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Dreams and Realities in Broken Glass, The Mupandawana Dancing Champion, and One Day I Will Write About This Place

Dreams and Realities in Broken Glass, The Mupandawana Dancing Champion, and One Day I Will Write About This Place - Essay Example

Summary

The writer of the following essay seeks to conduct a comparative analysis of three particular pieces of fictional literature that implicitly tackle social concerns. Specifically, the essay will investigate how depicted dreams and realities reflect social illusions in modern African society,…

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Dreams and Realities in Broken Glass, The Mupandawana Dancing Champion, and One Day I Will Write About This Place

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Subject: Literature
Type: Essay
Level: College
Pages: 11 (2750 words)
Downloads: 1
Author: xtillman

Extract of sample "Dreams and Realities in Broken Glass, The Mupandawana Dancing Champion, and One Day I Will Write About This Place"

Download file to see previous pages In The Mupadawan Dancing Champion, the narrator describes his place as a seat of growth, not of progress, but of mortality rate. “Ours is one of the biggest growth points in the country, but the only real growth is in the number of people waiting to buy coffins...”(Gappah 114). In relation to this, Alain Mabanckou, in Broken Glass, shows the difference between dreams and reality in the context of social structure. “...are the Minister for Agriculture’s Negroes better than you...I wonder, that his Negroes don’t even have an official car each, they get the ministry’s bus, they live off pitiful salaries, while you loll about here in the palace, swimming in my pool” (9). With these statements, it can be said that dreams and reality in modern African society affect the social structure of the nation. Broken Glass, The Mupandawan Dancing Champion, and One Day I Will Write About This Place are three of the contemporary African literature that depict modern African experience. Those literary works introduce the reader to the modern society and culture of Africa. In the context of the theme, Broken Glass, The Mupandawana Dancing Champion, and One Day I Will Write About This Place depict the difference between dreams and reality in relation to the modern society of Africa. ...
special Approach The meaning of the text varies according to the perspective of the reader; it depends on how the reader interprets the meaning in the context of his/her personal life and orientations. Although literature can have multiple interpretations, it is necessary to support individual interpretations with theories and approaches to make such claims valid. Accordingly, literary theories and approaches are essential in explicating the meaning of the text. In interpreting the theme of the chosen selections, it is appropriate to use the Mimetic Theory and Biographical Approach to set the focus of this study on the relationship between the author, society, and text. In using this theory and approach, the reader/critique to evaluate and understand the theme of the selections in relation to society and the author. In Mimetic Theory, literary works are seen as a reflection of the society; it is inspired by true events, people, and places (Gebauer and Wulf 28). This theory suggests that aside from its entertainment purpose, literature also aims to depict an event or people in society. In one way or another, a particular social condition inspires an author to create such literary work. In this sense, it may be said that literature is in comparison to history only that its elements (plot, characters, and setting) are fictionalized. On the other hand, using Biographical Approach in literary studies enables critiques to understand the motives of the author in writing the text (Klarer 90-91). Additionally, this approach evaluates the text in relation to the standpoint of the author and his/her purpose in writing the story; it also studies the relationship between the author’s life and his/her work. ...Download file to see next pagesRead More

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Dreams and Realities in Broken Glass, The Mupandawana Dancing Champion, and One Day I Will Write About This Place - Essay Example

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