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Chapter I: General IntroductionThis thesis has its inception in the identification and discussion of crucial problems withinAfrican countries such as cultural heritage (tradition) and modernity, especially among the Igbo(Nigerian) and Kuvale (Angolan).The reading of the forms the authors Chinua Achebe and Ruy Duarte de Carvalho use toexpand on this reality is a condition sine qua non to define our central premises. The strongdescriptive emphasis and the complex network of cultural meanings found both in Things Fall Apartand Vou lá Visitar Pastores further support the relevance of a comparative approach.I will search for the complex meanings in the narratives that better frame their proposedtopics, and explore hypotheses about the constitution of Nigerian and Angolan identities. Bothauthors under analysis question the limits of objectivity, the limits of impartiality in the collection ofdata about their nations and the limitations of scientific methodology in fieldwork. On their part, theycombine and proprose anthropology and literature as potential analytical tools.Achebe and Carvalho also use uncommon linguistic tools not only to season their style, butalso to make it more consequent to the tasks they have set up as far as cultural discussion andportrayal are concerned. I observe that the themes chosen by the authors impact the structure oftheir texts and are supported by discourses and languages that go beyond the conventionaldocumental perspective. As I see it, these texts highlight the realities characterized by linguisticplurality of the communities they address.From my readings of these books, I perceive the potential of taking further the theoreticaldiscussion between literature and anthropology, and between ethnography and fiction, which, in myopinion, can help restore African ethnography in general, and in particular that of Nigeria and ofAngola.Departing from this point, my work further focuses on a comparative analysis of the abovementioned narratives, observing notably the convergent and divergent aspects in aesthetic andideological terms that they offer. I also look at the social and cultural representations of the people(Igbo and Kuvale), as described by the authors.12

I present hereby the research design of the thesis which focuses on a leading question and onits sub-questions, and which have served as a guideline for the writing of the thesis itself. Theobjectives of the thesis, the hypotheses raised and the results to be expected are outlined as well.To situate my research topic historically and theoretically, a literature review on issuesconcerning literary criticism, ethnography, fiction, social construction and representation, Africanliterature in general, and Nigerian and Angolan literary works in particular, will be conducted inchapter II. In chapters III and IV, I will focus on Chinua Achebe and Ruy Duarte de Carvalhorespectively, by making reference to biographical notes, the position they occupy nationally in theirrespective literary canons. Historical and literary synopses of the books under analysis will also bepresented.Chapter V will deal with the comparative approach to both cultures and peoples (Kuvale andIgbo), by paying attention to their linguistic and cultural identities, social constructions andrepresentations. It will also unveil cultural encodings such as Yam and Cow and review post-colonialimperialism, discourse and cultural hegemony as an attempt to understand pre and postindependence textualities especially in Africa.Chapter VI will compare the texts under analysis from theoretical, ideological and aestheticalperspectives, by assessing readership and theoretical implications of both books in African literatureand the national canons at stake and by, fundamentally, observing the ethnographic and literaryconvergences and divergences of both texts. These two chapters, V and VI, will constitute the coreof the thesis.Chapter VII will be my general conclusion where I will summarize and indicate the crucialfindings of this research and make recommendations for future investigations in the same field.Finally, chapter VIII will present the bibliography, followed by a glossary and annexes.Thus, this methodological framework is designed from a grounded theoretical perspective,1which has provided a body of texts for the research and planning of the thesis. A variety ofdifferentiated epistemologies, what I would call substantive theories – that is, theories generatedwithin particular fields of research or disciplines – has also been used to evaluate and understand1See Kathy Charmaz, Constructing Grounded Theory: a practical guide through qualitative analysis, London: SagePublications, 2006.13

possible theories that these two texts, i.e., Things Fall Apart and Vou lá Visitar Pastores, generate, inorder to establish comparative grounds and provide potential theoretical dissemination.I characterize both Achebe’s and Duarte’s texts as fictional ethnographies and also asethically, politically and socially relevant documents, therefore theoretically justifiable for academicwork. I want to stress the importance of revisiting and understanding these two texts under a broadset of scientific and analytical perspectives.Such an approach will allow me to understand the objective and subjective realities expressedand suggested in the texts. As an example, I can mention the issue of the westernization of Africanreality, implicitly found in Achebe’s Things fall Apart. The author shows how this has changed thehuman and physical configurations of the African continent and how this has urged the study of theAfrican world in transition and in the move.Contemporary ethnography, also referred to by some as a form of anthropology, viewsqualitative writings as socially constructed texts and, therefore, it tries to deconstruct hiddenimperatives in the use of authority, voice and style as some researchers have appropriately pointedout.This observation stresses the role the new anthropology must play to reconcile theboundaries between the social sciences and humanities in order to critically examine literature andethnography as form of socially engaged textualities. Following this perspective, I want to assignunequivocal relevance to African texts that in the past were often seen by some social theorists astheoretically insignificant.For this reason, this thesis is a correlational, descriptive and analytical type of research,seeking meaning and understanding through fiction. It draws on literary criticism from classical tocontemporary theorists by studying and interpreting these literatures. The method to be followedwill include a review of documents and comparative text analysis of Things Fall Apart and Vou láVisitar Pastores.Starting this research, I turned initially for guidance to van Maanen s hermeneuticphenomenology, which is essentially a research and writing methodology for investigation, and toPaul Ricoeur’s. This was crucial for me, because phenomenological understanding as such isexistential; it relates to impressions of how phenomena are experienced. Hermeneutics is the14

interpretation of textualities resulting from a specific situation (or experience), where texts can bespoken or written, and can include gestures and actions. As Ricoeur put it,Une manière radicale de mettre en question le primat de la subjectivité est de prendrepour axe herméneutique la théorie du texte. Dans la mesure à l’intention subjetive deson auteur, la question essentialle n’est pas de retrouver, derrière le texte, l’intentionperdue, mais de déployer, devant le texte, le «monde » qu’il ouvre et découvre.Autrement dit, la tâche herméneutique est de discerner la chose du text (Gadamer) etnon la psychologie de l’auteur. La chose du texte est à sa structure ce que, dans laproposition, la référence est au sense (Frege)2Ricoeur claims here that hermeneutics is a radical method used to meditate upon the text perse in order to find a meaningful theory that can explain it as well as define the worlds or experiencesdescribed in it. It appears to me that, for Ricoeur, hermeneutics is a theory for discovering newmeanings through the interpretation of texts. As I see it, it can also be applied to the interpretationof literary forms and cultural phenomena described in Things Fall Apart and Vou lá Visitar Pastoressince both of them report experiences of self and other in multiple contexts.Overall, this is a process through which my understanding of theory and method will evolveas I apply them. Thus, the research questions which narrow down my methodological framework arepresented as follows.This thesis is focused on finding out the convergent and divergent aspects in aesthetic andideological terms in Achebe’s and Ruy Duarte de Carvalho’s texts.It is also fed by eight other sub questions which will help narrow this research. Thus, itdiscusses: the extent to which these texts are important in the Nigerian and Angolan canons; thetheoretical frameworks that justify a critical study of these two texts; the way Igbo and Kuvalepeoples represent themselves and inspire the construction of reality in Things Fall Apart and Vou lávisitar pastores; the way their myths help build their linguistic and cultural identities; the extent towhich colonization succeeded in hindering these representations; the reason why Yam and Cows arecentral to the Igbo and Kuvale self and world-representations; if the self-representations andexperiences of the Igbo and Kuvale can be epistemologically compared and universalized and in this2Paul Ricoeur, Du Texte à L’action: Essais d’herméneutique II, Paris : Édition Du Seuil, 1986, p. 52.15

way inspire contemporary social models; and, finally, the contributions this study can add to thepresent state of the art of contemporary African literature, culture, language and identity.Aligned with the main research question and with its sub questions I have set up the followingobjectives for the study. My general objective will be to elaborate on the divergent and convergentaspects in aesthetical and ideological terms between Achebe s Things Fall Apart and Ruy Duarte deCarvalho’s Vou lá Visitar Pastores.Accordingly, my specific objectives will firstly be to review the theories which supportadvanced conceptualization within the ethnographic and literary fields; secondly, to discuss theimportance of studying these two texts for African literature and ethnography in general and forNigerian and Angolan canons in particular; thirdly, to determine in which way Igbo and Kuvale peoplerepresent themselves and represent external reality; fourthly, to analyze in which way Igbo andKuvale peoples are portrayed in Things Fall Apart and Vou lá Visitar Pastores; fifthly, to answer thequestion as to what extent colonization has contributed to the misrepresentation of their cultures;sixthly, to discuss the role myths play in building and shaping their linguistic and cultural identities;seventhly, to explain the reason why ‘Yam’ and ‘Cows’ are central to the identity of an Igbo personor a Kuvale person, respectively, and how they support the construction of a social ethos; eighthly,to prove that their own representations and experiences can epistemologically be compared andsubject to universal reading; and finally, to add scientific and theoretical contributions to core issuesconcerning contemporary African literature.Consequently, these objectives allow me to draw the following hypotheses:H1: I claim that there are common and distinctive features in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart andRuy Duarte de Carvalho’s Vou lá visitar Pastores.H2: I claim that Things Fall Apart and Vou lá visitar Pastores are fictional ethnographies thatcan be included in their localized canons as well as globalized for developing inter-ethnicunderstanding through fiction.H3: I believe that both Igbo and Kuvale people represent themselves as special and selfsufficient nations yet they acknowledge and respect exogenous and cultural differences andconstructions.16

H4: I claim that Cows are absolutely central to being a Kuvale and maintaining social cohesionand can inspire contemporary economic models. For the Igbo, conversely, Yam is considered the kingof crops and everything else depends on it. No yam no life.H5: I claim that myths play an important role in defining these peoples’ social ethos, andshould be considered in discursive complexity a

The reading of the forms the authors Chinua Achebe and Ruy Duarte de Carvalho use to expand on this reality is a condition sine qua non to define our central premises. The strong descriptive emphasis and the complex network of cultural