this is fascinating
only recently have i come across two GREAT novels with this motif appearing.
the first is Aminatta Forna's magnificent The Memory of Love,
the second is an absolutely brilliant novel by Helen Oyeyemi, Mr. Fox.
in both there appears the theme of the fugue, which is what you described below as the wandering disease. in fugue the person takes off, splits in personality, and wanders for a period. when she or he returns to herself, she has no memory of what happened. it was associated, in FOrna's novel, with world war one soldiers in europe suffering from ptsd, but in her novel it characterizes women in the aftermath of the war there. it becomes a central trope to the novel.
in oyeyemi's it it folded into the fable of the figure of mr. fox, a complex figure, one of whose incarnations we all would recognize as the Handsome Gentleman in the familiar w african story. his women are like the victims of the bluebeard or mr fox or a zillion other tales of male seducers who kill their victims, or, as with little red riding hood, are killed by the women.
there is very little that is overtly african in Mr Fox, but i can't recommend too strongly this incredible work.
as for ekwensi, we had him here once to msu, when a batch of african authors came. he was regarded as one of the fathers of african literature, and we all tried to give him all the full respect that was his due. he was enormously gracious, and it was wonderful to meet him
i feel very much as you do about that generation of writers who introduced me to african literature and the "world" of africa they created. it was a grounding we all took for granted, and only now with time can begin to understand it as a "world" they created in their vision, a world really unrecognizable in terms of today's writers, like the two women i cite above. our great weakness was to have been under the sway of a longstanding euro-anthropological tradition that traded in culture as fixed entities. as in the phrase "ancient african proverb," which always gets my goat. once we begin to understand how their "world" was grounded in a shared sensibility, we free the literature to speak openly. and we free proverbs to speak to us again in our world today
best
ken
On 11/5/12 11:03 AM, Ikhide wrote:
--Ken,In Cyprian Ekwensi's Burning Grass, the protagonist, Mai Sunsaye is periodically afflicted by the Sokugo, the wandering disease, so called because, each time the disease struck him, he would feel a need to wander off and he would. The point is that it was not a disease like a physical flu ...I loved Cyprian Ekwensi's works. They were unpretentious, they spoke to me as a little boy and I could imagine all the places he had been to. He wrote important works about Northern Nigeria and the urban areas. He may not be as celebrated as Achebe, Soyinka, etc, but he remains firmly in the hearts of the precocious children of my generation as a great teacher. When he passed, I wrote an ode to him that I have reproduced several times in many places. For what it is worth, here, enjoy!- IkhideStalk my blog at http://www.xokigbo.com/Follow me on Twitter: @ikhideJoin me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ikhide
From: kenneth harrow <harrow@msu.edu>
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Sent: Sunday, November 4, 2012 10:46 PM
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Five years ago today Cyprian Ekwensi left this world.....
ken
--
Cyprian Ekwensi (September 26, 1921 – November 4, 2007)
As the day goes the way of yesterday, I recall the passing on of Chief Cyprian Ekwensi.
As they say to live in the hearts of those who love us is not to die.
A note to myself....
There is a novel written by Cyprian Ekwensi called "Burning Grass" In that novel he mentioned a disease: SOKUGO....it is said to be a wondering disease. I am not sure this is a real disease or an imagined one. I have been trying to find out IF there is any institution researching on Sokugo. Will there ever be an International Conference for Cyprian Ekwensi? I ask sister Sophia Ekwensi-Ojukwu and others what you have in the pipeline. Please share with us...Thanks
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-- kenneth w. harrow faculty excellence advocate distinguished professor of english michigan state university department of english 619 red cedar road room C-614 wells hall east lansing, mi 48824 ph. 517 803 8839 harrow@msu.edu
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