Journeying across time, cultures, flipping pages

Beyond boundariesThe history of mankind shows a people skilful enough to fashion tools, engage in hunting, farming; invent machines and then computers. But many in this present age were not born when these outstanding developments unfolded, instead, they learn about them in bits as they read the works of old and contemporary writers. Although the […]

Beyond boundaries
The history of mankind shows a people skilful enough to fashion tools, engage in hunting, farming; invent machines and then computers. But many in this present age were not born when these outstanding developments unfolded, instead, they learn about them in bits as they read the works of old and contemporary writers. Although the classroom has succeeded in educating them, still, because their minds possess a limitless reservoir for knowledge, they may need to learn about the world, transcending the boundaries of formal education. Awaiting their curiosity, besides a teacher or lecturer’s recommendation, are biographies, auto-biographies, fictional and non-fictional works set at different stages in history, painting pictures of events that have shaped the world over time; slavery, colonialism, and even wars.
Window into Apartheid
‘Sizwe Bansi Is Dead’ and ‘Statement after an Arrest under the Immorality Act,’ are plays written by Athol Fugard. The former work accomplished in collaboration with two African actors, namely; John Kani and Winston Ntshona, and set at a time when blacks and coloured citizens in South Africa were discriminated against – Every one of them over the age of 16 was forced to carry an identity book that restricted employment and travel within the country. The second play however, exposes the hatred of the apartheid regime for inter-racial relationships, where two friends; a white woman and black man, keep their closeness a secret, to avoid being punished by the society they live in.
These books that centre on apartheid in South Africa, from about 1948 to 1993, shaped Akalugwu Chinyere’s understanding of what South Africans went through. “Reading on its own exposes you to a lot of ideas, beliefs, history and cultures of others. It also educates and enlightens one about things that may otherwise remain unknown,” she says.
She further explains how reading across cultures has helped her understand a little about the beauty of various places, especially when she read a description of Erin-Ijesha Waterfalls in a short story titled ‘The third missionary journey begins – The Perfect Backside,’ by Myne Whitman, a Nigerian author.
It reads:
“D-a-m-n,” Dunni said in wonder and regret when she noticed that the rudimentary ascent to the Erin-Ijesha Waterfalls was beginning to level out.
Covered in moss, the broken up blocks that made up the steps were only held in place by the tufts of grass growing around them. Assessing the remaining, she took in the profusion of foliage that surrounded them and breathed in the clear air, so different from the heat and humidity of Dallas. At the top of the steps, she took a picture destined for her desk, something from home to relax her on those frazzled days at work. From her vantage point, the crumbling steps spread out in a triangle, the sentry trees at the edges casting a shadow that framed the edges.
“It never left my ‘to go’ list till I went there,” Chinyere points out, emphasising how much she loved the description of Erin-Ijesha, a place she had never been to in Nigeria. “That’s what reading does. It brings a certain kind of understanding by letting one relate with the mentality of others and the reasons why they do what they do. This in turn allows peace, for understanding is the bedrock of peace.”
Joy and pain
Since the use of written English sometimes differs between the British and American type, there is a tendency of grasping the clear difference between the two and also learning the infusions from various African countries. Also, there is the advantage of mastering the usage of words one would otherwise be ignorant of – This is what Robinson Onum draws from the materials he reads. “It has helped my communication and writing skills. My view of the world and its inhabitants has changed as I now understand their joys and pains,” he explains.
Thus, wars and other forms of violence that have shaped the present of many nations have been captured by daring writers; The Holocaust, the Biafran war and the Rwandan Genocide, have been revisited in varying narrations. One of the most popular of the holocaust, ‘The Diary of a Young Girl,’ was written by Anne Frank, a Jewish victim of the war in 1942. Her diary, which was salvaged after her death and later published, relives the experiences of a family in hiding during World War Two.
Also described as one of the appalling events of the 20th century, is the account of the Rwandan Genocide, immortalised on the pages of Linda Melvern’s ‘Conspiracy to Murder.’
Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie’s novel, on the other hand, takes the Nigerian Civil war in its stride.
All these contributions to history makes these books a reflection of the pain and terror illustrated in the words of the writer and actions of the characters. Here, the reader’s imagination has no boundaries as the pages turn.   
Soaring on the wings of words
“We must understand that we are not alone in this world. Within the pages, I hear the voices of people somewhere, urging me to journey through their experiences; see the world through their eyes. Thus, enriching my perspective,” Sylvanus Kane Sanda says.
“It broadens my scope and grasp of reality. It takes me through different historical climes and becomes the interface in my comparison of experiences. It is a major platform for re-inventing my intuition and super vision and helps me in assimilating other values, linguistic and cultural paradigms. This, I achieve, via the eyes and thoughts of other worlds apart from mine.”
Sibbyl Onyeocha puts it this way: “We soar on the wings of words and touch-down wherever the writer takes us. If it is on a foreign land, that makes it better. No one would ask for a visa if we tour the world through books.”