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Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart (1958)

Welcome to this edition of our newsletter. Our focus on a cornerstone of world literature: Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart (1958). This module does not simply analyse the plot; it delves into the profound historical and literary context that makes this novel a revolutionary act. Things Fall Apart is more than a story; it is a powerful rebuttal, a reclamation of narrative power, and the foundational text of modern African literature in English.

Understanding this context is crucial for students at all levels. It transforms the novel from a tale about a single man, Okonkwo, into a monumental dialogue between Africa and the West, between tradition and change, and between a distorted past and a reclaimed truth.

This newsletter will serve as a comprehensive guide, breaking down the novel's significance, the author's mission, and the key concepts you need to grasp its full power. We will explain all essential literary and technical terms to ensure clarity and depth in your studies.

Why Things Fall Apart Matters

While not the first African novel, Things Fall Apart is undoubtedly the most famous and influential. Its significance lies not just in its sales (over 12 million copies) or translations (over 50 languages), but in its role as a foundational text.

• A Response to Colonial Narrative: Before Achebe, the dominant stories about Africa in the West were written by Europeans. These narratives often portrayed Africa as a "dark continent"—a place of savagery, mystery, and emptiness, waiting for European civilisation and religion. Achebe called this a "process of deliberate dehumanisation."
• Reclaiming History and Agency: Achebe’s novel asserts that African societies had complex histories, cultures, religions, and systems of justice long before the arrival of Europeans. It gives voice and humanity to a people who had been silenced and caricatured in Western literature.
• Creating a Literary Tradition: The novel provided a template for future African writers. It proved that the English language and the novel form could be successfully adapted to tell African stories from an African perspective, creating a new, powerful literary tradition.

Chinua Achebe (1930-2013)

Chinua Achebe, a Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic, is universally regarded as the pioneer of modern African literature. His life and work were dedicated to telling the African story.

• Background: Born in Ogidi, Nigeria, he grew up at the crossroads of tradition and colonialism. His parents were early Christian converts, but he was deeply fascinated by the traditional Igbo culture of his extended family.
• The Writer's Mission: Achebe vehemently rejected the Western idea of 'art for art's sake'. For him, art had a social purpose. He famously stated that the writer is a teacher, and his goal was to educate both his African readers about their own rich heritage and to inform the Western reader that African history did not begin with colonization.
• His Famous Critique: His 1975 lecture, "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness," is a seminal post-colonial text. In it, he argues that even a classic like Conrad's novel dehumanizes Africans, reducing them to a mere backdrop for a European psychological drama. This critique directly informs his purpose in writing Things Fall Apart.

The Context: 

To appreciate Achebe’s achievement, one must understand what he was writing against. Scholars like Dorothy Hammond and Alta Jablow (The Africa That Never Was, 1970) identified persistent myths in Western writing about Africa.

Racial Myths:

• The ‘Brutal Savage’: Africans were depicted as primitive, cruel, irrational, and childlike.

• The ‘Noble Savage’: The opposite but equally dehumanizing stereotype. Africans were portrayed as simple, innocent, and living in a state of primitive harmony, yet still incapable of self-governance.

Spatial Myths:

• The ‘White Man’s Grave’: Africa as a place of unbearable heat, disease, darkness, and danger—an inhospitable jungle.

• The ‘White Man’s Paradise’: Africa as an exotic playground for hunting and adventure, filled with majestic but mindless fauna and flora.

These myths served to justify colonialism by presenting Africa as the antithesis of Europe—the "other" that needed to be controlled, civilized, and saved.

Achebe's Method: The Novel as a Tool for Reclamation

Achebe’s genius lies in how he used the very tools of the colonizer to dismantle their narrative.

• Using the English Language: Achebe wrote in English, the language of the colonizer, but he indigenized it. He infused his prose with Igbo proverbs, folktales, and rhythms of speech, forcing the English language to bear the weight of African experience. This technique creates a unique and authentic narrative voice.
• Using the Novel Form: The novel is a European genre, but Achebe adapted it. He structured the story in three parts, mirroring the traditional African literary form of the tripartite life cycle (birth, life, death) and filled it with the communal ethos of Igbo society rather than a purely individualistic Western focus.
• Presenting a Complex World: Achebe avoids idealizing pre-colonial Igbo society. He shows its strengths (its justice system, its value of achievement, its complex religious beliefs) and its flaws (its sexism, its harsh treatment of outcasts like the osu, its rigidity). This nuanced portrayal gives the society authenticity and humanity, making its eventual collapse all the more tragic.

Major Themes 

1. Tradition vs. Change: The central conflict of the novel. It explores the tension between the established customs of Umuofia and the disruptive force of British colonial rule, including Christianity and a new legal system.

2. The Complexity of Igbo Society: Achebe meticulously details a society with its own logic, values, and structures. Key concepts include:

• Chi: A personal god or spiritual fate. A man's success is attributed to a strong chi.

• Masculinity: Defined by strength, courage, and success, as embodied by Okonkwo. This rigid definition is both a source of his power and his tragic flaw.

• The Communal Ethos: The well-being of the clan is paramount. Individual actions are judged by their impact on the community.

3. The Clash of Cultures: The novel is a profound study of what happens when two vastly different worldviews collide. It shows the mutual misunderstandings and the tragic consequences of cultural imperialism.

4. Fate and Free Will: To what extent is Okonkwo’s downfall a result of his own choices (hamartia), and to what extent is it dictated by the unstoppable tide of historical change?

5. The Power of Storytelling: The novel itself is an act of storytelling that reclaims the narrative. Within the book, proverbs and folktales are shown as vital tools for preserving culture and wisdom.

Character Sketch: Okonkwo

• The Tragic Hero: Okonkwo is a classic tragic hero. He is a man of great stature and achievement in his society, but he is doomed by a fatal flaw.
• His Hamartia (Tragic Flaw): His overwhelming fear of failure and weakness, which he associates with his "feminine" and unsuccessful father, Unoka. This fear manifests as a brutal, hyper-masculine, and rigid adherence to tradition.
• His Motivation: A deep-seated drive to be the opposite of his father and to gain titles and respect in his community.
• His Significance: He represents both the strength of his culture and its inflexibility. His personal tragedy mirrors the larger tragedy of a society that cannot adapt to a new and overwhelming force.

Literary Terms and Techniques

Achebe’s craftsmanship is key to the novel's impact.

1. Proverb: A short, traditional saying that expresses a truth based on common sense or experience. Achebe uses proverbs extensively. E.g., "When a man says yes, his chi says yes also." This grounds the narrative in Igbo oral tradition and wisdom.
2. Foreshadowing: A warning or indication of a future event. The novel’s title, taken from W.B. Yeats's poem "The Second Coming," foreshadows the collapse of the traditional Igbo world.
3. Irony: A contrast between expectation and reality. There is deep situational irony in the fact that the missionaries gain their first converts among the outcasts (osu) whom the Igbo tradition itself had marginalized.
4. Symbolism: Using symbols to represent ideas or qualities. Okonkwo’s yams symbolize masculinity, wealth, and success. The locusts symbolize the arrival of the colonists—seemingly a blessing at first, but ultimately destructive.
5. Third-Person Omniscient Narrator: The story is told by a narrator who is not a character but has access to the thoughts and feelings of the characters. This allows Achebe to explain Igbo customs to an outside reader while maintaining an authoritative, insider's perspective.
6. Bildungsroman: A novel dealing with one's formative years or spiritual education. While primarily Okonkwo's story, the novel also follows his son Nwoye’s bildungsroman, as he grows and rejects his father's world for the new religion.

Famous Excerpt

One of the most famous passages is the novel's opening, which immediately establishes Okonkwo's character and the values of his society:

"Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. His fame rested on solid personal achievements. As a young man of eighteen he had brought honour to his village by throwing Amalinze the Cat... He was a man of action, a man of war... That was many years ago, twenty years or more, and during this time Okonkwo’s fame had grown like a bush-fire in the harmattan."

This excerpt highlights the importance of personal achievement, strength, and reputation in Umuofia, setting the stage for Okonkwo's tragic struggle to maintain this fame in a changing world.

Important Keywords

1. Postcolonial Literature: Literature from countries that were once colonized, often dealing with themes of identity, power, and resistance. Things Fall Apart is a foundational text of this field.
2. Colonialism: The policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically.
3. Cultural Imperialism: The imposition of one culture on another, often through media and language.
4. The "Other": A key post-colonial concept where the colonized people are defined as the opposite of the colonizer, reinforcing power dynamics.
5. Hybridity: The blending of cultures and identities that occurs in post-colonial societies.
6. Indigenization: The adaptation of a foreign language or form to express a local culture (e.g., Achebe’s use of English).
7. Igbo Culture: The specific ethnic group in Nigeria that Achebe portrays.
8. Tragic Hero: A protagonist with a fatal flaw that leads to their downfall.
9. Chinua Achebe Essays: "The Novelist as Teacher," "An Image of Africa."
10. Joseph Conrad Heart of Darkness: The key text Achebe was responding to.
11. Nigerian Literature: The broader literary tradition to which the novel belongs.

Conclusion

Things Fall Apart is a monumental achievement. It is a gripping story of a tragic hero, a meticulous anthropological record of a pre-colonial society, and a powerful political statement all at once. By understanding the context of Western misrepresentation against which Achebe was writing, we can fully appreciate his revolutionary act of reclaiming the narrative. He gave Africa its voice back, and in doing so, he changed the landscape of world literature forever. It remains an essential, powerful, and deeply human text for any student of literature, history, or the human condition.

Errol John - Moon on a Rainbow Shawl

 

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Errol John - Moon on a Rainbow Shawl

Introduction:

In this edition we turn our gaze to a pivotal figure in postcolonial drama, the Trinidadian playwright and actor Errol John, and his seminal work, Moon on a Rainbow Shawl. First staged in London in 1957, this play shattered barriers, becoming one of the first plays from the Caribbean to achieve major international acclaim. It offers a raw, vibrant, and deeply moving portrait of life in a Port of Spain slum in the aftermath of the Second World War, exploring universal themes of dreams, disillusionment, and the human spirit's resilience.

This newsletter Errol John - Moon on a Rainbow Shawl will serve as a comprehensive guide, breaking down the play's plot, themes, and characters, while also introducing and explaining key literary and technical terms you will encounter in your studies. Whether you're an undergraduate just beginning to explore Caribbean literature or a postgraduate conducting deeper research, this resource is designed for you.

Errol John as a Dramatist

Errol John (1924-1988) was a multi-talented artist: an actor, journalist, and playwright.

• His background as an actor (he performed Shakespearean roles and in films like The African Queen) deeply informed his writing. He had an innate understanding of stagecraft, dialogue, and character motivation.
• Moon on a Rainbow Shawl was his breakthrough, winning the Observer playwriting competition in 1957. While he wrote other screenplays and plays, this remains his defining work.
• His work is celebrated for giving a authentic voice to the Caribbean experience on the international stage, paving the way for future generations of playwrights like Mustapha Matura and Derek Walcott.

Summary of Moon on a Rainbow Shawl

Set over three days in the cramped, dilapidated "Old Mack's Yard" in Port of Spain, Trinidad, the play is a poignant tragicomedy (a play that blends tragic and comic elements to reflect the complexity of life).

• Act I: We are introduced to the yard's residents as a hot evening falls. The central character, Ephraim, a young trolleybus driver, dreams of escaping his impoverished life for a new start in Liverpool, England. We meet the struggling Adams family: Sophia, her drunkard husband Charlie (a former cricket star), their bright daughter Esther (who has won a scholarship), and their newborn baby. Ephraim's girlfriend, Rosa, who works in Old Mack's café, is being pursued by her wealthy, older employer. The act establishes a simmering tension between dreams and the harsh reality of the yard.
• Act II: Tensions escalate. Rosa discovers Charlie has stolen money from Old Mack's café to fund his drinking. She confides in Ephraim, who reacts with anger, not at the crime, but at her for telling the police. In a crucial scene, Ephraim reveals his plan to leave for England the next day and coldly abandons Rosa, even after she reveals she is pregnant with his child.
• Act III: The consequences of everyone's actions come to a head. Charlie is arrested for the theft. Ephraim, despite offers of help to bail Charlie out, remains resolute in his escape. In a final, heartbreaking confrontation, he reveals his profound selfishness to Sophia, declaring the fate of his unborn child makes "no damn difference" to him. He departs in a taxi, leaving a devastated Rosa to seemingly accept the advances of Old Mack for the sake of her child. The play ends not with despair, but with a glimmer of hope as Esther returns, calling for her mother.

Critical Appreciation & The Play's Significance

Moon on a Rainbow Shawl is rightly considered a canonical work (a text of established importance and authority within a literary tradition) of Black and postcolonial theatre.

• Pioneering Realism: John brought a new, unflinching realism to the British stage. He depicted the lives of working-class Caribbean people with authenticity and dignity, moving away from stereotypical portrayals. The play’s setting is not just a backdrop but a character in itself—the claustrophobic yard symbolises the entrapment felt by its inhabitants.
• Linguistic Authenticity: The use of Trinidadian Creole (an English-based creole language with its own grammatical structures and vocabulary) was revolutionary. It authenticates the characters' voices and roots the play firmly in its cultural context. For example, lines like "Thief from thief, child, does make Jehovah laugh" are rich with local flavour and philosophical weight.
• Enduring Relevance: Its themes—economic migration, systemic poverty, gender inequality, and the corrosive nature of broken dreams—are as relevant today as they were in the 1950s. It speaks powerfully to the postcolonial condition and the diasporic experience.

Major Themes 

• The Dream of Escape vs. The Reality of Home: This is the central conflict. Ephraim believes England is a "green land of hope and glory," a place where he can reinvent himself. His desire to escape is contrasted with the resilience of Sophia and Rosa, who choose to stay and face their struggles, representing a different kind of strength.
• Gender and Power: The play presents a stark contrast between its male and female characters. The men (Ephraim, Charlie, Old Mack, Prince) are largely flawed, weak, or exploitative. The women (Sophia, Rosa, Esther), however, are portrayed as strong, pragmatic, and morally centred, often bearing the emotional and economic burdens created by the men.
• Poverty and Social Inequality: The yard is a microcosm of a stratified society. Old Mack's wealth and power over his tenants and employees highlight the class divisions. The characters' actions, particularly Charlie's theft, are directly motivated by the desperate circumstances poverty creates.
• The Post-War Postcolonial Condition: The play is set just after WWII, a time of great change. The departure of American troops from Trinidad caused an economic slump. This historical context is crucial; the characters' sense of instability and lack of opportunity is directly linked to the island's position within global politics and the fading British Empire.

Character Sketches

• Ephraim: The protagonist (the central character driving the action) but decidedly not a hero. He is hardworking and perceptive but ultimately selfish, cynical, and sexist. His dream of escape corrupts his morality, leading him to abandon all responsibility. He represents the destructive potential of ambition untethered from community.
• Sophia Adams: The emotional anchor of the play. She is weary but fiercely spirited, a woman worn down by poverty and a disappointing husband but who never loses her fighting spirit or her deep love for her children. She is the play's moral compass.
• Rosa: A tragic figure who represents lost innocence. Orphaned and raised by nuns, she is loving and trusting. Her love for Ephraim and subsequent pregnancy lead to her ultimate disillusionment. Her likely decision to stay with Old Mack at the end shows her pragmatism but also her tragic corruption for survival's sake.
• Esther Adams: A symbol (a person, object, or event that represents a larger idea) of hope for the future. Her intelligence and scholarship represent the potential for a new generation to break the cycle of poverty through education, not escape.
• Charlie Adams: A pathetic (in the literary sense, meaning evoking pity and sadness) figure. A former cricket star broken by institutional racism and his own addiction, he embodies the waste of potential and the devastating impact of colonialism on the individual.

Literary Techniques & Technical Terms (Explained)

John employs several sophisticated techniques to bring his world to life:

1. Symbolism: Objects or elements that carry a deeper meaning.

·   The Rainbow Shawl: Represents Rosa's beauty, dreams, and innocence. It is the colourful, beautiful thing upon which her hopes are literally laid to rest.

·   The Moon: A traditional symbol of dreams and romance, but here it is "on a rainbow shawl"—something beautiful but ultimately out of reach, just like Ephraim's dreams of England.

·  Snow/Ice: Ephraim's repeated desire for snow symbolises his desire for a completely different, pure, foreign environment, contrasting with the oppressive heat of Trinidad.

2. Soundscape: John meticulously uses sound to create atmosphere and meaning, a technique sometimes linked to the acoustic concepts in psychoanalytic theory.

·   Diegetic Sound: Sounds that originate from within the world of the play, like the calypso music, children's rhymes, the baby crying, and the taxi horn. These sounds create immense verisimilitude (the appearance of being true or real).

·    The Calypso "Brown Skin Gal": This song is used with devastating irony. As Ephraim abandons Rosa, the lyrics "Brown skin gal stay home and mind baby... if I don’t come back, throw ‘way the damn baby" directly mock her situation, highlighting her powerlessness.

3. Setting as a Character: The yard is not passive. Its cramped, dilapidated nature creates a claustrophobic mood and directly influences the characters' actions and conflicts, pushing them into each other's paths and arguments.

4. Tragicomedy: The play blends humour (often from Prince and Mavis's relationship) with profound tragedy (Rosa's abandonment, Charlie's arrest). This mix reflects the complex texture of real life, where joy and sorrow often coexist.

Key Points

1. Postcolonial Literature: Literature from countries that were once colonies, often dealing with themes of identity, power, and resistance. This play is a key text in this field.
2. Caribbean Theatre: The dramatic tradition of the Caribbean, known for its vibrant storytelling, use of Creole, and engagement with social and political history.
3. Diaspora: The dispersion of any people from their original homeland. The play explores the motivations for and consequences of joining the diaspora.
4. Marxist Critique: An analysis focusing on class conflict, economic determinism, and the exploitation of the working class (the proletariat) by the property-owning class (the bourgeoisie, e.g., Old Mack).
5. Feminist Critique: An analysis that examines how the play portrays gender relations. It highlights the patriarchal structure of the society and the resilience of the female characters.
6. Psychoanalytic Theory (Lacanian Concepts): While not explicitly mentioned in the text, a sophisticated analysis could use Jacques Lacan's ideas.

• The Symbolic Order: The world of language, law, and social structures. Ephraim believes England represents a better Symbolic Order where he can succeed.
• The Real: A traumatic, overwhelming reality that cannot be easily symbolised or understood. The harsh poverty and lack of opportunity in the yard could be seen as the terrifying "Real" the characters are trying to navigate.
• Desire: Lacan argues desire is always for something we lack. Ephraim's desire for England is a classic example—it is based on an imagined lack in his current life and an imagined fulfilment elsewhere.

Famous Excerpt

A powerful moment that encapsulates Ephraim's character and the play's central conflict comes from his final confrontation with Sophia:

Sophia: (Pleading with him not to leave Rosa pregnant) "What about the child?"

Ephraim: "The baby born! It live! It dead! It make no damn difference to me!"

This brutal line reveals the full extent of his selfishness and the tragic cost of his dream.

Conclusion

Moon on a Rainbow Shawl is more than a historical artefact; it is a living, breathing piece of drama that continues to resonate. Errol John’s masterful blend of gritty realism, poetic symbolism, and authentic dialogue creates a powerful and enduring critique of social inequality and a moving testament to the human spirit. It is an essential text for anyone seeking to understand the roots and themes of postcolonial and Caribbean literature.

 

Psychoanalytical Criticism - Mikhail Bakhtin

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Psychoanalytical Criticism - Mikhail Bakhtin

The Dialogics of Madness: Language, Identity, and the Unravelling Self

Introduction:

The Newsletter Psychoanalytical Criticism - Mikhail Bakhtin aims to enlighten the profound and complex ideas of the Russian philosopher and literary theorist, Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin (1895–1975), and to demonstrate their enduring relevance to contemporary literary and cultural studies. Our focus in this edition is a particularly resonant one: the complex relationship between literary discourse and the constructions of insanity.

Literature has long been a privileged space for exploring the fragile boundaries of the human mind. From Shakespeare’s tormented Prince of Denmark to the confined narrators of Charlotte Perkins Gilman or Sylvia Plath, the ‘mad’ character or voice challenges our stable notions of self, reason, and society. But how does language itself, the very stuff of literature, participate in constructing what we understand as madness? To examine this, we must turn to Bakhtin, whose revolutionary concepts provide not a diagnostic manual, but a linguistic and philosophical framework for understanding how identities—including those believed ‘insane’—are formed and contested in the dialogic clash of voices.

This newsletter will guide you through key Bakhtinian terms, explaining them in detail, before applying them to the complex interconnections between literature and the discourses of insanity. We will examine the relationship between writing and identity-formation, and investigate the interplay of social, medical, and historical forces that shape our understanding of the ‘mad’ self.

Key Concepts:

To fully grasp Bakhtin’s contribution to this topic, one must first become comfortable with his unique vocabulary. These are not merely jargon; they are precise tools for dissecting the nature of language and narrative.

• Dialogism (The Dialogic Principle)

Ø Explanation: This is the cornerstone of Bakhtin’s entire philosophy. He argued that language is inherently dialogic. This means that no word, utterance, or text exists in isolation. Every utterance is shaped by the words that have come before it and is anticipating a response. It is always addressed to someone and is part of an ongoing, unfinished conversation.

Ø  Example: When a novelist writes a sentence, they are in a dialogue with the entire history of the novel as a genre, with other writers, and with the anticipated responses of their readers. Similarly, an individual’s thought process is not a solitary monologue but an internal dialogue, filled with the voices of parents, teachers, cultural figures, and past selves.

Ø  Relevance to Madness: If a stable self is formed through a harmonious (if complex) dialogue with society, then madness, from a Bakhtinian perspective, might be seen as a breakdown in this dialogue—a situation where the internal voices become cacophonous, where the individual can no longer successfully answer or integrate the external social voices, or where their own voice is silenced or pathologised by powerful authoritative discourses (e.g., medical, patriarchal).

• Heteroglossia

Ø Explanation: Literally meaning “multiple-languagedness,” this term describes the central fact of social language. Any national language (e.g., English) is not a single, monolithic system but a living tapestry of many different ‘languages’ or social dialects. These are stratified according to profession (the language of lawyers, doctors, mechanics), generation (teenage slang), class, region, and ideology.

Ø  Example: A single novel can contain the heteroglot voices of a wealthy industrialist, a socialist revolutionary, a pious vicar, and a cynical journalist. The artistic genius of the novel, for Bakhtin, lies in its ability to orchestrate these diverse social languages without reducing them to a single, authorial viewpoint.

Ø  Relevance to Madness: The discourse of insanity itself is a powerful social language, often wielded by medical and institutional authorities. A Bakhtinian analysis would examine how this professional ‘language of psychiatry’ interacts with, labels, and attempts to overwrite the individual’s own social language and personal voice within a literary text.

• Authoritative vs. Internally Persuasive Discourse

Ø  Explanation: Bakhtin distinguishes between two ways in which we internalise external voices.

1. Authoritative Discourse: This is the language of authority, religion, parents, or political dogma that demands to be accepted and incorporated wholesale. It is static, finished, and hierarchical. We recite it; we do not genuinely dialogue with it. It operates as a monologic force—seeking to shut down dialogue.

2.  Internally Persuasive Discourse: This is language that we engage with, wrestle with, and make our own. It is open, dynamic, and enters into a dialogue with our other beliefs and experiences. It is the basis for authentic, organic identity formation.

Ø  Relevance to Madness: The process of diagnosis and institutionalisation can be seen as the imposition of an Authoritative Discourse (“You are hysterical,” “You suffer from neurasthenia”) upon a person’s Internally Persuasive Discourse. The literary depiction of madness often revolves around the conflict between these two forces, as the character’s own sense of self is threatened or dismantled by an authoritative medical or social label.

• Polyphony and the Carnivalesque

Ø  Explanation:

1.   Polyphony (“many-voicedness”): Bakhtin used this term specifically to describe Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novels. He argued that Dostoevsky created a new type of novel where the author’s voice does not dominate those of the characters. Instead, the characters are fully realised, independent "consciousnesses" whose voices interact on a seemingly equal footing with the author's and with each other. The novel becomes a playground of competing ideologies and worldviews.

2.  Carnivalesque: Drawing on the medieval tradition of carnival, Bakhtin identified a literary mode that subverts and liberates. Carnival involves the temporary suspension of all hierarchical rank, privileges, norms, and prohibitions. It is a world of grotesque realism—focusing on the body, its lower strata (defecation, copulation), and its materiality—which debunks high-minded ideals and official culture through humour, chaos, and parody.

Ø  Relevance to Madness: The carnivalesque can be a powerful literary strategy for representing madness. The ‘mad’ character often behaves in a carnivalesque manner: they break social taboos, speak the unspeakable, and invert logical hierarchies (the fool becomes the wise one). Their discourse can carnivalise the sober, rational, ‘sane’ world, exposing its hypocrisies. A polyphonic novel allows the ‘mad’ voice to exist with its own integrity and challenge the reader’s assumptions, rather than being neatly contained and explained away by a dominant authorial or narrative voice.

The Dialogic Self: Writing and Identity-Formation in the Shadow of Madness

Bakhtin’s view of the self is not as a fixed, essential core, but as a project that is perpetually under construction through dialogue. The self is a meeting point of myriad social voices. We are who we are through our constantly evolving relationship with the words of others.

This has profound implications for understanding the nexus of writing, identity, and madness.

Ø  Writing as Self-Authorship: The act of writing, particularly in first-person narratives like diaries, confessions, or autobiographies, is a potent tool for identity-formation. It is an attempt to organise the internal dialogue, to take the chaotic multitude of influencing voices and craft them into a coherent narrative of the self. It is a process of making the Internally Persuasive.

Ø  The Fractured Text of the ‘Mad’ Self: When the social dialogue breaks down—when the authoritative discourses of medicine or family become overwhelmingly oppressive and monologic—the project of self-construction can falter. The literary representation of this is often a fractured text: a stream-of-consciousness that jumps between voices, a diary that reveals paranoia and disintegration, or a narrative where the protagonist’s voice is constantly interrupted and re-defined by the diagnostic language of doctors (as seen in The Yellow Wallpaper). The writing does not create a coherent self but documents its unravelling, showcasing a failed dialogue.

The Inter-relationship of Social, Medical, and Historical Constructions

A Bakhtinian approach insists that ‘madness’ is not a transhistorical, biological given. It is a discursive construction—its meaning is created and fought over within language and culture, across different historical periods.

Ø  Social & Historical Constructions: The ‘village idiot’ of the 17th century, the ‘nervous hysteric’ of the Victorian era, and the ‘schizophrenic’ of the 20th century are all products of their specific time and place. Each era has its own heteroglot array of voices (religious, judicial, medical, familial) that compete to define what constitutes unreasonable behaviour. Literature is a key archive of these competing discourses.

Ø  Medical Discourse as Authority: The rise of psychiatry and psychoanalysis saw the medical profession’s language become a supremely authoritative discourse in defining insanity. Literary texts often stage a clash between this clinical, objectifying language and the subjective, experiential language of the sufferer. The question becomes: Whose voice gets to define the reality of the experience? The patient’s internally persuasive, but chaotic, account? Or the doctor’s authoritative, diagnostic label?

Ø  Gender and the Female Malady: This power dynamic is intensely gendered. Historically, medical and social discourses have often pathologised female rebellion, sexuality, and intellectual ambition as forms of madness (‘hysteria’ derives from the Greek for ‘womb’). A Bakhtinian reading of a text like Jane Eyre would not just analyse Bertha Mason as a ‘madwoman in the attic’; it would analyse the authoritative discourses (Mr. Rochester’s patriarchal voice, the medical voice of restraint) that label and confine her, silencing her own voice and rendering her a monstrous, grotesque figure. Her muffled roars and violent acts can be read as a desperate, non-linguistic, carnivalesque attempt to break back into the dialogue from which she has been excluded.

Conclusion:

For Bakhtin, the human being is always unfinalisable. There is no final word that can be said about a person; the dialogue of identity is always open to new responses and reinterpretations. This is a profoundly humane vision.

Applying this to the discourse of insanity in literature allows us to move beyond simplistic readings of ‘madness’ as a plot device or a tragic flaw. Instead, we can see it as:

1. A dialogic breakdown between the individual and the world.
2. A site of struggle between authoritative and internally persuasive discourses.
3. A carnivalesque force that can challenge and expose the limitations of ‘sane’ society.
4. A construct shaped by the heteroglossia of its specific historical and social moment.

Literature, in its highest polyphonic form, does not give us answers about madness. Instead, it preserves the complexity of the dialogue, allowing the myriad voices—the sufferer, the doctor, the family, society—to sound together in all their conflict and confusion. It refuses to let the authoritative discourse have the final word, keeping the conversation, and thus our understanding, provocatively and productively open.

Psychoanalytical Criticism - Michel Foucault