation on the erstwhile society.

3.3.5 The Gods and their place in the indigenous faith tradition Interestingly the traditional agrarian societies, whether Igbo or the Goan societies have pantheon of Gods and Goddesses and they constitute a part of the larger indigenous faith tradition.

In Things Fall Apart, “Ifejiodu” is the god of yams, and he has a shrine (TFA 13). “Amadiora”,the thunderbolt; “Idemili”, “Ogwugwu” the god of giver and protector of life; “ „Chukwu” the high god has neither priest nor shrine. He is the supreme hence difficult to fathom. “Ikenga” is the personal god represented through the wood which a man keeps in his own hut.

Mr. Brown the missionary in Things Fall Apart, spends hours talking about the religion, God, and other subjects concerning the different beliefs of the Igbo community with Akunna in his “ „Obi‟” with the help of his interpreter. This discussion is important in the sense, it shows the in-depth beliefs of a community which had evolved since generations. They talk of the Supreme God of Christianity, and Chukwu of the Igbo, whom missionaries would ridicule as one of the “false” gods venerated by the Igbo community. 93

When Mr. Brown calls a carved piece of wood as false god, Akunna speaks of the Supreme philosophy thus, “[I]t is indeed a piece of wood. The tree from which it came was made by Chukwu, as indeed all the minor gods were. But He make them for His messengers so that we could approach Him through them […]”(TFA 132).

He says further “[…][W]e make sacrifices to the little gods, but when they fail and there is no one else to turn to, we go to Chukwu. It is rightly to do so. We approach a great man through his servants. But when his servants fail to help us, then we go to the last source of hope. We appear to pay greater attention to the little gods but that is not so. We worry them because we are afraid to worry their Master. Our fathers knew that Chukwu was the Overlord and that is why many of them gave their children the name Chukwuka[…]”(TFA 132-133). Neither Mr. Brown nor Akunna convince each other, but Mr. Brown arrives at a conclusion that this culturally rich and rooted community cannot be converted through a frontal attack and the result is the construction of a school and a hospital in Umuofia. Mr. Brown is not a foolish man, but feigning foolishness.

On the other hand, in the context of Goan society in Yug Sanvar it needs to stated that the native villagers practice what is today termed as Hinduism. It is the most ancient of still-active religions, with origins perhaps as far back as prehistoric times. It is not a monolithic religion but a religious category containing dozens of separate philosophies amalgamated as Sanātana Dharma, which is the name by which Hinduism has been known by its followers throughout history.

In Yug Sanvar the society lives in a traditional set-up. The Gods and Goddesses are not just present but participate in the day to day affairs. Goddess Sateri is actually the sacred mound of mud, an anthill which is inhabited by snakes, ants and other insects. According to V. R. Mitragotri (1999), “[T]he anthills symbolically represent Mother Earth and are made up of earth itself” (136).

Here the earth is equated to Mother, thus strengthening the relation between the woman and earth as represented through “Saanteri.” According to Rohit Phalgaonkar (2011) the anthill worship dates back to the primitive tribes or the agrarian communities which worshipped natural entities, local spirits and supernatural powers. „Saanteri‟ is a representation of Mother Earth. “The anthill was the only entity 94

available on the earth which is a non-living being and still has growth and is also a perfectly symbolizing soil”(8-9).

The Goddess Saanteri in Yug Sanvar has a temple which is made up of thatched roof. “It represented the figure which had emerged out of the mother earth” (YS 13). Venku Nayak, one of the villager, prays seeking the blessings to the Goddess thus, “[I]t is your power which makes the crops and fruits to grow. I offer you what you have grown, before I take it to my children and other family members. Grant strength to our soil. Give us the fruits, the crop, the trees, the shade. Don‟t starve us. Don‟t leave us thirsty” (YS 13). The Goan society is very much „chthonic‟ i.e. „earthly‟ or having close relationship with the soil.

The Gods are a living part of the erstwhile Goan agrarian Hindu community, hence, in the novel Yug Sanvar the villagers of Adolshi are angry when the tiger kills the bulls. Some villagers cannot control their anger and they say, “[W]hat has happened to the power of God? If God has turned to stone than better immerse in the pond. Otherwise keep out of the village boundary” (YS 14).

The village deity is Ramnath and there is a well-built temple for the deity. The other three deities or Gods are Betal, Barmo and Vagro. It is believed, “Betal protects the village, Barmo nurtures and Vagro devours”(YS 94).

In the traditional African religions, there are more similarities than differences. Often, the supreme God is worshiped through consultation or communion with lesser deities and ancestral spirits. In many traditional African religions, there is a belief in the cyclical nature of life. The living stand between their ancestors and the unborn. Traditional African religions believe in the natural phenomena, like the ebb and tide, waxing and waning moon, rain and drought, and the rhythmic pattern of agriculture.

In fine, traditional religions had been strongly embedded in the social matrix, yet it is a fact that religious conversion from their traditional beliefs to Christianity did occur. Both the Goan Hindu population and the Igbo faced this issue of conversion.

3.4 The men, the modes and the methods used for religious conversion A multi-religious population resided in Goa prior to colonisation, although majority were Hindus. According to Ivor Fjeld (2014) there were Synagogues, Mosques, Cross and Temples (48). The religious conversion in Goa was carried out using various methods, which included violence, appeasement and other unethical methods. The role played by missionaries, the methods used for proselytization and the resultant effects of the same on the missionaries, the church, the new-converts and the non-converted indigenous populace is discussed further.

In view of the same, the place accorded to the religious preachers needs attention and analysis. These preachers differ in their approach and outlook. Some are in frenzy, some calculative, while others are manipulative in their approach.

3.4.1 The role of preachers in Things Fall Apart, Yug Sanvar and Skin The religion is made known to the community through their preachers, who belonged to the missions of different institutions. These institutions had internal tussles and dissimilar relations with the government officers.

There is a difference between a preacher and a missionary. The main objective of a missionary is to spread the word of God or „plant‟ new churches. The word preacher comes from the verb „kerusso‟ which means proclaiming message from a higher authority. The role of preachers and missionaries are at the centre in Things Fall Apart and Yug Sanvar, because the administration can only attempt at cosmetic changes, but real in-depth uprooting and re-rooting of faith is done by the missionaries. The Gikuyu saying is despairingly expressed thus, “One white man gets you on your knees in prayer while the other steals your land”(see Colonisation in Africa 1870-1960 Vol. III 310). The Christian Missionaries in Africa had a strong contender in the form of Islam. But Christianity had an upper hand not because of its theology but due to the political dominance.

In Things Fall Apart, the representatives are Mr. Brown, Mr. Smith and Mr. Kiaga. Mr. Brown shows interest in the indigenous culture and traditions but his motive, as any other missionary is to convert the people to Christianity which according to him is the „true religion.‟

In Skin, Mascarenhas presents different aspects of preachers involved in missionary activity. To begin with, it is the Capuchin Monks who first entrap Nzinga-Nganga. The second is the white Spanish priest Father Augustin Cabello Martinez , who is molested by Maria, the young wife of Dom Bernardo. The third aspect is seen through the character of Sister Marie Magdalene (Saudade), who serves humanity through „Healing Mission‟ in places like Andaman. The Capuchin Monks had been devilish in their approach, Father Martinez had been a human in his endeavour, while Saudade is the only one who represents service to the mankind without any ulterior motive of converting them to Christianity.

The protagonist in Skin, Pagan, while in her fifth and final year at Immaculate Conception, is confused when Sister Lourdes, the French teacher says “Christianity is a religion of love”(Sk 176). Because the facts according to Pagan are different. She remembers the Inquisition and the ascetics who live in desert and starve in order to see the divine. On the issue of Inquisition the narrative reminisces thus:

Devout Catholics hated to be reminded of Inquisition. They would have liked to put it aside as an unfortunate mistake, a misdemeanor by some overzealous priests who thought they were doing the right thing at the time, priests who should be forgiven. Forgiven! As though several hundred years of oppression and forced conversion could be so easily erased from the collective memory of the people. And why should they be forgiven? Had they asked the people to forgive them? Had they made amends? (Sk 177)

Like sister Lourdes, the priests are using indirect means to propagate the religion among the Hindu girls at the convent. Pagan feels, “[E]ven here at the convent, Hindu girls were covertly coerced into participating in the religious activities of the nuns, making them feel conflicted within themselves, and inferior if they resisted” (Sk 177).

This makes Pagan to think about the “[…]desirability of religious affiliation, where other people had made the rules and used them towards their own ends” (Sk 178). Pagan is critical of the church because it had very little to do with Christ and, “[...] only lazy or stupid people would profess blind and unquestioning faith in the pronouncements of some men in robes” (Sk 178).

The character of Saudade presents another picture of a missionary although working in the same system of the convent. Pagan meets Saudade, her biological mother, who is now Sister Marie Magdalene and has devoted her life for helping the ailing tribal through, “[...]teaching them to survive in a world increasingly hostile to their lifestyle, showing them how to market their crafts so that they would not be forced to work as laborers and so that their traditions might not be lost”(Sk 180). She mentions about the problems of American and European tourists who are interested in anything that is tribal because “they have burned the bridges of their own tribe”, lost tracks of their ancient customs and traditions, and now desperately craved for what they had lost (Sk 180). Sister Marie Magdalene was in fact asked by the Belgian nuns to remain in their order as a lay sister. She is not a leader or a preacher of a certain faith, but she is the leader of the masses, which requires no affiliation to any religious beliefs.

In Yug Sanvar too, the idealized face of missionaries is presented through Padre Simao, who is educated in the Vatican and believes in preaching the word of God through love and peace. He has no political or administrative support, thus he is a lone member representing one facet of Christianity, the positive.

The character of Padre Simao is like Father Stephens (1549-1619), the Jesuit missionary who wrote Christ Purana (1616). Father Stephens arrived in Goa on 24th October 1579, during the second phase of conversion, when the tensions of proselytization were at its peak. The forceful conversions then were not assisting the converts to remain in the fold. Father Stephens mastered the local languages like Sanskrit, Marathi, Konkani, Kannada and Hindusthani before venturing to write the Christ Purana. His study of Bhakti literature provided him the understanding of the public psyche which he later included in his work. The text is presented in two volumes, through discussion between the preacher or the Guru and a new convert Brahmin named Vichakshan. It was an attempt to keep the new convert into the Christian fold and inculcate a liking towards Christianity.

Unlike Padre Simao, other missionaries in the novel have the political and administrative support. Hence, they believe in use of force and all other illegitimate means for the purpose. The laws are passed accordingly, the soldiers accompany such

missionaries who work within a set time frame. Holy Inquisition is the requirement of such missionaries, for whom time and number matter.

Padre Simao has difficulties in working freely in spreading the religion. There are internal power struggles between the clergy. The discussion Padre Simao has with Bishop Joao Alburquerque and the priest Padre Colaco are an eye-opener to what the religion ought to be. The Inquisitors who question Padre Simao and later punish him, present the harsh picture of preachers. There is clash of interests within the religion itself. The binary positions are visible between the colonisers and the colonised. There is again a binary positioning within the colonisers themselves, one supporting Christianity as a religion of love and compassion while the other is exactly the opposite. The colonisers are militarily superior to the indigenous population. But morally the views differ.

The „Holy Inquisition‟ was supposed to keep a check on the new converts who could revert back to old practices. Branding Padre Simao is a blunder and shows the manichean allegory working within the coloniser themselves. Padre Simao becomes like one of the „new converts‟. He is taken like an ordinary convict to the Inquisitionist. Manichean point of view sees the world in two opposite position of good and bad, God and Satan and so on.

Padre Simao is falsely condemned for heresy and punished wrongfully and yet carries the true image of the religion he represents. Franz Fanon (2001) observes,

The Church in the colonies is the white people‟s church, the foreigner‟s church. She does not call the native to God‟s ways but to the ways of the white man, of the master, of the oppressor. And as we know, in this matter many are called but few chosen. (31)

Sail shows the difference when it comes to practices or „ways of the white man‟ in practicing the religion and proselytization. The ways of „the white man‟ are divided and opposite to each other. One white man is pitted against the other. Both believe in the legitimacy of their actions.

The time spectrum as seen through the novels ranges from the sixteenth to the twentieth century. Yug Sanvar portrays the religious conversion in Goa in and 99

around 1560 A.D. Skin depicts the incident of Capuchin monks and their occupation in Angola in the sixteenth century, and the issue of Saudade in the last decade of the twentieth century. In Things Fall Apart it is the first decade of the twentieth century. But in all the cases, the system of conversion from one faith to another and the means used for the purpose are not the same, although the effect is.

The missionaries indulge in humiliating the indigenous traditions, desecrating or rebuking the religious practices and traditional Gods, encouraging new converts to indulge in sacrilegious activity, and using government machinery for conversion.

3.4.2 Humiliating the indigenous Humiliation is important to belittle the opponent and show the „other‟s‟ incapability to react which is used consistently in the colonial activity. Humiliation is a conscious mental effort which manifests in action. The world „humiliation‟ would mean belittling or looking down with contempt and dislike.

This act of looking down is at two levels. One is when the coloniser starts humiliating all that which is indigenous. Everything that is indigenous becomes a reason for contempt, hence the attire, the food habits, the religious practices, the social structures, the culture which has evolved since centuries is looked down by the coloniser.

In the second phase the coloniser –as in the religious conversion – converts the indigenous populace to his way of belief. Hence, begins the second phase of humiliation, this time by the indigenous person who has now started to believe what the coloniser believed in. None would doubt the integrity of the coloniser in humiliating the indigenous practices, but the new convert has to openly show and propagate this humiliation to show the coloniser i.e. his master that he too believes the same, albeit a bit more. Hence the act of humiliating the indigenous systems of faith and religion is done violently by the indigenous converted men, rather than the „white‟ coloniser.

In Yug Sanvar, Shef Rebeiro the native officer is equally or more cruel while dealing with the indigenous populace. In his discussion with the Captain, he reveals about his mother, a staunch Hindu, who committed suicide after she came to know about her

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two sons who embraced Christianity for the sake of retaining service and property (YS 83). For Shef Rebeiro and his brother the service and property are a means of survival, but their mother cannot accept the fact that this was done at the expense of religious conversion from Hindu to Christianity. The „white‟ men are small in number, but the „indigenous‟ populace, which is comparatively far bigger, follow the whites and obey their orders. This leads to the coloniser strongly influencing the thought process of the colonised.

Every religion or belief is represented through certain symbols, and in Things Fall Apart the Python being one of them, is addressed as “Our Father”. The sacred Python is “the emanation of god of water” (TFA 118). The rumour is that Okoli, a new convert has killed the royal python as an act of fanaticism. Although he rejects the charge, he dies the same night. The clan members are furious and in the assembly of elders they decide to control their rage and take up a lenient approach. One of the elders says, “[I]t is not our custom to fight for our gods, […] If we put ourselves between the god and his victim, we may receive blows intended for the offender. When a man blasphemes, what do we do? Do we go and stop his mouth? No. We put our fingers into our ears to stop hearing. That is a wise action”(TFA 119).

The approach of the converted men is schizophrenic, i.e. they, deep within them are trying to wipe out what they were and are also trying to be a part of the new system. Thus the social systems continued even after the change of faith and many of the practices within the church also underwent a symbiotic change. This may be referred to as the „nativisation‟ of the church.

3.4.3 The Nativisation of the Church The „nativisation‟ of the „church‟ is a process when the „church‟ starts adopting the native traditions and customs of the converted people. The „white‟ missionary talks about universal fraternity, the God being the Creator of all, but after winning the souls, the old indigenous systems followed in the earlier religion are carried forward. One of the converts says about accepting Osu‟s in the fold: “[Y]ou do not understand[…]what will the heathen say of us when they hear that we receive osu in our midst? They will laugh” (TFA 117). In Yug Sanvar the „tulasi vrindavan‟ in the veranda of the newly converted is broken. But merely removing it is not enough,

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because in its place a „cross‟ is erected. This has religious and socio-political relevance.

Delio Mendonca opines that the caste system which was a social factor, was reflected among the neo-convert clergy too. Hence, it was the prerogative of the people belonging to the upper caste to join the clergy. The conversion did not bring the Goan community on an equal pedestal, but continued to follow the same social system as was followed earlier. The people who read Hindu Purana began reading „Christ Purana’(1616) and „Peter Purana’(1629). S. G. Tulpule (1963) observes that Father Stephens undertook a difficult task to present the eastern version of Christ‟s philosophy. The idol in sanctum sanctorum is of Christ, while the whole paraphernalia and decorations are of Hindu culture (820).

In this context of religious and missionary activity, merely accusing the missionaries as the harbingers of religious bigotry, denationalization and as forces of evil would be incorrect. There were certain positive outcomes of their activity. So, it is incorrect to stamp the Missionary activity as absolutely negative or detrimental to the society.

3.4.4 The positive side of the Missionary activity Missionaries started facilities for formal schooling and hospitals. But to believe that the service was merely for service sake would be wrong. In Skin, Saudade joins the „Healing Mission‟ which is involved in helping the destitute and sick people in the far off island of Andaman. Her motive is not religious conversion, but assistance on humanitarian grounds. In Yug Sanvar, Padre Simao is genuinely concerned about those people who are in the lowest rung of the social ladder. He even argues with the local priest about the Hindu religion and its sanctions on caste discrimination, the practice of Sati and other issues. He rescues Marto Nayak‟s daughter Gunai who otherwise would have been a „sati‟ i.e. burned alive with her deceased husband. It is a historical fact that the sati practice was first banned in Goa way back in 1510 due to the efforts of the Missionaries, much before the British could do in India. In Things Fall Apart, Mr. Brown, the white missionary thinks of building a school and a hospital first, although proselytization is the motive.

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With all these changes ushering in, there is a strong feeling of denationalization which comes as a result of religious change. This in turn leads to erosion of cultural values and looking down upon one‟s indigenous culture.

3.4.5 Denationalization of community The religious change leads to a feeling of denationalization of an individual. Denationalization is opposite to nationalism. Nationalism is a belief or a political ideology concerning patriotism. Nationalism involves social conditioning and a belief that personal actions and behavior support a state‟s decision and actions. There is a relationship between religious conversion and denationalization, especially when this conversion is from the indigenous faith to the faith of the „colonisers‟ or the „foreigners‟. This view is applicable to those who willingly accept the change of faith for whatever reason.

In the initial stages, the change of faith leads to negation of the indigenous and accepting what is received from the colonisers as the „genuine‟ or the „truth‟. The colonisers consider those societies „acculturated‟ which believe in Western ideas of government, Western education, Anglican and Roman Catholic Christianity, money economy and western culture as a fundamental way of life. Such societies become culturally liberal, resulting in cases of traditional chiefs pitted against the young, western-educated, commoner politicians.

Such, so called acculturated communities do not indulge in the traditional practices as the indigenous people would do, because, for these men the new culture tends to have universal legitimacy. these men have become cultural hybrids. According to F. B. Welbourn (1971), these hybrid men “naturalize” the foreign elements in the indigenous socio-cultural system, and shatter the cultural integrity and “wholeness” through a period of radical change (320). The repercussions of these radical shifts made by the cultural hybrid men are visible in the due course of time in the important socio-cultural shifts the societies go through.

T. B. Cunha in „Denationalization of Goans’(1955) begins with these words:

In the whole of India, no people is so denationalized as Goans. A complete lack of national consciousness and the most shameful subjection to foreign

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rulers, either Portuguese or British, render the Goan and particularly the Goan Christians a stranger in his own land. A servile follower of everything foreign to his country, hybrid in manners and habits, living in disharmony with his natural surroundings, his strange behavior makes one doubt the purity of his race, which nevertheless in no way differs from that of the neighboring Indians. He is considered to be of mixed blood on account of the Portuguese names he has adopted and the western manners he affects. He has even been qualified as a „Portuguese mongrel‟ by a Catholic missionary. (4)

Thus, in the novel Yug Sanvar and Things Fall Apart the indigenous characters who convert are the ones who become “mimic man”. These characters become overzealous and are seen openly humiliating their earlier faith.

In Yug Sanvar, the characters who are converted by force, by deceit, through willingness, through appeasement or through ignorance, all go through this stage of fluctuations and movements between two ends of the new faith and the old faith. This state of confusion gives rise to re-creation of systems which earlier faiths followed, in the new faith. The earlier „Gavkari‟ system in Goa changed and the new avatar was named „Communidade‟ system. But interestingly the caste system continued even after change of faith.

The present analysis considers the religion and its impact on the colonised society. But other areas like social discriminatory systems, slavery and its impact, the place of an individual in the society, the place of woman in the patriarchal society need a closer analysis. Because the society or the social structure is itself dynamic, hence these questions become pertinent in analyzing the erstwhile societies in the context of the select novels.

3.5 The Community life In term of the African or Indian thought, life can be meaningful in a community, not in isolation. Thus community comes first and then the individual priorities. In the light of the above, the part played by a person in a society is important.

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3.5.1 An individual as a part of the larger society Whether it is the Goan society in Yug Sanvar or the Igbo society as portrayed in Things Fall Apart, both give importance to the group or to the collective benefit of the village or the clan.

Here, it would be of interest to understand the „Gavkari‟ system practiced in Goa. In the Goan context, the practice of „Gavkari‟ was very well planned system of village administration which accomplished its task through group decisions, centuries prior to the Portuguese invasion.

It is a peculiar administrative and socio-economic institution at the village level, consisting of members of the village community. The basic principle was, the land of the village belonged to the village deity and „Gauncars‟ or the selected members of the village maintained the upkeep of the temple and village through the amount collected through auction of these lands.

These male members, preferably the original settlers of the village, generally enjoyed certain privileges in village administration, including the claim of „jonos‟ or the profits of the agricultural produce of the village. The village meeting included usually male members to take decisions of public welfare and also to pass resolutions or „nemos‟ unanimously. The village scribe or the „kulkarni‟ kept a record of such resolution passed during the meeting. The chief „Gauncar‟ or the „Mhal Gauncar‟ in Yug Sanvar is respected in comparison to other „Gauncars‟.

Describing the privileges of the chief „Gauncar‟, P. D. Xavier (2010) writes:

At any social or religious function, the betel leaf with arecanut was given to him first, the „devdasis‟ and folk dancers performed at his residence before they did so at other residences: his house was thatched first […]. It was only a case of artificial social stratification but it was flexible or mobile as it was not hereditary or perpetual in a single person or family. (81)

It is believed that the system began with the Gavde and Kol tribes that settled in Goa, much before the colonial encounter. Nowhere in India could one find such a system of village administration.

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The Portuguese maintained this system, but during their proselytizing fervor, imposed certain restrictions upon them. For example, on 11th December, 1573 Governor Antonio Moniz Barreto issued an order to prohibit the Gauncar of Salcete to meet in assembly and pass resolution without a „Christian‟ Gauncar. If this dictum was not followed, the members were fined.

In Things Fall Apart, no decision of the clan is taken by an individual. The village elders discuss the matter before reaching to an amicable solution, which becomes binding on all. Thus collective will of the clan becomes paramount. In the case of murder at Mbaine, the decision taken by the clan is based on the principle of traditional justice. Thus, a life for a life and a wife for a wife. This results in transportation of Ikemefuna who is supposed to be sacrificed someday.

The complex or even the trivial issues of the clan are decided by the “egwugwu”, the ordinary men of the clan, but with a mask. Egwugwu are supposed to be transcendent beings, each representing the nine villages of Umuofia. The collective will of the clan is seen when Ezeani enforces the will of “Ani”, the Earth Goddess, when Okwonkwo violates the week of Peace (TFA 21). The decision of “ndichie”, the highest ranking elders to kill Ikemefuna is another example of group decision. Ezendu tells Okokwo “Umuofia has decided to kill him” (TFA 40). This decision has been made by the Oracle, and all should follow it. Although Okwonkwo - the powerful and prestigious man of the clan- is unaware of it, or neither consulted, hence he comes to know about it through Ezeudu. The clan of Umuofia is governed by Agbala, the Oracle of the Hills and Caves. The people visit the Oracle in times of misfortune or when they have any misgivings with their neighbors or to know what the future is held for them (TFA 12). The intermediary between the Oracle and the people is the priestess.

If the nine villages of Umuofia in Things Fall Apart were governed through the group decisions, then the Gavkari system evolved in Goa was also practiced for the overall development of the village. The Gavkari system as seen in Yug Sanvar refers to the high standards of social organization and governance prior to the Portuguese conquest. The system of governance in Things Fall Apart had no place for the outcaste men, that is Osu‟s. Similarly the low caste men in Yug Sanvar have no say in the local governance. When the Gavkars assemble to discuss about the problem of

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Portuguese soldiers residing in their village temple, Shaba Devali, whose caste in the hierarchy stands below the Gavkars says, “Yes, let us beat them out of here”. This one statement is enough to anger all the members and Bhadra Shenai- a gavkar- shouts back, “You other people have no right to speak in the Gavaki”(YS 89).

Men and women are valued as individuals. The husband-wife relationship in traditional societies is not merely personal but form a part of the traditional kinship obligations; although in colonial times, due to the impact of Western philosophy, this system was replaced with individualism, thus weakening social stability. When Okonkwo beats his wife for killing a banana tree, it is no more a personal family affair. He is bound to face the repercussions as decided by the kinsmen.

Among the natives the male was considered the centre and female was viewed as peripheral. No doubt, the women had some modicum of freedom, but the limits to this freedom were drawn by the patriarchal system. Almost all the novels under the present study talk of patriarchal dominance as they are set within the framework of a patriarchal social system.

The marginality, whether gender-based or not, results in socio-ethnic-racial crisis leading to humiliation and discrimination of the marginalized. The conflict between the centre and the margins may be direct or indirect, active or docile, visible or invisible; but the resistance and hatred is seen universally.

A note needs to be made about the influence of colonial encounter on the social structure of the erstwhile societies. The Indian society, including the Goan Hindu society was divided into four varnas, the Brahmins, the Kshatriyas, the Vaishyas and the Shudras. The four classes operated in a water-tight compartments, with a list of activities they were supposed to indulge into.

3.5.2 Women characters in the patriarchal set-up The Indian society presents ambiguity especially when it comes to the nature and status of the women in the society. On one hand, it is propounded that „the gods live where women are worshipped‟, while on the other hand, the Manusmruti, the codified system of law is said to have stated that the women should never be granted freedom and that she should always be under the tutelage of her father, husband and

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son at the appropriate stages of her life. Either the woman is regarded as mother goddess like Durga, Kali who represents power, or she is believed to be intellectually fickle and physically fragile. She is also considered as a root of all evil. But this is not exclusive to the Indian society alone. The European society right up to the Middle Ages considered women in similar condition.

With this notion at the backdrop, a study of women characters in Yug Sanvar, Things Fall Apart and Skin needs to be attempted from the point of view of the patriarchal society.

In Yug Sanvar the condition of women is portrayed through the angle of patriarchy. The gender equations here are derived through the interplay of religious, historical, economic, social and political forces. The society being patriarchal, the male dominance and female subordination is innate. Authority and decision taking ability is vested in the hands of men, hence, the women become mere followers especially when the men decide to convert to Christianity.

In the case of Sukhdo Naik, the family consisting of his three sons and other family members numbering nine in all decide to convert to Christianity. Sukhdo believes that this act would ensure sufficient agricultural land for subsistence. He along with his sons visit the Shef at night and assure that nine members of their family are ready to accept Christianity.

On their return, Sukhdo‟s wife Mhalkum inquires angrily, “Where had you all gone so late at night? If you cannot fill your belly, better go and eat mud. Why this betrayal?” To these charges, Sukhdo Naik asks her to shut her mouth, swears at her and threatens her if she interfered and dragged others in this matter. By „others‟ he means the women folk of the house. The two daughter-in-laws, namely Gopi and Parvati are not even considered worth consultation hence they are confused, while Gopi is aware of the serious socio-cultural repercussions of such an act. She tells her younger sister-in-law,

„[…] Parvati, are you accompanying your husband? If he mounts Airavat, you should also do the same; suppose he has to beg, you should also do the same[…]Don‟t you know Sita, who followed her husband along the thorny path.

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What happened at last? When the husband asked her to testify, she mutely climbed the pyre […]. These men do not deserve the faith that we instill in them. At the end, they will ask us to cross the burning fire[…]‟. (YS 115-116)

This incident shows the least consideration women have in the decision-making process.

The forms of gender-based oppression and violence are many, as are the modes of women‟s victimization, in a complex pattern where the physical and emotional victimization tends to be further aggravated by social stigmatization. This stigmatization becomes more intense when the suffering human is a slave.

In Skin, Esperanca narrates the story of the “bad karmas” of Dom Bernardo to Pagan, about how his lust for wealth and power in the 17th century Goa prompted him to indulge in trading among other precious items, the “black gold” referring to the black slaves traded from Africa:

Dom Bernardo also engaged in brisk slave trade commerce with the Muslims who were themselves responsible for the transport of over seventeen million Africans. The pecas-that is what they called the African slaves-captured by Dom Bernardo‟s men were baptized en masse by the Portuguese priests. If they were from the rebellious Jaga tribe, their lips were pierced and held together with metal wires until they were brought from the forests to the city trading centers. (Sk 103)

In this context, two examples of the treatment meted out to women slaves are mentioned. The first is the rape of Nzinga-Nganga, the granddaughter of Angolan prophetess Dona Beatrice and the second concerns the inhuman treatment given to Nzinga-Nganga‟s daughter Perpetua and her husband Antonio. Dom Bernardo‟s foreman wrongfully accuses Antonio of stealing rice and hence he is beaten to death. Perpetua curses Don Bernardo of a slower, painful and a gruesome death than her beloved infront of the entire household and the field workers. This humiliation is viewed seriously by Dom Bernardo resulting in her being tied to the dying husband and thrown into a deep rubbish pit covered by an iron grill, with only few crusts of bread tossed into the pit each day. This results in her painful death too:

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After sixteen days, Perpetua died- of starvation, infection, dehydration and dysentery, naturally[….]. The day they dragged Perpetua‟s body out of the pit for burial, Costa cut off one of her breasts to be hollowed, dried and used later as a coin purse. Nzinga-Nganga strained her cataract-covered eyes for a last look at her daughter. What she saw instead was the one-breasted flaccid carcass of a grotesque beast. It was not Nzinga-Nganga‟s cataracts that made the body look gray. It was gray, with rotting skin sagging in loose folds from a twisted wrack of bones. Its tangled mat of hair was completely white [….] (Sk 117-118)

These women characters are thrice-colonised subaltern individuals. The firstly as being blacks, second as the slaves and the third as the females facing atrocities and gender-based discrimination in patriarchal set-up.

The basis of all the violence against the women is embedded within the patriarchal social structure. This structure compels a woman to subordination, subservience and total dependence on man. This in turn binds her to the wife-mother roles without any other alternative. Hence, woman as an independent individual is not acceptable. Thus as a corollary, woman is reduced to an individual who is dependent on others in all matters, including for her own life and well-being. Widowhood especially in the Indian context, thus meant civil death and sometimes physical death by immolation on her dead husband‟s funeral pyre, as depicted in Yug Sanvar.

3.5.2.1 Expectations of patriarchal society In Things Fall Apart Achebe portrays man-woman relationship primarily through the protagonist Okonkwo and his three wives, Anasi, Ekwefi and Ojiugo. Okonkwo, like any other man in the community rules the household with a heavy hand: “(Okonkwo) [… ] ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper, and so did the little children”(TFA 9).

Okonkwo reprimands Nwoye‟s mother thus: “ „Do what you are told, woman‟. Okonkwo thundered and stammered. And so, Nwoye‟s mother took Ikemefuna to her hut and asked no more questions”(TFA 10-11). Okonkwo is a product of the Igbo society, which believes in patriarchy and consequently in the supremacy of a man over a woman. “[N]o matter how prosperous a man was, if he was unable to rule his

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woman and children and especially his women he was not really a man”(TFA 37). Okonkwo is portrayed as a man of short temper, hence the brunt of his anger is faced by his wives, especially Ekwefi and Ojiugo.

In an episode when Okonkwo is preparing medicine for his daughter Ezinma, Ekwefi brings water and pours some on the herbs and inquires whether that is enough. To this, Okonkwo shouts, „A little more…I said a little. Are you deaf?‟(TFA 60) This shouting was unnecessary.

On another occasion, Okonkwo violates the Peace week when he beats his young wife Ojiugo for not cooking the meal on time. On another occasion he beats his second wife for killing a banana tree. Thus wife-beating becomes an integral part of family affair in the Igbo society.

The women is considered to be the life-giver or the mother and this role is applauded the most in the traditional societies.

3.5.2.2 Women’s role as mother It is true that woman has been the respected and venerated by almost all the clans and groups in the world; this is particularly true of the tribals and the tillers. A great respect is shown to the mother. According to Simone de Beauvoir(1988), “[M]other was very important factor in the early clans of nomads. She would not only give birth to a child but she would also nourish the germ, through her body” (99).

The role of a woman as mother is held as supreme whether it is in the Goan or the Igbo society. In Things Fall Apart when Okonkwo mistakenly kills sixteen year old son of Ezendu, he has no other option but to flee the village. As per the laid down dictums of the tradition he takes refuge in his mother‟s village, Mbanta. His maternal uncle Uchendu along with his other relatives make him comfortable. Uchendu narrates to simplify the meaning of the word “Nneka” which means “Mother is Supreme”. He begins: “Can you tell me, Okonkwo, why is it that one of the commonest names we give our children is Nneka, or „Mother is Supreme‟? We all know that a man is the head of the family and his wives do his bidding. A child belongs to his father and his family and not to his mother and her family. A man belongs to his fatherland and not to his motherland. And yet we say Nneka- „Mother

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is Supreme‟. Why is that?...Why is it that when a woman dies she is taken home to be buried with her own kinsmen?”(TFA 94)

Uchendu tells further, “[I]t‟s true that a child belongs to its father. That when a father beats his child, it seeks sympathy in its mother‟s hut. A man belongs to his fatherland where things are good and life is sweet. But when there is sorrow and bitterness he finds refuge in his motherland[…] and that is why we say that mother is supreme” (TFA 94).

In Skin Livia expresses her views thus: Everything originates with the women, […] Even the men in our culture subconsciously reinforce this. Why do you think they refer to their place of education as their Alma Mater? Their ships are women. Their Church is the Mother Church. It is not an accident that Catholics are inclined to invoke Our Lady even more frequently than the Trinity. (Sk 239)

Livia does not believe in any „isms‟ because they tend to divide and rule. She claims that she is not a feminist but just a woman. This brings the discussion to the point of the authors and their attempt at providing space and „power‟ to the women protagonists in the text.

3.5.2.3 Place accorded to women characters in the text and context The three authors in their select works present their women characters differently, because their aim in writing the work of fiction and the necessity of these female characters determine the place, space, dimension and importance accorded to them. Of the three writers, only Margaret Mascarenhas is a woman writer. Hence, her approach differs from the other two. Her concern is more with the „inner space‟ of the women characters.

Things Fall Apart is a historical narrative rooted in native culture. Hence, importance is given to the customs and traditions of the Igbo society. Thus, all the characters, whether male or female, are ranked as per the cultural context of the Igbos. As such, in depicting his women characters, Achebe is not describing individuals, but placing them in the suitable social hierarchy within the cultural context. They become the

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means to prove or showcase the intransient cultural heritage of societal hierarchy and other of the clan.

Achebe portrays the scene where in the eldest wife of Okonkwo, Anasi, comes to drink the wine first.

Anasi was the first wife and others could not drink before her and so they stood waiting[…] She wore the anklet of her husand‟s title which the first wife alone could wear. She walked up to her husband and accepted the horn from him. She went down on one knee, drank a little and handed back the horn. She rose called by his name and went back to her hut. The other wives drank in the same way, in their proper order and went away. (TFA 15)

In another incident, Achebe, through the character of Ekwefi presents the freedom of choice the women folk had in the society. Ekwefi, Okonkwo‟s second wife had ran away from her previous husband Anene after two years of marriage. She had gone to the stream to fetch water and Okonkwo‟s house was on the way and she knocked the door and thus she was taken as the second wife.

Cheilo is another female character who is the priestess of Agbala. When possessed by the spirit of her God, she begins to prophesize and all are supposed to abide by her words. She orders Okonkwo that Agbala wanted to see Ezinma, his daughter. Okonkwo requests her to come the next morning. She screams at him, “Beware, Okonkwo!..Beware of exchanging words with Agbala. Does a man speak when a god speaks? Beware!”(TFA 77) Okonkwo, a powerful man though, does not react, but accepts the fact and the superiority.

Through these examples, Achebe undertakes to narrate how the culturally rich Igbo society crumbled. So the female characters or their feelings or even their external descriptions find no place in the narrative.

On the other hand, Mahabaleshwar Sail is concerned with the issue of Inquisition. As the proposed title to the novel in english translation is “The Age of Frenzy”. It portrays the overall impact of atrocities on the erstwhile Goan native society. The whole society is in a state of trauma, and the women folk are no exceptions. The 113

enormity of religious conversion and its repercussions are very difficult for them to accept. Thus, the women of the newly converted families are disturbed when they are asked to rub off the vermillion mark on their forehead and discard their wedding galasari (string) and mani (beads), which are regarded as the symbols of wifely bliss. It is a cultural shock because a widow was supposed to do these acts.

They look for support from their men folk, but sadly, they are totally let down. This is observed in the case of Sukhdo Naik and all his family members converting to Christianity, not for any love of the religion but as a source of sustenance. Padre Colaco threatens the newly converted Sukhdo Naik and other family members against any attempt to return to the earlier way of life, i.e. their Hindu practices and religion and warns that it would result in a trial and punishment at the hands of Holy Inquisition.

In fact, to forestall any lapse into the earlier religion, one morning the padre brings a mason along, who digs out the Tulasi Vrindavan and breaks the mud boundaries around the verandah. A Cross is erected instead. He enters the house and blesses it. The priest reads out a full list of the duties which they are supposed to follow as good Christians.

All these actions are viewed seriously by the non-converted native populace, especially the women. Such families are treated as an outcast by the villagers and they are forced to fetch water from a far-off discarded well. The external changes and the benefits which men look up to are immaterial to women. They become „doubly colonised‟ and feel doubly marginalized too. Firstly, being placed under a harsh political system and an alien religious structure makes them insecure; secondly, due to their own self-humiliation combined with the social ostracism they experience an erosion of identity and a cultural void leading to a sense of disgrace and shame. The prospects of an uncertain future further adds to their miseries.

The novel Skin is about the relationship between mothers and their children, predominantly the daughters. Margaret Mascarenhas depicts all her women characters in a positive light, except for Gena. The male characters in the novel are secondary and so less significant than their female counterpart; almost all the male characters are either influenced by some women characters or are immoral in their 114

behaviour. For instance, the characters like Dom Bernardo, Leandro and Gor-Gor are utter villains and womanizers. Frank is a weakling who is influenced either by his mother or by his wife.

The whole novel is woman-centered, hence the minute description of women from their external appearance to their emotional or psychological condition is provided. For example, the state of Consolacao after her marriage with Gor-Gor is described thus:

For the first six months of her marriage…..she had a home, she had a man who put food on the table in the day and make her body sing at night. And even at this late stage in her life when her menstrual flow came only once in four months, she had a child to raise like own. (Sk 127)

This helps the reader to identify with the psyche and the condition of the woman character concerned.

3.5.3 The Dehumanizing effects on the weaker section of the community If patriarchy indulged in male hegemony over the womenfolk, dehumanizing effect in a community is seen in the indulgence of caste system and the effects of slavery. Although caste and slavery have been used closely, their meaning, practice and effects are not the same. The caste system has evolved since centuries, hence its tiers and water-tight compartmentalization cannot be equated with slavery.

3.5.3.1 The Caste System in the Indian society Caste system in India is based on “Varna system” which divides the society on the basis of occupation into four different categories. The system was said to have a mobility and flexibility, but became stringent and compartmentalized in the later stages. During the 16th century when the Portuguese conquered Goa, the society was divided on the caste lines. P. D. Xavier (2010) observes, “[T]he traditional four groups of Brahmins, Kshatrias, Vaishyas and Shudras were divided into a number of sub-castes based on occupation or religion or some other factor. In Goa all such divisions and sub-divisions could be recognized. Side by side, the so-called untouchables also could be identified” (40).

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Caste system was a part of the greater social structure in which the religion was at the fulcrum of all the activity. The village community and the temple were important in one‟s life. The caste of a person determined the duties he or she was supposed to engage in. The Portuguese did not find the caste system an obstacle to conversion, because they felt it to be like the class divisions in their own country. As Delio de Mendonca (2002) puts it, “[T]he institution of cast could continue to manifest itself and to be upheld by the new local Christian communities something divinely sanctioned ” (74). But the Provincial councils attempted at uprooting the caste system. The Goa Inquisition also made attempts to stop this practice, but failed in total eradication. The system was too deep rooted hence though superficially some differences were wiped out, divisions persisted.

In Delio de Mendonca‟s view, the Portuguese introduced their version of Christianity in Goa, which also was supposed to provide a platform for equality and caste less society. He laments that it was possible to do away with only certain layers of caste – system, but total eradication could not be achieved. Hence the question, „To Konnalo?‟ which literally means “which family does he belong to?” or “who are his parents?” discussed by Lucio Rodrigues(2010) in the essay by the same name. These questions are basis to the social matrix and bring out the hierarchy in the social structure. As Lucio Rodrigues puts it:

It is a hierarchy of many tiers, arranged in a descending scale, each tier made up of a homogeneous group, with its own status, its own privileges and responsibilities, its own loyalties, and its own „code‟ of honour, which have to be zealously guarded….like the fixed stars in the heavens, you have your fixed station in the social firmament, and your set orbit. (195)

The Goan society also encountered the issue of slavery. The slaves were transported from African nations to Goa or other colonies via Goa. The Goans had played their role in this act of transportation or human trafficking and Skin brings out this aspect of Goan colonial past.

3.5.3.2 Slavery in Africa The novel Skin by Margaret Mascarenhas is an account of the relationship between the Goan feudal society and the slaves captured from Angola, Africa.

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Slavery is a form of exploitation of one human being by the other, by holding the human being or the slaves as property. Usually the slaves are of alien origin and are denied their independence. Hence their labour is at the complete disposal of their masters.

Slavery existed before the colonial conquest but its enormity and intensity increased with the slave trade through Atlantic and the Indian Ocean. Supporters of the slave trade conveniently believed and claimed that slavery was intrinsic to backward African societies and that slavery in 'Christian' communities was better than their situation in their 'pagan' homelands.

Those who wanted to abolish the slave trade also looked at supporting 'legitimate' trade, missionary activity and ultimately colonisation. Although, slave trade existed right from the times of the ancient Egyptian civilization, it was in the words of Bah M. Alpha(1993), “[…]deformed and barbarized by the effects of Atlantic slave trade” (69). In Africa alone, around 10 million slaves were traded- although some researchers put the figure to 50 million- during the colonial era. Thus, on one hand there was decline in the native African population, while on the other hand, Africa as a continent was taken over for “[…]exploitative and unproductive system of trade”(69).

Slavery expanded in three stages i.e. 1350-1600, 1600-1800 and 1800-1900. Paul E. Lovejoy(2012) writes, “[S]lavery was fundamentally a means of denying outsiders the rights and privileges of a particular society so that they could be exploited for economic, political and or social purposes”(3). The word „outsiders‟ means ethnically different.

Of the novels studied, Skin depicts the slave trade prevalent in Goa. It relates to the second stage, i.e. 1600-1800 when Portugal had begun colonisation in full swing. In the novel, the whites along with the local feudal lords and „hybrids‟ like Dom Bernardo and his family members consider the slaves as outsiders, even though they have acculturated to the new surroundings. The slaves are put to whipping, confinement, deprivation of food, additional hard work and physical punishment which would also lead to death.

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Slavery is tied to labour. Hence, the slaves had to do the most menial jobs. They had no choice but to abide by the master‟s diktats. Lovejoy (2012) states, “[A] slave mode of production existed when the social and economic structure of a particular society included on integrated system of enslavement, slave trade and the domestic use of slaves”(10). Whether in the Islamic or Christian tradition, slavery was also the means for conversion of the slaves into the dominant religion of the slave-masters. This act of conversion did not emancipate the slaves socially, but lead to assimilation. They were supposed to follow the same faith as that of the master.

The Portuguese began to indulge in slave trade in the 15th century. Prince Henry (1394-1460) who was rightly called the founder of the African slave trade, encouraged his captains to bring some specimens of the locals of the land which they either conquered or discovered. The slave trade was as lucrative as the spice and horse trade. By 16th century, the Portuguese traders began to involve earnestly in this trade. The King was granted „Padroado‟, which made it obligatory to establish churches and convert natives. The word „Padroado‟ means „Patronage‟, by which the Vatican delegated to the King of Portugal the administration of the local churches. This was called “Padroado Ultramarino Portugues”, which means “Portuguese Overseas Patronage”. The religious guise provided ample opportunity to procure more slaves from the conquered and discovered lands.

Slavery existed in India and Manusmruti and Kautilya‟s Arthashastra make a mention of slavery and types of slavery existent in India. The result of slavery was the division of society into two, the one which was involved in work and physical labor, while the other group which remained dormant. Among those involved in physical labour, only the strong survived while the weak perished.

P. D. Xavier (2010) believes in the existence of slavery in Goa prior to Portuguese colonial encounter (97). He narrates the examples from Vedas and Smritis, and speaks of Aryans conquering the Dravidians, and then taking them as slaves or „dasa‟. A parallel is drawn by Xavier between the slavery as practised by the Europeans and as mentioned in the Smritis: “The low cost maintenance, minimum responsibility, total absence of moral obligation and no wage system kept up the tempo of slavery”(99).

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Slavery resulted in moral bankruptcy among the masters. The humanity reaches its lowest ebb in such inhuman relationships as seen in the system of slavery.

Slavery is a form of “animalization” and the so called “civilized” societies which colonised in the name of “civilizing” the “uncivilized” created more havoc, although, unfortunately religion was also used for the purpose. Slavery existed in Africa prior to European colonisation. Islam had spread across major parts of Africa and it had well written rules and regulation on this aspect. But again in this case, unfortunately, it is the „civilized‟ societies that wreaked havoc during their African colonial encounter during which the „Black Gold‟ -as the African slaves were referred to - became the profit making commodity. With the advent of colonial upsurge and widening of the borders, the colonisers felt a dearth of work-force, and this resulted in slavery. Ironically, according to Lovejoy (2012), the general observation and study shows that the culturally developed societies treat the slaves more inhumanely than the culturally backward societies (91).

Skin also shows how the colonisers take the advantage of the internal quarrels between the native African clans, and capture men to work as slaves and later transport them under inhuman conditions. This is done systematically in a covert manner, thus erasing and destroying the past of these slaves completely. The age old incidents become tales which are passed from one generation to another. The captured slaves, who as free beings in their clans or indigenous group were at the center of activity prior to their capture as slaves, reach the status of the most deprived and marginalized of all native/colonised groups.

3.6 Conclusion This chapter studies three novels and considers the state of a society prior to or after the colonial encounter. There are two societies in discussion, one is an African i.e. Igbo and the second being Goan society. In context of the social structure, the authors may be said to present an African point of view through writings of Achebe and the Goan point of view through Mahabaleshwar Sail and Margaret Mascarenhas respectively. This study thus provides the similarities and differences which are seen vis-à-vis the portrayal of colonisation and native society in the select fictional works.

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There is a broad difference in the outlook of the authors with regard to colonisation and native response to the same. The African authors have been vocal about their political stand against colonisation and have been activists in their approach. This is discernible from their works of fiction also. The anti-colonial and pro-native stand taken by Achebe is seen in his works of fiction. This is further supported by the personal stand revealed in his interviews or in his non-fictional works. His comment that the African need not learn about civilization from Europeans is seen well reflected in Things Fall Apart. Thus his fiction is not merely „Art for Arts sake‟ but assumes a firm nativist and cultural stand against colonial imposition.

In Skin, Margaret Mascarenhas is not interested in presenting to the readers the values destroyed in the process of colonisation whether in Africa or in Goa. However, the reader has a glimpse of the reality of the oppressed and the oppressor as described in the novel. She is unconcerned with presenting the truths and historical facts. She has managed to be objective, somewhat downplaying the historical relevance of her plot, but none the less foregrounding the fiction which covers around eight generations. This makes for the time-span of around five hundred years spread across the globe from Africa to America and Europe to India and other places. The story takes into account the dreams, historical narratives, recollections, chance events, superstition and so on, to weave a gripping tale of an individual‟s quest for her roots which draws attention to few issues seminal to colonialism such as slavery and oppression.

Mahabaleshwar Sail seems to be unconcerned with what Armah describes as, “…[T]he visionary reconstruction of the past for the purpose of social direction” (106). His comment made with regard to “the theological collaboration in this orgy of bestialisation […]”(107) fits the authorial temperament of Sail. Armah observes:

We have not found that lying trick to our taste, the trick of making up sure knowledge of things possible to think of, things possible to wonder about but impossible to know in any such ultimate way. We are not stunted in spirit, we are not Europeans, we are not Christians that we should invent fables a child would laugh at and harden our eyes to preach them daylight and night as truth. We are not so warped in soul, we are not Arabs, we are not muslims to fabricate a desert god chanting madness in the wilderness, and call our creature creator. That is not our way‟. (qtd in Soyinka 107) 120

This observation applies to Mahabaleshwar Sail because he too falls prey to authentication and non-authentication of the cultural psyche of the land. There is a difficulty in showing that harsh truth of racist and religious motives of the Portuguese coloniser and this incapability generates self-accusation in the novel. There is suppression and distortions of history, especially while picturising the indigenous characters.

Achebe for example, unhesitatingly raises the question of racial heritage. But Sail is caught between what Soyinka (1995) has described in another context thus: “[A]ccepted history is held against an exhumed reality; the resulting dialectic can only lead to a reassessment of contemporary society and its cultural equipment for racial advance” (100). There is self-hate while depicting the Goan populace trampled by the colonisers.

Unlike in Things fall Apart, in Yug Sanvar the narration is presented dispassionately. Sail is himself in discomforting position. The facts are too „harsh‟ and maintaining the balance is a difficult task. The author neither follows the accepted history nor the exhumed history, but rallies in pointing at internal failures. If not for the character of Father Simao Pires, the fiction would have turned into an episodic historical self- critical text and a one-sided affair.

Mahabaleshwar Sail in Yug Sanvar attempts at self-criticism, trying to find loop holes in the society and thus leading to self-blame and a feeling of an inferiority complex. Even the fact that the Goan society, despite its social ills and discriminations, had also developed innumerable social systems for maintaining harmony and social well- being are neither recognized nor appreciated. Chinua Achebe is writing about the Igbo society in the early twentieth century, but the incidences of wife-beating, the strange customs of the land, the killing of Ikemefuna, the condition of women, the killing of the white man with the iron horse are written succinctly, but without any self-pity or self-blame.

But Mahabaleshwar Sail, describes Goan society around four hundred years ago with certain social systems which had evolved to maturity. The „Gavkari‟ system, the class and caste based structure of the society, the system of judiciary to maintain law and order and the religious system had evolved and withstood the test of time. Why 121

did such a social system crumble under the handful of Portuguese? There is a mention to phrases like “fearful community”, “scared people”, “self-centered people” etc. to denote the local populace in the novel.

The question which arises here is, how come Padre Simao lives in the village of Adolshi, with his native servant Tomas, without being hurt or attacked by the villagers. The novel runs through the eyes of Padre Simao: though alone, he is safe in Adolshi. The reason being the outlook of the society which had ability to assimilate and accept Padre Simao in the village. It is not only the weakness of the society, as noted time and again by the author, but its accommodative nature of the native populace, which hardly finds appreciation in the text.

Use of force for converting people to their faith has been the attitude of the erstwhile European colonial powers. The Spanish troops raged havoc in the Latin American nations during the sixteenth century, thus giving birth to stories referred as „Legenda Negra‟ or the „Black Legend‟. The present generation has raised apprehensions about its authenticity though; still it cannot be totally denied that the Spanish had committed heinous crimes against humanity. Here, while referring to Goa, it is the second European power, the Portuguese, armed with weapons and proselytizing spirit attacked members of a society, which had never even imagined such atrocities. Another area of similarity between Spain and Portugal was their experience with implementation of inhuman act of „Holy Inquisition.‟

The Portuguese who attacked Goa in 1510 were prepared for the onslaught. The superior armaments and the general outlook of looking down upon the native populace was enough to disassociate themselves with local social life, hence the unprepared local populace had to face the difficulties. The implementation of Holy Inquisition in Goa has been unfortunate for the Goan populace. But the stand taken by Mahabaleshwar Sail in Yug Sanvar has been apolitical and infused with self-pity. The blame for everything that occurs in the novel is placed on the local populace. No doubt, like Achebe, he shows the societal lacunae, but the stand taken in Yug Sanvar is of indecisiveness and seems only superficially correct. For example, the villagers who have gathered to watch the auction of the helpless widow Venu‟s residence has no pity for the family and neither do they rebel against the Portuguese. The villagers

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are shown as profit mongers, divided and equally broken from within. Tomasin refers to the villagers as ‘bijut’ or the „fearful lot‟. In an attempt to balance the story, and in his attempt to be an „ajatshatru‟(inimical to none), Sail ends up distorting and reinventing the facts.

In Skin, Margaret Mascarenhas is concerned with the inner journey of the protagonist, rather than the outer social set-up. Hence the story of Nzinga- Nganga and the Capuchin Monks is not of the past, but finds its presence in the present century. Things Fall Apart and Yug Sanvar are period novels, while Skin can be read as a psychological novel, with considerations to society, history and family life. There is an element of melodrama, conspiracy, confusion and mystery surrounding children's birth and parentage, slave-master relationship and generations together of faithful African maids. Mascarenhas has not taken any stand in her work as it does not give scope for such an endeavour being focused on the personal rather than the societal.

The three novels thus look at the communities prior to colonial encounter and the effects of colonisation on these indigenous societies. This Chapter sees the beginning of colonisation and its immediate effects on the erstwhile communities.

The following Chapter focuses on the effects of colonisation and neo-colonisation on the erstwhile communities in other parts of Africa, namely South Africa and Kenya and in the larger part of the Indian Subcontinent.

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CHAPTER FOUR From Colonial Crisis to Post-Colonial Predicaments: Question of Leadership (Kanthapura, Cry The Beloved Country, Petals Of Blood)

4.1 Introduction This Chapter looks at the issue of undesirable or even harmful change(s) brought into the colonised societies through their colonial and post-colonial experience. In all, three novels, namely Kanthapura (1938) by Raja Rao, Cry, The Beloved Country(1948) by Alan Paton and Petals of Blood (1977) by Ngugi Wa Thiongo have been chosen for analyzing this issue.

This chapter focuses on two aspects of the issues of change, namely „crisis‟ and „predicament‟. The word „crisis‟ means “disaster, catastrophe or calamity”(157), while „predicament‟ implies “difficulty, mess or dilemma”(619). Nations across the world faced the colonial experience, and it is a well-known fact that socio-cultural erosion which occured during a given colonial encounter could never be mended again. The colonial encounter was a crisis, but the situation during and after colonisation ended i.e. the post-colonial condition was equally quite a „predicament‟.

The three novels mentioned above are used as a case study to assess the impact of colonial encounter on three different nations namely, India, Kenya and South Africa, with their respective colonial rulers, and interestingly it is the British who are the colonisers in all the three cases. The colonial history of these three nations has been discussed in the first chapter; hence, the focus is concentrated on the selected texts as the basis for the analyses of the colonial situation.

4.1.1 Reasons that led to rise of the Colonial Enterprise The colonial enterprise, for major colonising nations, consisted of different things. The same has been discussed in detail in Chapter Two. In a nutshell, the major reasons include: the pace of Industrial Revolution; inventions in various fields; mass manufacture of consumer goods; neo-capitalism and excess capitalism which resulted in a desire by the European capitalists to invest surplus capital in colonies; need of raw materials, food items and a ready market for finished goods; missionary zeal and nationalism, and, the so called “White man‟s burden” –used as a justification by

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colonialists as a pretext for perpetuating their political authority over the lands and its people, conquered not always by military force alone.

4.1.2 Colonialism and post-colonialism: Range of implications As the novels concern colonial and postcolonial experience in the erstwhile colonial communities, it is gainful to discuss the range of implications that these terms hold. Consonant with these implications, terms like the study of Colonial, Neo-colonial, Post-colonial, Double colonisation and Indirect colonisation have been discussed in passing.

The Cambridge Encyclopedia (1990)considers Colonialism and Imperialism as one and the same and define them as, “[…] the extension of the power of the state through the acquisition, normally by force, of other territories, which are their subject to rule by the superior power also called colonialism” (600). The Encyclopedia puts the major imperial activity between 1880 to 1914, when major European powers gained the territories of Africa and Asia.

If there was colonisation for general populace, there existed Double Colonisation for some, who were referred to as the subaltern. With minority groups, it was the social discrimination; with Dalits it was the caste discrimination and with women it was the patriarchal system. All these repressive systems existed and worked within the colonial system, hence the word Double Colonisation.

Another feature of Colonisation especially in the African subcontinent was the Indirect Colonisation. This was imposed by the British in the parts of Africa. This “[…] involved the use of existing political structures, leaders and organs of authority” (Cambridge Encyclopedia 561). Although local elites enjoyed considerable autonomy, they had to keep in mind the interest of the colonial powers. It was practiced in order to give a free hand for the indigenous cultural development, but the system failed to bring in modernization. This system was discontinued after 1945.

In the case of Neo-colonisation, it is not the outsiders, but the 'nations' themselves who have imbibed the qualities of the colonisers and carry forward the legacy of the colonising powers. In his article 'Khushwant Singh's Delhi: A Post-colonial Novel' B. N. Singh (1999) writes:

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Neo-colonialism or Internal Colonisation which exists even after the colonisers have largely withdrawn, allowing their former hosts an ample space for recovery[…]if pre-independent India was colonised by an alien power, the new space of post-colonial phase has been occupied by Internal Colonisers. (142)

The Cambridge Encyclopedia defines Neo-colonialism as “[…]where certain countries are subjugated by the economic power of developed countries, rather than through direct rule”(557). Ngugi Wa Thiongo in Decolonising the Mind (1986) refers to it as the rule of finance capital with certain consequences for the people in the areas of economic, political, cultural and psychological spheres and it continuously exerts at subduing the African Culture.

Anthony Appiah (1991) describes neo -colonialism in Africa as

[…] the condition of a comprador intelligentsia, a relatively small western- styled, western-trained group of writers and thinkers who can mediate the trade in cultural commodities at the periphery. (17)

The Post-colonial and Neo-colonialism were brought into effect simultaneously. Mala Pandurang (1997) in Post-colonial African Fiction defines neo-colonialism as, “[…]the high degree of economic and technological influence over a former colony's economic affairs and economic policy by business interests” (5).

The novels chosen for the study are a part of post-colonial writing, although the word post-colonial has varied connotations. Post-colonial refers to the socio-politico- economic situation arising after the colonisers have left physically. But the healthy or unhealthy alterations still heal or haunt the society. Most of the damage done by the colonising powers is irreparable, hence the feeling of loss and anger. The post- colonial writers explain the changes and difficulties of the erstwhile colonised society.

Helen Tiffin in Post Colonialism, Post-Modernism and the Rehabilitation of Postcolonial History(1988) says that 'Postcolonial' may be defined as a term used to writing that was both a consequence of and reaction to the European Imperial process.

Even today, the Commonwealth as an organization reminds one of the colonial past and may be referred to as the harbinger of neo-colonialism. The colonial powers used

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to meet to discuss amicably the matters of Imperial concern. This began as early as 1887, followed by other such meetings or conferences in 1894, 1897, 1902 and 1907. The issues discussed involved primarily defense as also trade and communication. This conference was further renamed as Imperial conference in 1911, and continued to be further held in 1921, 1923, 1926, 1930 and 1937. After the Second World War, it was replaced by the Conference of Commonwealth Nations ( see The Cambridge Encyclopedia 280 ).

It is also necessary to look at the term Post-colonialism and its relationship to the present discussion. In this context Nayantara Sehgal‟s (1998), observations made on the occasion of Silver Jubilee Conference of the Association of Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies at the University of Kent, Canterbury in August, 1989 assumes significance:

[F]irst we were colonials, and now we seem to be post-colonials. So is 'post- colonial' the new Anno-Domini from which events are to be everlastingly measured? My own awareness as a writer reaches back to X thousand BC, at the very end of which measureless, timeless time the British came, and stayed and left. And now they are gone, and their residue is simply one more layer added to the layer upon layer of Indian consciousness. Just one more. ( 1)

Michel Pousse (1999) in 'Anticipating Post-colonialism: The trio in the thirties' writes,

Colonialism and Imperialism are as old as literature[…]since the history of mankind is nothing but a long succession of wars fought to gain control of someone else's riches and impose one's gods on to other people, one is bound to conclude that colonial, and with it post-colonial literature are not something new. (10)

Pousse‟s argument is not fully correct because he has drawn similarities between the wars fought in the history and the colonisation. No doubt the history of the mankind has references to wars fought and gods forcibly imposed on others, but they cannot be referred to as colonial activity. Because, colonialism has special reference to cultural exploitation that developed with the expansion of Europe during the last four hundred years.

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At this juncture, it would be useful to look at the novels, namely, Kanthapaura, Cry, the Beloved Country and Petals of Blood, and locate them in the aforesaid context.

4.2 Re-visiting the novels The birth of leadership in a certain socio-cultural context is the result of the necessity of that community or the society. The leadership assumes the actions as is the need of the followers to achieve the overall well-being of the community. Thus, Kanthapura is the sthalapurana narrating the story of anti-colonial struggle; Cry, the Beloved Country seeking solace in a turbulent period just prior to introduction of apartheid; while Petals of Blood seeking to resolve issues associated with neo-colonialisation. There is a closeness at the level of themes, especially Cry, the Beloved Country and Petals of Blood and Kanthapura.

4.2.1 Kanthapura as an anticolonial ‘Sthalapurana’ Kanthapura analyses the Indian freedom struggle through the perspective of non- violent means, the Gandhian way. Kanthapura as a village is India in microcosm.

On one hand the novel portrays the colonial India striving to attain independence, and on the other hand how this affects Kanthapura in an attempt to break the shackles of colonisation is shown.

Raja Rao can be described as an anti-colonial writer by the virtue of his use of theme and the language. There is hardly any character who moves out of the village, but every national, international happening has its effect on the people of Kanthapura. The novel itself takes the form of a mythological narration.

The story of Kanthapura runs like a „Sthala-Purana‟, the term used by Raja Rao in the Foreword to the novel, which has been much anthologized (see The Post-colonial Studies Reader 296). It voices the strong anti-colonial stance of the author. It begins thus, “[T]here is no village in India, however mean, that has not a rich Sthala-purana, or legendary history, of its own”(Ka v; Henceforth Kanthapura will be referred to as Ka). The word „Purana’ according to R. N. Dandekar (2003) means “[…]ancient (or) old narrative [... ] a class of books dealing, among other matters, with old-world stories and legends”(Indian Mythology 240). The Puranas are not just religious texts with legends, but have utility value too. They “[... ] have been used through centuries

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not only for educating the mass mind and infusing it with the nobler ideas of life but also for tactfully solving the religious, social and economic problems [... ]” (270). The Puranas display the “[... ] inner spirit of the Hindu social system with its adaptability in all ages and under all circumstances”(270). Thus Kanthapura as an example of „Sthala-Purana‟ narrates the legendary history of the Indian freedom struggle.

While commenting on the novel Kanthapura, Raja Rao‟s contemporary novelist Mulk Raj Anand (2000) observes that, “[L]iterature is mostly contemporary and universal merely out of its intensity[…]” and that the novelists are, “authentically representative of their time[…] They reveal the change of consciousness[…]They dramatise the conflicts of characters[…]” (52). Raja Rao is authentically representative of his time and as Mulk Raj Anand suggests, his theme attains universality because he portrays the issue of freedom, the basic necessity of any individual. To draw any substantive conclusion based on this comment, here it would be necessary to understand the other two novels and the historical as also the other contexts associated with them.

4.2.2 Cry The Beloved Country and the case of South Africa Cry, the Beloved Country was published a few months prior to electing Daniel Francois Malan (1948–1954) as the Prime Minister of South Africa, who formally initiated Apartheid. Alan Paton does make a mention to the serious social divide between the whites, colourred and the blacks and also the suffering of the black community. The author suggests possible solutions to the social problems, very much aware that the result of white hegemony could lead to Apartheid. Thus this novel is harbinger to solutions of social issues, rather than complicating them.

It is interesting to note that the white civilization which expressed pride in spreading the light of civilization, ended up implementing openly a Janus-faced policy promoting the Apartheid, thereby depriving the indigenous population of the legitimate rights to their own native land.

The indigenous South African population was forcibly translocated and their land encroached upon by Dutch who were referred as Afrikaans, followed by the English who joined Dutch in colonising that country.

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Interestingly England gave up its imperial hold on India in 1947 while South Africa attained its independence in a phased manner from 1910 onwards. The South Africa Act in 1909 brought the four colonies Cape Colony, Natal, Transvaal, and Orange Free State into one nation. The referendum on 5 October 1960 resulted in South Africa‟s withdrawal from British Commonwealth. This further resulted in the establishment of Republic of South Africa. It was declared a republic in 1961 but Apartheid ended only as late as in 1990 and the first democratic elections could be held only in 1994. India adopted democracy and later became a Republic in 1950, but South Africa under the rule of Afrikaans, instead of becoming a free nation entered a new system of social divide which continued till the last decade of the twentieth century.

One of the gross changes brought about by the colonial activity in South Africa, as portrayed in Cry, the Beloved Country is seen in the destruction of the indigenous tribal system. This was a part of an overall intentional plan aimed at breaking up the internal social system and making it defunct. The tribal chiefs who were also the religious leaders were reduced to being no more than a ceremonial entity. They were purposely so retained, without the political reins of tribal Leadership and necessary hold over their flock in the changing socio-economic situation. Thus, religious change is another factor that led to the disintegration of the tribe.

The novel on one hand shows the beauty of the landscape and on the other, the sad reality faced by the society, especially the native black population. Author also professes that a part of society cannot remain content, while the other half suffers for the basic needs. Hence, the brunt of the political divide created by vested interests on both the sides is faced by the society as a whole. The novel can be looked upon as an example of a social document of the erstwhile era representing the schism which had occurred in the society on the basis of colour. It also represents the urban-rural divide and the ills of severe immorality and utter rootlessness which have crept into the translocated native population. Compelled by circumstances to migrate from their rural countryside life to urban ghettos. As such, almost all the characters who have left the rural area seem to suffer in the urban set up, with scant exceptions of individuals like Mrs. Lithebe.

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4.2.3 Petals of Blood as a critique of Neo-colonialism The novel Petals of blood especially looks at the three phases in Kenya‟s history, namely pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial. As seen from a post-colonial perspective, it is relevant to analyse the issue of neo-colonialism.

Petals of Blood runs like a detective novel but with a strong undercurrent of political outlook. The novel begins with the murder of three Kenyan businessmen. There are four suspects who are taken for interrogation, namely, Karega, Munira, Abdulla and Wanja. Karega is a trade unionist, Munira a frustrated school teacher, Wanja a village girl who becomes a prostitute and Abdulla, a lame person, who once was a member of the Mau-Mau movement.

The story runs in a complex manner, sometimes recapitulating, sometimes lamenting. The 'turning back' process is where the author wants to indicate at the result of the freedom struggle. This is true of every major character in the novel who dreamt of a happy future in an independent nation. The neo-colonial phase has resulted in spiritual ruin of a nation. Main reason for the failure to arrest this deterioration, despair and death, seems to be the absence of archetypal visionary leaders so essential to revive a moribund society.

In fact all the three novels, accord importance to the leadership in the pre-colonial, colonial and neo-colonial phases. The leaders are problem solvers to whom the society looks up to.

Interestingly, these novels concern three great nations, namely India, South Africa and Kenya. Although, all three have gained independence today, the study of the history of these nations is important as it can suggest the kind of leadership that needs to be generated in the society of a given kind. The history has to be seen in a nut-shell, especially, of the age immediately prior to colonial encounter followed by colonial crises and the associated problems faced in the post-colonial era. Moreover, a comparison of colonial experiences of India and Africa and relative findings will yield useful perspectives.

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4.2.4 A thematic comparison Of the three novels, Cry, the Beloved Country and Petals of Blood share the common content of the African continent and its history. A thematic study comparing these two novels will further open the common issues discernible in both the works.

4.2.4.1 Cry the Beloved Country and Petals of Blood In this context, Cry The Beloved Country and Petals Of Blood discuss the following issues involving shared concerns, namely, slave trade, killings and decimations of local populace, religious conversion by the Christian missionaries, the issue of foreign settlers, black African bonded labours, exploitation of local territory, the erosion of traditional faith, disruption of social life, colonising of the African mind, attack on the native languages, customs and traditions, the urban -rural divide and most importantly the change observed in the value system of the native society. With the collective history of Africa as the backdrop, it is easy to understand why the two authors namely Paton and Thiongo are preoccupied with either all or some of the above listed issues, as seen from the depiction in the respective novels.

However a note of caution is necessary here. Although, there are similarities in the issues discussed, yet it is an erroneous and unproductive attempt to consider the whole of Africa as a single entity as done by certain critics. In fact some scholars and journalists have purposefully attempted to look at each issue as a war between two tribes; Thiongo (2012) describes this as “the myth of African tribes”. This is a colonial mindset and as he sarcastically reiterates the casually deductive approach thus:

[T]hey look at the communities from which the protagonists come, and everything becomes clear: It‟s the traditional enmity between X and Y. It is tribal warfare. Even respectable scholars often use the same template, only that theirs is covered with copious footnotes and references to Aristotle and Hobbes. I posed the question: why were four million Danes, or a quarter of a million Icelanders, a nation, and not ten million Yorubas, Ibos or Zulus?( “The Language of Scholarship in Africa” 42)

This kind of counter-questioning helps the reader in understanding the arguments of convenience used by the pro-colonial minds and expose the fallacy of such facile logic.

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Cry, the Beloved Country and Petals of Blood can be seen as being novels focusing on counter-colonial discourse with regard to African colonised society.

Kanthapura and Cry, the Beloved Country belong together as novels that share similar thematic concerns with regard to the native populace and so need to be discussed together.

4.2.4.2 Kanthapura and Cry, the Beloved Country Both Kanthapura and Cry, the Beloved Country share a humanitarian concern for their respective people. Moreover, the common issues which both the novels highlight include, non-violence as a mode of resolving the issues, religion as a means of achieving succour in life- both personal and social, and the belief that the enemy on the outside as also within, needs to be wiped out.

Another point which the two novels share is the depiction of the protagonists- Moorthy in Kanthapura and Stephen Kumalo in Cry, the Beloved Country- who undergo spiritual evolution by adhering to the righteous path. As indicated above religion plays an important role in both the novels: in Kanthapura it is used for the anti-colonial cause, while in Cry, The Beloved Country it is used for self-knowledge and growth.

The general observation of all the three novels reveal problems faced by the colonised or neo-colonial communities and an urgent need to undergo a change. The era is of „crisis‟ which the „colonised‟ wants to overcome, not knowing that the post- independent period may lead to „predicament‟. In this context the solution to the problem is viewed as a need to change the system, also referred to as „Revolution‟.

4.3 The novels as mirrors of revolution and social change The novels Kanthapura and Petals of Blood are mirrors of the Revolution which took shape and changed course of action in the societies. Cry, the Beloved Country cannot fit in the same revolutionary strain as the other two. It is a fact that change is pertinent but revolution is the process when this change gets politically accelerated. Revolution involves fundamental changes in the structure of a society, its basic beliefs and individual behaviour (see The Macmillan Family Encyclopedia 187).

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Revolutions as distinguished from coup d‟état or rebellions, can be understood by examining three aspects of the revolutionary process, the goals of the revolutionaries, the means they use to implement their goals and the effects of their rule. Coup d‟état has an immediate political agenda for subverting the incumbent ruler and assuming power mostly for the leadership; whereas rebellion is generally marked by sudden, impulsive and spontaneous outburst against what is seen as an unjust or unethical order, system or regime. Revolutions, on the other hand, is a far sighted process aspiring for long term objectives of social change, economic reform as well as political restructuring or subversion if need be. It seeks integral change.

In all the three novels, there is an attempt by the protagonists to seek extensive long- term changes in the social and political system. In the place of the old order, a new order which values equality, individual achievement, and political participation is sought after. Ashok Chausalkar (2009) believes,

[R]evolution and rebellion are essentially a political phenomenon. There is primacy of the political in our social life. The state exercises control over society through the ideological and coercive means. When both the means fail, the political disorder begins, paving the way for emergence of new political order. (3)

Again revolutions are linked to the „legitimacy‟ of the state order. Most political systems may function without a Constitution but not without legitimacy, which is in fact a psychological aspect of voluntary compliance. Thus in all the three cases, i.e. erstwhile colonial India, Kenya and South Africa, there is a loss of legitimacy of the state order. This results in the need for change in the minds of the people which is usually irreversible, sowing the seeds of Revolution.

Thus, the first step is creating the revolutionary awareness, within individuals or the community, leading to a determination on their part to bring about the desirable change in a more pragmatic manner. When revolutions continue for an extended period of time, that age is referred to as Revolutionary Era.

The three novels under study are motivated by a revolutionary vision in their own way. Kanthapura looks at the possibility of social as well as political emancipation through a non-violent revolution. Cry, the Beloved Country is revolutionary in its 134

attempt at suggesting answers to the problems of social divide and political turmoils whereas Petals of Blood, foregrounds violent action as necessary for immediate social change towards long-term social well-being.

The authors, namely, Raja Rao, Alan Paton and Ngugi Wa Thiongo are politically vocal in their writings under study. They express their opinions about the exploitation of the masses by the privileged few, may they be the British colonisers, the faulty system of apartheid or the neo-colonisers respectively. The novels explore the possibility of political and economic emancipation of the deprived and the subjugated. The importance of liberty and freedom is truly realised when it is curtailed by the rulers or the colonisers. The need for these humanitarian perspective is felt by a few enlightened minds and this idea is further „percolated‟ to other minds thus „igniting‟ them towards social change through revolutions.

Moorthy in Kanthapura; Karega, Munira, Abdulla, Wanja and Nyakinhua in Petals of Blood and Arthur Jarvis in Cry, the Beloved Country are all revolutionaries. But unlike the character in Petals of Blood , Moorthy and Arthur Jarvis become embodiments of social change through peaceful means.

During the challenging times, the community looks up at the visionary saviors who may rescue them from the turmoil. These visionaries may be referred to as the leaders. The three novels under study bring out the development of different types of leadership. There are the selfish ones like John Kumalo in Cry, the Beloved Country, and others like Arthur Jarvis, Msimangu and Stephen Kumalo who selflessly work towards the noble cause which they espouse. The driving force for these leaders is either social, cultural, spiritual, economic or humanitarian and the nature of their leadership is determined by the colonial/political condition which throws them up.

4.4 Nature of Leadership: Objective and Inspiration The world require leaders to lead its people towards achieving a common goal or for fulfilling the dreams of the given community. Thus, the leaders are those, who instill in their followers the sense of direction, provide them guidance and restore their confidence at crucial junctures, to make way for achieving shared objectives.

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Leadership in the context of the present study can be divided into four categories, namely, pro-colonial, anti-colonial, neo-colonial and pro-reform, depending upon the driving force of the respective characters representing or even assuming leadership.

In Kanthapura, the anti-colonial stand is taken by Moorthy, Ratnamma and the character of Gandhi who is indirectly present throughout the novel. In Cry, the Beloved Country it is the general social leadership which work as a beacon to show the path towards social welfare. The characters include Stephen Kumalo, Msimangu, Tomlinson, James Jarvis and Arthur Jarvis. In Petals of Blood, the anti-colonial voices seeking respite from neo-colonial forces is seen in Abdulla, Wanja, Karega and Munira. The neo-colonial forces are presented through the characters of Nderi Wa Reira, Mzigo, Chui, Kimeria and Waweru.

The leadership is fully aware of the objectives and of the actions to be undertaken which may result either in the success or failure to achieve the goal. They seek intellectual and spiritual enlightenment to pave the right path. Thus for Moorthy, it is Gandhi who instills the necessary guidance, inner strength and fervour to start his work, while with Arthur Jarvis the inspiration is drawn from books by renowned world leaders like Abraham Lincoln and others who worked to eradicate slavery and achieve social equality. In case of Stephen Kumalo or Msimangu, the inspiration is provided by their deep-faith in Christianity and the humanist approach. In Petals of Blood, Nyakinyua gains her strength in traditions and social well-being, for Abdulla it is his participation in Mau-Mau uprising and the freedom struggle, for Karega it is the national history, both colonial and pre-colonial while Wanja and Munira draw their stand in the anti-neo-colonial perspective.

Winning the confidence of the people is a prerequisite to leadership. Thus it is the leader who first instills confidence, then discipline, cooperation and finally, a sense of responsibility. This in turn builds up high morale and sets appropriate ethical standards. Thus leadership is more than just managing the community, its needs or resources.

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4.4.1 Moorthy, the iconic leader in Kanthapura In the context of Kanthapura it is Moorthy, the village Gandhi who is the source of an idealistic leadership. He influences others through his deeds and actions. He becomes an example for others to emulate, without the use of any coercion.

Kanthapura, the little south Indian village is presented as India in microcosm. Whatever happens here can be related to the happenings across India. The character of Moorthy- the Kanthapura village Gandhi- is presented by Acchakka as “a noble cow, quiet, generous, serene, deferent and Brahmanaic, a very prince” (Ka 5) He is a promising boy while at school and people believe that he would either become a collector or sub-collector and marry some girl of a great house. But all the dreams are quashed when he is influenced by Gandhi and gives up his education to serve the village and spread the message of Gandhian movement.

Moorthy has great leadership qualities. He understands the religious nature of the villagers and uses the same to propagate Gandhian ideals. He is a successful organizer of various religious functions. The famous incident of Harikatha by Jayaramachar on the life of Gandhi is of central significance to the theme as well as the technique of the novel. The text goes thus:

[I]n the great Heavens, Brahma the Self-created One was lying over his serpent, when the sage Valmiki entered, announced by the two doorkeepers. „Oh, learned sire, what brings you into this distant world?” asked Brahma, and, offering the sage seat beside him, fell at his feet. „Rise up, O God of Gods! I have come to bring you sinister news. Far down on the earth you chose as your chief daughter Bharatha, the goddess of wisdom and well- being. You gave her the sage-loved Himalayas on the north and the seven surging seas to the south, and you gave her the Ganges to meditate on, the Godavery to live by, […]O Brahma! You who sent us the Prince propagators of the Holy Law and Sages that smote the darkness of Ignorance, you have forgotten us so long that men have come from across the areas and the oceans to trample on our wisdom and to spit on virtue itself […] O Brahma! deign to send us one of your gods so that he may incarnate on Earth and bring back light and plenty to your enslaved daughter[…]‟ „O Sage-pronounced Brahma, „is it greater for you to ask or for me to say “Yea”? Siva himself

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will forthwith go and incarnate on the Earth and free my beloved daughter from her enforced slavery. […]

And lo! When the sage was still partaking […]there was born in a family in Gujarat a son such as the world has never beheld[…]You remember how Krishna, when he was but a babe of four, had begun to fight against demons and had killed the serpent Kali. So too our Mohandas began to fight against the enemies of the country. […]more and more men followed him as they did Krishna the flute-player, and so he goes from village to village to slay the serpent of the foreign rule. Fight says he, but harm no soul. Love all says he, Hindu, Mohamedan, Christian or Pariah, for all are equals before God. […]He is a saint, the Mahatma, a wise man and a soft man, and , a saint[…].‟ (Ka 11-12)

This is recreating mythology by declaring Gandhi as an incarnation of Shiva, so he attains a divine stature while those who have come across the seas are presented as the enemies of Shiva who is the essence of Good. It is to be noted here that in Indian mythological stories, the Gods always win over the evil forces. As such, here too it is meant to be similar. The general populace, who are probably devout Hindus, may have no doubt about the outcome of this struggle.

Thus, Moorthy begins by organizing events like Sankara Jayanthi, Sankara Vijaya etc. When Moorthy proposes that somebody should offer dinner for each day for the month and the response is spontaneous, „ “let the first be mine” said Bhatta; “the second mine,” said Agent Nanjundiah; “the third must be mine,” insisted Pandit Venkateshiah‟ (Ka 7).

Moorthy is said to have had a vision, where in, he was inspired by the words and touch of Mahatma Gandhi. It is when Moorthy “[…]fell at the feet of the Mahatma, saying, „I am your slave‟. The Mahatma lifted him up and before them all, he said, „what can I do for you, my son?‟ and Moorthy said, like Hanuman to Rama, „Any command‟ and the Mahatma said, „I give no commands, save to seek truth.‟ And Moorthy said, „I am ignorant, how can I seek truth?‟ […]Mahatma said, „You wear foreign clothes, my son.‟ „It will go Mahatmaji‟ – „You perhaps to go to foreign universities‟ –„It will go, Mahatmaji‟ –„You can help your country by going and working among the dumb millions of the villages‟” ( Ka 36 ). This incident is

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followed by a pat by Gandhi which brings a change in Moorthy, thus making him the Gandhi of Kanthapura.

If Moorthy is the village Gandhi in the making, the women of the village are not dumb followers; they too have imbibed the leadership qualities from Moorthy.

4.4.2 Emergence of women as potential leaders in Kanthapura The participation of women in the Indian freedom struggle was effectively seen during the Gandhian era. Thus the novel Kanthapura makes a strong case for women characters who think outside the family matters, like the political situation, the social ills, the freedom struggle, of Gandhian ideology and so on. One of the biggest success of Gandhian movement has been empowering the womenfolk. Hitherto, this had never happened in the national history nor in the works of fiction .

A. R. Desai (1982) puts it thus, “[T]his was unique in the entire history of India, the spectacle of hundreds of women taking part in political mass movement, picketing of liquor shops, marching in demonstrations, courting jails, facing lathi charges and bullets”(116). On the same issue Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya (1982) reiterates:

Women with pale eyes and blushing cheeks, they who had been gently nurtured behind silken curtains, women who had never looked upon a crowded street, never beheld a strange face….flung themselves into the blinding glare of day, unshaded and unprotected… they faced perils and privations with a happy light in their eyes and a spring in their limbs. Almost overnight their narrow domestic wall had given away to open a new wide world in which they had a high place. (116)

Gandhi wrote in „Young India‟ “[M]an should learn to give place to woman and a country or community in which women are not honoured cannot be considered as civilized” (Encyclopedia of Gandhi’s Thoughts 285).

Kanthapura has the presence of women characters of strength and vitality, who are involved in the freedom struggle. The characters like Rangamma, Ratna or the narrator of the story, Achakka are the voices which assist the protagonist in achieving his goals. They emerge as a strong force of social and cultural change. Rangamma who is a “different, soft-voiced, gentle-gestured woman”(Ka 32) is a childless widow. Though rooted in Kanthapura, she nevertheless reads the 139

happenings in the newspaper to others, narrates stories about the happenings abroad, tells about the socialist nations like Russia which has no caste-system, where both men and women go to work. She does not hesitate to take on Bhatta, when he tries to instigate her against the protagonist Moorthy.

Ratna is another young widow of fifteen years, educated and comparatively „modern‟ in her approach. She is disliked by others because even though a widow, she wears her hair to the left like a „concumbine‟. She puts on nose-rings and bangles, which a widow is not supposed to wear. Other women criticize her for this. She is a rebel in her own way. In fact, it is Ratna who provides the leadership to the village of Kanthapura when Moorthy and Rangamma are arrested. She takes up the responsibility to read out Kathas and newspapers to the women in the temple. It is Ratna who prays for the good health of Moorthy when he begins his three day fast. She is not a pliant or submissive woman but bold and progressive. She wholeheartedly takes part in the Gandhian Movement. She begins as a rebel, although undermined by others, assumes leadership and later attains „legitimacy‟ of the villagers, when she decides to lead them in absence of other leaders.

Apart from the characters above, the village Goddess Kenchamma is seen as the very feminine sensibility existing in the village. In fact, the novel begins by depicting the deep faith in the village goddess Kenchamma, who is supposed to protect from death and despair. During crisis or difficult moments, the villagers approach goddess Kenchamma for her blessings. In this regard, Ranu Uniyal (2004) observes:

[T]he insular life of the village is restructured on principles of nationalism and the singing and clapping and dancing in the later part of novel is followed by cries of „Vande Mataram‟ and the flag of revolution. Goddess Kenchamma becomes the all-powerful invincible mother who sustains land, protects them from the evil eye. “Oh Goddess destroy this government:”- is a cry of resentment and fosters a spirit of nationalism. The local deity (as a savior) opens up an enunciatory space where geometry is transcended into a national symbol „Bharat Mata‟ (nation as mother) that has to be rescued from the clutches of British Imperialism[…]. (196-197)

Gandhi in one of his writings in „Young India‟ wrote thus:

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To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man‟s injustice to woman. If by strength is meant brute strength, then, indeed, is woman less brute than man. If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man‟s superior. Has she not greater intuition, is she not more self- sacrificing, has she not greater courage? Without her, man could not be. If non- violence is the law of our being, the future is with woman… Who can make a more effective appeal to the heart than woman? (Encyclopedia of Gandhi’s Thoughts 279)

Thus, it can be observed that the residents of Kanthapura –which includes the men as well as women- are filled with power and strength towards achieving a single goal, which is the freedom from the foreign rule. It represents an era charged with the freedom struggle. If Moorthy is the protagonist of Kanthapura, Arthur Jarvis is the ideological lighthouse in Cry, the Beloved Country. Interestingly, Arthur Jarvis never appears directly in the narrative, although much about him is known through his writings and through other characters.

4.4.3 Arthur Jarvis, the leader in absentia in Cry the Beloved Country Arthur Jarvis is the leader who is neither seen nor referred to until his assassination. His potential leadership appears impactful and integrating for South African society as seen from his essay. His leadership becomes known and shared only through his essay and later through his legacy.

Arthur Jarvis is referred to as “[…]a courageous young man, and a great fighter for justice. And it is a terrible loss to the church too. He was one of the finest of all our young laymen”(CTBC 103; Henceforth Cry The Beloved Country will be referred to as CTBC). When he is murdered, he is working on a manuscript “The Truth about Native Crime” (CTBC 177). He speaks the local Zulu language and is also learning Sesuto. He talks and writes about the pathetic condition of hospitals for the non- Europeans and is vocal about the native crimes and the schooling facilities for the natives. He is for settled labor in mines, so that the miners may live with their families instead of secluded enclosures for men. In Arthur Jarvis‟s room “[O]n the walls between the books there are four pictures of Christ crucified and Abraham

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Lincoln and the white gabled house of Vergelegen, and a painting of leafless willows by a river in a wintry veld” (CTBC 176).

The article written by Arthur Jarvis brings out the strong perceptions of the existing social problems of South Africa. He believes that it did not matter whether Europeans did come and settle in this country but he objects to keeping the indigenous men unskilled for the sake of unskilled work (CTBC 178). Mining activity, no doubt, was good but destroying the family life of the miners for the sake of material benefits is wrong. He believes that policy decisions should be implemented for emancipation of labour and their exploitation, especially, the exploitation of the cheap black labour should be stopped immediately. Such exploitation gives rise to disintegration of native community, deterioration of native family life, causes poverty, encourages slums and crime. The solution to all these problems lies in education, because it helps in creating law abiding citizens.

With regard to the native tribal system, he writes:

[I]t was permissible to allow the destruction of a tribal system that impeded the growth of the country. It was permissible to believe that its destruction was inevitable. But it is not permissible to watch its destruction and to replace it by nothing or by so little that a whole people deteriorates, physically and morally. (CTBC 179)

Arthur Jarvis further observes in his article that the old system with all its violence and savagery, superstition and witchcraft was a moral system. But unfortunately the natives today produce criminals and prostitutes and drunkards. This is not because it is their nature to do so, but because their simple system of order and tradition and convention has been destroyed. It was destroyed by the impact of the civilization of the European colonisers. “Our civilization” he observes, “has therefore an inescapable duty to set up another system or order and tradition and convention[…] But whether we be fearful or no, we shall never, because we are a Christian people, be able to evade the moral issues” (179). In this context, the word „Christian‟ means not just the followers of Christianity but a just society with a humanitarian approach.

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During the funeral service of Arthur Jarvis at the Parkwold Church, where Arthur Jarvis‟s parents sat in the church for the first time with blacks, the Bishop praises the work of Arthur Jarvis. Bishop says, “[…]that here is a life devoted to South Africa, of intelligence and courage, of love that cast out fear, so that the pride welled up in the heart, pride in the stranger who had been his son”(CTBC 181).

Arthur Jarvis, like Moorthy in Kanthapura, questions the basic tenets of religion. Both find a wide gap in the preachings and practice of religion. Hence, the solution to the problem lies in following a given religion in its word and spirit. Arthur Jarvis writes in his manuscripts about Christianity which is riddled with dilemma. “[W]e believe in brotherhood of man but we do not want it in South Africa…We believe in help for the underdog, but we want him to stay under” (CTBC 187). It is the same God who created blacks and whites, hence one can‟t stop others from advancement. The „whites‟ purposely withhold education and other development opportunities from the blacks which is anti-Christian and against the Divine law. He writes,

It is strange then that our civilization is riddled through and through with dilemma? The truth is that our civilization is not Christian: it is a tragic compound of great ideal and fearful practice, of high assurance and desperate anxiety, of loving charity and fearful clutching of possessions […]. (CTBC 187-188)

Arthur Jarvis is not a revolutionary in the sense Moorthy is, but he is in the developing stage or in the process of being a revolutionary leader. He is a lone crusader on a mission which he believes will bring good to all. In a country torn apart by colonial enterprise and now broken into blacks and whites, the broken society can coexist peacefully in the manner as expressed by Arthur Jarvis. The erstwhile South African society is following rules which will benefit none. Thus the author continuously comments upon the society as a “land of fear” or the recurrence of the word “fear” throughout the novel.

In the essay named “Private Essay of the Evolution of a South Africa” (CTBC 207), Arthur Jarvis brings out the dilemma of a person who is born as a South African and not as any other member of a community. He expresses the concern at the inability to know and understand the nation as a whole. Each one being caught up in their own

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small world, unconcerned about the other community which co-exist in the vicinity. There were more Afrikaners than the English but he knew very little about them. As a child he was proud of the nation but knew very little about it. “[I]t is only when one grows up that one learns that there are other things here than sun and gold and oranges. It is only then that one learns of the hates and fears of our country” (CTBC 207).

Thus what one sees is the ability of Arthur Jarvis to put in self-less service not for any particular community but for the betterment of South Africa: “[T]herefore I shall devote myself, my time, my energy, my talents, to the service of South Africa[…]I shall try to do what is right, and to speak what is true” (CTBC 208). He believes that this is the only way to end the conflict. It is his inner feeling which moves him constantly to do what is right at whatever cost it may be.

Apart from Arthur Jarvis, the other characters who effectively present the other side of the social reality, the condition of the blacks, is seen through Stephen Kumalo and Msimangu.

4.4.4 Stephen Kumalo and Msimangu as ‘Mimic Men’ turned leaders Major part of the narrative in the novel is seen through the eyes of Stephen Kumalo. He is the protagonist of the novel and on the religious front, his character depicts the suffering of a devout and humble man who goes through sudden and immense tribulations in his life time. It also portrays the stoic manner in which these difficulties are faced by him with quiet fortitude. In fact, the novel is full of Biblical references and allusions. The saga of Stephen Kumalo resembles the Book Of Job, as it occurs in the Old Testament. Job undergoes utmost suffering but never shows remorse or anger against the almighty God. This Addresses the theme of God‟s justice in the face of human suffering and surrender to the will of God. The question raised is, why do the righteous suffer?

Stephen Kumalo is a Black, Christian priest in Ndotsheni, the rural part of South Africa. That entire region is suffering from natural calamities like drought and other related issues like migration of the young generation to the city, poverty among the black community and failure of the tribal leadership to provide necessary guidance

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and spiritual stability to their people. Stephen Kumalo, in the course of the novel grows from a person who worries only about the problems of self to the person who is thinking about the solutions to the problems of the community. He looks at the greater benefit of the society.

Another important character in the novel, Msimangu, is introduced through the letter he writes to Stephen Kumalo asking him to come to Johannesburg. Msimangu is a well-known and revered preacher. Almost all in the city know him and respect him for his knowledge and steadfastness. Msimangu is a true and earnest speaker, who speaks whatever he feels correct. He is described thus:

[…] the voice was gold, and the voice had love for the works it was reading. The voice shook and heat and trembled not as the noise of an old man shakes and beats and trembles nor as a leaf shakes and beats and trembles, but as a deep bell when it is struck. For it was not only a voice of gold, but it was the voice of a man whose heart was golden, reading from a book of golden words. And the people were silent, and Kumalo was silent, for when are three such things found in one place together? (CTBC 122)

Msimangu has experienced the perils of his people and the problems of the city; hence he has his own stand and a critical view of the sufferings of the people of the land. In one of his discussions about the state of affairs, he comments:

[T]he tragedy is not that things are broken. The tragedy is that they are not mended again. The white man has broken the tribe. And it is my belief -and again I ask your pardon- that it cannot be mended again. But the house that is broken, and the man that falls apart when the house is broken, these are the tragic things. That is why the children break the law, and old white people are robbed and beaten‟.(CTBC 56)

Seen from the view point of Franz Fanon, both Stephen Kumalo and Msimangu appear to be „Mimic Men‟. But this may not be fully just to Stephen Kumalo and Msimangu. There is more to the notion of being „mimic men‟.

According to Bhabha (1994), mimicry is “one of the most elusive and effective strategies of colonial power and knowledge”(85), since coloniser nations require the 145

natives to work for them and also on their behalf. This is well reflected in the “Macaulay‟s Minutes” (1995) -although it is expressed in the context of colonial India- wherein he exhorts:

We must at present do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between the millions and us whom we govern; a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect. To that class we may leave it to refine the vernacular dialects of the country, to enrich those dialects with terms of science borrowed from the Western nomenclature, and to render them by degrees fit vehicles for conveying knowledge to the great mass of the population. (430)

In this context it is relevant to see the view of Homi Bhabha as expressed in his essay “Mimicry and Man”(1994). He explores the ambivalence of the colonised subject who becomes a threat to the coloniser. He maintains that “to be Anglicised is emphatically not to be English”(87). But mimic characters are not slavish in nature and hence they can be a problem or menace or a threat to the power structure created by the coloniser or to the coloniser himself. With Msimangu and Kumalo speaking the same kind of language as spoken by the Colonisers, they do not necessarily threaten the colonial structure of knowledge. Their position is “ambivalent”, of colonised “mimic men” who have imbibed the white man‟s qualities. Bhabha looks at this condition as giving rise to anti-colonial voice, but interestingly it does not happen in the case of Stephen Kumalo and Msimangu. It is believed that by speaking and adhering to English, the colonised have succumbed to the power of the coloniser, but it is not always the same. Msimangu and Kumalo have reached a position where they do not challenge the coloniser‟s stand apparently due to the influence of their new found religion. Msimangu‟s statement: “[...] I am a Christian. It is not in my heart to hate a white man. It was a white man who brought my father out of darkness[...]”(CTBC 55-56) is a substantiation of this view.

In this context, Edward Said‟s opinion that „mimicry‟ has a weakening effect is noteworthy, even while Bhabha sees it as a point from where opposition to colonisation takes place. This point in Bhabha‟s view is active, positive and insurgent model of “mimicry”.

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Interestingly, the impact of the religious ideology may result in “hybridity”, which may function as the “third space” between the coloniser and colonised. There occurs the ambivalent split which is “neither the one nor the other” where actually the anti- colonial resistance first gets expressed. However, in the cases of Stephen Kumalo or Msimangu it does not seem to have been so. The religious conversions, from tribal traditional belief to Christianity in this case has uprooted all the possibilities leading to anti-colonial stand in Msimangu and Stephen Kumalo. Spiritualism has weakened the anti-colonial stand in these characters.

Both Msimangu and Stephen Kumalo face a Herculean challenge. They are a part of the bigger social structure that is the „Tribe‟. But this structure is also crumbling under colonial power and they are required to try and salvage the tottering structure- a task much beyond their means.

4.4.5 Failed leadership in the neo-colonial phase in Petals of Blood This novel looks at varied leaders who summarily fail to deliver. The leaders like Chui, Nderi Wa Reira or Kimeria are self-centered, power-hungry and corrupt. They are, what Franz Fanon (2001) refers to as, “[S]poilt children of yesterday‟s colonialism and of today‟s national governments, they organize the loot of whatever national resources exist”(37). The upcoming leadership in the form of Wanja, Abdulla, Karega and Munira are pushed back by the economic power of the neo- colonial forces of the comprador. The mass leadership as seen in the form of Nyakinyua, has died a peaceful death. The lawyer, who wants to lend a helping hand is murdered by the politically powerful forces. In all, the leadership is fractured, thus the whole community is equally directionless, hence vulnerable to neo-colonial forces.

In the novel Ngugi Wa Thiongo hints time and again at the greatness of the Black Civilization, the beginning of human civilization on the continent, the folklore describing the rich traditions of the land, the Mau-Mau freedom fighters fighting tooth and nail against the colonial forces for the sake of freedom of the land and also the land of Africa as a whole since ages having contact with the whole world and flourishing in trade through global connections. All these references put to rest the false propaganda of the colonial west, that they spread the torch of civilization in the

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“uncivilized Black” Africa. This also opens up a new way of looking at the African civilization for both the insiders and the outsiders.

There are five dimensions of leadership as seen in this context. The first is the folk leadership portrayed through the folklore in the form of folk-heroes; the second is the anti-colonial leadership in the form of Nyakinyua‟s husband, Abdulla, Karega‟s brother along with others who raise the armed struggle against the colonisers through the Mau-Mau; the third is the traditional leadership in the form of Mwathi wa Mugo, who is the compendium of knowledge the community has gathered since ages; the fourth type of leadership is the neo-colonial leaders in the form of Kimeria, Nderi Wa Reria and Chui; the fifth kind of leadership is the anti-neo-colonial leadership as seen through Wanja, Abdulla, Karega, the lawyer and others.

The neo-colonial situation offers multiple opportunities, but fails to provide effective leadership. The main reason is that the social, political and economic systems followed by the colonisers have not evolved its indigenous version of governance. Hence, merely dethroning the colonisers, without changing the systems has resulted in myopic, fractured and failed leadership.

4.5 Challenge for Leadership: The Broken Tribe The novel Cry, the Beloved Country makes repeated reference to words like „tribe‟ and „the broken tribe‟. It also refers to the tribal associations of an individual, such as of the Zulu tribe in the present case. In the pre-colonial socio-economic structure, before the notion of nation states was in circulation, the tribe was a uniting force with its leaders at the forefront. The tribes were dependent on their land for livelihood, hence self-sufficient. This has developed strong sense of bonding between the members of the tribe and the land which nurtures them.

Stephen Kumalo, Msimangu and other black characters belong to the Zulu ethnic group. The ethnic group is referred to as “barbaric” or “plunderer” by the whites. Msimangu mesmerizes the audience with his beautiful words. But to this, the whites marvel and comment thus, “[…] what words came from the son of a barbarian people, who not long since plundered and slaughtered, in thousands and tens of thousands, under the most terrible chief of all” (CTBC 124).

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Such words are derogatory to a tribe which had once ruled the major part of South Africa and fought battles against the colonisers, especially the British. The Zulu kingdom was powerful until the nineteenth century, but the two wars i.e. Battle of Insandlwana fought on 12thJanuary, 1879 and Battle of Ulundi on 4th July 1879 were a turning point in the declining political destiny of the Zulus. In the first war, Zulus defeated the British, but in the second war, the Zulus were defeated. The British then divided the Zulu empire in 13 „kinglets‟ giving rise to inner conflict. These were later absorbed into British colony of Natal. It was under apartheid that the homeland of Kwa Zulu was created.

Most Zulu people were converted to Christianity, but their Christian belief was also inclusive of their traditional beliefs like ancestor worship and other tribal beliefs. In fact, Stephen Kumalo refers many a times to the word “Tixo” which means “God”. He says in the beginning, “[…] Tixo, we give thanks to thee for thy unending mercy”. “Tixo, let this small boy be welcomed to Ndotsheni…” “Tixo, let this girl be welcome to Ndotsheni… And Tixo my son…”( CTBC 258). But later, the prayer goes on thus, “[…]And the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you and abide with you, and with all those that are dear to you, now and forever more. Amen”(CTBC 259). In Stephen Kumalo is seen the culmination of the early tribal system and the new faith of Christianity. His devoutness is all the more strongly felt whether he prays in tribal belief or in Christian faith.

Thus, this may be referred to as a syncretic kind of faith. Stephen Kumalo and Msimangu seem to be very refined, devout and mild, although they are a product of Zulu race, which was once referred to as “barbaric”. This fact, leads to the conclusion that it is a lie to refer the race as “barbaric” or on the other hand it proves that the coloniser‟s missionary efforts have adequately de-nativised them to function appropriately as the leaders of white man‟s church. The moot question therefore is whether the hegemonic attempt of the whites at stamping a group as „barbaric‟ and thus dehumanizing, sidelining and restricting their freedom in all its forms valid? And whether it is the „whites‟ who suitably groomed them into conveniently refined and complicit instruments who could manage the native tribe?

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In the colonial era, the tribes were systematically dismantled of their strengths and vitality, and what ultimately remained were the ceremonial figures of tribal leaders who could neither appreciate nor understand the intricacies of colonial system super- imposed on a community. Religious conversion also added to aggravate the problems further. There existed twin responsibilities for the black community: the first was to adhere to the regulations of the white rulers, and, second was to follow the tribal customs. The white rulers had the economic and political power, as well as the hold of the religion which had been gradually introduced to the indigenous tribal population. But the same tribe finds itself on the brink of disintegration because of the dichotomy involved in this case.

There are various comments, in the novel Cry, the Beloved Country about the tribe and tribal leaders. Stephen Kumalo and Msimangu talk “[…]of the sickness of the land of the broken tribe and the broken house of young men and young girls and went away and forgot their customs[…]” (CTBC 52). There is the belief - as expressed by Msimangu- that the indigenous population was “brought out of darkness” by the „white man‟. So in a way, “the white man” is a savior of the mankind. But again, there is the tragedy of breaking up of the tribe beyond any likely mending in near future. This again is the handiwork of the “white man.” Yet Mismangu claims that he is a „Christian‟ and so he cannot hate a white man. Apparently, he has turned into a „Hybrid‟ who finds it difficult to resist the white hegemony.

Authors such as Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Ngugi Wa Thiongo among others have attempted to realistically depict the African pre-colonial societies which were systematically „broken‟ for the sake of colonial activity under the garb of „civilizing the world.‟ Likewise, in their critical analysis, Cesaire, Soyinka and others have upheld the cultural distinctness and worth of these native societies.

The tribe is being broken at one end while there are signs that it is again being rebuilt. At Mrs. Lithebe‟s residence, Stephen Kumalo and his sister along with Mrs. Lithebe are praying together and helping each other and as the author observes in optimistic anticipation in “[…].Johannesburg […] the tribe was already rebuilt, the house and the soul restored”(CTBC 63).

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John Kumalo, Stephen‟s brother, is critical of the tribe and the tribal chief whom he refers to as , “[…]an ignorant man[…]an uneducated man”(CTBC 66). He believes in being free from age old customs and traditions which are viewed as a hindrance. He puts it thus, “I do not say we are free here… But at least I am free of the Chief. At least I am free of an old and ignorant man, who is nothing but a white man‟s dog. He is a trick, a trick to hold together something that the white man desires to hold together”(66). Even Church to John Kumalo is a hindrance to freedom. He addresses:

[…] the church too is like the chief. You must do so and so. You are not free to have an experience. A man must be faithful and meek and obedient, and he must obey the laws, whatever the laws may be. It is true that the church speaks with a fine voice, and that the Bishops speak against the laws. But this they have been doing for fifty years, and things get worse, not better. (CTBC 66)

On one hand there is the tragic awareness of the breaking tribe while on the other hand the issue of white hegemony embedded in the minds of the black community. The resistance to colonial activity by the indigenous populace recedes and takes the form of reciprocity.

4.5.1 Cry the Beloved Country and the fiction of reciprocity The term „reciprocity‟ as used in Social Psychology refers to responding to a positive action with another positive action. It is in a way recognizing and rewarding the kind actions.

The „fiction of reciprocity‟ was seen in the „missionary method‟, where the missionaries presumed the need for the indigenous population to be saved from their heathenism, barbarity and thereby being helped become „pure and civilized‟. The general belief, therefore, is that this help provided by the missionaries or the colonisers should be reciprocated by offering their precious lands, treasures, their cultures and even other secrets concerning their age old traditions.

In Cry the Beloved Country, the black Christians who “belonged to the church” do not regret the loss of their earlier traditions, but on the other hand cannot arouse dissatisfaction or anger against the colonisers or the „whites‟. They do not want

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power, lest it corrupt them. Hence the answer is to stay away from power and believe in the power of love. They have reached a level of reciprocity, where the colonisers and their faith is viewed as the „saviour‟ and hence they need to respond through love and gratitude. The undertone of the novel continuously carries this feeling of reciprocity forward through characters like Stephen Kumalo and Msimangu. Msimangu expresses his views thus:

[B]ecause the white ma has power, we too want power. […] But when a black man gets power, when he gets money, he is a great man if he is not corrupted. I have seen it often. He seeks power and money to put right what is wrong, and when he gets them, why, he enjoys the power and the money. Now he can gratify his lusts, now he can arrange ways to get white man‟s liquor, […] Some of us think when we have power, we shall revenge ourselves on the white man who has had power and because our desire is corrupt, we are corrupted and power has no heart in it[…]

[…] But there is only one thing that has power completely, and that is love. Because when a man loves, he seeks no power, and therefore he has power. I see only only one hope for our country and that is when white men and black men, desiring neither power nor money, but desiring only good of their country, come together to work for it. (CTBC 70-71)

This approach in Cry, the Beloved Country is strikingly different from that in the other African novel, Petals of Blood set in Kenya. Hence, it makes for interesting discussion in the light of its popular leadership responding to its neo-colonial challenges.

4.5.2 Popular leadership and the process of neo-colonisation Neo-colonisation is continuing the work of colonisers by following the same policies as adopted by the colonisers. The novel Petals of Blood looks at the issue of neo- colonialism in Kenya. The case may be compared to any other third-world country that faced colonisation and presently faces the problem of neo-colonisation.

One of the reasons for continuing the anti-native policy of the colonial enterprise is the weak leadership among the native which has failed to perform and deliver up to the expectations of the masses. Hence, as many other African nations, the common people in the present novel reach a state of despair, betrayal and feel robbed of their

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dreams. Historically speaking, popular leaders like Nkrumah of Ghana, Kaunda of Zambia and Kenyatta of Kenya became dictators. The leaders were looked up as messiahs, but they failed to deliver. This harsh reality is reflected in the theme of the novel.

Different leaders in Petals of Blood who fail to deliver or betray the public are Nderi Wa Reira, Kimeria, Mzigo and Chui who would have been exceptionally talented and capable leaders. But they have compromised national interest for their personal benefit and economic profit, unconcerned by the pathetic condition of the public. Nderi Wa Reira, the local Member of Parliament (MP) is corrupted by power. He visits his constituency only during the elections, pleading for votes, or sometimes to gather funds. But once elected, he does not bother to visit the people.

The priorities of Africans in pre-colonial era were based on community partnership. As such, all the activities were communal. The belief that an individual is first a part of the social system was pertinent. But these societies underwent a change through the colonial enterprise. So much so that even after the end to the colonial rule, the livelihood of many is still controlled by the few. The mass production of local brew Thengeta may be seen as an example. Thengeta is the plant of which people in the olden times used to talk about in awe and mystery, which grew in the wild and the herdsmen knew where it grew. It was kept a secret. It was brewed only on special occasions, like after the circumcision ceremony or marriage or after the harvest. Nyakinyua when explaining the greatness of Thengeta exclaims thus:

[I]t is a wish. It gives you sight, and for those favored by Gods it can make them cross the river of time and talk with their ancestors. It has given seers their tongues; poets and Gichandi players their words; and it has made barren women mothers of many children. Only you must take it with faith and purity in your hearts. (Petals of Blood 210; Henceforth all references to this text will be indicated by the abbreviation POB)

The colonisers banned such a drink. But the neo-colonisers took this as an opportunity to sell Thengeta. Mass-production through Thengeta Breweries decapitated the ritualistic and special place it had in the society. It was not the colonialists, but the neo-colonialists who have disassociated the rituals for selfish

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ends. This is a case of rural group activity - as a part of their intangible heritage of living in harmony with nature - which is broken for selfish ends.

Karega says:

…[w]e are all prostitutes, for in a world of grab and take, in a world built on a structure of inequality and injustice, in a world where some can eat while others can only toil, some can send their children to schools and others cannot, in world where a prince, a monarch a businessmen can sit on billions while people starve or hit their heads against church walls […]For as long as there is a man who goes hungry and without clothes, I am also hungry without and without clothes… (POB 240)

There is inequality, hypocrisy and betrayal of peasants and workers of Kenya by those leaders who are in power. The novel shows how the erstwhile leadership implemented the economic system of capitalism with its destructive, alienating effects on traditional Kenyan society that lead to serious problems of livelihood. Glorious Ilmorog is transformed into a proto-capitalist society with the problems of prostitution, social inequalities, misery, uncertainty and inadequate housing. The new Ilmorog is divided along class lines. There is economic deprivation and ruthless dispossession of the peasants.

In the neo-colonial context, the livelihood has become a „grab and take‟ affair. Without one‟s own resources in hand, how can one think of one‟s livelihood and future. The resultant effect is the competition and those who cannot compete are left as derelict and unproductive. The competition is unfair, and Thiongo paints the bleak picture of Kenya‟s economic turmoil. Wanja in one of her lengthy talk retorts, “This world[…] this Kenya[…] this Africa knows only one law. You eat somebody or you are eaten. You sit on somebody or somebody sits on you” (POB 291). This process is neo-colonisation. It is a feeling of powerlessness and inability to take any decisions either about one‟s own life, the village or the community. The center of power lies somewhere else. Nyakinyua thinks thus, “[…]it seemed that authority, power, everything was outside Ilmorog […] out there […] in the big city‟ (POB 116).

The political leadership and the administration is more concerned with the city or the urban area, which represents the neo-colonial attitude. Karega thinks thus: 154

[…] people in the city and other places were drinking and laughing and eating and making love out of excess of fullness, and here people were fainting with hunger and malnutrition. …how could a whole community be taken in by a few greedy stomachs – greedy because they had eaten more than their fair share of that which was brought by the blood of the people? (POB 112)

The flaw of the political leadership is to seek the solution for all the problems in capitalism, especially in urbanization. At independence, the Kenyan government, politically, economically and socially inherited the colonial structure. Thiongo laments at the inability to dismantle the colonial shackles even after gaining independence. This has resulted in the birth of neo-colonialism with its flawed and empathetic leadership.

4.5.3 Afro-pessimism in Cry, the Beloved Country and Petals of Blood The word Afro-pessimism refers to a sense of pessimism and negativism about Africa‟s ability to overcome the problems faced by it. In the context of the two novels mentioned above, the problems include poverty, urbanization, lack of social well-being , economic instability and above all the impact of colonisation and neo- colonisation.

Ahluwalia (2012) refers to Afro-pessimism which homogenizes the “African tragedy”, concluding that Africa has neither the political will nor the capacity to deal with its problems (54). This statement generalizes and „racialises‟ the whole of Africa as a continent although it is divided into fifty four countries. Cry, the Beloved Country is a part of afro-pessimism where it embodies itself in an ethnocentric framework, thus sidelining other issues like colonisation and social divide.

Knowingly or unknowingly, Alan Paton is measuring the success and failures of a community using unethnic standards or for that matter the „western‟ standards. It is clearly narrated in the novel time and again that the Zulu indigenous faith is inhuman and barbaric, thus unfit as a basis for development of the community. The only solace available is to adhere to the ideology of the „whites‟, who can help till the lands better and provide material and knowledge resources. The young agricultural demonstrator Napoleon Letsisi who is “of the church” is hired by James Jarvis for the benefit of the black farmers of Ndotsheni. What they are providing is seen as a

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repayment for the damages and harms done. The approaches of Stephen Kumalo, Msimangu, the Zulu tribal chief may be good or bad but they are expected and probable. But the case of Arthur Jarvis or his father James Jarvis is exceptional; it is as unexpected as it is rare. Hence, the author‟s intention at providing a solution to the problem appears idealistic rather than realistic.

As a “white man‟s burden”, it can be seen as the supposed duty of the white race to bring education and western culture to the non-white inhabitants of their colonisers. It is the white man‟s duty to care for the subjects in colonies. The poem written by Rudyard Kipling „The White Man‟s Burden: The United States and The Phillippine Islands‟ in 1899 reads thus,

‘Take up the White Man’s burden-/

Send forth the best ye breed-/

Go send your sons to exile/

To serve your captives’ needs/

To wait in heavy harness/

On fluttered folk and wild-/

Your new caught, sullen peoples,/

Half devil and half child….’ (McClure’s Magazine 290)

The poem is a racial comment on colonial encounter and becomes a euphemism for imperialism and in a way the characters of Arthur Jarvis and James Jarvis seem to have been conceived by the author to represent this attitude.

Msimangu and Stephen Kumalo are „hybrids‟ in the sense they have adopted the ways and mannerisms of the „white‟ rulers, and in their own ethnic group are considered with reverence. The hybridization process is complete when Msimangu speaks of hazardous effects of passing on the power in the hands of the indigenous population, which is in fact the view of the white colonisers.

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The mention of the words “the tribe cannot be mended together again” are pessimistic and assert the fact that the white rulers have made it so. The second reason is the „mending‟ of the tribe would mean strengthening the so called „barbaric‟ tribes socially, economically and culturally. If this is done, it would result in the death knell of the „white‟ hegemony, and dispossess those who represent it and who have hoarded the best cultivable lands, water resources, mines and other economic activities which control the overall existence of a nation. Alan Paton is seen to be continuously brooding over the realistic problems faced by the majority of the populace, and yet provides idealized solutions.

In Petals Of Blood, the issue of Afro-pessimism is not an external point of view but an inner self-realization of a nation in the post-colonial era. It is a feeling which arises as reaction to neo-colonisation and with all the expectations being destroyed and mutilated at the hands of few people who have the economic power and ability to change the socio-economic system of a nation.

4.6 Solutions to the problems The three novels raise certain social questions which a nation faces and also suggests solutions to it. In Cry, the Beloved Country the situations and characters can be analyzed in an altogether different way. The solution to the erstwhile problems can be found through the characters of Arthur Jarvis, Msimangu, Stephen Kumalo, James Jarvis and to some extent the Chief of the clan too.

Msimangu has the ability to reach the hearts of the people and bring about an inner change, “[…] he touches people at the hearts and sends them marching towards heaven instead of to Pretoria” (CTBC 124). He is a man of deeds more than words. He is the first black man to retire into a community and forswear the world and all possessions. He gives all his savings to Stephen Kumalo for the expenses incurred and for the new responsibilities accepted by him.

Msimangu is worried and apprehensive at the black people wanting power in the name of change, just because the whites have it. He is apprehensive that when the Blacks get it, they get corrupted by the power and money and begin to gratify their lusts. Some also think of revenge over the white man. He says, „[…]the power has

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no heart in it. But most white men do not know this truth about power, and they are afraid lest we get it‟ (CTBC 70). But of all the characters, Msimangu has his own clear vision which will lead to a permanent solution to the problem. He emphasises thus:

[B]ut there is only one thing that has power completely, and that is love. Because when a man loves, he seeks no power, and therefore he has power. I see only one hope for our country, and that is when white men and black men, desiring neither power nor money, but desiring only the good for their country, come together to work for it. (70)

Similarly, Stephen Kumalo, unlike John Kumalo believes that solution can be found to the problems in the given situation too. The character of the tribal chief is visibly shown as a powerless being who is foolish and unwise. Stephen Kumalo is asked to wait simply because the chief wanted to show his position. Looking at the Chief, Stephen Kumalo ponders, “For who would be chief over this desolation? It was a thing the white man had done, knocked these chiefs down, and put them up again, to hold the pieces together. But the white men had taken most of the pieces away….rulers of pitiful kingdoms that had no meaning at all. ..they were feeding an old man with milk, and pretending that he would one day grow into a boy” (CTBC 264).

The tribal chief has good intentions but lacks direction. Even the chief‟s counselors have no solution to the problems of dilapidated community, the land has become barren, the maize does not grow tall, the cattle are dying, the children are malnourished and dying and there are no solutions to be found with the existing situations: “[F]or the counselors of a broken tribe have counsel for many things, but none for the matter of a broken tribe” (CTBC 266).

One perspective of solving such problems caused due to ineffectual or corrupt leadership can be seen in the Trusteeship Theory as put forth by Mahatma Gandhi.

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4.6.1 The Trusteeship Theory Gandhi propounded Trusteeship Theory with regard to the economic development in a society. This was his way of bringing a change among the capitalist class. He mentions in the fourth issue of September 1919 of Harijan, “In reality, the toiler is the owner of what he produced. If the toilers intelligently combine, they will become an irresistible power. That is how I do not see the necessity of class conflict. If I thought it inevitable, I shall not hesitate to preach it and teach it” (Encyclopedia of Gandhi’s Thoughts 214). Gandhi was looking at establishing a classless society through non-violent means. He was against the theory of class-war as propounded by Karl Marx. Thus he wrote in Young India on 26th March 1931, “I can, must decidedly avoid class war if only the people will follow the non-violent method. By the non-violent method we seek not to destroy the capitalist, we seek to destroy capitalism. We invite the capitalist to regard himself as a trustee or those on whom he depends for making the retention of and the increase of his capital”( Encyclopedia of Gandhi’s Thoughts 248).

The Trusteeship Theory is a means to spiritual development of an individual leading to God realization. For instance, in Cry, the Beloved Country, James Jarvis, the white resident, is spending all his savings for the betterment of the society. When he comes to know about the malnourished children, he decides to send the cart-full milk for the children. When Jarvis‟s grandson inquires for ice-cold milk to drink and when he says “Why is there is no milk in Ndotsheni? Is it because the people are poor?” to this Kumalo tells him about the children which are dying of malnutrition. When this news reaches James Jarvis, the boy‟s grandfather, he sends milk for the children. The person carrying the milk cans tells Kumalo,

This milk is for small children only, for those who are not yet at school, said the man importantly. And it is to be given by you only. And these sacks must be put over the cans, and small boys must bring water to pour over the sacks. And each morning I shall take back the cans. This will be done till the grass comes and we have milk again. (CTBC 271)

In the latter part of the novel, Jarvis thinks of building a dam for the benefit of the indigenous blacks, personally spending from his own savings. Magistrate says,

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“They say he‟s going queer. From what I‟ve heard, he soon won‟t have any money left”(CTBC 277). This is the spiritual evolution which has taken place in him.

But such a change of heart of spiritual evolution does not take place in Petals of Blood. Every rich person wants to plunder more riches and suck more profits from the poor. Karega‟s parents had been squatters and lived in a condition of utter penury and pathetic life. Waweru, on whose farm they worked, shows himself to be a devout Christian, but it is only a façade to hide his unscrupulous and a selfish person. In the neo-colonial context, the spirituality itself has become barren and hence religion and spirituality are mere lip-service. The Trusteeship Theory cannot work under such conditions.

These novelists highlight the issues of the poor and the downtrodden who are denied political and social action. It is a well-known fact that each and every society has some form of inequality or the other. In India it is the caste discrimination, in Africa the discrimination based on colour and in Petals of Blood it is the brutal materialistic market forces creating a socio-economic turmoil in the society. The three novelists show their concern with regard to the socio-economically downtrodden community which is oppressed by the powerful capitalists. Since, the situations are different in the three novels, the solutions also differ from novel to novel. For Raja Rao, it is the Gandhian philosophy that works; for Alan Paton, it is the Christian love and humanism; and for Thiongo it is the harsh revolutionary approach of radical Marxism.

In India, untouchability is the result of varna hierarchy practiced by the Indian masses over the centuries and this in turn is the result of misinterpretation of the scriptures. Mahatma Gandhi believed in Varnashrama Dharma, and considered it as the man‟s mission on this earth, the work destined to him by the Maker. He wrote in Young India, on 27-10-1929: “It restricts him, therefore, for the purpose of holding body and soul together, to the occupation of his forefathers”(357). On the issue of untouchability and caste, Gandhi observes in Harijan, on 11-2-1933:

[I]t is a wrong to destroy caste because of the outcaste, as it would be to destroy a body because of an ugly growth in it or of a crop because of the weeds. The outcasteness, in the sense we understand it, has therefore to be destroyed 160

altogether. It is an excess to be removed, if the whole system is not to perish. Untouchability is the product, therefore, not of the caste system, but of the distinction of high and low that has crept into Hinduism and is corroding it. The attack on untouchability is thus an attack upon this 'high-and-low'-ness. The moment untouchability goes, the caste system itself will be purified, that is to say, according to my dream, it will resolve itself into the true Varnadharma, the four division of society, each complementary of the other and none inferior or superior to any other, each as necessary for the whole body of Hinduism as any other. (3)

Gandhi did not believe in the caste in the modern sense, as it hinders progress, gives rise to inequalities between human beings. He asserted, “Assumption of superiority by any person over any other is a sin against God and man. Thus caste, in so far as it connotes distinctions in status, is an evil” (Encyclopedia of Gandhi’s Thoughts 116).

Kanthapura discusses the humanitarian concern for the untouchables, also called as „Dalits‟ or „Pariah‟s‟. They are the outcastes, prototype of millions of untouchables in India, because they represent the agony and anguish, the misery and frustration of the outcastes.

Certain solutions to the problems of the community concerned are also suggested in Cry, the Beloved Country through the generation of empathy and religious outlook in the community. The novel goes beyond the allegorical perspective of „Book of Job‟ because it highlights the need for creating an ideal society through ideal beings, where equality is not the result of force and violence, but a willful act of humane consideration and empathy. This understanding goes beyond the boundaries of tribe, colour and wealth , and hopes to break the shackles of communal disharmony and division. Such social changes cannot be brought about suddenly, but requires long- term approach of selfless service and dedication to a cause beyond self.

In Petals of Blood, the novel projects violent means as a solution to the socio- economic problems of the oppressed and the downtrodden. The novel seems to suggest that the emancipation of the downtrodden cannot be achieved through the values based in religion, commerce or civilization. No doubt, the coloniser had brought in such values to the colonised. However, before the coloniser came, the

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native Africa was a simple agrarian society based mainly on farming and cattle grazing. The reverence to natural forces was the core of religious practices and traditions. The collective will was important, and what one dreamt of was a good yield and of warriorship. In fact it is the native who

…[w]ould pray and sacrifice to propitiate nature. Yes: the native was still afraid of nature. But he revered man‟s life as much as he revered nature. Man‟s life was God‟s sacred fire that had to remain lit all the way from the ancestor to the child and the generations yet unborn. (POB 88)

But all these were changed and mutilated in the name of “civilizing the natives”. Important means used for the purpose were Religion, Commerce/Trade and civilization. The missionary had crossed the oceans, the forests, for the sake of profit that was his faith and light and the guns were his protection. The white coloniser carried the Bible; the soldier accompanied them carrying the weapon and the administrator and the settler carried the coin. “Christianity, Commerce, civilization; the Bible, the Coin, the Gun: Holy Trinity” (POB 88 ).

As a consequence of such a realization, in neo-colonial Kenya, the religion has become corrupt and defunct. In Petals of Blood, the incident of the group visiting the farmhouse of Rev. Jerrod Brown is a critique of the religious bigotry, un-empathetic and inhuman approach. The men visit his farmhouse seeking some food and also medical assistance to the young Joseph, who is suffering from fever. The road from the gates leading to house of Rev. Brown passes through the neat and well-trimmed trees and lawns. Karega reflects over this as, “A well finished application of sweat, art and craftsmanship over a number of years, so much energy and brains wasted on beautifying trees,…” (POB 146). The members are nearly attacked by the barking dogs and at last they meet Rev. Jerrod Brown, who is not a white man but a Black man. He is the most respected man in the Anglican hierarchy, perhaps the candidate to be the next bishop. He was earlier known as Rev. Kamau, but has changed to the Christian name. Rev. Brown is least concerned about their difficulties. He only prays “for everything and everyone under the Sun…” He makes it a point to tell them that the Bible is against a life of idleness and begging and instead they should believe in a life of hard work and sweat. And as for the sick Joseph he offers prayers for him, thus

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providing no assistance of any kind. Karega jokingly puts it thus, “ ..the Reverend holy bastard could only offer us the food of the spirit, the breads and fish of Jesus?” (POB 149).

Thus religion is used as a tool to assuage another‟s anguish and despair. Especially in Kanthapura the religion is an effective tool used to build the community unity and hold the individual during the difficult times. It instills character, especially to the protagonist Moorthy, with moral strength and courage. In Cry, the Beloved Country Msimangu summons Stephen Kumalo to take back his sister from the town. It is not just the Black priests, but even the white priests who lend their helping hand to Stephen Kumalo in their best possible way. Interestingly the situations have changed drastically with societies after the end of the colonial encounter as seen manifested in Petals of Blood.

The history of Ilmorog has been illustrious and the people have had their glorious past, but going back in time is impossible. The political power is inept, the men in power are greedy and unconcerned, the „comprador,‟ the powerful western trader, and those with western education look with contempt at the indigenous poor men and history. Such selfish men cannot find solution to the socio-economic problems.

The history becomes another tool of the colonial enterprise and works at distorting facts or providing limited and suitable facts which will benefit the colonisers or neo- colonisers by uprooting or erasing the glorious historical past leading to dislocation of the mind and the body of the community:

[…] defenders of imperialism, insist we only arrived here yesterday. Where went all the Kenyan people who used to trade with China, India, Arabia long long before Vasco da Gama came to the scene and on the strength of gunpowder ushered in an era of blood and terror and instability-an era that climaxed in the reign of imperialism over Kenya? But even then these adventures of Portuguese mercantilism were forced to build Fort Jesus, showing that Kenyan people had always been ready to resist foreign control and exploitation. The story of this heroic resistance who will sing it? Their struggles to defend their land, their wealth, their lives: who‟ll tell of it? What of their earlier achievements in

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production that had annually attracted visitors from ancient China and India? (POB 67)

The knowledge of the history of the land lays the foundation for a society to surge ahead in the direction of socio-economic well-being of the society. In Petals of Blood, the downtrodden are not just the financially weak or politically disempowered people but those individuals who urgently require to „decolonize‟ their minds of the neo-colonial attitudes.

4.6.2 Empathizing and empowering the rural masses There is a difference between rural and urban areas, as both represent distinct priorities and sometimes-contrasting values. Both are constituents of the same country but their priorities, culture and socio-economic systems are different. The difference between the two can be seen through the following passage:

[S]kyscrapers versus mud walls and grass thatch; tarmac highways, international airports and gambling casinos versus cattle-paths and gossip before sunset. Our erstwhile masters have left us a very unevenly cultivated land. The center was swollen with fruit and water sucked from the rest, while the outer parts were progressively weaker and scraggier as one moved away from the center. (POB 49)

The village Ilmorog in Petals of Blood in rural Kenya and Ndotsheni in Cry, the Beloved Country in South Africa are „weaker and scraggier‟ as they are away from the center of power, hardly known by the people around. They are a „Wasteland‟. The young men and women have left back their elders before leaving for the city. The young women in Ilmorog only return to “deposit” their new born with their grandmothers who are “already aged with scratching this earth for a morsel of life”(POB 7). In fact, those who return from the cities to see their wives or parents leave quickly. The attraction of the urban life and the unproductive Ilmorog or Ndotsheni is driving more and more people away.

The people of Ilmorog seem to struggle to make the two ends meet. “We don‟t know if the grains of maize and beans can last us to the end of the njali rains. That is, if the rains come...”(POB 8).

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Ilmorog was exploited during the colonial era because the place had forests to offer to its counterpart in the urban area. It is the same Ilmorog where people did not buy or sell land, as it was available in plenty. As Muturi says:

[Y]ou forget that in those days the land was not for buying. It was for use. It was also plenty, you need not have beaten one yard over and over again. The land was also covered with forests. The trees called rains. They also cast a shadow on the land but the forest was eaten by the railway. You remember they used to come for wood as far as here- to feed the iron thing. Aah, they only knew how to eat, how to take away everything. But then, those were Foreigners- white people. (POB 82)

In the end, Ilmorog changes from an unknown village to a major town. It has become the urban counterpart and some unknown village is suffering the same fate which Ilmorog had gone through years before. The earlier exploitation for natural resources ended with the end of the resources, but the neo-colonial phase of exploitation and urbanization will continue as an irreversible process. In a way, neo- colonisation is more destructive than colonisation.

4.7 Conclusion In fine, the novels under study lend voice to the millions of the voiceless and the exploited, the pariahs, the oppressed, the labourers and the like. The sufferings of these people are made known along with a hope of redemption. As responsible writers, they try to create an urgent awareness of the dehumanising social evils which is not only a „national problem‟ but „universal‟ problem.

The freedom struggles depicted in the novels under study involve violent as well as the non-violent means of resistance. Kanthapura and Cry, The Beloved Country specifically adhere to non-violent means, while Petals of Blood glorifies the violent armed struggle and hints at the capability of such armed struggles which help in decolonising a nation. If Msimangu and Kumalo are working at binding the broken tribe, Munira and Karega in Petals of Blood are working at creating a new nation, “[...]The challenge of nation-building in remote Ilmorog, my new found kingdom”(POB 54).

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Kanthapura ends on a note of hope of attaining freedom from the British colonial rule. Although Moorthy, the village Gandhi, is jailed, others continue the struggle. India attained independence in 1947, which is around nine years after the novel was published. Yet, it presents the glorious age, when ordinary Indians struggled for freedom armed with the Gandhian ideals of non-violence. Kanthapura also highlights the rise of rural India, the participation of women freedom fighters, picturisation of social unity against colonisation through its unique way of storytelling. Religion and morality play a vital role in building up the inner strength of the community against colonialism.

Cry, the Beloved Country ends on a note of hope although Stephen Kumalo loses his son, who is hanged for murdering Arthur Jarvis. The two families namely Kumalo and Jarvis lose their sons, but the elder members, namely, Stephen Kumalo and James Jarvis find solace in solving the societal problems at their own level. None plays the blame game, but each tries to understand the socio-economic issues with maturity of perception. Instead of being verbose, they begin their small attempt at reconciliation. Society is broken on the lines of colour and along the urban-rural divide. There is the sorrow of losing the age old tribal heritage. Yet the major characters do not crumble under personal sorrow but overcome them through devoting themselves to the work of social welfare.

Petals of Blood looks at the post-colonial perspective as the society has entered in a phase of neo-colonial activity. The age-old heritage of the community is lost and the society cannot be reversed back to the olden days. The country has moved from colonial to neo-colonial phase. This has resulted in westernization of the neo- colonial forces, and encouraged mindless urbanization of a devouring capacity. This in turn has led to spiritual barrenness and immorality of the „comprador‟. Ngugi Wa Thiongo time and again points at failure of the intelligentsia in writing and propagating correct history among its countrymen. The novel hints at violent reaction in order to break the shackles of neo-colonialism.

The three novels depict the issues resulting from the colonial experience in three nations, covering two different continents. Each of these communities has its tangible and intangible cultural context, in which the writing takes place. The historical

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context and attempts at maintaining the relevant historical material in the context of post-colonial situation attains relevance. The issue of leadership in the novels which the author brings into focus is both the need of the narrative and the erstwhile socio- cultural context in which the texts have been set. They are the ideals cherished by the erstwhile writers and their society.

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CHAPTER FIVE Locale of Engagement and Response: The Sthalapurana and the Sthalamahatmya of Nativity.

5.1 Introduction In consistence with its title and focus, the present study has tried to elicit as many fictional echoes of colonial experience as possible from the novels under study with regard to a variety of issues and points of view about colonialism in India and Africa. As it winds to a close, it becomes necessary to see in retrospect what has been the response of the society in a given place to colonialism as seen in the given novels. The context of such a study has to be the locale, the „real‟ place where the „drama‟ of colonial encounter has been historically enacted.

In the African context, this study of colonialism encompasses three nations, namely, South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya, while in the context of the Indian subcontinent, it draws into focus the pre-partitioned undivided British India and the small, present state of Goa, then a Portuguese colony, interestingly known as Estado da India (the Portuguese State of India). As such, a multitude of countries, townships, villages, and localities come into play in the fictional works based on these nations.

It is necessary to understand the significance of locale in the history of the colonial societies and thereafter to look at the importance accorded to the locale in the fictional plots of the select novels to appreciate its contribution both to history and fiction. The works under study reveal how the locale helps to build the anti-colonial upsurge among the indigenous inhabitants of the various fictionalized societies and, thereby, justify its analysis here.

Since the locale has been one of the crucial basis of the narrative, in almost all the works, it has been addressed by the writers in multiple ways- emotionally, intellectually and analytically. Thus it is seen to be glorified, nostalgically presented, outright condemned, described matter-of- factly, ideologically critiqued or empirically discussed. To capture these varied responses or reactions to the locale, twin approaches have been mobilized for analysis in this chapter: the western critical notion of „space‟ to understand the concept and the role of locale in the texts under study; and, traditional Indian perception of locale as „sthala‟ and the attitude of 168

narrativizing it through „puranas‟(mythology) and glorifying it via „mahatmya‟(glorification).

5.1.1 Sthalapurana and Sthalamahatmya as narration of space As mentioned above, the two terms to be discussed in the course of this analysis of locale are namely, „Sthalapurana‟ and the „Sthalamahatmya‟. Both the words have the common entity i.e. „sthala‟ which means „the place‟.

Of the two words, „sthalapurana‟ implies narration of the place including its mythic or ancient significance. Narration is the simple art of telling , unfolding or chronicling the events. The term „sthalapurana‟ is a blend of two words: „sthala‟ the place; and „purana‟ the mythic narrative of the ancient and the timeless. It deals with values of life presented through stories and legends, while „sthalamahatmya‟ would mean celebrating the grandeur of the place. The „mahatmya‟ or celebration is an act which follows a certain salience, achievement, accomplishment or festivity. Sthalamahatmya is an exercise aimed at glorification of the past of a locale, perhaps of an important place of worship, by describing and recapitulating its grand or heroic past. The main objective is to describe the locale, narrate myths and history of the place and authenticate its identity through narrative legitimization. Such narration and celebration of place in all its forms as visualized under „sthalapurana‟ and „sthalamahatmya‟ respectively, can be encapsulated as „celebration in narration‟.

However, locale as applied to physical place or landscape in the novels under study, also inheres or includes space in which colonial experiences of both the colonised and coloniser unfold. In fact, the colonial encounter involves not just the conquest of a place but also the usurpation of its „space‟. This „space‟ is both tangible and intangible. The word „space‟ encompasses physical territory, the cultural milieu, social as well as natural ecology, subjective or intentional space and the psychological climate inherent to it and so on.

According to Post-colonial Studies-The Key Concepts(2009), “[T]he concepts of place and displacement demonstrate the very complex interaction of language, history and environment in the experience of colonised peoples and the importance of space and location in the process of identity formation”(177). Identity formation of an individual is closely related to the space and the location one belongs to, its other 169

three important components being language, history and environment. Of these latter components, the first two are intangible while environment includes both intangible and tangible space. Thus the problems of colonisation arise when the physical or natural habitat of a given society is radically intervened and disrupted by colonisation and its cultural spaces are appropriated or reconstructed or even erased as the case may be.

The issue of space gained prominence with the „discoveries‟ made by the European societies across the world, because many a times, these areas were conveniently referred to as “terra nullis” or “empty spaces”. To cite a parallel example, historically speaking, the English officer Captain Arthur Phillip who first reached Australia on 26th January, 1788 with eleven ships of which six ships contained convicts - 568 male and 191 female prisoners, a total of 759 prisoners from England (qtd in Ballyn 16) - declared the Australian land as “terra nullis” which meant empty spaces owned by none. This was despite the fact that, there were more than 600 different tribes with their own languages, but perhaps they had not mapped the area and set fixed boundaries staking their claim on the land.

As pointed out in Post-colonial Studies- The Key concepts, “[C]artography and the creation of universal maps established space as a measurable, abstract concept independent of any particular place or region”(emphasis added; 178). This created a useful hiatus between place and space, and facilitated the colonial taking over of a locale under the pretext of being a territorial (and therefore also a cultural) vaccum. This goes to show the significance of the territory, study of place and space in a study related to colonial takeovers or conquests. As Henri Lefebvre (1974) observes in the context of spatial criticism, “[A]ny search for space in literary texts will find it everywhere and in every guise: enclosed, described, projected, dreamt of, speculated about” (15).

Spatial criticism is recent branch of literary scholarship operating within allied critical approaches such as literary geography, literary cartography, geocriticism or spatial humanities that gained momentum after the Second World War. All these approaches are meant to explore the dynamic relationship between space and literature. However, Spatial criticism does not necessarily confine itself to the spaces of the real

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world; it also includes the real and imagined places as well as spaces presented in the works of fiction. Hence, the experiences of physical displacement from a given place essentially entail the dislodging or distancing from both the aspects of space, namely, tangible and intangible. As such, any engagement with colonial intervention at the level of the locale, cannot overlook the inter-relations between the concrete and the abstract space. Consequently, locale as space also forms an important area of this study.

Moreover, tangible as well as intangible space operates at two levels (visible and palpable) of colonial intervention in two distinct aspects, namely, as „force‟ and as the „production‟.

If one goes by history, „colonisation‟ begins as a production at the intentional level in the psychological space of the coloniser; it operates as a „force‟ at material level in the physical space of the colonised land or territory and gradually remanifests itself as a force at the level of socio-cultural spaces. Finally, it becomes an intangible product (as a presence) that occupies the subjective space of the colonised psyche, and functions as an invisible force that drives the colonised towards desirable colonialist as agents or instruments complicit with the colonialist objectives within the colonial space. Hence, the „sthala‟ or „the place‟ and „the spaces‟ within it along with the changes seen in these spaces are analysed in the novels, with the intent of unfolding the three aspects of „space‟, i.e. the material, psychological and socio-cultural.

5.2 The land, the mind and the milieu under colonisation The novels under study discuss the process of colonisation and how it brings about the usurpation of the „spaces‟, both tangible/material and intangible/abstract.

In analyzing the relationship between the land and colonisation, Edward Said in Culture and Imperialism (1994) observes:

[U]nderlying social spaces are territories, lands, geographical domains, actual geographical underpinnings of the imperial, and also cultural context. To think about distant places, to colonise them, to populate or depopulate them: all of this occurs, on, about, or because of land. (Emphasis added; 78)

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This very idea of Edward Said is almost presaged in the novel Petals of Blood(1977), through the words of the protagonist Karega in the context of the colonisation of Kenya:

In the beginning he had the land and the mind and the soul together. On the second day, they took the body away to barter it for silver coins. On the third day, seeing that he was still fighting back, they brought priests and educators to bind his mind and soul so that these foreigners could more easily take his land and its produce. (Emphasis added; 236)

The above quote provides a glimpse into the history of a colonialized society particularly in the African context, which underwent a cycle of change thus: first the land, then, body (often to slave trade); then, the mind; and finally the soul. The space -both tangible and intangible-is usurped, conquered and colonised.

To take another example, in Yug Sanvar, the Portuguese colonisers enter Adolshi and camp at the village temple which is sacred to the villagers. This is followed by their interference in the “Gavaki” (the village administration), and when they see the natives still clinging to their indigenous faith, the priests are called in along with the armed men to impose their faith on the hapless villagers of Adolshi. There are only two options open for indigenous men, either convert to Christianity or leave all their belongings in their ancestral village and migrate to some unknown destination.

Likewise, in Things Fall Apart, the purposeful entry of Christian preachers is indirectly to usurp the land. The process begins by attacking the foundations of the indigenous faith; this is followed by attracting indigenous men, particularly the socio-economically weaker sections of the native community. In their speeches the Christian missionaries deride and denigrate the indigenous faith in the eyes of the natives by referring to it as “false”. Once the natives are disillusioned and their mental spiritual space is vacated, they are drawn to Christianity as a better alternative.

In fact, in Petals of Blood, the Mau-Mau uprising which Thiongo glorifies, is an armed struggle against the usurpation of the fertile land by the European colonisers from the ancestral users and cultivators who had been living on it for centuries together. It is indicative of the re-fuelling of the subjective or psychological space of

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the natives with the realization of self-hood and the urge to „recover‟ their lost physical/material space.

Thus, it can be summed up that colonisation is the conquest of the land or the physical/material „space‟ first, the subjective „space‟ is then seized slowly but surely. As such, the only way to regain the former is by gaining control of the latter.

Skin presents how the native space is trampled by the colonisers, beginning with Nzinga-Nganga. She was venerated by her tribe in her native Angola, and she also possessed powers to heal others. She is enslaved and put to innumerable hardships. This enslavement continues from Nzinga-Nganga down to her descendents through the lineage of daughters across generations, namely, Perpetua, Consolasao, Piedade, Caridade, Esperanca, Saudade and continues up to Pagan. Although Pagan is the ninth generation of Angolan legacy of the Prophetess Dona Beatrice, every generation has meticulously passed on the magic kuba stone which represents the material aspect of that legacy, along with its intangible cultural space. This is kept alive through the generations through folktales and historical narratives. Esperanca‟s narration of stories to Pagan is a means of passing on the intangible cultural space to the generations that follow. Thus, although the tangible space or territory, i.e. Angola is lost after Nzinga-Nganga along with her tribe is enslaved and traded. But her physical „uprooting‟ from concrete material does not actually lead to a total loss of intangible cultural space. The narration of folk tales, to a large extent, keeps the intangible cultural space alive for posterity.

For example, Esperanca narrates the story of a poet and a medicine man of the tribe. The poet is responsible to narrate tales through oral tradition. The poet was jealous of medicine man. So when the Portuguese invaders camped close by and had their own medicine man i.e. a doctor, the poet began comparing the European doctor with their own medicine man and finding the latter wanting. Consequently, the people of the tribe began to doubt and criticize their medicine man. Hurt and anguished, he left the village along with his wife and daughter. Later, when the poet‟s wife was taken ill, he was compelled to carry her to the white skin doctor for treatment. She was cured but the poet had nothing pay the doctor. “And so the white skin remained with the poet‟s wife”(171). Dejected, the poet stopped singing the history of his people, and that is

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how it was lost. This is not merely a folk tale of Angola, but the condensed truth of the effects of colonisation across the world.

Esperanca also shares the experiences of her ancestors‟ journey from Angola in Africa to Goa in Portuguese ruled Goa. Nzinga-Nganga was bought and enslaved by Dom Bernardo. Referred to as Mulher i.e. woman, she was the granddaughter of the Angolan prophetess Dona Beatrice, and, “[…]she was revered by her people as the one chosen by the goddess to guide and to heal. She wore the sacred stone around her neck. [ …] her body was vilolated on a drunken night by a young Dom Bernardo himself” (104). This connects the African history to that of Goa in the 17th century when slave trade was booming business. Esperanca is seen presenting through her folk narrative, both the intangible cultural past of her native land located in her psychological space and the historical reality of her community is oppression at the hands to the beneficiaries of the slave trade in the physical/territorial space of colonial Goa.

5.3 The place accorded to ‘sthala’ in the novels In the colonial or post-colonial perspective, the idea of space or a specific place or a regional entity assumes significance in terms of the colonised individual‟s or group‟s „rootedness‟ in the given spatial environment. Hence, the novels highlight the colonial or the neo-colonial impact on the culture of the region and its people.

The tangible space i.e. the place or the „sthala‟ where the „action‟ mainly takes place is conceived by each of the novelists in different ways. For instance, in Sail‟s Yug Sanvar Adolshi is a real village which assumes a symbolic paradigm of any Indian village. This applies to Raja Rao‟s Kanthapura describes the south Indian fictional village Kanthapura under the British control; Things Fall Apart is the pre-colonial and the colonial Igbo community from Umuofia. Umuofia represents the African village during late nineteenth and early twentieth century Africa. The novel Petals of Blood looks at the state of colonial and neo-colonial Kenyan village Ilmorog. Ilmorog is a rural place which slowly changes to an urban place due to the handiwork of neo- colonialists. While Cry, the Beloved Country set in colonial South Africa has the major part of its action taking place in Johannesburg, the urban centre and Ndotsheni a rural place, respectively.

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Margaret Mascarenhas‟ Skin cannot be squarely grouped with the other novels in this study, with regard to narrating or celebrating the place in terms of „sthalapurana‟ and „sthalamahatmya‟, as it covers a much wider spectrum of various places across countries and even continents. The characters in Skin right from Nzinga Nganga to Pagan continuously move from one place to another, or rather they are required to do so. This change in the physical space also entails a change in the destiny of characters.

However, the supernatural healing powers, passed on from one generation to another, lead to a „rootedness‟ of the characters in the intangible cultural space through the tangible. The kuba stone, a tangible entity, carries with it the rich native history and its glorious as well as colonial past - which is an intangible truth -to posterity. Hence, although Pagan remains a cosmopolitan and culturally rootless individual, until Esperanca shares the ancestral history with her and her biological mother Saudade presents her with the kuba stone.

Interestingly, in Skin, neither do the characters have definite external „space‟ nor is the action in the novel enacted at a fixed „place‟. Of the „sthala‟ discussed in the novels, namely, Adolshi in Yug Sanvar, Kanthapura in Kanthapura, Umuofia in Things Fall Apart, Ilmorog in Petals of Blood and Ndotsheni in Cry, the Beloved Country are all rural areas, far away from the urban spaces which are the seats of colonial power. Hence, these novels are a „celebration‟ and „narration‟ of rural life. Of the areas mentioned, Kanthapura, Ilmorog and Ndotsheni are fictional areas, while Adolshi and Umuofia are real and non-fictional places or „sthala'.

5.3.1 Elucidating the grandeur -eulogizing the locale In linking the depiction of colonialism to the locale, the authors are tempted to present the beauty of the locale, in the context of the village or the „sthala’. Below given are some passages from the novels to further elucidate and validate the point of „narrativising the locale‟.

The first chapter in Cry, the Beloved Country is the picturesque narration of the land which is almost heavenly:

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There is a lovely road that runs from Ixopo into the hills. These hills are grass- covered and rolling, and they are lovely beyond any singing of it. The road climbs seven miles into them, to Carisbrooke; and from there, if there is no mist, you look down on one of the finest valleys of Africa….The grass is thick and matted, you cannot see the soil. Stand unshod upon it, for the ground is holy, being even as it came from the Creator. Keep it, guard it, care it, for it keeps men, guards men, cares for men. Destroy it and man is destroyed . (Emphasis added; CTBC 33)

The passage contains veneration of the land which is holy and there is a strong belief in the sacred potential of the land to protect, preserve and perpetuate life itself. The attachment to the land is a sacred bond of devoutness. This is one part of South Africa, but the area in and around Ndotsheni which is seen on the descent is described thus:

The great hills stand desolate, and the earth has torn away like flesh. The lightning flashes over them, the clouds pour down upon them, the dead streams come to life, full of the red blood of the earth. Down in the valleys women scratch the soil that is left, and the maize hardly reaches the height of man. They are valleys of old men and old women, of mothers and children. The men are away, the young men and the girls are away. The soil cannot keep them any more. (CTBC 34)

In the first passage quoted from the novel, the land is just heavenly, “as it came from the Creator”, on which one can walk “unshod” and realize utter happiness and ecstasy. On the other hand, the scene on the descent is like the image of hell, which has dried up river beds, unproductive land and its inhabitants suffering incessantly.

Ilmorog in Petals of Blood too is initially presented metaphorically worshipping the divine, as a place of veneration as seen through the eyes of Munira: “When the rains had come and seeds sprouted and then, in June, flowers came, he felt as if the whole of Ilmorog had put on a vast floral-patterned cloth to greet its lord and master” (POB 21). But what happens to the same land when rains do not come on time is presented through the following comment: “We did not get enough rains last mwere season,” Muturi was explaining. “Now we look at the sun and the wind and the thungururi

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birds in the sky and we fear that it may not rain. Of course njahi rains are still two moons away […] but these birds, we fear”(POB 9).

Interestingly, in Yug Sanvar, in Adolshi- a picturesque village in agrarian Goa of the mid - sixteenth century- there are no unproductive lands or dearth of natural resources. The traditional system of village administration seems to continue unhindered. The land is rich and productive. The description of the breathtaking view of the village surroundings as seen by Padre Simao Pires at the first glance is presented thus:

It was nearing noon. In the sun‟s glow, the whole surrounding was shining. The hills, the fields and lands, the open spaces, the line of thickets, the banks of the streams including the stretch of khajan lands beneath, all seemed so close, just at a hands distance. The Aghanashini river, just two and a half to three miles away was not visible. Its banks were engulfed with huge trees. It could be seen from the hill top. From there one could see not just the river but Kuthali, Sankwal, Chikhli. (YS 70)

The place of action or the locale of narrative in these novels is basically a rural area. Yet, the action of the novel, taking place in this remote place, shakes the urban center which is the seat of colonial or neo-colonial power. The urbanity in most novels is depicted as synonymous with negativity, a place which has a corruptive influence on everyone who is caught in its web.

5.3.2 The urban ‘sthala' as a corruptive force In most novels under study, the moral and material corruption is depicted as taking place in the urbanized context. Paradoxically, unlike its rural counterpart, urban space has innumerable opportunities and most importantly an unquestionable ability to attract the disillusioned or the unemployed youth of the villages. But more often than not, it fails to meet their aspiration of finding a materially, culturally as well as psychologically secure sanctuary for growth and welfare. Thus, the city as a place, provokes an ambivalent feeling among the migrants, because on one hand there is the thrill of the opportunities it provides, while on the other hand there is the innate fear of failure.

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In Cry, The Beloved Country, the city of Johannesburg, despite its booming mining industry, is not just unproductive but is palpably destructive of native life and culture. Stephen Kumalo is cheated on the railway station at Johannesburg by a fellow black on the pretext of offering him assistance. His sister Gertrude has been sucked into the vortex of degeneration and degradation in the city. Absalom, Stephen Kumalo‟s only son is misled towards crime (and later a death sentence) by his cousin and friends who are the product of the urbanity. The city initially attracts all, but unfortunately, it offers less in terms of material gain and takes more in the form of values, self-respect and identity from its inhabitants. The urban life has uprooted the community of their age-old customs and traditions. Hence, what matters to the inhabitants of the city is the physical place with its tangible, material space in the here and now in Johannesburg.

Ilmorog in Petals of Blood represents the rural environment exploited for its natural resources by the colonisers. It was connected once with Ruwa-ini with a railway line which carried wood and charcoal and wattle barks from its forests to feed machines and men in Ruwa-ini. After the forest resource was used up and after the objective was accomplished, the two rails were removed, and the ground became a road- a kind of a road- that now gave no evidence of its former „exploiting glory‟.

Ilmorog was exploited because the place had something to offer to its urban counterpart. Thus, when in the end Ilmorog changes from an unknown village to a major town through which the National Highway passes, a moot question arises. Has Ilmorog become the present neo-colonial counterpart of erstwhile colonial centre and is some unknown village suffering the same fate which Ilmorog had gone through years before?

But during the colonial times, once the natural resources were used up, it fell into total neglect. However, with the neo-colonial phase of exploitation of tangible and intangible resources within an urban environment, the exploitation seems to continue as an irreversible process. There seems to be a basic difference between the rural and the urban „spaces‟ and this is not just the material „space‟ but the subjective psychological „space‟ within oneself.

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The rural places have their own identity, own system and their populace lives by its own laid down rules, whether it is Umuofia, Kanthapura, Adolshi, Ndotsheni or Ilmorog. Nyakinyua the elderly lady, sees the devouring attitude of the urban place, which has even taken away the freedom of decision making power of the people. The forest resources of Ilmorog are taken away and now, “[…] they sent for our young men” (POB 115). She looks at it as “a sacrifice” the villagers performed, “[B]ecause we wanted to be able to sing our song, and dance our words in fullness of head and stomach” (POB 115).

This illustrates the cost the natives are willing to pay for securing their own independent space from usurpation. Nyakinyua talks of getting back the rightful share of Ilmorog from the city. She says, “we must surround the city and demand back our share” (POB 115). All the villagers of Ilmorog are facing the problems; but the cause of the problem is expressed only by the elderly lady. Of all the characters, none would have garnered the courage to march to the city. She understands it as “a new kind of war” (POB 116).

Here Ilmorog as a place is not bound or captured physically. On the contrary, Nyakinyua is stressing for the freedom of that subjective space to take one‟s own decision, the freedom at the psychological level, the freedom of the intentional space. Interestingly, just as Nyakinyua detests „colonial‟ interference in the internal working of a community, so also in Yug Sanvar, one can see the Gaonkars protesting the Portuguese intervention in their physical space with all their might.

The city interestingly has close relationship with the church and the police, which are institutions enforcing morality, law and order, and certain systems that are needed to maintain peace and harmony in a community. But their need is not felt in the rural area. People follow their own system of living in accordance with the laid down rules and surrounding nature. In Petals of Blood, Mwathi on behalf of their god has all the solutions to their problems. In Things Fall Apart, the oracle solves the problems of the people, in Kanthapura, Kenchamma is the absolute answer, and in Yug Sanvar the village gods of Saanteri and Ramnath are looked upon by the natives as the saviors of Adolshi. Hence, the space of God, spirituality and superstition occupy the physical and mental space. The sthalapurana as a narration cannot be complete

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without the validation and appreciation of such „mental‟ spaces, which are based on beliefs (perhaps only blind belief). Just like the outer „space‟, these occupy the internal mental „space‟ of the characters.

In Cry the Beloved Country, the city is not a place of nobility. It is referred to as a „cruel place‟. In the light of this, Cry, the Beloved Country is about the whole generation of black rural populace who have moved from rural to urban „ghettos‟ and most of them are involved in illicit and unlawful activities and trapped in unredeemable frustration. There is inequality in the distribution of wealth, which has resulted in a social division. There are those who work while handful of others live on other people‟s toil. Only a few manage to avail of education while most others are left out. The division between the rich and poor in urban places has widened in the colonial or neo-colonial situation and there seems to be no solution to the problem.

The rural and the urban places represent two opposing value systems. The rural places represent the positive aspect with the presence of all humanitarian values while urban places represent the absence or the erosion of traditional value system.

5.3.3 Depiction of rural ‘sthala' as a sacred place There are the sacred „sthala' or places and spaces throughout the novels which are supposed to be protected from desecration, sacrilege and blasphemy. The idea of considering something as sacred place or space may be analysed at two levels: the first concerns a sacred structure or a holy place which is tangible; while the second is the idea at the subjective level about the self, which is a belief, hence intangible.

5.3.3.1 Sacredness and the tangible spaces The select novels present situations which bring out the problems concerning the rural spaces which are desecrated as a part of colonial enterprise by the colonisers or the neo-colonisers.

In Yug Sanvar there are multiple examples of the desecration of the sacred spaces and „impurification‟ of the spaces held as sacred by the native populace. For instance, there is the incident of the visit of the Portuguese soldiers accompanied by a captain and priests who camp in the temple of Betal, which is a sacred place of worship for the villagers. In fact, deity is itself a black stone structure of a man‟s height with two

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eyes inscribed on it. The Betal is believed to save the village from evil powers and if he gets angry, the village would become childless. Ravalu Mirashi looks after the upkeep of the deity and this privilege has come to him as a part of heritage. He cannot withstand the desecration of the deity of Betal. As though possessed by some mysterious power and overcome with frenzy, he lifts the heavy rock structure representing the deity, carries it along and jumps with it into a pit to death. Ravalu Mirashi‟s example is a classic case of how the natives find it unbearable to witness the desecration of the sacred spaces.

In another incident, Cab Rement Noronha, a Portuguese officer, who has come to arrest Guna, does not dare to enter his house, but forces Guna‟s neighbor Ravalu Naik to go inside and check the premises. Cab Rement Noronha does not enter a Hindu house, because he knows it is a sacred „space‟ which cannot be polluted with the entry of a Christian officer. There are references in the novel to the people migrating with their family deity, away from the clutches of Portuguese colonial regime. These are attempts to save the sacred „spaces‟ from desecration by the colonising power. Those people who remain back or could not migrate are converted for whatever reasons, but their affinity towards the indigenous Hindu faith is scrutinized and cruelly curtailed through the Holy Inquisition which lasted for almost two hundred and fifty years ( see The Goa Inquisition by A. K. Priolkar ).

In Things Fall Apart, the second and the third chapter focuses on the life of the clan with its emphasis on the traditions of the people, which includes adhering to the supernatural powers, which seem a kind of superstition to the colonisers or their agents. Umuofia was feared by other clans because its priests and medicine-men were powerful: “In fact, the medicine itself was called agadi-nwayi, or old woman. It had its shrine in the centre of Umuofia, in a cleared spot. And if anybody was so foolhardy as to pass by the shrine after dusk he was sure to see the old woman hopping about” (TFA 10). And then, there is the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves who guides the clan in all the matters. Umuofia never wages a war without the consent of the Oracle. It is the force which assists the clan in almost all the problems right from a poor harvest to simple matters like a dispute with the neighbours. The mystique of this sacred space of the clan is described thus:

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[T]he way into the shrine was a round hole at the side of a hill, just a little bigger than the round opening into a hen-house. Worshippers and those who came to seek knowledge from the god crawled on their belly through the hole and found themselves in a dark, endless space in the presence of Agbala. No one had ever beheld Agbala, except his priestess. But no one who had ever crawled into his awful shrine had come out without the fear of his power. His priestess stood by the sacred fire which she built in the heart of the cave and proclaimed the will of the god. The fire did not burn with a flame. The glowing logs only served to light up vaguely the dark figure of the priestess. (TFA 13)

In Petals of Blood, Mwathi wa Mugo is the spiritual power guiding the people of both Ilmorog ridge and Ilmorog plains, „somehow invisibly, regulating their lives.‟

Mwathi occupies that sacred space which is venerated by all the members, and this is one of the reasons why the church and the police station in Ilmorog is still unoccupied. Mwathi wa Mugo is a problem-solver and a helping hand to those who approach: “Mwathi was a guardian spirit: he had been sitting on a knowledge of many seasons gone: rings, metal work, spears, smelting works- all these” (POB 266).

But in the neo-colonial setting the tangible somehow overtake the sacred ones. In this case, the machine uproot the hut and the whole of Mwathi‟s abode is razed to the ground. All that is left is “[A] wire fence was put round it and later a big sign: ILMOROG: an archeological site” (POB 266). So, the sacred space of Ilmorog gets converted to an archeological site, a profane space of dead things.

A similar example can be seen when Thengeta is turned into a drink just like any other alcoholic drink. The sacred significance is systematically erased and it is reduced to a mere consumable as well as a marketable tangible product.

5.3.3.2 Sacredness vis-a-vis ‘impurity’ Sacredness concerns both tangible and intangible spaces. These spaces when intervened lead to the violation and supposed „impurity‟ of their intangible aspect, mostly at the subjective level. These differences in intangible beliefs create invisible boundaries affecting human relationships and behaviour. They also gives rise to the ghettos, slavery, racial discrimination and segregation. The centre and the margin divide is created in a society under various polarizing distinctions like the civilized 182

and the non-civilized, high and low, gender difference between the male and the female, the sacred and the profane, the social problems of untouchability through the creation of upper and lower caste. All these issues denote the centrist and marginal spaces.

The issues concerning the caste system in the Indian society presented in Kanthapura can be seen as a part of the subjective space of the individual and society. For example, Moorthy‟s condition when he goes to the house of Rachanna, a pariah, brings out his idea of purity and impurity as a force conditioning his actions and thoughts. Caste system is a part of the cultural context in which he has grown up. He had never entered a house of a pariah, but in the novel at one point, he does so and drinks a tumbler of milk offered by Rachanna‟s wife Lingamma. In the novel, Moorthy is presented as a Brahmin, the upper caste, while Lingamma is shown as an outcast, the lowest in the caste ladder. Lingamma while offering a tumbler of milk says to Moorthy:

„[T]ouch it, Moorthappa, touch it as though it were offered to the gods, and we shall be sanctified‟, and Moorthy with many a trembling prayer, touches the tumbler and brings it to his lips, and taking one sip, keeps it down. (Ka 76)

Later, Moorthy goes back and asks Rangamma to bathe him, changes his holy thread, takes little of Ganges water and „taking the Ganges water, he feels a fresher breath flowing through him‟(Ka 77).

This incident shows not only the discrimination and demeaning attitude existing in the society of the day, it also shown show it affects the social behaviour and psychological space of the protagonist. Moreover, it is indicative of the author‟s own failure to come to grips with intercaste prejudice, and failure to portray a genuinely more inclusive, reformist social space.

The issue of so-called purity and impurity is even more strongly felt with women characters. In this context, Kalpana Viswanath (1997) has pointed out that the cultural ideology of purity and pollution plays an important role in controlling women‟s behaviour and the spaces they can occupy. She explains:

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Purity and pollution are central categories that determine social relationships in Hindu society. Within the caste hierarchy, there are certain castes which are considered inherently more or less pure ... Within the context of women‟s lives, purity and pollution take on a further dimension as these are closely linked to their sexuality and fertility. Women‟s bodily experiences of menstruation, childbirth, lactation are also seen to define them as polluting or impure. (315)

However, the notion of purity or impurity is not only imposed from outside, it is also internalized by the subject in her adherence to the orthodox system of norms or values.

There is the incident of a woman in Yug Sanvar who is thrown out of her house by her husband. While walking to her parents‟ house, some soldiers mistakenly arrest her for attempting to leave Goa without permission. As there are orders to arrest such people and get them converted, there is a competition among soldiers to catch hold of such people and get them converted. She is forcibly persuaded for conversion. The soldiers, seeing her helplessness, rape the already tired woman and threaten her if she revealed. The priest asks her to adopt Christianity, knowing well that once converted, all the roads of return will close to her automatically. Once baptized, there is no retreat.

While returning home after her conversion, she thinks about what she has gone through and what she has lost. She continuously thinks about her “impure body”, which is impossible for her to discern. Thus, she commits suicide along with her little child. She believes that her position prior to rape and conversion had been superior, and these instances have made her „impure.‟ Here, nobody forces or imposes upon her the issue of purity or impurity, but it has evolved as an outcome of social and cultural conditioning. Thus abstract subjective space can be envisioned as a force which on one hand is liberating and on the other hand constraining.

The novels can be analysed through understanding the culture of the erstwhile community. This can be analysed using „nativism‟ as one of the aspect. Nativism recognizes the validity of indigenous practices, cultural forms, notions of selfhood which were destroyed or outlawed by the colonisers and aims at restoring the same. If cultural practices are differentiated into indigenous and western, or „desi‟ and

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„margi‟, than the nativist believes that the indigenous and „desi‟ practices are more authentic and enriching.

5.4 Novels as echoes foreshadowing Nativism The select novels portray certain attitudes that have been more recently discussed by critics under the notion of Nativism. According to Post-colonial studies-The Key concepts (2009), Nativism is referred to as, “[…] the desire to return to indigenous practices and cultural forms as they existed in pre-colonial society. The term is most frequently encountered to refer to the rhetoric of decolonisation which argues that colonialism needs to be replaced by the recovery and promotion of pre-colonial indigenous ways”(159).

Makarand Paranjape (2009) describes „desivad‟ or nativism as, “a militant or aggressive form of that passive and self-evident quality of „desipana’ or nativeness, that is, the value of being „desi‟ or native, which value is inherent in any cultural object, belief or practice and which implies the natural state of sustaining the status quo. Nativism is this establishing of one‟s right to exist „as one is” (16).

Nativism believes in the existence of two mutually cooperative systems of the „desi‟ and the „margi‟ which have been used in a simplified manner to mean the „local‟ or folk and the other as the „classical‟. The relation between the two is always symbiotic. So „desivad‟ or nativism is again a part and parcel of all these qualities which develop the „rootedness‟ of a person in a certain culture, which includes language, folk art and literature, etc. As G. N. Devy (1992) explains, “…[Nativism] understands writing as a social act, and expects of it as an ethical sense of communication to the society within which it is born… Nativism is language specific way of looking at literature. It rejects the concept specific method of „Universal‟ criticism” (119-120).

In this context it is relevant to look at the view expressed by M. Suryanarayan Murti (1997) in his essay, „Cultural Discourse- Desi and Marga‟:

The problem of nativity arises when the survival of an individual, a group of people or a community is at stake. In order to make the existence possible the under- privileged has to prevail upon the privileged by making himself felt as indispensable

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or at least advantageous. This is true in all societies and in all epochs in each social organization. Codification and definition guarantees acceptability, but results in narrowness and monotony. Every code is representation of marga. Everything that exists in unwritten tradition is desi. (75)

But language according to Ngugi WaThiongo has dual character. It is both a means of communication and a carrier of culture. The rootedness in „native‟ culture is an antidote for colonial experiences. The process of “denationalization” (see Denationalisation of Goans by Tristao Braganza Cunha) or “Colonisation” (see Decolonising the Mind by Ngugi Wa Thingo) are more of political practices than mere cultural processes. Both denationalisation and colonisation result in „uprooting‟ a person (physically and/or psychologically) from his native space and consequently leads to the delegitimization of the native „sthalas‟ as well as their attendant „sthalapuranas‟ and „sthalamahatmyas‟.

The events depicted in the novels under study, whether small or big, involve rootedness in one‟s own cultural space are „native‟ in nature and are anti-colonial. In Things Fall Apart, the folklore of knowledge contained in the proverbs, sayings, metaphors, little gestures, traditional rituals and systems relating to law, medicine, farming and so on, represents the intangible heritage of native society. It also symbolizes the „rootedness‟ of the community in its native cultural space. The incident in the first chapter, when Okoye visits Unoka can be viewed as an example:

One day a neighbor called Okoye came in to see him. He was reclining on a mud bed in his hut playing on the flute. He immediately rose and shook hands with Okoye, who then unrolled the goatskin which he carried under his arm, and sat down. Unoka went into inner room and soon returned with a small wooden disc containing a kola nut, some alligator pepper and a lump of white chalk.

„ I have kola,‟ he announced when he sat down, and passed the disc over to his guest.

„Thank you. He who brings kola brings life. But I think you ought to break it,‟ replied Okoye passing back the disc.

„No, it is for you, I think,‟ and they argued like this for a few moments before Unoka accepted the honour of breaking the kola. Okoye, meanwhile, took the 186

lump of chalk, drew some lines on the floor, and then painted his big toe. As he broke the kola, Unoka prayed to their ancestors for life and health, and for protection against their enemies (TFA 5).

This passage is the „sthalamahatmya‟ because it brings to light the exclusive ethnic practices unique of the Igbo community. Based on simple objects and details, such as the mud bed, the goatskin used as a mat, Unoka offering Kola, pepper and white chalk and what transpires between Unoka and Okoye is the description of the distinct cultural expression of a native community.

In Yug Sanvar, the villagers approach the Gods for seeking respite from their day to day problems. The „form‟ of Sateri Goddess is the mound of soil, an ant-hill. The mud structure which has risen from the soil is the place of respect as it represented the benevolent mother earth.

Another incident is of the villagers coming together- except for the upper caste „Bamans,‟- for the annual repair of the „Khetrapal‟ temple. It is a group activity when all the villagers go into the jungle to collect thatch (bundles of grass) which is used to cover the temple roof. Each person feels that his thatch should be used for the purpose. This is followed by three nights of folk dance, music, songs and other creative acts.

During these three nights of festivities, the villagers serve a homemade sweet dish „Fovakale‟ (pounded rice) as refreshment. A measure of pounded rice, one pitcher full of liquid jaggery, twenty-one coconuts and sliced sugarcane, are mixed and it is distributed among the people present. „Naivedya‟ or the offering of the same is made to the God. The upper caste people do not participate in this event; it involves the peasants. The anti-colonial stance shown to be adopted by the peasants in the latter part of the novel is due to the strong native sensibility (YS 145).

In Yug Sanvar, Sail presents the vivid picture of the village system along with the cross section of the society: the people, the class and caste structure of the society, the well-developed socio-economic systems of management in the village. The village with its varied flora and fauna, the topography of the area along with the people who lived on this land prior to the colonial encounter.

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The village was commanded by the Baman of Rayagali and Nayaks of Shirawada. They were the Gaonkars, the men who heralded power. All the others were either tenants or share takers of crop („vateli‟). The tenants included gurav, devali, vajantri, bhoyi, telu, satrekar, sangnekar, devatekar, kalavant; while the gatherers included the mahars, barbers, carpenters and potters. The tenants had the right to grow on temple fields, while the share takers only got a part ofthe produce. Farmers made it a point to leave five or six bundles of paddy in the fields for the share takers. They came later and took home the left- overs. The share takers in turn reciprocated thus. The carpenter repaired the sickle handles and other farm or household equipment, the potter provided earthen pots, the barber did his work for the whole year while the mahar dragged the dead cattle, conveyed messages and removed the evil spells. But he charged for ghurme, hatar, hanvati, valli and sup chobe. The charges included rice. (YS 79)

Similar description of the place in its distinctness, can be seen in the case of preparation of „Thengeta’ in Petals of Blood. Thengeta is a preparation which is consumed after accomplishing a major task, during the ceremonies arranged after the circumcision or marriage or „itwika‟ and usually after the harvest. Hence, this programme also includes mock arguments between the groups, the dance and songs on the eve of circumcision, an erotic war of words and gestures and innuendos. The thengeta prepared under the guidance of Nyakinyua, the elderly lady, is believed to contain medicinal values hence its preparation is a ritual and its contents are a well- kept secret. It remains „native‟ until it is manufactured as a mass product.

Thus drinking of thengeta becomes a pious act, which results in Nyakinyua narrating the collective history of the community, the meaning of the blood shed during circumcision and also about the ill-effects of colonialism.

And now it was no longer the drought of a year ago that she was singing about. It was all the droughts of the centuries and the journey was the many journeys travelled by people even in the mythical lands of two-mouthed Marimus and struggling humans. She sang of other struggles, of other wars –the arrival of colonialism and the fierce struggles, waged against it by newly circumcised youth. Yes, it was always the duty of youth to drive out foreigners and enemies lodged amongst the people: it was always the duty of 188

youth to fight all the Marimus, all the two-mouthed Ogres, and that was the meaning of the blood shed at circumcision. (Emphasis added; POB 220)

It is an act of bringing together all the members of the community on one platform, looking at the common history of the community and the threats- including colonial encounter- that face the community. The colonisers ban thengeta as they fail to understand the seriousness and the symbolic significance of an intangible cultural manifestation within the community‟s social space. All natives prepare and drink thengeta as a part of a native ritual, and not as an addiction. This implies the glorification of one‟s own community and its people.

In Kanthapura, the Harikatha as a cultural narrative is not a „margi‟ representation, but assumes a feature of „desi‟ expression. The story as narrated by Jayramachar in the „Harikatha‟ becomes a patriotic saga besides just a mythological narration. The colonisers look down upon such acts which helped the local community to strengthen its roots in its native culture, because this could become a fertile ground for anti- colonial stand. Such a coloniser mentality resulted in the kind of belittling of the native African culture, as done by Lothrop Stoddard who opined that:

[C]ertainly, all white men, whether professing Christians or not, should welcome the success of missionary efforts in Africa. The degrading fetishism and demonology which sum up the native pagan cults cannot stand, and all Negroes will some day be either Christians or moslems. (see Myth, Literature and the African World 97)

It is an attempt at uprooting the African community from its native cultural space. Such uprooting the individuals from their native cultural contexts makes use of, is what Thiongo (1986) terms as the “cultural bomb.” In his view, “[T]he effect of a cultural bomb is to annihilate a people‟s belief in their names, in their languages, in their environments, in their heritages of struggle, in their unity, in their capacities and ultimately in themselves”(3).

The opposition to colonialism thus rests on pride in one‟s nativity and nationalism. However, critics doubt the credibility of Nativism as it may be detrimental to progressive and inclusive societal goals. Vilas Sarang in his article, “The Perils of Nativism”(2008), writes that the concept of Nativism is closer to nationalism, and

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this may be “misused and covertly misappropriated” by organisations which support “aggressive nationalism.” This can also lead to “narrow complacency, because the nativism stresses the narrow social identities like the caste, sub-caste or a certain tradition” (1).

But taking into account the concerns of critics, it cannot be disregarded that the novels under study which foreshadow nativism believe in „rootedness‟ of the individual in one‟s own cultural space. In some of the texts, it takes the form of nationalism, assumes an anti-colonial stand and represents the „celebration in narration‟ of indigenous ethos, history and place in the form of „sthalapurana‟ and „sthalamahatmya‟.

5.5 The history of the land and the people The narration and celebration of history, in the novels under study many a times nostalgically recollects memories which infuse patriotism and a sense of belonging to the land. The community is held together by its common history and common social goals. Raja Rao, Chinua Achebe and Ngugi Wa Thiongo express their strong sense of patriotism and the anti-colonial stand in their novels. The role of author here is not just to narrate the „sthalapurana‟ objectively, but to take a stand in defense of the society and culture of a community or a nation.

In this context, Achebe believes that the author or the narrator should be both a critic and a defender of his culture. Achebe (2013) observes:

You make what is necessary by a worthy plea and defense of your culture where it is necessary. Later on, you make your criticism, as savage as you can. But where you stand is important. If you are mixed up about who you are, then this ambivalence can be dangerous. I am the same person defending my culture out there and criticizing it here. If I don‟t know who I am, I may be criticizing it there when defense is what is called for. (13-14)

There is concern to the point of view of history. The colonial history as „sthalapurana‟ has varied and sometimes opposite views while depicting the historical events. There are various sides to presenting the history depending upon the point of view. Another point of concern is the non-mention of all the „components‟ or

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members of a society in history. All in all it turns out to be a limited history of limited people from a limited point of view where the majority are not even considered worth a mention. In this context, the historical narrative can either fictionalize history or historicize the fiction. The authors select their stand-point and their „sthalapurana‟ or the narrative either celebrates the history through „sthalamahatmya‟, becomes apologetic of their own community, nostalgic about the days gone by, sometimes utterly unconcerned, or sometimes accusing the colonisers and the colonised indigenous community for the effects of colonisation.

The glory of Ilmorog presented in Petals of Blood can be considered as „sthalamahatmya‟ at two levels: one, in narrating the history of the land, and second, through folk tales which attain to the level of mythology. The character of Ndemi, from the folklore, whose praise the people of Ilmorog sing is a folk- hero, who even wrestled with god.

Every society has its own set of wisdom, which is passed from one generation to another in forms of scriptures, folklore, folksongs, etc. But certain incidences have a very serious repercussions on this development. In the context of colonialism the wisdom of many generations was totally destroyed: “[…] the fire of greed for the red dust and black ivory burnt the accumulated wisdom of many seasons”(POB 124).

The history is important in one‟s life because one can understand the present better if one must understand the past. To know where one is, one must know from where one came from. „Sthalapurana‟ is the history of a village, a society and a nation. It helps in understanding both the community as well as the nation.

5.6 Disintegration of a society The biggest effect of colonisation was the disintegration of a society, the things falling apart from their set „places‟ which could never be mended again. The process of disintegration is a process of losing one‟s own identity and connection with the place.

However, a question can be raised here: was the society really integrated prior to colonisation? The answer can be both „yes‟ and „no‟. The affirmative answer is because the society was divided into various water-tight compartments, each having their own set rules and regulations. The answer is negative because the society, even

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the best one, will have problems with its social unity and integrity. Hence, the British, or for that matter the colonisers, did not disintegrate a closely integrated society, but widened the erstwhile existing divisions so as to keep the society in a constant state of tension and flux. These conditions are detrimental for the progress of any community. The narration about such communities concentrate on the celebration of the past, but it also includes destruction, displacement and disintegration of a society and its culture and the internal divisions, all as the result of colonisation.

In Petals of Blood, Ilmorog is attracted to the western ways of life. This “metal”, that is the currency coins, had “bitten them”. The Kenyan people in colonial Kenya work as laborers on farms stolen from Kenyan people by the European colonisers. Thus author not only weaves a story, but also infuses it with his version of historical facts. This, Thiongo believes, was one of the reasons which disintegrated Ilmorog leading to decline and depopulation of the people who were not afraid to live on the sweat of their hands (POB 123). The disintegration of a community begins when members are ashamed of their native African names. It is an act of „self-hate‟ when the people actually neglect the great past their society had. This process leads to a „nowhereness‟ because the linkage between the person and the „place‟ is either sheared or redefined, with the colonised at the receiving end.

The internal divisions are evoked by the coloniser for his benefit. In Things Fall Apart, The district commissioner uses his messengers and soldiers, who although native, are from different clans. They are the converted men. These “mimic men” have been detached from their spatial attachment, i.e. the indigenous customs and rituals, hence they garner courage to humiliate the six arrested village chiefs of Umuofia, first by binding them, later by tonsuring their heads and at last physically ill-treating them. The act of Okonkwo beheading the head messenger in the latter part of the novel can be seen as the reaction to the humiliation he and his fellowmen faced, and at the inability to hold or mend the breaking tribe. This disintegration is the result of „uprootedness‟ of a community in its indigenous culture.

The disintegration is again the result of selfishness of certain individuals supporting or sympathizing the colonisers. In Kanthapura, the individuals like Bade Khan, Bhatta

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and Swamy although indigenous men, support the colonising regime for their own selfish ends. These selfish men are puppets who are purposefully planted by the coloniser for his own sustenance.

In the novel Petals of Blood, Thiongo lauds the Mau-Mau rebellion against the colonisers. The action against this rebellion is undertaken by the European colonisers by seeking assistance of indigenous Home Guards or soldiers who are either ignorant, bribed, tortured or promised of wealth or individual safety. Historical records also suggest that the Mau-Mau rebellion was mainly supported and sympathized by the Kikuyu tribal members and hence the colonisers sought support in terms of both attaining men and gaining support from other tribes in their counter-action against Mau-Mau fighters.

Mau-Mau fighters who actually were destroying their own property, realize the sad truth and comment, “[W]e raided the settler‟s own homes, we burnt their houses, we cut their animals to pieces and almost wept because, this in turn, was our property”(POB 140). These examples present the truth of colonisation, when a handful of European colonisers mobilized and commanded the indigenous men to fight against the non-violent or violent anti-colonial forces, who again were the indigenous men.

The colonial power systematically projects its own culture to be authentic and true in comparison to the native one. Thus, colonial power represents itself as the benevolent and supreme authority. In the neo-colonial system, this is carried forward by the so called „mimic men‟ who look native but carry on the same distinction and discrimination as the erstwhile colonisers did, thereby creating dichotomies. These „mimic men‟ create a negative outlook towards the native culture, identity, tradition, language and education. The white colonisers had raised doubts about African people‟s capability of governance after gaining independence from European colonisers. Right enough, after the white colonisers physically left, their ideas were carried forward by the black-skinned individuals through neo-colonialism.

Alan Paton, being „white‟ is on the other side of the table, as whites are a minority but hold the major share in the South Africa‟s resources. There is this knowledge that social division based on colour cannot continue and it would result in serious reaction. 193

The Afrikaner community which has settled in South Africa since the sixteenth century has its own history of struggle and „rootedness‟ with the land. But this history prior to the settlement has its attachment to the European mainland.

Thus, on the one hand Paton shows the concern for the majority, that is the Blacks, who are at the receiving end, and on the other hand, he has to also put up a case for the „Whites‟ who are in the saddle-wielding authority. In this society, which has evolved from barbarity to humanity, the opinion of the majority that the „white‟ rule has maintained the required peace in the community seems to be the pretexts of the „whites‟, which is so deeply engraved on the minds of the native people that even an educated and enlightened person like Msimangu reiterates them.

As such, when it comes to analyzing the colonial experiences, understanding the drift of the argument made by the novelist either through his authorial narrative or through his chosen characters and its hold on the direction and relevance of psychological space of the native becomes significant.

Thus, colonial experience is a multi-layered process affecting every individual or institution in the native society, directly or indirectly.

5.7 Conclusion The five novels comment upon the native „celebration in narration‟ of those native structures which were either rebuked, refused, restructured or made redundant by the erstwhile colonisers or the neo-colonisers.

Thus, these works of fiction attempt at the narration of rich traditions and the intangible values evolved through generations, the varied events surrounding colonisation, religious persecution and the effects of the same on the erstwhile native population and the effects of colonisation and neo-colonisation on a society.

It may be noted that sthalapurana and sthalamahatmya is about granting legitimacy, that is, it first grants legitimacy to the narrative, the place, the colonial history and above all to the rootedness of a community in its own native culture.

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CHAPTER SIX Conclusion

6.1 Introduction The present study has been undertaken out of a keen urge to understand colonialism and perceive its effects on the various nations and societies that bore the brunt of colonisation across the world. As such, this study has taken into account the predicament of the various colonised societies, as depicted in the texts under study. However, since colonialism had been almost a global phenomenon, ideally all the nations and the communities affected by its imposition and impact could have been a part of a study of this nature. But, this was neither feasible, nor practicable. Hence, this study has been confined to two representative colonial entities, namely, India and Africa.

The theoretic, historical and critical understanding of colonialism was obtained through wide ranging works. To get a sociological glimpse into the lived reality of societies affected by colonisation, it was necessary to undertake a close reading of the literary texts, finely rooted in the history of their land and the predicament of their communities.

Interestingly, every society has gaps in history, which have been erased either due to human or natural interventions. These gaps need to be filled up with probable and available data. Like the writer of history, the fiction writer is prone to recreating history on his own terms and joining the loose ends to complete the likely narrative, to make it seem a complete whole. However, the fiction writer‟s study of history, his unprejudicial commitment to facts and his objectives play a major part in this project of blending history with fiction or vice-versa. Questionable data, unverified „facts‟, unclear focus and short-term objectives distort the balance between history and fiction.

The reading of the six select novels, namely, Chinua Achebe‟s Things Fall Apart, Mahabaleshwar Sail‟s Yug Sanvar, Alan Paton‟s Cry, the Beloved Country, Raja Rao‟s Kanthapura, Ngugi Wa Thiongo‟s Petals of Blood and Margaret Mascarenhas‟ Skin, has been insightful and provided an indigenous, native

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perspective of the colonial encounter. They describe the happening right from the mid-sixteenth century to the twentieth century. They are situated in history and hence make extensive use of historical references within their narrative.

The questions thrown up by all this reading were: Is colonialism a process of the past or whether it will take some other form and recur again? Why do we use the term post-colonial to describe societies and the writing about them after their colonial existence has ended five decades after colonialism? Is freedom negotiable? If not, how did the colonial yoke last for so long in advanced cultures like India?

Such questions encouraged the reading of critical material and other works of fiction on the same subject. In this context, the books dealing with Goan history, the history of India and the history of African nations especially Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa gave an in-depth understanding of the issue.

In the Goan context, the Inquisition and the aggressive religious conversion during Portuguese colonisation required a thorough understanding of the historical as well as socio-political climate of that era. This was possible through the reading of works by A. K. Priolkar, Laxmikant Vyuankatesh Prabhu Bhembre, Delio de Mendonca, P. D. Xavier and Pratima Kamat. These books provided wide-ranging and deep understanding of the society, its religious affinities, effect of Inquisition on Goan community, and other related issues.

The colonial history of the African continent in general and the three nations i.e. South Africa, Nigeria an Kenya in particular was possible though the re-reading of the works like Paul E. Lovejoy‟s Transformations in Slavery: A History of Slavery in Africa, J. D. Hargreaves‟ Decolonisation in Africa , April Gordon and Donald Gordon‟s Understanding Contemporary Africa., including relevant articles in various encyclopedias.

The theoretical understanding was possible through the ideas propounded in the following works. Franz Fanon‟s The Wretched of the Earth, Edward Said‟s Orientalism - Western Conceptions Of The Orient, Homi Bhabha‟s The Location of Culture, Abdul Jan Mohammad‟s Manichean Aesthetics The Politics of Literature in Colonial Africa, Bhalchandra Nemade‟s Nativism, G. N. Devy‟s After Amnesia:

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Tradition and Change in Indian Literary Criticism, Dennis Walder‟s Post-colonial Literatures in English- History, Language, Theory and the edited works like Post- Colonial Reader by Bill Ashcroft,Gareth Griffith and Helen Tiffin, including the works like Colonialism/Post-colonialism by Ania Loomba and Post-Colonial Literature : An Introduction by Pramod K. Nayyar.

The critical analysis of the select primary texts was possible through the ideas as expressed by Mala Pandurang, Ngugi Wa Thiongo, Chinua Achebe, U. R. Ananth Murthy, G. N. Devy, Robert M. Wren and other edited works.

Based on such reading and background sources, the study has evolved into six chapters. The overview of each chapter followed by observations and findings in each of them is given below.

6.1.1 An overview of Chapter One Chapter One offers a detailed socio-historical introduction to the study and spells out its aims and objectives, hypotheses, scope and range, delimitation and relevance. It also offers a glimpse into the primary texts and their respective authors chosen for study. The literature survey undertaken and a brief chapter outline also form a part of this Chapter. Important issues relating to religious persecution and the institution of Inquisition in Goa, as also in Portugal and Spain is also discussed here to place the issues in perspective.

6.1.2 Observations of Chapter One The primary texts demonstrate that the colonised societies have their own distinct social, linguistic, spiritual and cultural heritage. These are unique to that place, hence unparalleled. It is noticed that colonisation impacts and alters all aspects of human existence in the colonised society, including native institutions, religious beliefs and practices. The situation of the mid-sixteenth century and late nineteenth century Goa reveals such overbearing impact. The fictional works set in the era uncover the upheaval in the indigenous society especially with regard to compulsive religious conversion.

6.1.3 Findings of Chapter One

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i. Overall analyses the select works of fiction. The colonial history of the two subcontinents show the sufferings of colonial African populace was more miserable in comparison to the societies of the Indian subcontinent, whether in British India or Portuguese Goa. ii. The major countries of Africa in the post-colonial era endured a long phase of dictatorship and infighting, which has in turn led to the present-day socio- political disturbance. The reason being destruction of established native forms of governance and the reluctance of these communities to appreciate, absorb and adopt democracy wholeheartedly. While on the other hand, democracy was more easily acceptable to the diverse and variegated Indian society, leading to general post-independence political stability, peace and societal development, not withstanding the catastrophe of partition.

6.2 The overview of Chapter Two Chapter Two „Colonialism: Notion, Analysis and Manifestation vis-a-vis India and Africa‟ has aimed at understanding the notion of colonialism and understand its genesis with regard to the western world, especially in the context of the select novels. As such, it discusses the critical issues involved in this enterprise and unfolds the reasons for the spread of colonisation across the world.

The second part of the chapter concentrated at analysing colonialism from the post- colonial theoretical perspectives. Important post-colonial theories which have been used to analyse colonisation as seen in the primary texts have been discussed here. In fine, Chapter Two forms the basis for critically analysing, evaluating and understanding the primary texts.

6.2.1 Observations of Chapter Two The human history has instances of conquests, seizures and subjugation of one community or the nation by the other community or the nation, usually done through exploration and exploitation. This also means imposition of one‟s gods, own beliefs upon the other. But the kind of control by one country over the other as seen during the colonial era was hitherto not to be observed in human history.

Colonisation is a process, which continues even after the political colonisation has ended. This draws attention to the belief that it is a continuous and dynamic process. 198

The impact of colonisation is not the same to all the members of the colonised community, especially when it is divided on the caste lines or class lines or even the patriarchal divisions. The colonised members‟ social strata in pre-colonial society define the kind of treatment they would anticipate during colonial era, which may be further termed as colonisation, double colonisation, internal colonisation etc.

Interestingly, though the colonial enterprise of the Western powers began in around 1500 A.D. to the mid-twentieth century, postcolonialism as a theory received recognition from 1970 onwards and further gained momentum by the end of the last decade of the twentieth century. This theory touches almost all the spheres of human existence, and thus, psychology, feminism, economics, sociology, politics and related issues concerning human existence have contributed to its positions. The post- colonial theory has wider nuances and it results in understanding the manifestation and behaviour of the coloniser and the colonised societies.

6.2.2 Findings of Chapter Two i. The members of the colonised community gradually internalize the characteristics of the coloniser and eventually manifest them with pride and sense of achievement. This is referred to as „denationalisation‟. ii. The loss of human life due to the cause of slavery, and inhuman work conditions and atrocities, committed on African population led to depopulation of the continent. The plight of the Black African people is much more severe than that of the Indian society in British India /Portuguese ruled Goa. For example, Goa did not face slavery of the native (albeit it was the market for black slaves) as the African communities did at the hands of Portuguese rulers. iii. Pre-colonial past is not always retrievable. There are interpretations and reinterpretations of the past done through the available data and proofs. However, at times, the untraceable references to the past are made obscure and sometimes purposefully tempered with.

6.3 The overview of Chapter Three Chapter Three „Before and After Colonial Encounter: Case of India and Africa‟ deals with three primary texts, namely, Things Fall Apart, Yug Sanvar and Skin.

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With a brief gist of the novels under study, it describes the two notions associated with colonialism, namely, „savagery‟ and „civilization‟. Discussion on religion and allied issues form an integral aspect of the three novels as they accorded important place in the life of the communities which faced colonisation and the effects of religious conversion. The various modes used for religious conversion were different, including the resultant effect. The Chapter lays emphasis on the relationship between religion and nationalism and analyses whether the change of religion from the native faith to coloniser‟s results in denationalization of a person or a community.

There are certain common factors concerning the two communities, namely, the erstwhile Goan and the Igbo as seen in Yug Sanvar and Things Fall Apart respectively. First of all, they are chthonic (earthly), hence having a close bond with the soil; secondly, they focus on benefit of the larger community over the individual priorities; thirdly, the women folk are presented as the integral part of the community and fourthly, the hierarchical social structure with weaker sections of the society and the slaves placed at the lowest step of the social ladder.

6.3.1 Observations of Chapter Three Of the three authors discussed in this chapter, Chinua Achebe has voiced his anti- colonial views as clearly in his fiction as in his critical works. He does not shy away from the historical facts. Margaret Mascarenhas has pointed out the shortcomings in both the colonisers and the colonised. Mahabaleshwar Sail is more restrained and self-accusative in the novel.

The fiction writers have fictionalized history and historicized their fiction. Although, the story they narrate is a part of the community‟s history, it is also the fictional creation of the author. As fiction writers, these authors strongly present the socio- cultural history of the colonised nations. Traditions form an integral part of this socio- cultural history.

The novels comment on the reasons and effects of religious conversion. The three texts make a mention of preachers: in Things Fall Apart and Yug Sanvar there is a depiction of male missionaries; however, Skin portrays a nun in the form of Saudade.

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It is seen from the narrative that the erstwhile Christian missionaries in Goa and Africa make use of both ethical and unethical ways to convert the natives. They believe it to be a service to God and to the throne of the colonial regime that they serve.

Religious conversion involves westernization of the converted person. The conversion from indigenous religion to the coloniser‟s is portrayed as resulting in the negation of one‟s own community‟s history and looking down with contempt upon whatever is indigenous, although these are not worthy exceptions to this tendency. For instance, in Things Fall Apart, killing of the Python or tearing away the mask of egwugwu are unwarranted acts, but they are necessary from the point of newly converted individuals in order to show their affinity towards their newfound faith.

The native men and their representatives handle the situations with responsibility and maturity, which is the result of their deep-rooted faith in the indigenous beliefs. The indigenous faith has evolved since generations hence there is a deep sense of maturity in handling the serious situations. Thus, when the angry egwugwu attack the church, the priest is not hurt, similarly, the natives do not retaliate when the indigenous gods are referred to as idols of wood.

Christian missionaries work at putting an end to supposed inhuman practices in the colonised lands. Attempts are made to eradicate inequality caused due to social divisions. The taboos which have become a part of social custom like disowning and discarding the twins are vehemently questioned and rejected by the colonisers. These may be seen as a reformist contribution of the colonial rule to the colonised society.

The institution of motherhood and feminity is very significant in traditional communities. In Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo lives with the maternal relatives, while in distress. In Yug Sanvar, the villagers pray to „Saanteri‟, who is „mother earth‟. In Skin, the story in fact revolves around the issue of motherhood and the strength of a woman as a mother.

6.3.2 Findings of Chapter Three i. In Yug Sanvar, the indigenous communities which were colonised are said to undergo this fate due to their own unpreparedness or due to their internal

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weaknesses. However, the fact is that they had not thought that something like this can ever happen. ii. The idea of God as presented by the pro-colonialist preachers in Things Fall Apart, Yug Sanvar and Skin is not that of a benevolent force. Most of the people who are shown to convert in the three novels do so not of any change for heart, but for the material benefits and selfish ends associated with such conversion. The novelists have presented arguments on the issues concerning religion, its relevance, the necessity of God in one‟s own life and so on. iii. The colonisers refer to the indigenous communities as barbaric or weak; this brings the Manichean point of view into focus. The community, which is barbaric or weak, is governed by emotion, not the intellect. But in the case of the native societies this is not so. Even in the most critical situations, the reason is not ruled by the emotion. The indigenous societies, as depicted in the primary texts, show that they have evolved to a state of maturity.

6.4 The overview of Chapter Four

Chapter Four „From Colonial Crisis To Post-Colonial Predicaments: Question Of Leadership‟ concerns the predicament of native colonial societies as well as the issue of leadership in the erstwhile colonial and post-colonial situation. The various kinds of leadership the community looks up to are categorized and analysed by using novelistic representations of leadership which include Moorthy and women leaders in Kanthapura; Arthur Jarvis, James Jarvis, Stephen Kumalo, Msimangu and the Tribal leadership in Cry, the Beloved Country and the leadership of Nyakinyua, Mau-Mau rebels and Karega in the post-colonial situation as seen in Petals Of Blood.

The leadership in the given situation has to face various challenges which include inculcating sense of patriotism among masses, mending the broken tribe, overthrowing the corrupt leadership which is detrimental to the society and the nation and countering the issue of negative propaganda which results in afro-pessimism.

The Chapter suggests solutions to the problem faced by the community, with the help of the portrayal of leadership in the novels. Especially Cry, the Beloved Country makes a mention of the problems and suggests solution through individual philanthropic work and selfless community service. As part of solution, the 202

Trusteeship Theory as propounded by M. K. Gandhi is also considered in the discussion.

6.4.1 Observations of Chapter Four The leaders are seen to be inspired beings who have certain goals or ambitions. Material of goals and ambitions are short-lived; hence, they cease to exist after attainment of the goals. However, James Jarvis and Stephen Kumalo have gone beyond achieving individual ambition and have reached the level of devoting themselves to a mission in their life by attaining a state of altruism. Arthur Jarvis is working for a noble cause, but within the intellectual „elite‟ circles. Contrary to this, his father James Jarvis without aspiring for leadership shows concern for the suffering men at the grass-root level in the locality. This state is beyond any man-made differences. This is spiritual evolution which helps in the upliftment of a community. Of course, all these efforts should be assisted by economic support.

The leaders projected in Kanthapura and Petals of Blood are working at the grass-root level with the common populace around them.

There are two powerful influences operating on the psyche of the younger generations in Cry, the Beloved Country and Petals of Blood. One is the naïve and innocent influence of the village life as against the complex and sophisticated influence of urban life. The latter has a kind of fatal attraction to the younger generation. In Cry, the Beloved Country, Stephen Kumalo is a preacher whom the village adores, but his son falls a prey to the temptation of city life. Nyakinyua, who leads whole of Ilmorog against the „city‟ in Petals of Blood, finds it difficult to hold back her granddaughter Wanja from the lures of urbanization. Thus both Paton and Thiongo suggest that the solution to socio-economic problem should be worked out in the context of where the problem exists. The solution to problem in the rural areas cannot be found in urbanity. In the context of Kanthapura, much of the activity takes place in the village itself, hence, in that context, such binary positions of rural and urban becomes irrelevant.

It is a matter of pride to remember the past of a community, but reversing the past or bringing the past back to the present is impossible. This process is about recapitulating and understanding the past, in order to safeguard the future from such 203

repetitions. There is a mention in Cry, the Beloved Country to the tribe being rebuilt in the house of Mrs. Litheby. Nevertheless, this rebuilding will not be the same as what had broken down earlier. There is a time lag, change of faith due to conversion and erosion of moral values in the course of time. This rebuilding is a very miniscule effort as against a mammoth change and problematization of conditions due to colonisation.

In Cry, the Beloved Country, the native members belonging to the Zulu ethnic group, had once ruled the area. Nevertheless, within a span of around a century it has been seen that the tables turned, with the Zulus following the diktats of the colonisers or becoming their puppets. The apartheid era in South Africa was a culmination of innumerable givings, misgivings and happenings in the history. It was just „concretization‟ of „loose‟ ideas about racial discrimination, which existed in the minds of the white colonisers.

The presence of appropriate leadership is crucial for the anti-colonial struggle in a given colonial situation, depending upon the compulsion or circumstances that prevail. In the absence of an empathetic mass leadership, the struggle may be misled resulting in a failure. This can cause a serious setback to the communities fighting for independence from colonial rule. The local leaders are often inspired by the thoughts and deeds of some other important world-leaders. Interestingly, for Arthur Jarvis, it is Abraham Lincoln while for Moorthy, it is Mahatma Gandhi. The leaders in neo-colonial situation find an inspirational force in the Mau-Mau uprising which was an armed struggle against the British colonisers in Kenya. The first two cases deal with social change through non-violent means, while the third uses violence as a means to bring about a social change.

Religion, especially the coloniser‟s religion, played a vital role in subjugating the minds of the indigenous men towards denationalisation. This strengthened the hold of the colonial powers over colonies as well as the colonised.

The three novels discussed in this Chapter, do not close at the end; rather they await to see the repercussions of certain happenings and issues, hence, the novels are open- ended works of fiction. Kanthapura was written prior to the Indian independence, hence, it awaits that moment of freedom. Cry, the Beloved Country is written at a 204

time when apartheid was on the verge of being accepted as a socio-political tool and the results would have been detrimental to the society, as it really turned out to be. Therefore, Cry, the Beloved Country is an attempt to show a certain path which can lead to social well-being through participation and empathy. The third novel Petals of Blood ponders on the impending dangers of neo-colonialism and the ways to overcome it. The murders of three powerful men in Petals of Blood, who represent the neo-colonial perspective are only a part of the whole neo-colonial system. So, the system needs to be weeded out of neo-colonial power-centers for the betterment of all. Hence, although all three novels seem close-ended, in actuality, they are open-ended works awaiting the culmination of their vision.

6.4.2. Findings of Chapter Four: i. The traditional tribal systems, or the indigenous social systems were purposefully destroyed and the traditional power centers -in the form of chiefs or village elders- were made powerless. This caused loss of cultural paradigms as well as tribal or community role models, resulting in long- term effects such as tendency of the natives to be „mimic men‟, with their mimicness, rootlessness and contempt for indigenous systems. Stephen Kumalo and Msimangu in Cry, the Beloved Country have become „mimic men‟. They are powerful leaders but they seem to only see the half- truth as portrayed from the white colonisers perspective. ii. There is little difference between colonisation and neo-colonisation, because in both the instances the resources are used by the powerful for their own benefit, depriving the majority of the populace under direct or indirect oppression, thus keeping them away from the socio-economic development and democratic power. iii. Kanthapura and Petals of Blood written by the native writers have very strong female characters. In Kanthapura it is Ratna and Rangamma; while in Petals of Blood it is Nyakinyua and Wanja. But Alan Paton‟s Cry, the Beloved Country has no presence of significant women characters. Mrs. Lithebe is more a stereotype of the western „feminine‟ and Gertrude as well as Absolam‟s girlfriend are the „native‟ stereotypes created by colonial ideologues. Even the white women such as the wives of Harrison, James

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Jarvis are more refined stereotypes of western civilized society, who are „complementary‟ in thought and action to their male counterparts.

6.5 The overview of Chapter Five: Chapter Five, „Looking at the Locale of Engagement and Response: The Sthalapurana and Sthalamahatmya of Nativity‟ focuses on the narration and celebration of locale from the point of view of native sensibility. The space in the novel is the locale, which is eulogized by the author to present its beauty and grandeur as a centre of creative positive energy. The same locale is also presented as a contrary force in operation, due to the over-indulgence by men, who include the natives, colonisers or neo-colonisers. This brings to question the issue of nativism and its relevance in narration and celebration of the locale, ultimately resulting into strong anti-colonial force. Hence, social history becomes absorbed into the sthalapurana and sthalamahatmya.

6.5.1 Observations of Chapter Five: The drama of colonial encounter takes place in a material socio-political space and not in a vacuum. Hence, this space, of which the „place‟ or „sthala' is an entity, becomes an indispensible part of colonial struggle.

This locale becomes the fulcrum of all the colonial, anti-colonial or neo-colonial activities. Hence, its eulogisation is done in two ways: through narration and by celebration of the native culture. This includes those issues which develop the „rootedness‟ of an individual or a community in its „native‟ sensibilities. The two words used to mean narration and celebration are „sthalapurana‟ and „sthalamahatmya‟ respectively.

In the context of the process of colonisation, the „space‟ discussed is not only the tangible space that is colonised physically but also the intangible space that is usurped. This includes, along with the customs, practices, beliefs, value system, the colonisation of the native psyche.

There is a difference between the tangible and intangible „place‟ or „sthala‟ as seen in urban and rural set-up. The urban set-up is a place of opportunities, but it also degenerates the life of its inhabitants, especially of those who have migrated from

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their rural set-up or villages. The material benefits become the goal, immaterial of the means adopted. It is the erosion of human values. The desecration of religious places is a physical destruction, but its emotional impact is more deep and long-lasting. Thus the desecration of the external is manifested at the internalized subjective level.

The „space‟ which is usurped as a result of the colonisation process is material, cultural and psychological. After this, the colonial agencies, right from education to politics work towards indoctrination, by making the colonial hegemony percolate in the minds of the natives.

The rural setting, especially the village fold, represents the innocence in native society, their appreciation of human values and a feeling of „rootedness‟ in the soil. For them, their land and the natural environment become sacred spaces to be protected, as these are seen as the outer manifestation of the spiritual or the divine. They are considered as the tangible physical structures of what constitutes the intangible spaces. This leads to the notions of purity and impurity, the sacred and the profane, holy and unholy. Such beliefs form the basis of historical issues that concern the integration and disintegration of the native community. This may be better explained through nativism, migration and resettlement.

6.5.2 The findings of Chapter Five: i. „Sthalapurana‟ and „Sthalamahatmya‟ emerge out of the rural set-up because narration and celebration of the native locale forms an integral part of „rootedness‟ of an individual or a community. ii. As a result of colonisation, the colonisers occupied not just the „place‟ in the colonised territory; they also intervened in native socio-cultural system. This was not a vacant space. This is the usurpation of the place from the native settlers. iii. Colonisation as a historical practice acts both as a force and the product, leading to a new system, and a new product viz. colonised sensibility. It is sometimes reinvented as neo-colonisation. iv. The colonisation resulted in the dichotomy of „metropole-village‟ or the „urban-rural‟, each posited within a definite „place‟ representing certain distinct values, and many a times these values are contradictory.

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v. Nativism is both covertly and overtly anti-colonial. Because, colonialism believes in uprooting the individual‟s cultural past and infusing it with their own, while nativism believes in holding on to the cultural native „roots‟ as strongly as possible.

6.6 Revisiting the hypotheses: The introductory chapter has proposed four-pronged hypotheses. The first is to analyze whether even after more than half a century away from the colonial yoke, the term post-colonial is still valid for the writers of today. The overall analysis of the select primary sources from different nations in two continents and covering a wide spectrum of issues relating to colonialism and neo-colonialism suggests the necessity and relevance of using this term in the present study.

The second idea attempted to understand the innate need for independence in the colonised individual/community, irrespective of their geographical context. Often, this need translates into their freedom struggle, throwing up various kinds of leadership suited to the colonial situation on hand. This perception is found to be true, as all the texts express the need for freedom and anticipate a leadership to challenge, resist or subvert the colonial yoke in all its forms.

The third hypothesis pertains to novels located in history, and narrating societal struggle against colonial yoke, which tend to elucidate the locale and perhaps glorify it. The idea of „sthalapurana‟ and „sthalamahatmya‟ duly foments and promotes an anti-colonial struggle of the natives through such historic narratives that celebrate these struggles and glorify the native community‟s „rootedness‟ in their tangible/intangible space.

The fourth hypothesis pertains to the priority given to an individual‟s identity quest at the cost of the locale. This results in a narrative fundamentally based on individual experience and growth. It tends to limit itself to an individual‟s quest at the cost of locale or historical context. This is effectively seen in the analysis of the novel Skin, wherein the colonial analysis takes a backseat, and the individual identity crisis attains prominence. However, to be fair to this narrative, in the process of re-tracing the trajectory of individual quest, it throws light often innocuously on the colonial

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situation, institutions, relationships and ideology. These become all the more reliable because they get revealed almost unintentionally.

In the course of study, all the four hypothesis have found to be borne out by the present research work, undertaken with the help of the six primary texts and in the light of relevant critical insights drawn from historical findings as well as theoretic interpretations.

6.7 Relevance of the Study Colonialism is not just a notion or reality of past significance. It is rather the manifestation of an ideology of power seeking to subjugate another society or territory by force. It entails, therefore, practices that set in motion a process of conquests and impacts that hold relevance for future too. Today, almost all the erstwhile colonised countries have attained political freedom from their former conquerors. As such, for all practical purposes, they seem to have attained independence. However, colonisation has left in its wake very serious aftermarks on the social psyche, demography, economy and political structures that are not easily palpable on the surface.

The African nations were divided arbitrarily during the Berlin Conference in 1884-85 to facilitate colonisation and reap utmost benefits. This has resulted in creation of nation states without any consideration to natural boundaries, the ethnic group in existence, the historical, social and economic relations of the place and people of the area. This has led to unnatural political entities that will remain volatile hot-beds of activities- sometimes violent. This is likely to continue until the re-formation and restructuring of these nations is done or there is an ideological re-orientation, politically.

The coloniser may have conquered the regions through unethical means such as unprovoked armed conquest, confiscation or forceful annexation. However, after the colonisers leave, the strain of hostility is directed towards the indigenous rulers to whom the power is handed down. Holding the „nation‟ together as passed down by the coloniser becomes the prime duty and this, in most of the African countries gave rise to dictatorship. The leaders who led the masses towards attaining freedom from erstwhile colonisers, found it difficult to resist the attachment to power. The power in most African nations was not democratically shared among people, but was vested 209

in individual leaders who often turned to dictators. Some dictators were even handpicked by the earlier colonisers, thus indirectly controlling the nation and its resources.

In order to maintain their hegemony, the colonial powers used the „divide and rule‟ policy. The divisions so created have led to a further break up of nations and has given rise to new ones. Of all the powers, economic power and its benefits have not percolated to the citizens of the colonised lands in the post-colonial era. The system continues in the hands of the neo-colonisers, who control all the economic institutions of an independent nation.

Further, in the context of Goa, the presence and status of Jews in pre-colonial/colonial Goa appears to be an important area for a further study. Is it that the Inquisition was sought in Goa just to keep a check on the Jew neo-converts, as has been made out by some scholars? In case they did reside in Goa , what could possibly have been their number? And whether their trial and persecution could have lasted for 260 long years? What was the need felt by those enforcing the Inquisition in Goa to destroy or hide the records involving Inquisition, when such records are available for study in Spain and Portugal?(Priolkar 28 )

Erstwhile colonial system and its repercussions still disturb the present social fabric of a nation as may be seen in many developing nations or the so-called Third World countries. For example, stepping outside the parameters of the historical context of this study, one may cite the controversial issue of celebrating the foundation day on 26th January in Australia, when the British ships under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip, the first governor of the new colony, raised the British Flag.

Likewise, the celebration of Columbus Day in America is controversial, because Columbus who had set sail to reach India, by mistake landed in the parts of America, and until his death believed that, he had reached one end of the Indian subcontinent. He was not the first to reach the American continent from Europe, as there have been instances of voyages reaching the lands prior to Columbus.

The third is the controversy that can be cited as an illustration concerns India. It relates to the fifth centenary celebrations of Vasco da Gama‟s visit to the Indian

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Subcontinent in 1498. Vasco-da-Gama began his voyage from Lisbon on July 8, 1497 and reached Cape of Good Hope on November 22, 1497, and finally reached Calicut on May 22, 1498. Vasco da Gama was assisted by a pilot Ahmed Ibn Masjid provided by the Sultan of Malindi in East Africa for his voyage, while Bartholomew Dias on the other hand had already discovered the route up to Cape of Good Hope. Thus, the claim that Vasco da Gama discovered the route to India is erroneous.

All the above listed voyages disturbed the indigenous population and their culture. So, are these days to be venerated as some of the greatest achievements of the mankind, or mourned as the day of initiation of invasion? Because, the outcome of such visits or explorations resulted in systematically killing of the indigenous people, their death due to disease brought by the invaders or exile of the natives from their own lands. The overall impact of these voyages led to colonisation, religious conversion, wars, and in certain cases caused exile, double exile, internal exile, dislocation, migration, dispossession, and genocide of the natives. Such cases of grave injustice against the indigenous population are visible in Asia and Africa besides in other parts of the world such as North and South Americas, Australia and other nations.

This has led to much heartburn and hostility in the colonised psyche, which continues even in the postcolonial era. Here, Nayantara Sehgal‟s observation comes to mind. She has remarked that colonial encounter is just another incident in the national history, hence it has just added one more layer to the Indian consciousness, and hence it may not be very relevant and important.

Nevertheless, the changes colonial encounter has had upon the world are enormous. Thus, equating the colonial era with any other instances in human history would be underestimating the colossal impact of colonisation across the colonised world. This study has endeavoured to unvcover this impact and the struggle of the postcolonial societies to come to terms with their colonial past and move to a world of equitable global camaraderie.

In other words, the present study has been a modest attempt to review the past in the present context so as to understand it better and thereby to sound a cautionary note for the future: those who forget their history are condemned to repeat it.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Sources:

Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. 1958. London: Penguin, 2001. Print. Mascarenhas, Margaret.Skin. 2001. Goa: Broadway Publishing House, 2010. Print. Paton, Alan. Cry, the Beloved Country. 1948. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print. Rao, Raja. Kanthapura. 1938. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2004. Print. Sail, Mahabaleshwar. Yug Sanvar. Margao: Asmitai Pratishthan, 2004. Print. Thingo, NgugiWa. Petals of Blood. 1977. Oxford: Heinemann, 1986. Print.

Secondary Sources.

Books:

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