The Nouveau Roman: A Study in The Practice of Writing - Essay Example

Man of the People: The Realist Novel Stephen Heath expresses in his works that many African novels of fiction define realism. However, he proceeds to question what a realist novel is? This is besides exploring what Realism entails within realist novels. According to him, realistic entails a way of of essential fictions that defines the general picture perceived by others as realistic. The written novel contributes to the vraisemblability of the society within which the story hunches. Health outlines that a dialectical process connects reality and the novel. Important to mention however, is that the connection is not direct cutting through history and the literary text. It is also not spontaneous. This means that Realism is an amalgamation of discourse, a wide range of various patterning resulting into impressions of reality, and a broad combination of reality-influences. Following presentations by Stephen Health, Lucien Goldman seeks to find out the formal realism of a novel on the context that realism is both a formal concept and conventional. Formal realism within a novel does what other literary forms of literature do because it gives room for advanced immediate copying of personal experience appearing in the dynamic as well as spatial environment. Goldmann writes that apart from individual experiences, the formal realism goes beyond the boundaries and creates a world with analogous structure but important to the social reality within the contest of writing the novel. Using formal realism in a novel helps in developing judgment bearing in mind various experiences provided by the function of the aspect. This is because a realist-novel form carries the capacity to avail both collective and individual experience. During the judging process, it is possible that stated concepts take a core position. Furthermore, judgments in realist novels offer particular ideological assumptions that remain implicit throughout the entire process. Richard Hoggart on the other hand, refers to realist novels as books that provide reading for value. Reading realist novels according to him, entails establishing reflected, embodied, and resistance values within the same story. This includes counter-meanings as well as assumed meanings in plays. This type of reading develops to occupy the centre of the relationship between the literary form and ideology in any piece of literature. Given the views held by the three authors, a novelist from Africa gives little attention to a fleeing rat and shifts his focus to the important problem affecting countries in the continent after the colonial period. This type of stylistic device designed by African novelists projected through reactions of formal literature brings froth various questions. Despite these entire features, he remains the most affable politician anybody including Odili could meet. Apart from being the narrator of the story, Odili is also the subject. He narrates his sojourn from a private school teacher at Anata, ironically also where Chief Nanga started through to becoming a disappointed politician. Covered areas include exploring ideological contradictions considered in the novel, implicit and explicit perspectives through stated levels of concepts, personalization of contradictions, and the degree of finding resolutions to projected contradictions. Chinua Achebe presents that analogous nature of the post-colonial Nigeria in his novel A Man of the People. This period stretches from independence to the next generation filled with military coups succeeding each other. The novel travels through the world of young men full of ideas, demagogic political leaders, and ruthless competition for political poor made possible by the chances of self-rule. The nature of events covered in the book makes it a perfect example of analyzing a realist novel. The occurrences within the novel remain dynamic within the context of its own writing by Chinua Achebe. Under consideration in this case are broad categories of ideological contradictions and values. Chinua Achebe takes the challenge quite different from his original style used in his earlier works. Characterization and the voice are different with regard to the subject matter. Odili Samalu tells the story of a post-colonial country. People’s Organization Party is the political party ruling this country but full of political graft and bias. Unchecked corruption and ineffective public servants catalyze the narrator who finds himself within the graces of the perpetrator of the vices. Chief the Honorable M.A. Nanga rises from the humble position of a teacher at Anata Grammar school to become a member of parliament, a minster, and an important figure in the ruling party. Nanga heads the Ministry of culture albeit through shameless opportunism. Despite these entire features, he remains the most affable politician anybody including Odili could meet (Achebe, 1967, 41). Apart from being the narrator of the story, Odili is also the subject. He narrates his sojourn from a private school teacher at Anata, ironically also where Chief Nanga started through to becoming a disappointed politician. The narrator believes that he holds idealistic views about the world because he is incorruptible. The expectations are great and keep developing from one level to another. He anticipated getting a job immediately after school and buys a car. Things do not turn out smooth as thought because in the independent country what was important is whom you knew as opposed to what you knew. Hoggart writes that Odili tells of the Minister of Culture as a people’s man in the early stages on the novel in fact, the first paragraph. The author stresses the value of this statement throughout the novel. From the onset the narrator appears sarcastic by claiming that the reader ought to appreciate that fact otherwise the story will not make sense. Goldmann identifies ideological issues attached to central value of the term. He explores what a man entails for him to belong to people and implications of the title. The account of festivals organized to congratulate Chief Nanga given by the narrator carries forward considerations of these questions. After insisting on the appropriateness of his first assertion, Odili bemoans that villagers receiving the Minister are cynical in addition to being ignorant. A statement by Odili on the second page demonstrates his assertion, “Tell them that this man had used his position to enrich himself and they would ask you - as my father did - if you thought that a sensible man would spit out the juicy morsel that good fortune placed in his mouth” (Achebe, 1967, 2). Heath takes the initiative to evaluate particular concurrences of value he believes are implicit in this context. Contradicting values are acceptance versus protest, ideals against good sense, conflicts surrounding normal behavior vis-à-vis uncommon integrity the former influenced by folk-wisdom, and incorruptibility against practical politics that entails actions referred to as being politically correct irrespective whether they are vices or not. Stephen outlines these as contradictions viewed in the novel. Heath clarifies that the author, separating himself from the book because he uses the narrator, proceeds to bring in a new concept that constitutes an American looking for a genuine African (Achebe, 1967, 57). The author applies satire as a stylistic device here after referring to Chief Nanga as a people’s man in the opening lines of the novel. Stephen Heath believes that it is satire because it raises the question of what exactly entails an authentic African. More so, to what extent are both the narrator and the minister of Culture authentic Africans is an area emanating from such satire. Unusual integrity or normal behavior contradict clearly when Cool Max, a lawyer cum politician and a close friend of Odili questions the narrator’s understanding that Nanga could resign from small matters of principle. Heath identifies this as a question of principled behavior (Heath, 1972, 31). The author uses initials to show the moral connection between wielding power and the ruled. Goldmann identifies that Achebe uses P. I. V for Poor Innocent Victims in the reverse of V. I. P. Goldmann avers that the reversal is intentional to showcase the differences in political and social status and uses the same to introduce irrationality in terms of value judgment. Health outlines that a dialectical process connects reality and the novel. Important to mention however, is that the connection is not direct cutting through history and the literary text. It is also not spontaneous. This means that Realism is an amalgamation of discourse, a wide range of various patterning resulting into impressions of reality, and a broad combination of reality-influences. Goldmann identifies the same style in political parties with the ruling party being P. A. P. and P.O. P. The initials have comic implications apart from demonstrating lack of creativity and alternatives in the political arena. It is clear that irrespective of who takes power, the bottom-line remains that nothing will change. The plight of the people will persist. Works Cited Achebe, Chinua. A Man of the People: A Novel. Garden City, N.Y: Anchor Books, 1967. Print. Heath, Stephen. The Nouveau Roman: A Study in The Practice of Writing. Philadelphia: Temple University, 1972. Print. Read More