Literature, at its best, goes beyond ordinary story-telling. It may grapple with small or big issues, but good literature should always provide enlightenment and insight. Beyond its entertainment value, literature can also be a liberator of the mind and, thus, create pathways for progress. As a result, boundaries are ignored and place and time are transcended. It can affect all spheres of life including areas of economy and marketing, political and social systems, institutions, values, and the daily activities of individual people. The picture of globalization is depicted. Nations are pressed into one commercially homogeneous global network. The challenge for literature in Africa or elsewhere is coming to terms with the continent’s heritage in slavery and colonialism. After reading Niyi Osundare’s essays and poetry, discuss “the global village” during the 20th and 21st century.
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There are a number of ways in which the global village of modern times can be viewed. One thing that can be sure is that, in this global village, dispersion of ideas happens at an excruciatingly fast rate. Also, a greater portion of the human population than ever before is influenced by these ideas. On this, most people agree. The issue becomes what its effect on the people of the world is and what tools does it provide them with. The origins of the modern global village suggest a starkly negative image. Colonialism, slavery and, tying it all together, the desire for financial, political and social power each characterized the times. While all of this may seem hundreds of years past, the same legacy of power and profit shines through today. New, less obvious developments have created problems that are harder to recognize. Cultural imperialism has become increasingly prevalent as western values and traditions impose themselves upon cultures that have no need for them. Society crumbles as fathers leave behind their families to work in the city factories. Through one set of eyes, a dark image of a world lacking integrity and full of despair can be seen. On the other hand, the global village provides the tools to combat these problems and progress further than ever before. Civil rights groups have become global and people in countries full of inequality have access to numerous examples to help them in their own social movements. Furthermore, the more free communication that happens the more intellectual and technological progress can be made. As long as social and humanitarian connection and communication is kept equal to economic and profit driven interaction, the global village will yield a socially and intellectually advanced society. Like everything, the global village model has brought good and bad. Knowing that this system is probably here to stay, the question becomes not whether we should have it or not but how best to take advantage of the positive aspects of it.
As stated, literature is used for multiple purposes. For some it is a narrative of some sort, but it use in modern literature has a much greater importance. Literature has become a way for individuals, in many parts of the world, to challenge their governments, social norms and set institutions, such as slavery and colonailism. For modern African writers, those who wrote during the 20th and 21st century, it was the later. Authors like Niyi Osundare often addressed the issues and circumstances people faced in Africa. The 20th century for Africa was a time of colonialism, violent regimes, social injustice and political hardship. African authors were not allowed to fully express themselves and often censored or subjected to cruelty. The life of a writer in Africa was often in danger if their writings opposed or gave light to the injustices practiced by the governments or rulers. This reality is addressed by Niyi Osundare in Thread in the Loom. According to Niyi; “Africa today is a dangerous place to think, a risky place to argue”. He came to this conclusion because of the lack of presence of human rights in Africa. African ruler speaks of human rights, liberty and freedom, justice and dignity while they send writers to the hanging post for practicing the very same thing they preach. Africans are abused by the institutions of slavery and colonialism. These along with their totalitarian governments make life in Africa a misery. Thus Africa to “the global village” is a third world, often looked at as a dark, gloomy, violent and backward civilization. Its beauty and philosophies go unnoticed and become dominated by the evil circumstances different countries face.
Source:
Osundare, Niyi. Thread in the Loom: Essays on African Literature & Culture. New Jersey: African World Press, 2002.
Niyi Osundare speaks particularly about philosopher-kings in his writing. This concept was created by Plato in ancient Greece and essentially argues that the person most fit to rule is the one who seeks wisdom to the greatest degree and who can understand the broad array of challenges facing a ruler. Osundare contends that such righteous leaders are not available in Africa because there is a “moral vacuum.” He says that war, corruption and lies are too ingrained into the political culture of Africa for any such leaders to emerge. I would take this argument a step further. It is not only Africa that philosopher leaders have not gained power. It is a patter present in every country of the world. I contend that this is largely due to the globalization of governmental scope. Plato’s philosopher-king ruled over a city-state, a rather contained entity with more or less homogenous people and problems. Modern leaders must deal with problems literally on the other side of the globe. The smallness of Plato’s state also yielded fewer things that the king would need to deal with. His idea was that a philosopher would have the wisdom to deal with all of these problems. In contrast, the modern leader must face a vast diversity of issues and has no hope of understanding each in full. The result is two things. First, bureaucracy is born. Second, the leadership must give up some goals in favor of others. Most leaders will choose to place economic goals at the top of their list while pushing certain humanitarian goals to the bottom. Full leadership has become such an enormous task that certain leaders in less functional states decide that holding onto power is the only goal that seems achievable. This is clearly seen in Africa. The global village pits every leader against a world of problems that can only make them cringe. The weaker ones break under the pressure and morality in rule is lost.
The global village is accesible, but only portrays one perspective. According to Osundare, this perspective is created by those who control the means: paper, pen etc. After reading Osundare's "Thread in the Loom", I came to the conclusion that the oppression that has surrounded the African continent has hushed its people for several years. I agree with Marty when he mentions that the modern global village has a negative connotation. Thinking about the conditions that many Africans had to endure, while even getting an education, is heartbreaking and astounding. It is apparent that many Whites have forced their dominance over others through Slavery, Imperialism, Apartheid and so much more. As I understand it in his essay, Osundare wants to call attention to the silent dominance that still exists today. This is through literature. He makes the valid point that the literature often speaks to Africa. I believe it is now the time to incorporate African literarture in oral form. This could create an exciting new wave of learning that influences the rest of the world to fascinate over the concept of a griot.
Globalization can be perceived in many different ways and it can be viewed with both a negative and positive connotation. Globalization has impacted various parts of the world greatly through political, economical, cultural, and even religious methods. It has even been the stepping stone to rather improving the society of countries or destroying them. Before understanding Niyi’s writing of Thread of the Loom one must first be familiar with the method of globalization and how it affects the relationships of nations throughout the world. Globalization allows expansion and trade to be prevalent amongst countries and creates a wide range market place all over the world. However, there are many challenges of globalization plaguing nations that are lacking behind economically. Africa, the richest continent with the poorest people, has endured so many economic, political, and cultural struggles which have punished the people in more ways than one. Niyi Osundare speaks out about the “global village” during the 20th and 21st century and its influence on the African culture.
In the 20th and 21st century writers of the entire world’s past tend to shape the global village as well as a significant amount of others. I say that because what people write quickly becomes history and often repeats something else in more ways than one. “History/is an actor/in a room/with a thousand mirrors” is what Niyi Osundare says in a part of the text where he recites a poem (Osundare 11). During previous centuries other non-indigenous people enslaved the people of Africa, by way of power, through fear of guns and other weapons. Now the tables have turned in another century but the way people demand power is the same although the people demanding it have become the natives enslaving people on their own turf. Democracy was not allowed before in parts of Africa in the past century and today in the current century it still remains “an awkward alien in some parts […] a treasonable taboo in others” (Osundare 7). Everything going on in the global village is not bad, because there are changes happening that are being silenced before a lot even reached the mainstream.
Osundare, Niyi. Thread in the Loom: Essays on African Literature & Culture. Trenton: Africa World Press, 2002.
After reading Niyi's "Thread in the Loom", it seems to me that he is saying that the reason that Africa is in the state it is in is because of everything that has happened in the past. Africa's history of slavery and colonialism keeps the people in the country from healing and moving on. On top of that the rulers in Africa are not ones that the people elect, but rather people who violate the country in order to stay in rule. Niyi states, "How can healing really take place at the present moment, in the present circumstances-without first clearing up the political mess?" The global village may have done positive thing, but it seems as though it left Africa stuck in a situation that is not positive. As Marty stated earlier about focusing taking advantage of the positive aspects of it, I don’t think that that is possible. To me it seems that if you do that you ignore the negative aspects, which is why Africa has remained in the same situation it has been in for a long time.
The “global village of the 20th and 21st century has many boundaries and ideas. To some it represented a dark and gloomy time. For others it was a time for new discoveries, power, and wealthy. While many African nations were deprived of freedom in their own country, Western powers were expanding theirs and imposing on others. To writers in Africa and other countries facing the same reality around the globe literature was an escape from their troubles and life. Literature allows people to create an alternative reality that is favorable. The desire for power was a wide spread in the 20th and 21st century. Democracy disappears while people of Africa, and those others controlled by totalitarian regimes suffer in silence while the rest of the world shields their eyes away from the true or turn their backs on it. I agree with Suzi’s point of view completely. I believe that Africa is in the condition it is now because people ignore the negative part of life and Africa. If you continuously ignore the problem then how can you solve it? The problem never gets solved and therefore many Africans continue to suffer in silence. Due to this silence of the people, rulers (actually tyrants) were able to exercise and abuse their power. The main reason that Africa is still suffering is because they have no choice in who governs them and most leaders serve as rulers for pretty much a lifetime. The United States and European countries are the few places in which power is switched peacefully without any controversies. In other places, governments are overthrown, and not many leave their post without the occurrence of violence, unless the ruler dies that is.
I agree with Suzi’s statement on globalization in Africa. It has hindered the nation from moving on do to its tragic history. Niyi Osundare also mentions the influence of the government and its strong hold on the nation. It seems as if the government is constantly trying to prevent the people from speaking out and having a voice. They are so insistent on maintaining power that they are willing to destroy their own people to keep that control. In Thread of the Loom Nigerian journalist Victor Omuabor states, “Africa today is a dangerous place to think, a risky place to argue”. Osundare then comments after this statement and says, “I was led to this verdict not only by the virtual absence of human rights on the continent, but also by the harrowing irony created by the book itself.” The lack of freedom of expression in Africa prevents the beauty of literature from being spread. The issues plaguing countries in Africa are spoken out against through literature and other forms of expression. Literature is a powerful tool and the oppression of the government prevents it from being uplifted.
The global village of the modern world dealt with a widespread of issues. A common occurrence is the spread of individualism in people in different parts of the world. An example I want draw from is Niyi Osundare’s poem “The Large Heart”. In this poem he talks about how people are no longer doing what they once used to do. People in the global village of the 20th and 21st century are more self-centered than before. People have abandoned the traditional communal way of life. This is not just in Africa but in other countries. For instance in the United States, the industrial revolution brought about modernization of everyday life, especially in the urban settings. Due to this rapid modernization in the 20th and even more in the 21st century society changed completely. People were soon becoming more concerned about themselves and focused on their needs and wants. It is obvious that Americans as a whole are individualistic. In “The Large Heart”, Niyi questions the readers, particularly those in Nigeria about what they have done lately. He asks them questions like: “when last did you say hello to a neighbor”, “when last did you lower that fence”, and “when last did you offer a meal.” The purpose of his questions was to show what ways people have changed. During this time people no longer said hello to each other or rarely spoke to their neighbors. People of these centuries started to become less caring to humanity and less social. This idea of being self-serving contributed to the weakness of family and the idea of caring for your fellow men. If people cared enough to listen and to help those that are in need then the suffering of Africa and other third world countries would have been eliminated.
Something intriguing I noticed while reading, “Thread in the Loom,” was the degree to which Osundare alluded to pieces of western culture. He uses Einstein, Isaac Newton, the Spanish Inquisition, the thought police (from Orwell’s 1984) and references to the Medieval ages to develop his points. My first thoughts were, “Why is an African writer referring to western culture so much?” I almost felt that, because western society is so often assumed to be the root of Africa’s problems, such references would not be appropriate when discussing Africa. As I got past this knee-jerk reaction, I began to view the western references from a different perspective. The western references did not disrespect Africa. They represented a higher goal of harmonious cultural cohesion. I saw that Osundare referenced old African sayings and song as well. What I came to hear from the literature was that we are all the same people who face similar problems and who have similar words of wisdom to combat those problems. It may be that parts of Africa are undergoing their own Middle Ages that understanding the Spanish Inquisition might just help in fighting a Nigerian one. And perhaps there were some successes in Europe, like the creation of physics and the writing of some excellent literature, that African’s can learn from. The moral is that no one culture is better than another yet there is no reason to ignore other cultures when valuable wisdom can be garnered from them.
As stated before, the concept of globalization and the global village in the 20th and 21st centuries has its advantages and disadvantages. The global village is suppose to be an environment where nations from other continents can come together peacefully to share and trade goods, ideas, technology, etc… Of course, this is an innocent concept until the sharing of goods and ideas becomes the imposing of goods and ideas. In Niyi Osundare’s “Thread in the Loom”, Africa is the victim of this. Ever since Europeans forcefully invaded the continent and stripped it of all its identity, Africans have been subject to the European way of life.
“And then you ask: how can such beautiful thoughts come from rulers who have made Africa so ugly? How can rulers who talk about freedom with such robust piety haul critics and opponents into jail or send dissident writers to the gallows with such medieval equanimity?” Osundare made this statement to refer to the political regime of the government and the strong hold they have kept over the African empire for so long. Through the political and economic turmoil of the illustrious continent of Africa, government control has taken away the peoples freedom. Osundare comments, “…The murderous dictators and presidents-for-life who populate Africa’s political landscape are not only incapable of generating ideas that are valid across time and place; they are, naturally, hostile to such ideas and even more, to those who have the audacity to be authors.” Why is it that the authority in power always feels the need to completely control the people, stripping them of their freedom and rights? Thread in the Loom explores this idea and supports the African people.
I agree with Danielle. Government and democracy are never perfect no matter where one looks. This is true especially for Africa. Literature to African writers allowed them to dream and escape the horrors of reality. It was through literature that they broke their silence and stood against their government. Africa is not only faced with poverty, political messes and but also warfare. Not against another nation but within it self. Africa’s circumstances are crippled from finding its solution. Its rich history and culture are hidden under its never ending tragedies. The great civilization the once was Africa is gradually deteriorating and becoming merely a memory. It seems like the damages that colonialism and slavery brought upon Africa cannot be overturned. Colonialism and slavery took away the richness of Africa and now Africa is look at as a backward civilization. In Niyi poem “Africa’s Memory”, he talks about how Africa’s treasures and historical artifacts are not in places in Africa in which they belong but in places like New York, Paris, and London. In my opinion colonialism allowed other nations to come into Africa without an invitation but on the basis of manifest destiny and allowed for African deepest held fortunes and rich civilization to disappear and heightened the believe that Africa is only a place of violence and poverty. However African countries have many positive aspects that must be recognized and utilized. It is only a matter of time before Africa would once again be a magnificent and powerful nation it once was. Though only time will tell if the problems of political unrest and warfare will ever be solved. For now though Africa would be seen as a place where democracy is denied and the people are oppressed, starved and silenced.
I agree with Hywet’s most recent post in her stating that the global village in today’s modern day is definitely composed of a broad range of things. There is not only the fact that people are being silenced by fear but there are so many other ways both negative and positive that people are being affected throughout the world. Although Osundare talks about being silenced throughout the majority of his essay it still definitely plays a major role in modern day living across the globe for millions of people. Millions of people are being oppressed and silenced by their own governments whom they may or may not have chosen. These millions are all of many different ethnic and religious backgrounds, but for some reason whether or not anyone realizes it the people who lead countries using fear tactics learned it from the people of the past. The learning from people of the past concept holds true for leaders who are leading countries without using fear tactics as well. As Osundare mentioned in speaking about Africa’s change from one century to another Africans have went, from being enslaved by non-natives to being enslaved their own kind.
Literature is a very important part of every culture. It allows people to tell stories of what they went through, make up stories of what they want to go through, and everything in between. It allows people to speak out against situations that they are in. People in Africa may feel as though they can not speak out because of the tight control on the country, but they can always write about it. The thing is that it can’t stop there. Just writing about it may help the person whose writing it feel better, but unless the piece of work actually goes somewhere and reaches somebody then it will remain just a feeling written out. The writings need to be spread around and people around the world need to realize what is going on and take interest. If everyone begins writing about it, talking about it, and discussing it then the issue will gain a voice of its own and something may actually be able to be done.
I definitely agree with Hywet’s comment about people being much more self centered in modern times. The constant supply of new technology and information has made it almost necessary to focus on one’s decisions. It has also made it difficult to focus on other parts of the world. For this reason, I think the term the global village is contradictory. The term village depicts a type of communal living that Niyi Osundare described in his works. However, this type of living no longer fits modern society in most parts of the world. Although globalization has brought the world closer together, this is just appearance and not real. As long as everyone continues to only think about themselves, the global village will only be an idea. However, if everyone would look out for others like in Niyi Osundare’s poem, then it would truly be a global village.
Niyi Osundare also talks a lot about the different aspects of literature. He says that literature is beneficial and provides positive experiences. I agree with this because I view literature as a form of self expression. Of course this form is verbally and allows you to say how you really feel. Literature is important in that it helps you to be able to connect with your past and lead you to the present. Moreover, literature is something that gives you hope. Osundare also talks about the African writers and their influence and contribution to the country. It is imperative that authors contribute in order to keep the dreams of the people alive.
I personally believe that there is no real global village. If there were, all the countries would be interacting with the others to live harmoniously on earth. However, that is certainly not the case as we have read in "Thread of the Loom". Other countries are rather telling non-white and developing nations what is right in wrong in literature. They consider their ideas supreme and do not even look at the magnificent arts that have surfaced from Africa. I believe that there must be a move for publishers in Europe and America, to go beyond what they know in their respective countries. Every nation should be apart of this global literatuyre explosion.
In addition, I found Hywets arguments about the corruption in Africa very interesting. It is horrible to see how hundreds of families can be destroyed from the evilness of the government. For example, in Ghana there is no main water system. I find this to be absolutely ridiculous in the year 2007. How is that these countries become this way? I thought that it may stem from the effects of Colonialism. Perhaps the way Africans were treated by their colonizers affected them in a negative way. All they knew was a regime that depicted them as inferior. Therefore, when they are able to have control of their country they use the same practice.
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