Exploring the Self Through Habit and Memory
Issue:
Volume 8, Issue 2, June 2023
Pages:
22-27
Received:
9 March 2023
Accepted:
15 April 2023
Published:
10 May 2023
Abstract: Throughout his career, Beckett’s characters are, in a perpetual exploration of their inner world, for they begin to realize that knowledge of the self is just as elusive as knowledge of the outside world. This loss of self, which marks all of Beckett's characters deeply, leaves them in a kind of no man's-land between an unknowable external world and an untraceable self. Without a solid foundation for their beliefs, whether in the outer world of objects or the inner world of the self. Hence, Beckett's characters find themselves in a position of extreme epistemological weakness. Without a doubt, Beckett's most enduring contribution to world literature is his portrayal of this interstitial zone of uncertainty between subject and object. In dealing with the outside world, the Beckettian character adopts a habit that serves as both protector and prisoner. This habit refers to a set of thoughts, strategies, and (re)actions that memory calls upon throughout the attempts to make sense of and negotiate the world. Through these habitual adjustment processes, time divides self from self and subject from object, ensuring that we neither remain the same nor grasp the dynamic object-in-itself. However, habit distorts this temporal dynamism, suggesting that subjects and objects are fundamentally unchanged from one moment to the next. By using psychological research methodology as well as Proust's concept of habit, which examines the relationship between voluntary and involuntary memory and the ego's surface, This paper is twofold: first, to explore Beckett’s use of habit and memory in his controversial play Waiting for Godot to discover his self-identity, and second to demonstrate how Beckett's characters eventually fail in achieving their authentic selves.
Abstract: Throughout his career, Beckett’s characters are, in a perpetual exploration of their inner world, for they begin to realize that knowledge of the self is just as elusive as knowledge of the outside world. This loss of self, which marks all of Beckett's characters deeply, leaves them in a kind of no man's-land between an unknowable external world an...
Show More
Masculinity and Power in Wole Soyinka’s Death and The King’s Horseman
Onuoha Beatrice Nwawuloke,
Chijioke Macdonald Uwah
Issue:
Volume 8, Issue 2, June 2023
Pages:
28-34
Received:
7 February 2023
Accepted:
4 March 2023
Published:
20 June 2023
Abstract: Wole Soyinka is considered one of the foremost Nigerian literary writers of Yoruba descent. His corpus traverses all the genres of literature and covers a wide range of themes and subject matters. One prominent concern of his work is the juxtaposition of Yoruba tradition and Western notions. This paper uses his play text, Death and the King’s Horseman, as a case study to examine the injustices of male autocracy that objectify women and men under the Yoruba feudal and British colonial milieu. Masculinity has often been associated with being a breadwinner, being sexually aggressive, unemotional, etcetera; while power is often construed as a tool of authority, superiority, and influence. The consequences of the misconception include intolerance, humiliation, intimidation, and opportunities. The paper is thus a critique of the masculine presumptions that underpin the ruling class in the play. The main argument advanced in this paper is the greedy, dominant, and unprincipled masculinity practiced by characters like Elesin Oba and Simon Pilkings, which is destructive, not only to other people but also ultimately to its practitioners. By portraying abusive characters and their challenges in Nigerian drama, this paper situates the arguments of the masculinist theory within the textual construct of the play with detailed rationalization. One major finding of the paper is that masculinity is largely a defense mechanism used to cover up for the deep sense of inadequacy in the characters who advance it.
Abstract: Wole Soyinka is considered one of the foremost Nigerian literary writers of Yoruba descent. His corpus traverses all the genres of literature and covers a wide range of themes and subject matters. One prominent concern of his work is the juxtaposition of Yoruba tradition and Western notions. This paper uses his play text, Death and the King’s Horse...
Show More
