Black Hamlet by Wulf Sachs - Essay

A psychological insight into the life of a Black Hamlet

Black Hamlet by Wulf Sachs is the story of the relationship between Sachs and a Manyika healer-diviner, John Chavafambira, who moved from Zimbabwe to South Africa in the 1920s. First published in 1937, the story encounters the “complexities of the encounter [repetition?] between black and white” and the tragedies of the poor trying to scrape together a living “in the new urban centres of southern Africa” as segregation becomes more ingrained (Heald 294).

John tells his story to someone else [to Sachs?]. His story is in the end being told through the interpretation or experience of someone else. John's story was being told through sessions of “free associations” and his reaction to these associations would also be analysed (Sachs 72). The term free association is a psychological term which is when clients of a psychologist speak freely as things come to mind without self-censorship (Corey 67). Clients speak about “their feelings, experiences, associations, memories, and fantasies” to the psychologist which is then analysed" (Corey 67). The introduction to the book by Jacqueline Rose includes some sound scholarly commentary on psychoanalytic methods. These are distinct from the methods of general psychology, and it is worth researching them in depth. An excellent introduction to literary approaches to psychoanalysis is Kaja Silverman's "The Subject of Semiotics". (Our library has a copy).

John has the power of telling his story as he wishes through 'free association' but his power is limited to the setting he is in when telling his story. John also has the trust that his story is being told truthfully because he is not writing his own story. Given the above, I would like to analyse the power the Sachs has in the psychological setting and the effect thereof on John's story and how this either limits or shapes him as a character. Good  - this is a book which records both the necessity and the pitfalls of discursive authority - here the authority of a man who is writer, doctor, and psychoanalyst - a representative of what Sachs himself terms "white medicine"?

Sachs starts John's story at an interesting place when “he had left his native kraal for the Union of South Africa” (76). Sachs explains that his was a significant part to start at because it was the “turning point of [John's] life” (77). Sachs analysed the starting point of John's story stating the reason for starting there but Sachs is also in control as to making the choice to start the story at that point. Here I feel Sachs holds the power over John's story. Through this John is allowed to tell his story and develop his story.

Sachs analyses John from a western point of view, [WHICH] this may also have an influence on how John is portrayed and written about. Sachs uses what, Saul Dubow calls, the Hamlet syndrome to analyse John (Dubow 542). By using this, Sachs argues that John “suffers from a tragic inability to cope with the rational demands of modern western life” (Dubow 542).

John’s “inability to cope” with western demands links back to colonialism (Dubow 542). Sachs uses a western understanding of John's culture and seems to come with an “all knowing” understanding of life to analyse a “native” in South Africa about his life. This can already lead to prejudice and preconceived ideas about life that everyone has to adhere to.

In my essay I would like to focus and try to answer the following questions:

How much control does John hold in telling his own story?

Can Sachs manipulate John's story for his own benefit?

Does the language of the text benefit John or Sachs or both of them?

I still have to look for a text to analyse from Black Hamlet.

There are a number of fine articles about this text available. Do have a look on the Google Drive, where I have posted a few. I recommend Rose's introduction as a starting point. Try to avoid background resources on psychology that are not specifically literary in approach. Perhaps it would be useful to start by trying to understand the concept of "Hamletism" as elucidated towards the end of Sach's narrative. What is "Hamletism" and in what ways does Sachs feel that this diagnosis "fits" Chavafambira's life?   

Works Cited:

Corey, Gerald. Theory and Practice of Counselling and Psychotherapy (SA Edition). UK:

Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning, Inc, 2014. Print.

Dubow, Saul. “Wulf Sachs's Black Hamlet: A Case of 'Psychic Vivisection'?” African Affairs 92.369

(1993): 519-556. JSTOR. Web. 23 March 2016.

Heald, Suzette. “Review.” African Affairs 96.383 (Apr. 1997): 293-295. JSTOR. Web. 23 March

2016.

Sachs, Wulf. Black Hamlet. USA: The John Hopkins University Press, 1996. Print.