Naipual's problem is primarily that of ingratitude which he probably inherited from his father. According to the literary theorist and former Principal of the St. Augustine campus of the University of the West Indies, Dr Bho Twarie, if Mr Biswas was a little more grateful to all the people who were trying to help him instead of constantly griping against them, he may have been a more successful person in life. The son is similarly dismissive of his debts to the Caribbean, to Oxford ('Oxford taught me nothing'), to his parents, wife, and partners, to India and to Africa. The lesson for younger writers is to learn the habit of gratitude and eschew the white-superiorism that might interfere with their writings because even good prose would not be enough to attract and retain significant readership when the personality and ideology and obnoxious and turn-offish.
Yet, we must not throw away the baby with the bath water. As a graduate student in Edinburgh University in the early 1990s, I received my first Naipaul book, India: A Million Mutinies Now, from my book club, Quality Paperback Series. However, before I could read the book, an English friend spoiled it for me by asking why I even bothered buying a Naipaul book given the man's well-known racism in the way he portrayed Indians and Africans as dirty and diseased and with no redeeming qualities. The comment discouraged me from reading the book but when I finally did ten years later before a trip to India, I learned quite a bit from the book.
For instance, Naipaul revealed in the book that when Gandhi went to live in South Africa after his law school in England, he was 'politically naive'. Now, I have never heard anyone describe the great Gandhi as being naive and so I read on. According to Naipaul, when Gandhi arrived in South Africa, he actually believed that colonialism was a good thing but the Zulus quickly reeducated him. Like many good writers, he did not go into detail about what lesson Gandhi learned from Zulus and so I had to go and find out for myself by reading 'Gandhi: the Autobiography'.
In that book, Gandhi himself agreed that he was a product of British education who believed that the white man was in Africa to bring civilization to the dark continent. He believed that the Zulus were lazy and that that was why they were always going on strike. He hoped that the British would teach them the ethics of hard work so that they could become a little more civilized like the Indian traders who had invited him to come and fight for them against discrimination by the British who lumped them together with the natives.
To Gandhi's surprise, the Zulu launched an uprising against the British and he quickly joined the British Army and was commissioned Sargent Major Gandhi. He was put in charge of a group of Indian volunteer nurses supporting the British army. Perhaps, Gandhi wished for some of the British officers to be wounded so that he and his fellow Indians would get an opportunity to treat them and thereby show the British that Indian nurses were every bit as effective as British ones and thereby persuade them that Indians should not be categorized at the same level with Africans.
But when all the wounded turned out to be Zulus, Gandhi was frustrated and started asking them why they were sitting there like sissies and taking the beating instead of fighting back like me. They laughed at him and told him that they were fighting back all right but that they were fighting back non-violently by refusing to pay taxes to a government that did not represent them and by refusing to work for employers who exploited them.
Naipul narrates how Gandhi took this lesson back to India and used it to change the national liberation strategy that was predominantly the militaristic strategy of mutinies which the British easily defeated through the war of manicures in the past. Now the Indians started using the non-violent strategy of refusing to buy salt when the prices were inflated (they made their own salt) and refusing to buy British cotton when the prices were hiked up (they wove their own loin clothes).
The nonviolent methods proved more effective in winning Indian independence and Kwame Nkrumah later adopted similar tactics (Positive Action) for the independence of Ghana but emphasized that it was an African strategy all right. The Civil Rights Movement adopted this African philosophy primarily but the Martin Luther King Jr Museum in Atlanta still mistakenly attributes it to Gandhi without adding that Gandhi himself attributed it to Africans. A graduate student from Howard university told me that the day after she heard me make this point at a recent Association of Black Sociologists meeting in Atlanta, she went to the museum and could not resist correcting a parent who was explaining to a child that MLK borrowed non-violence from Gandhi.
Other surprising lessons that I have learned from Naipul's India include the fact that the Black Panther Party influenced the lowest caste in India, The Dalith, to form the Dalith Panthers Party. He also explained that arranged marriages are more prestigeous in India than what they call 'love matches'. He has a fascinating chapter on a monthly magazine, Indian Woman, that is published by a man but that is very successful among women because of its ability to involve the readers in the interactive development of soap-opera-like themes. When I arrived New Delhi in 2004, the first thing I bought was a copy of Indian Woman and not surprisingly, it came with a free gift: a tampon! Some lesson in marketing.
I have since bought other Naipaul books but I must confess that I have never read any of them from cover to cover. Am I alone in finding his style a touch boring? This might have to do with the attitude of the author to his audience and since postmodernists have proclaimed the death of the author with the arrival of the reader who is free to interpret the work as he/she feels, I agree with those who have pointed out that when it comes down to a competition for my time, there are choice pieces of literature that I have prioritized over those of Naipaul. Yet, I will not deny that it is possible to learn something new even from an unusual Naipaul source. I have not read his new yabbis on Africa but I will not rule it out someday.
It is not enough to condemn his racism and snobbishness. We need to encourage more writers to dwell on the positive contributions that Africans have made and continue to make to world civilization even while critiquing the negative remnants of centuries of slavery, colonialism and post-colonialism in constructive ways that would help us to usher in a greater Africa, the Renascent Africa that Azikiwe announced in 1937 while cursing the 'Old Africa' for blocking progress.
Biko
--- On Thu, 9/2/10, Cornelius Hamelberg <corneliushamelberg@gmail.com> wrote:
> From: Cornelius Hamelberg <corneliushamelberg@gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Naipaul's Latest Book on 'The Masque of Africa: Glimpse of African Belief'
> To: "USA Africa Dialogue Series" <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
> Date: Thursday, September 2, 2010, 9:37 AM
> Professor Harrow & Professor
> Adesanmi,
>
> These are very serious matters that you raise and the
> very
> credibility and hitherto good reputation of the Swedish
> Academy is at
> stake because of their acts of omission and the literary
> felonies
> that according to you have been committed by the selection
> committee.
>
> I intend to convey your views to the Swedish Academy.
>
> The Nobel Prize Committee seems to lay dormant between
> awarding Nobel
> Prizes, don't say much and probably won't be saying much
> until the
> next Noble Prize in Literature is announced, sometime next
> month. In
> the meanwhile most of us will remain breathless and of
> course some of
> us might even expire if it is not the grandfather of the
> African novel
> or Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o this time.
>
> Professor Harrow, if you remember in that thread in which
> you
> expressed your disappointment after reading, the clichés
> and all
> that's passé in Le Clezio's "Onitsha" I
> did mention that in spite
> of outstanding favourites like USA's Philip Roth (and
> Israel's
> controversial Amos Oz) the former Secretary of the Swedish
> Academy
> Horace Engdahl has had some telling things to say about the
> state of
> American Letters, and American Literature in general, and
> this has
> probably poisoned the minds if not the the attitude
> of individual
> members of the Selection Committee:
>
> http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=Horace+Engdahl+on+American+Literature&aq=&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&pbx=1&fp=5673716d440c1f33
>
> I wonder what he / they have to say about the corpus known
> as "African
> Literature"?
> Perhaps it is your sacred duty and the duty of critics like
> Chief
> Abiola Irele and Chief Ikhide, to profile the
> Literature of Africa,
> not only in learned journals, but also in the popular
> media, much more
> than is being done today.
>
> Chambi Chacage seems to fuse incidents from Naipauls life
> into the his
> literary estimation of the man. We know for sure that
> Naipaul is he
> is no William Faulkner. They are proud of him in India,
> that he is
> from their loins, even though they do not like what he has
> to say
> about the subcontinent, to the extent that not too long ago
> he was
> required to present documentary evidence that his ancestors
> did indeed
> hail from Mother India.
>
> Of all the ill-willed things that you've observed about Sir
> Vidia so
> far, especially when you mock his, "hallowed halls of
> oxford, or was
> it cambridge.", I must say in his Brahminical
> defence that some
> thirty years ago it was reported in ( it must have been the
> telegraph
> or perhaps the Times interview) in which he brayed
> about Holy Oxford
> and I know that he is some sort of snob but it's
> still difficult to
> believe or to even be able to explain his braying that "
> Oxford is a
> second class University "
>
> If he says that about Oxford then what is he likely to
> say - if he
> does decide to say) about Makerere or Nssuka ?
>
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2001/sep/08/artsandhumanities.highereducation
>
> I'm sure that the idea that Sir Vidia could be
> regarded as "the
> foremost literary interpreter of the third world for a
> British and
> American readership." is from the pint of view of
> Professor Adesamni ,
> a major criminal offence and only the punishment for
> such an offence
> has not yet been determined.
>
> Hi pious Pius, perhaps it's time for us to pass a holy
> fatwa on his
> head?
>
> What say you about such a proposition, in the name of
> Africa?
>
>
>
>
> On Sep 1, 6:09 pm, kenneth harrow <har...@msu.edu>
> wrote:
> > dear cornelius
> > what country did you say you were living in?
> > i am still waiting for the brilliant nobel
> > committee to explain to me why a nobody like
> > golding gets the nobel while africa's great
> > writers have not: where is achebe on the list of
> > nobelists? why was borges not awarded? i would
> > put 10 african authors ahead of golding in a
> > flash, starting with the likes of farah, ngugi,
> > even okri, compared with le clezio; and without a
> > shadow of a doubt assia djebar.
> > explain that to me: golding over djebar????
> > it is pretty obvious to me that the 3d world gets
> leftovers, as the man said.
> > i am not sure what i would say in response to the
> > question, why do we still care? was sartre right in
> saying no to the prize?
> > ken
> >
> > At 09:42 AM 9/1/2010, you wrote:
> >
> > >Ogbuefi Cornelius:
> >
> > >You are a total "a mo ran bi ni Oyo - asking
> > >rhetorical questions bordering on provocation
> > >like an Oyo man. You know the answer to the
> > >questions you are wahala-ing Ken about. And you
> > >are making Naipaul's racism, the worst kept
> > >secret in the literary world, sound like
> > >something that Ken alone has noticed ("Do they
> > >see this racism that you see..."!). Naipaul's
> > >racism is not Ken's making. Unlike Ken sha, I
> > >have never stopped reading Naipaul because one
> > >must keep the enemy close. Anyone who has been
> > >reading Naipaul should know that his
> > >skin-headism is irredeemable. I wonder why you
> > >lumped him with Rushdie? The Satanic Verses is
> > >not Naipaulian. Now to your questions:
> >
> > > But does the Selection committee of the
> > > Swedish Academy need to have their heads
> > > examined ? YES, for giving the prize to Naipaul.
> >
> > > Do they see the racism that you see in the
> > > unrepentant Naipaul  or do you think that
> > > conscious as he is, he is simply unaware of it
> > > ? No, the Nobel Committee did not see Naipaul's
> > > racism car il n'y a de pire aveugle que celui
> > > qui ne veut pas voir. Naipaul is aware of his
> racism.
> >
> > >Was it a mistake to award him the Nobel Prize?
> YES
> >
> > >and should we tolerate the Swedish Academy
> awarding such prizes to
> > >writers such as Sir Vidia? NO, but you can do
> > >natting about it. A lion's liver is vain wish for
> dogs.
> >
> > > or should the prize be withdrawn now or even
> posthumously? YES
> >
> > >Pius
> >
> > >--- On Wed, 1/9/10, kenneth harrow <har...@msu.edu>
> wrote:
> >
> > >From: kenneth harrow <har...@msu.edu>
> > >Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series -
> > >Naipaul's Latest Book on 'The Masque of Africa:
> Glimpse of African Belief'
> > >To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
> > >Date: Wednesday, 1 September, 2010, 2:44
> >
> > >dear cornelius
> > >i do not have time for deep reflections now as 2
> > >course preps for tomorrow are still to be
> undertaken.
> > >first, i read the early, trinidad novels of
> > >naipaul, and then on to bend in the river, among
> > >the unbelievers. after that i pretty much
> stopped.
> > >i will rely on your reflections to answer the
> > >question i posed: what would a racist author
> > >look like? i am not really interested in
> > >obtaining the answer from the nobel committee,
> > >but rather from the engaged scholars here on
> > >this list, and other experts in naipaul. you
> > >know his work much more than i do. enlighten us.
> >
> > >he wrote of 3d world intellectuals as attempting
> > >to become civilized by imitating the real thing,
> > >english intellectuals who were not afraid to
> > >assert the primacy of their venerable
> > >civilization. he bought the crap lock stock and
> > >barrel, and those who were not up to the task
> > >were mere mimic men. africa then became the site
> > >for the feebleness of imitation, the failed
> > >assimilation policies of the colonizers who
> > >never really meant it, and of a barbarism closer
> > >to conrad's imagery than say achebe's. there is
> > >no humanity in the naipaul africans; the indians
> > >of africa were cynics out for a buck, making
> > >their way through the savages; naipaul opened a
> > >cynical eye onto the political scene, and that
> > >was enough for the superior tastes of europeans
> > >who don't know a thing about actual african people
> to be wowed by him.
> > >there was nothing left; no love, no beauty, no
> > >humanity, no possibility except to follow his
> > >own path to the hallowed halls of oxford, or was
> it cambridge.
> > >he was interviewed by an ayatollah in Among the
> > >Believers, and asked where he came from. he
> > >stated, the islands. but, he tells the reader,
> > >the real answer would have been england, oxford,
> > >the real home for an intellectual like himself.
> > >the islands were long since left behind.
> > >i could have continued reading his entertaining
> > >books, but my time was limited. was i to spend
> > >the valuable time on him, or on soyinka's
> > >latest, on the newest nigerian stars, on the
> > >latest senegalese film? stories of naipaul's
> > >horrific views of black people continued to be
> > >circulated, comments that a colleague from the
> > >netherlands relayed to me, confirming the worst
> > >impressions of racist beliefs. i do not have
> > >time to devote to him while i still have an
> > >unread assia djebar novel to read. i commend
> > >djebar to us all; she is beauty itself; he is the
> opposite
> > >ken
> >
> > >At 06:37 AM 8/31/2010, you wrote:
> > > > Professor Harrow & Co,
> >
> > > > I'm seeking some more direction from you.
> >
> > > > At this very moment I'm strangely reminded
> of Ulli Beier of whom I
> > > > heard an anthropologist joke that he was he
> was leaving Nigeria for
> > > > Papua New Guinea, which he described as
> “ another area of darknessâ€
> > > > Some people see, have seen Naipaul and
> Rushdie as the Wild West's
> > > > literary attack dogs who in fiction and
> non-fiction peer into our
> > > > backwardness, to wage war on cherished
> religious and cultural values
> > > > and the life lived outside of the pale of
> Western Civilisation, the
> > > > Western Civilisation of which when asked,
> Mahatma Gandhi said “I
> > > > think it would be a good idea.ââ€
> > > > I erroneously referred to “Among the
> the Believers†as post -Salman
> > > > Rushdie, because itt has been around for so
> long; perhaps it even paved
> > > > the way for “ The Satanic
> Verses†and
> > > enjoenjoyed even greater popularity
> > > > after Rushdie's controversial novel.
> >
> > > > We all agree that V.S. Naipaul is an
> engaging writer, perhaps a great
> > > > writer, one that we do not neglect and some
> of us seem to be forced to
> > > > read, just because he visits some of our
> natural habitats. Is that not
> > > > so?
> >
> > > > The Nobel Prize committee awarded Sir
> Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul
> > > > the Nobel Prize in Literature for largesse
> of spirit, not for for
> > > > being a racist or for being “one of
> the great racist writers of our
> > > > t time “ but "for having united
> > > perceptive narrativeve and incorruptible
> > > > scrutiny in works that compel us to see the
> presence of suppressed
> > > > histories".
> >
> > > <http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2001/naipaul....>http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2001/naipaul....
> >
> > > > After the award he has not rested on his
> laurels but suitably
> > > > encouraged and rewarded has continued in the
> same vein, turning his
> > > > lights on and exposing other areas of
> darkness with even greater
> > > > intensity ( insensitivity?) and gained an
> even greater audience.
> >
> > > > Can he also be accused of rank dishonesty in
> his “Beyond Belief:
> > > > Islamic Excursionons among the Converted
> Peoples†?
> >
> > > > I got a coppy of his “ Half a
> > > life†from his Sws Swedish literary agent
> for
> > > > Christmas, 2001 or 2 .She was at the Noble
> Banquet and may have a
> > > > soft heart for him and seems to to think
> that he's a nice bloke.
> > > > That's women for you, can have a soft spot
> for every kind of
> > > > scoundrel. Beauty and the Beast.
> >
> > > > But does the Selection committee of the
> Swedish Academy need to have
> > > > their heads examined ? Do they see the
> > > “racism†that yot you see in the
> > > > unrepentant Naipaul  or do you think
> that conscious as he is, he is
> > > > simply unaware of it ? Was it a mistake to
> award him the Nobel Prize
> > > > and should we tolerate the Swedish Academy
> awarding such prizes to
> > > > writers such as Sir Vidia or should the
> prize be withdrawn now or even
> > > > posthumously?
> >
> > > <http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUK257&q=No...>http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUK257&q=No...
> >
> > > > On Aug 30, 4:43Â pm, kenneth harrow
> <har...@msu.edu>
> wrote:
> > > > > i need to simplify in responding here,
> to
> > > both friends cornelius and ikhide:
> > > > > the problem is not that naipaul
> mounted
> > > > > criticisms of africa or africans. but
> that all he
> > > > > sees of africa and africans is evil.
> perhaps we
> > > > > can say that there were real flaws in
> black
> > > > > culture after the american civil war,
> and that
> > > > > depicting the legislatures in the south
> as
> > > > > dysfunctional was an accepted critique.
> but  if
> > > > > all one sees are subhumans in those who
> represent
> > > > > the flaws, one is generating racist
> stereotypes,
> > > > > not simply critiquing. there has to be
> a
> > > > > difference between the two, between a
> critique
> > > > > generated from the perspective that
> those being
> > > > > critiqued are still human like all
> humans, and
> > > > > another that evokes their animality and
> evil
> > > > > natures as those of inferior beings, as
> meriting
> > > > > being spit upon, as those whose vaginas
> merit
> > > > > being spit upon....naipaul's scene, not
> mine, in bend in the river.
> > > > > if naipaul is not a racist, maybe
> griffith's
> > > > > birth of a nation isn't, and the
> greatest emblems
> > > > > of racism are merely humorous
> criticisms.
> > > > > maybe not.
> > > > > tell me how to read someone who
> consistently
> > > > > represents dark skinned people as
> inferior, if not as a racist.
> > > > > ken
> >
> > > > > At 08:40 AM 8/30/2010, you wrote:
> >
> > > > > >I have not yet read Naipaul's
> latest but from the comments on this
> > > > > >page and the Guardian's review, my
> expectations are great:
> >
> > > > > ><http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/aug/2
> > > 9/vs-naipaul-masque-of-afri>http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/aug/29/vs-naipaul-masque-of-afri...
> >
> > > > > > Â Jonathan Franzen may write
> with the
> > > principle in mind, that “The
> >
> > > > > >reader is a friend, not t an
> adversary,
> > > not a spectator.† - and
> perhhaps
> > > > > >this is also Naipual's operative
> approach, since  we can tell by his
> > > > > >book sales that he does have a very
> large and appreciative readership.
> > > > > >Is it safe to conclude then that he
> panders to the appetite and
> > > > > >expectations of his faithful
> fans/readers who want some more of the
> > > > > >same or must we credit him with
> being absolutely faithful to his own
> > > > > >experience, his own perceptions,
> like the true literary artist and
> > > > > >essayist he is?
> >
> > > > > >Or is there no such thing?
> >
> > > > > >I remember in 2001, when it was
> announced that V.S. had been awarded
> > > > > >the Nobel Prize in Literature. I
> called up two friends, one a great
> > > > > >intellectual from Guadeloupe and
> the other from Jamaica, to
> > > > > >congratulate them  They both
> said exactly  the same thing, one
> > > > > >word:â€
> Colllie-man†, which is a
> > > Carribean's 's derogatory descripttion of an
> > > > > >Indian. Naipaul had already pissed
> them off.
> >
> > > > > >In as far as biographical heresy
> can be applied to throw light on Mr.
> > > > > >Naipaul's literary output, Paul
> Theroux's
> > > “Sir Vidiaia's Shadowâ€
> € Â has
> > > > > >given the most unkindest cut of
> all.
> >
> > > > > >Paul Theroux should know. Had Sir
> Vidia written his ( Theroux's) “
> >
> > > > > >Fong and ththe Indiansâ€
> Â someone
> > > would have seen racismm in thhe depiction
> > > > > >of Africans in that novel and
> perhaps cried, where I laughed at what I
> > > > > >thought was funny
> >
> > > > > >Whether it is with V.S.'s
> “An Area of
> > > Darknessâ¢Ã¢€  - written
> about his
> > > > > >vissit to his ancestral India, or
> his
> > > post-Salman Rushdie Â
> “Among the
> > > > > >Believers⢀ about
> Islam and Islamists
> > > or the much referred to and in myy
> > > > > >opinion innocuous “ A
> Bend in T The
> > > Riverââ‚€  one of Ãf
> Â Naipaul's functions
> > > > > >then is to prick us to some
> critical self-examination as  Lord Ikhide
> > > > > >has just done. And for that should
> Naipaul  - or his brother Shiva
> > > > > >Naipaul ( North of Southâ€
> ) be blighted?
> > > > >> > >Professor Harrow sounds
> remarkably like
> > > my dear Dr. Valentine Ojo when
> > > > > >he says what he says about V..S:
> Naipaul.
> >
> > > > > >Perhaps, if Naipual had been Black
> instead of Brown, African, instead
> > > > > >of an Indian British Lord examining
> other cultures from the
> > > > > >perspective of a higher (the
> standards of  Western Civilisation), and
> > > > > >seeing Africa and India through the
> lens of his higher culture, we
> > > > > >would not be accusing him of
> racism.
> >
> > > > > >What then would we be accusing him
>  on
> > > the basis of his written woord?
> > > > > >Arrogance?
> > > > > >The sort of cynicism that Evelyn
> Waugh has been accused of?
> > > > > >What?
> > > > > >I pause for a reply.
> >
> > > > > >On Aug 29, 10:07Â pm, Moses
> Ebe Ochoonu <meoch...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > > > > > > Naipaul is irredeemable, a
> lost cause.
> > > The man cannot even cultivate and
> > > > > > > sustain personal
> relationships with his
> > > > > > literary peers, crossing people
> left
> > > > > > > and right and telling them to
> "take it
> > > in the cheek like a man." He can't
> > > > > > > help himself in his role as a
> "Third
> > > World" advocate of Eucentric, racist
> > > > > > > universalism.
> >
> > > > > > > The man deserves more pity
> than engagement.
> >
> > > > > > > On Sun, Aug 29, 2010 at 12:10
> PM,
> > > kenneth harrow <har...@msu.edu>
> wrote:
> > > > > > > > Â naipaul is one
> of the greeat
> > > racist writers of our time. a bend in the
> > > > > > > > river evokes every
> negative stereotype
> > > > > > about africans imaginable; his
> cover?
> > > > > > > > 1. he is "third world"
> 2.mobuto's
> > > reign, and before it, lumumba's, was
> > > > > > > > regarded by naipaul's
> kind of readers and editors as uncivilized.
> > > > > > > > uncivilized means
> non-british, non-european, savage etc etc
> > > > > > > > naipaul is the true
> exemplar of
> > > ox-cam british snobbism and racism toward
> > > > > > > > africa, and the rest of
> the third world. really
> > > > > > > > ken harrow
> >
> > > > > > > > At 11:36 AM 8/29/2010,
> you wrote:
> >
> > > > > > > > ----- Forwarded Message
> ----
> > > > > > > > *From:* Errol Harry
> <errolharr...@yahoo.com>
> > > > > > > > *Sent:* Sun, August 29,
> 2010 6:16:07 PM
> > > > > > > > *Subject:* Naipaul's
> latest book on Africa
> >
> > > > > > > > *The Masque of Africa by
> V S Naipaul: review*
> >
> > > > > > > > *Sameer Rahim is puzzled
> by the ageing
> > > > > > Nobel Prize
> winnerÃÆ'¢â‚¬™s punishing
> > > > g
> > > > > > > quest to expose
> AfricaÃÆ'¢€™s religious illillusions *s *
> > > > > >*
> >
> > > > > > > > By Sameer Rahim
> > > > > > > > Published: 5:19PM BST 27
> Aug 2010
> >
> > > > > > > > Â
> > > > > > Comments
> > > <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/7966020/The-Masque-of-Africa>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/7966020/The-Masque-of-Africa...>
> > > > > > > > [image: The Masque of
> Africa by V S Naipaul]
> > > > > > > > The Masque of Africa by
> V S Naipaul
> >
> > > > > > > > V S
> NaipaulÃÆ'¢€™s father was once forced td
> to
> > > > > sacrificfice a goat to the Hindu
> > > > > > > > goddess Kali. In June
> 1933, when Vidia was
> > > > > > still a baby, Seepersad Naipaul
> > > > > > > > had written an article
> in the *Trinidad Guardian* criticising Hindu
> > > > > > > > farmers who ignored
> government regulations
> > > > > > and inoculated their cattle with
> > > > > > > > religious rites.
> >
> > > > > > > > His angry opponents
> threatened him with a poisoning curse unless he
> > > > > > > > appeased the goddess. He
> refused at
> > > first but soon relented: wearing
> > > > > > > > trousers rather than the
> traditional
> > > loincloth (his small rebellion), he
> > > > > > > > offered up a severed
> goatÃÆ'¢€™s head on a a brass platlate.
> > > > >> > > > > In that
> SundayÃÆ'¢€¬™s paper he was all
> > > > l
> > > > > > bluster: ÃÆÆ':
> ÃÆ'¢€œMr Naipaul greets you! No
> >
> > > > > > > > Poison last
> nightÃÆ'¢€ . But this
> ÃÆ'¢ââ šÂ¬œgreat
> > > > > > eat
> humiliationÃÆ'¢€ , as his son wrote in
> > > > > > > > *Finding thee Centre*
> (1984),
> > > destroyed his life. He lost his job and sunk
> > > > > > > > into depression.
> According to
> NaipaulÃÆ'¢€â„„¢Ã¢„¢s
> > > > > > mother, r,
> ÃÆ'‚¢€œHe looked in the mirror
> >
> > > > ; > > > > one day and
> couldnÃÆ'¢€ââ„¢t
> > > see himself. And nd he began tn to
> scream.ÃÆ'¢€
> >
> > > > > > > > Over the course of his
> llong writing career,
> > > > > > VÃÆ'¢€â‰S
> °S
> NaipaulÃÆ'¢€Ã‚¢¢Ã¢‚¬™s view
> of
> > > > > >f
> > > > > > > religion has moved ÂÂ
> much like this story ÂÂ
> > > > > > from om thethe potentially comic
> to
> > > > > > > > the outright sinister.
> His first published
> > > > > > novel, *The Mystic Masseur
> *(1957),
> > > > > > > > was a satire on a fake
> pundit. In his
> > > > > > masterpiece *A House for Mr
> Biswas*(1961) the
> > > > > > title character (based on
> Seepersad) is expelled from his
> > > > > > > > training as a Hindu
> priest when he
> > > pollutes some sacred flowers with his
> > > > > > > > excrement. His travel
> book on India,
> > > *An Area of Darkness* (1964), took a
> > > > > > > > harsher view of Hinduism
> and the caste
> > > > > > system and after 1970, when he
> first
> > > > > > > > learnt about his
> fatherÃÆ'¢€™s ritual> l
> > > > > > humiliation (th(the family had
> kept it an
> > > > > > > > absolute secret), his
> work took on an unforgiving tone.
> >
> > > > > > > > *Among the Believers*
> (1981) and *Beyond Belief* (1998) blamed the
> > > > > > > > problems in Indonesia,
> Iran, Malaysia
> > > and Pakistan exclusively on Islam.
> > > > > > > > Third World peoples who
> refused to abandon
> > > > > > their ancestral illusions for the
> > > > > > > > civilised and secular
> values of the West ÂÂ
> > > > > > as Naipaul has so ccconspicuously
> > > > > > > > done  are, he
> believes, condemned to backwardness.
> >
> > > > > > > > Now he has travelled to
> six countries ÂÂ
> > > > > > Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria,, the
> Ivory
> > > > > > > > Coast, Gabon and South
> Africa  to
> > > discover the
> ÃÆ'¢€ÃƒÂ¢â€€šÃ‚¬œœnature
> of African
> > > > can
> > > > > > > >
> beliefÃÆ'¢€ . *The Masque of
> > > Africa* starts in Kamppala, the ccapital of
> > > > > > > > Uganda, where Naipaul
> immediately
> > > observes a conflict between the native
> > > > > > > > religion, offering
> ÃÆ'¢€œononly the world of
> >
> > > > > > the spirits a and the
> ancestorsÃÆ'¢€ ,
> > > > > > > > and the forreign
> religions (Islam and
> > > Christianity) whose new places of
> > > > > > > > worship on the
> cityÃÆ'¢€™s„¢s hills are like
> > > > e
> > > > > >
> ÃÆ'¢âÃÆ'¢â‚¬œan
> applied andnd contagious ilillness,
> > > > > > > > curing nothing, giving
> no final answers…
> > > > > > fighting wrong battless,
> narrowing
> > > > >; > > > the
> mindÃÆ'¢€ . He doess not viisit these
> > > > > > mosques and churchess; a view from
> the
> > > > > > > > foothills is enough.
> >
> > > > > > > > When Naipaul does visit
> somewhere his
> > > observations can be acute. At the
> > > > > > > > shrine of Mutesa I of
> Buganda, the
> > > > > > 19th-century ruler who had
> dealings with
> > > > > > > > John Speke and Henry
> Stanley, he feels a
> > > > > > ÃÆ'¢€œsense of f
> wonderÃÆ'¢â‚€ . But But nearby
> > > > > > > > he notices a boy
> tormenting a small
> > > kitten; he protests but his guide
> > > > > > > > assures him the boy is
> just playing. ÃÆ'¢€œI>
> > > > > >
> didnÃÆ'¢ÃÆ'¢€™t believe
> him,ÃÆ'ÂÃÆ'¢â€ Naipaul
> > > > > >aul
> > > > > > > > says. Back in the hotel,
> he discovers that
> > > > > > nine men were sacrificed at the
> > > > > > > > shrine during its
> construction.
> >
> > > > > > > > For a brief moment he
> allowed himself
> > > to see through the eyes of the
> > > > > > > > faithful, before
> widening his vision to
> > > > > > examine what they chose not to
> see.
> >
> > > > > > > > Naipaul has always been
> able to spot a
> > > > > > fraud, and the best writing in
> this
> > > > > > > > book deals with native
> healers and
> > > fortune-tellers. In Uganda he enters a
> > > > > > > > small office and spots a
> framed
> > > certificate on the wall: the witch doctor
> > > > > > > > has an official licence
> so that ÃÆ'¢€œno
> > > > > > > believer need f feel
> >
> > > > > ...
> >
> > > > > read more »- Hide quoted text
> -
> >
> > > > > - Show quoted text -
> >
> > > > --
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> >
> > >Kenneth W. Harrow
> > >Distinguished Professor of English
> > >Michigan State University
> > >har...@msu.edu
> > >517 803-8839
> > >fax 517 353 3755
> > >-- You received this message because you are
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> > Kenneth W. Harrow
> > Distinguished Professor of English
> > Michigan State University
> > har...@msu.edu
> > 517 803-8839
> > fax 517 353 3755
>
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