Postmodernism's Pit Stops en Route to Utopia
Language, History and Death in Ben Okri's In Arcadia
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20156107 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Leigh van Niekerk (University of Pretoria, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 14-24 |
| Publication date | 2012-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Literary Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0256-4718 • E-ISSN: 1753-5387 |
| Publisher | Unisa Press (PUBLISHER • ZA) |
| DOI | 10.1080/02564718.2012.735065 |
| OpenAlex | W1996464093 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 4 |
From the outset, this article emphasises the notions of language, history and death as indispensible to any reading of Ben Okri's In Arcadia ([2002] 2003). From this, the article explains the relevance of the philosophical hermeneutics of Hans-Georg Gadamer and Martin Heidegger to Okri's writing in particular and to postmodern literature in general. Heidegger's concept of being-towards-death as the only way to achieve Dasein (authentic human existence), as well as Gadamer's idea of language and history as the necessary precursors to human understanding (the hermeneutic circle), is elucidated. Postmodernism itself is loosely defined before the author hones in on particular items of evidence – motifs, word usage, plot elements, etc. – from the primary text, in support of the argument that language, history and death are relevant in this context inasmuch as they relate to perception (and its relationship with reality). Further explication of postmodernism, Dasein, being-towards-death, and the hermeneutic circle is interposed with a series of exhibits including, among others, art (film-making, painting and writing) as a sort of language, the inscriptions received by three of the novel's characters, the historicity of the characters’ journey in search of Arcadia, and all measures of attempts (through art, grandiosity or any other means), to avert death. All these strands are finally drawn together with the revelation of the fluidity of postmodernism's view of language and history. The closing argument is that the three concepts – philosophical hermeneutics, postmodernism, and In Arcadia as a unified whole – are intertexts, each informing the other in the never-ending hermeneutic circle
Arcadia · Art · Epistemology · Explication · Hermeneutics · Literature · Postmodernism · African cultural and philosophical studies · History · Philosophy · Postcolonial and Cultural Literary Studies
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,08 |
| Citation span | 2013 - 2013 (1) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |