Namwali Serpell's the Old Drift as a Postcolonial Text: A Semiotic, Linguistic and Onomastic Analysis
Keywords:
Postcolonial Theory, History, Zambian Literature, Onomastics, Semiotics, Language, Colonisers
Abstract
This essay analyses Namwali Serpell’s seminal novel The Old Drift from a postcolonial perspective. In pursuing this goal, the essay utilises some aspects of postcolonial theory, semiotics, onomastics and linguistics. In particular, it looks at how Serpell reinterprets the history of colonial Zambia as projected and interpreted by colonial writers. The findings suggest that the novel epitomises a new drift in Zambian literature. The novel problematises the views of the imperial centre as exemplified in colonial literature and suggests that the colonisers used the gun, fraud, deception, language and names as some of the means of subjugating the local people and dispossessing them of their land. Therefore, the whole colonial enterprise was pursued for the benefit of the white settlers at the expense of the local people and was motivated by greed, selfishness and self-aggrandisement.References
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2. Achebe, C. (2009). The Education of a British-Protected Child. London: Penguin Books.
3. Ashcroft, B., Griffiths, G., and Tiffin, H. (2004). Key Concepts in Post-colonial Studies.London and New York: Routledge, Print.
4. Banda-Aaku, E. (2014). ‘Playing Catch-Up,’ in: Schumacher Lynn, Joost Fontein, Dian Jeater, Donal Lowry and Morris Szellet (eds.). Journal of Southern African Studies, Vol. 40. No 3, 607-614. Oxfordshire: Routledge.
5. Barry, P. (2002). Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory.Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, Print
6. .Boahen, A.A. (1989). African Perspectives on Colonialism. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.
7. Boehmer, E. (1995). Colonial and Postcolonial Literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
8. Cary, J. (1970). Mister Johnson. London: Penguin Books.
9. Chambers, I. (1986). Popular Culture: The Metropolitan Experience. London and New York: Routledge.
10. Chaturvedi, P. (2004). ‘The Language of Counter Discourse in Post-colonial African and Indian Writing,’ in: Africa Quarterly, Vol 44, Indian Journal of African Affairs, No 3. pp. 32-39.
11. Chilala, C.H. (2016).‘The Adamic Licence in Ellen Banda-Aaku’s Patchwork,’ in Nyambi Oliver, Mangena Tendai and Pfukwa Charles (eds.), The Postcolonial Condition of Names and Naming Practices in Southern Africa, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, pp.155-171.
12. Chilala, C. (2013). ‘Through the Male Eyes: Gendered Styles in Contemporary Zambian Fiction,’ in: Reuben Makaiko Chirambo and JKS Makokha, Reading Contemporary African Literature: Critical Perspectives. Amsterdam: Rodopi.
13. Chilala, C.(2014). ‘Anatomy of the Challenges Facing Zambian Writers and Publishers of Literary Works,’ in: Schumacher Lynn, Joost Fontein, Dian Jeater, Donal Lowry and Morris Szellet (eds.). Journal of Southern African Studies, Vol. 40. No 3, 593-606, June 2014. Oxfordshire: Routledge.
14. Chilala, C.(2019). Anglophone Zambian Prose Fiction: Tradition or Transition?, in: Hydrid Journal of Library and Cultural Studies, Vol. 1, Issue No. 1 pp.13-29.
15. Currey, J. (2008). Africa Writes Back. Oxford: James Curry.
16. Fage, J.D. (1970). Africa Discovers her Past. London. Oxford University Press.
17. Feintuch, B. (Ed.). Eight Words for the Study of Expressive Culture. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
18. Graham, I.M., and Halwindi, B.C. (1970). Guide to the Public Archives of Zambia, Vol 1, 1895-1940. National Archives of Zambia, Lusaka
19. Gates Jr, H.L. (1988). The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of African-American Literary Criticism. New York: Oxford University Press.
20. Hartley, R. (2014). The Shaping of Water. Leicestershire: Troubador Publishing Ltd.
21. Liyong, T.L. (1969). The Last Word. Nairobi: East African Publishing House.
22. Melu, M. (2021). Braving the Odds: A Memoir on Perseverance, Finance and Faith. Portland: Duende Press.
23. Morrison, T. (1987). ‘The Site of Memory,’ Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir, ed., William Zinsser Boston: Houghton Mifflin, pp. 191-192.
24. Naipaul, S. (1979). North of South. London: Penguin Books.
25. Ndlovu, M. (2016). The Zambezi Valley Refrain: The Story of Basilwizi, 2002-2015. Bulawayo: Basilwizi.
26. Nkosi, L. (1981). Tasks and Masks: Themes and Styles of African Literature. Harlow: Longman Group Ltd.
27. Ngugi, wa T. (2009). Remembering Africa. Nairobi: East African Educational Publishers.
28. Ngugi, wa T. (1981). Writers in Politics. London: Heinemann Educational Books Ltd.
29. Nichols, L. (ed). (1981). Conversations with African Writers: Interviews with Twenty-Six African Authors. Voice of America. Washington, DC.
30. Oyono, F.H.(1996). John Reed trans. Heinemann Educational Publishers, London, 1966.
31. Phillipson, D.W.(1972). National Monuments of Zambia. Lusaka: National Monuments Commission.
32. Pfukwa, C., and Mamvura, Z. (2016). Names in Space: Some Theoretical Perspectives on the Place Names of the Southern African Urban Landscape, in: Oliver Nyambi et al., The Postcolonial Condition of Names and Naming Practices in Southern Africa.Cambridge, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, pp. 258-269.
33. Raynaud, C. (2007). ‘Beloved or the Shifting Shapes of Memory,’ in: Tally, Justine (Ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Toni Morrison. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
34. Roscoe, A., and Msiska, M. (1992). The Quiet Chameleon: Modern Poetry from Central Africa. London: Hans Zell.
35. Scholes, R., Nancy, R., Compley and Gregory, L. Ulmer (1988). Text Book: An Introduction to Literary Language. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
36. Serpell, N. (2019). The Old Drift. London: Hogarth.
37. SEM, P.(1982). The Early Church in Africa (1st to 7th Century) and Today, Multimedia Publications, Lusaka.
38. Sumaili, F. (1991). Zambian Writers Talking. Lusaka: KKF
39. Tiberondwa, A.K. (1978). Missionary Teachers as Agents of Colonialism: A Study of their Activities in Uganda, 1877-1925. KKF, Lusaka.
40. Witkamp, G. (2013). ‘The Gwembe Tonga Craft World and Development Intervention,’ in: Lisa Cliggett and Virginia Bond (eds)., Tonga Timeline: Appraising Sixty Years of Multidisciplinary Research in Zambia and Zimbabwe. Lusaka: Lembani Trust.
Published
2022-08-14
How to Cite
Chilala, C. (2022) “Namwali Serpell’s the Old Drift as a Postcolonial Text: A Semiotic, Linguistic and Onomastic Analysis”, Journal of Law and Social Sciences, 5(1), pp. 1-22. doi: https://doi.org/10.53974/unza.jlss.5.1.789.
Section
Editorial