- Osiris Rising
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Osiris Rising 
Author(s) Ayi Kwei Armah Cover artist R. M. Osotsi Country Senegal Language English Genre(s) Novel Publisher Per Ankh Publication date 1995 Media type Print (Paperback) Pages 348 ISBN 2-911928-00-8 OCLC Number 256475128 Osiris Rising: A Novel of Africa Past, Present and Future is a novel written by Ayi Kwei Armah and published in 1995. The story revolves around an African American women, Ast, who goes to Africa looking for heritage after she gets her PHD. The text addresses a number of contemporary African issues, including the residual colonial institutions that limit African culture, the hypocritical nature of African Americans and expatriates who try to help Africa and the contemplation of "What is African history and culture?" The book is published by Per Ankh, a Senagalese publishing company.
Contents
Characters
Many of Osiris Rising's characters appear one-dimensional and ludicrous, almost "puppet-like".[1] Ast, the main character, seems the most credible and developed among the characters, yet even her psychology in the interactions with Seth can become absurd.[2] At best the characters, act as principles representing further exploration of the book's themes.[1] The following are the main characters in the books:
- Ast- An African American, who has receives her PhD in history, then decides to travel to Africa to trace her roots. She also was taught by her grandmother in hieroglyphics since her childhood.
- Asar - A literature professor with strong ideals of what Africa should be and how to achieve a more progressive African politics and society. While he attended college with Seth and Ast, he was the top of his class, however when he completed his graduate schooling he left for Africa in order to participate in the fight against apartheid.
- Ras Cinque Jomo Equiano- a former civil-rights activist named Sheldon Tubman who moves to Africa to get more in touch with the "African experience", but instead forms a cult around himself and abuses his power to gain a number of followers, including three wives.
- Seth Soja - Sometimes called SSS or DD, Soja is the deputy director of the country's security force. He controls the ultimate power in the country. When at school with Ast and Seth, he was always jealous of Asar's educational success.
Setting
The book is set in a contemporary unnamed West African country. A majority of the story takes place on the campus of Manda's Teachers College, where Asar and Ast both teach and many of their agendas reach fruition.
Thematic Elements
As the title implies, Armah transposes the ancient Egyptian Osiris myth into modern Africa.[3] This first becomes evident when Armah names each chapter using Egyptian words.[3] The main characters closely align with the major movers of the myth: Osiris is identified with the reforming Asar, Isis is portrayed as Asar's companion Ast, and Soya represents Set.[3]
The relationship between Ast and Asar reflects the Pan-African sense of unity uniting both the African American with no ethnic tribe and the native African who clearly identifies with a single village.[4] This represents a similar relationship to that between an Afro-Caribbean man and an African women in Armah's novel Fragments.[4] This relationship, one of love and commitment that works fervently for the emancipation of African thought, helps reinforce Armah's message push for pan-African cooperation.[4]
Armah is also very critical of the character Sheldon Tubman.[4] This character, who was a strong civil rights activist in the state, is portrayed as nothing more than a "Diaspora Hustler" - someone who makes a big deal of returning to the African tradition but instead uses this fake "tradition" to benefit himself.[4] Anne Adams, in her comparison of the two authors' repertoires in "Literary Pan-Africanism", identifies this as a position also strongly expressed by Guadeloupean Maryse Condé.[4]
Critical reception
Osiris Rising has been reviewed by a handful of world literature scholars in institutions that provide a western education:
- Andrew Perrin of UCLA comments "Artistically the book leaves something to be desired as well," however, "Ayi Kwei Armah is an astute observor and analyst of Africa's contemporary conditions." [5] However, he says that Ast and Asar's intellectual movement to change the political situation is almost "inspiring, even hopeful." [5]
- Derek Wright comments that "This powerful and searching novel is not without its weakenss... it makes unexciting fiction."[3] To better explain this he says "Osiris Rising is very low on both dramatic incident and psychological intensity." [3] Wright, though he acknowledges the book is principally "to explore the real, albeit restricted, options for change open to Africa's inventive and radical thinkers", feels that much of the book is largely undeveloped: lacking development in character dynamics, the context of the state, and the characters themselves.[3]
See also
For individuals using a similar definition of the culture and history of Africa:
References
- ^ a b Jackson 266
- ^ Jackson 265-266
- ^ a b c d e f Wright, Derek (Mar. 1985). "Review:Returning Voyagers: The Ghanaian Novel in the Nineties". The Journal of Modern African Studies (Cambridge University Press) 23 (1): 179–192. JSTOR 161744.
- ^ a b c d e f Adams, Anne (2003). "Literary Pan-Africanism". Thamyris/Intersecting: Place, Sex and Race 11: 137–150. http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/rodopi/tham/2003/00000011/00000001/art00013.
- ^ a b Perrin, Andrew J. (Winter, 1999). "Review:What is African?". Callaloo (The Johns Hopkins University Press) 22 (1): 247–249. doi:10.1353/cal.1999.0004.
Book sources
- Jackson, RC. "Armah's Osiris Rising". In Hal Wylie and Bernth Lindfors. Multiculturalism & hybridity in African literatures. pp. 259–267. Available at Google Books
Categories:- 1995 novels
- Senegalese novels
- Novels set in Africa
- Pan-Africanism
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