Notes on Amos Tutuola's *The Palm-Wine Drinkard*

The Black Atlantic and Literary Circulation

  • Paul Gilroy's concept of the Black Atlantic uses the image of ships moving between Europe, America, Africa, and the Caribbean as a central organizing symbol.

    • This encompasses the Middle Passage, the idea of returning to Africa, and the circulation of ideas, activists, cultural and political artifacts like books and records.

  • George Lamming highlights how culture followed economics in the colonial era.

    • Stories from places like Trinidad or Barbados were sent to London for processing, similar to how sugar was processed and refined in London before being returned.

Decolonization vs. Neo-Colonialism

  • The 1950s saw anticolonial struggles in Africa, including:

    • Mau Mau in Kenya

    • Nationalist uprising in Algeria

    • Anti-Apartheid Movement in South Africa

  • Several African nations gained independence during this period:

    • Libya (1951)

    • Sudan (1956)

    • Morocco (1956)

    • Ghana (1957)

    • Nigeria (1960)

  • Imperial contraction coincided with the growth of metropolitan publishing.

  • Publishers such as Andre Deutsch, Longman, Macmillan and Heinemann expanded into West Indian and West African markets.

  • Neo-colonialism:

    • Coined by Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana.

    • Argues that even after independence, ex-colonial powers and new superpowers maintain control through global markets and cultural institutions.

    • Referenced Nkrumah's book Neo-colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism (1965).

The Materiality of Literature and Decolonization

  • The physical form of decolonization literature matters.

  • Considerations include:

    • Which translation or edition is being used?

    • Is the text printed, spoken, or performed?

    • Are we listening to, reading or viewing the text (e.g. The Battle of Algiers)?

    • Where is it published (locally or in a metropolitan center)?

Critical Reception of The Palm-Wine Drinkard

  • Simon Gikandi notes that the publication of Tutuola's novel by Faber and Faber marked a new relationship between colony and metropolis.

  • The critical reception of The Palm-Wine Drinkard initiated an international discussion of an African text and highlighted the role of European institutions in shaping the novel's direction in Africa.

  • Ngugi argues that Tutuola's life and work demonstrate how African aesthetics were linked to the politics of decolonization.

Amos Tutuola: Biography

  • Amos Tutuola (1920-1997):

    • Lived in Nigeria

    • Had limited formal education (not from mission school or British University)

    • Worked as a messenger for the Nigerian Broadcasting Service.

    • Published over ten novels and short story collections.

Metropolitan Reception of The Palm-Wine Drinkard

  • Dylan Thomas described the novel as a "masterpiece of imaginative folklore, intertwining the magical and the mundane in a captivating narrative that explores the depths of human experience."

  • “the brief, thronged, grisly and bewitching story, or series of stories, written in young English,
    about the journey of an expert and devoted palm-wine drinkard through a nightmare of
    indescribable adventures.”