MADNESS AND VIOLENCE IN THE WORKS OF BESSIE HEAD: A CRITICAL EVALUATION
MADNESS AND VIOLENCE IN THE WORKS OF BESSIE HEAD: A CRITICAL EVALUATION
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Date
1998-01
Authors
KOFOWOROLA, KAYODE GBOYEGA
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Abstract
This study posits that apartheid has influenced Black literature
in South Africa. Its violence and oppression truncate the
blackman into neurosis. Madness and violence are intricately
linked,they create chains of reaction amongst individuals and
communities in South Africa. It is these experiences which this
study evaluates in Bessie Head's novels. Many Critical studies
have often glossed over this deep seated dimension and
manifestations of Head's discourse.
This study postulates that madness and violence are a vital,
integral aspect of the discourse in Head's novels; that they need
not be destructive alone, but through them an ordered psyche can
be distilled to individuals and society: that they manifest in
diverse forms and conjure differing images.
Chapter one examines the relationship between politics and
black literature in south Africa. It examines critical discourses
on Head's reflection of her socio-political milieu. It unveils
the experience of madness and violence in this milieu. It
concludes by giving a conceptual and polemical background
statement for the study.
Chapter two studies the epistemology of neurosis in Head's
novels. It focuses on the sources, strands, manifestations and
purgation of madness in relation to the search for self identity.
Chapter Three evaluates various forms of violence and its
manifestations in inter-personal relationships. In chapter four,
we examine the points of convergence and divergence between
madness and violence in Head's novels.
Chapter five, which is the conclusion, summarizes the major
arguments of the thesis.
Description
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL
AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR
THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN LITERATURE
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
FACULTY OF ARTS
AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY
ZARIA
Keywords
MADNESS, VIOLENCE, WORKS, BESSIE, HEAD:, CRITICAL, EVALUATION