Review: Introduction to Black Hamlet – Jacqueline Rose

The mind of an African and the writings of a psychoanalyst.

Black Hamlet by Wulf Sachs is a book about the relationship between two men, Wulf Sach a psychoanalyst and John Chavafambira a Zimbabwean nganga (witch-doctor). Chavafambira moved to Johannesburg, South Africa in the late 1920's. Sachs was the first practicing psychoanalyst to come to South Africa and wrote about Chavafambira. The Johns Hopkins edition of Black Hamlet has two introductions, one by Saul Dubow and the other one by Jacqueline Rose. Dubow focuses his introduction on the historical, anthropological and political world of the book, where Rose has a more psychological focus.

I apologize in advance if I do not highlight every that Rose talks about. Black Hamlet is a rich text and it is not possible for me to mention everything. The narrative in terms of its “pull”, is seen “as engrossing as fiction” mentioned in the Evergreen edition and a reader can complete this compelling book one sitting (40). Rose says that Sachs' choice in choosing Shakespeare's Hamlet was “because of the remarkable narrative affinities between Hamlet's tale and Chavafambira's” (40).

Rose makes reference to the history of Shakespeare's play Hamlet and its similarities to Sachs Black Hamlet. Through this, Rose says we as readers can re-read Hamlet backwards – that is, the story can be identified as a form of “personhood bereft once outside its collectively or ancestrally sanctioned domain” (41).

Throughout her introduction, Rose refers to Freud and his work. Freud can be seen as the founder of psychoanalysis therapy. Rose relates Freud's work and studies to Black Hamlet and to what Sachs was probably doing at the time. Rose says that it is clear in Black Hamlet that the analyst, “fervently wishes for the patient's political emancipation, locks the patient into the imaginary world of his own demands” (44-45).

Maggie becomes an important person for Rose and she is mentioned along side Chavafambira. Maggie comes between the relationship of Chavafambira and Sachs. She becomes a warning for their relationship and is convinced that “no good will come of mixing black and white medicines” (Sachs 287). Rose mentions that in Black Hamlet, Sachs tries to diagnose the women in the book and “attempts a brief analysis of Maggie...these women are beyond the analytical pale” (63). Rose states that it is not that the women set a status of “truth” or that they set limits to what psychoanalysis can do in Africa but rather that psychoanalysis does not have the last word, physically or politically, in Africa (63). This can in the end be seen as the “fundamental principal of psychoanalysis” (64).

Rose has an easy to read style and is understandable. She simplifies the psychological aspect of the book by also showing the similarities between Sachs and Chavafambira. For me, the psychology of the book questions both Chavafambira as well as Sachs' story.

In as much as this is a story of John Chavafambira, Sachs “has made this his own” (39). This can be seen as a story of both the native and the colonial.

Work Cited

Sachs, Wulf. Black Hamlet. 1996 [1937]. Introduction by Jacqueline Rose. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press, 1996. Print.

The week ahead

Dear Gustav and Thandi,

Thanks for posting your proposals. Please go to your original texts to view my comments.

In general, it is time to start refining your research into the "discourses" you are analysing. For Dusklands, these have to do with imperial and colonial language; for Black Hamlet, gaining a detailed knowledge of the early language of psychoanalysis, and its deployment in the service of (or against) racial science will be key.

We all need to have read Black Hamlet for our meeting next Monday. There is an article by Adam Sitze on Google drive which explores the question of scapegoating in careful detail. It is a very sophisticated philosophical set of reflections. If you are interested in the links between Black Hamlet and the Rex v Mbombela court case, Sitze offers the details of the story in a section of his article. You may wish to follow up this element of his discussion.

I look forward to Thandi's presentation on Black Hamlet on Monday.

Have a great week.

Lannie

An exploration into the discourses used within J. M. Coetzee's "Dusklands"

Discourse within literature is the framework for how the main speaker or protagonist is able to communicate and what they are able to communicate. The standard definition of discourse is: written or spoken communication or debate; although it is more suitable to understand is as a framework which shapes social life and is centred on events. Discourse, which comes in various forms, is heavily reliant on what is desired, which is usually political and sexual in nature, and this shapes what the main speaker of protagonist is allowed to play.  Using J.M. Coetzee’s, Dusklands, an exploration into how discourse shapes what a protagonist I sable to say will be conducted.

Could you offer some references here for your definitions of "discourse"? Foucault's reflections on the term are distinct from earlier accepted definitions ... it is worth researching this closely. 
 
It is required that an understanding of discourse is achieved and then an analysis of the discourse within, Dusklands, can be done.  The novel consists of two novellas, with each novella having its own “protagonist”: Eugene Dawn in, “The Vietnam Project” (novella one), and Jacobus Coetzee in, “The Narrative of Jacobus Coetzee” (novella two). Both characters are in two different time periods, with Eugene present in 20th century American imperialism and Jacobus present in 18th century Dutch colonialism with each having their own political agenda. With novel containing two protagonists and two stories, exploring the discourse within the book can be done through three fundamental questions:

Here I feel that your comments are a little undeveloped. How would you desribe the "desires" of each protagonist/ narrator? Which "discourses" are at play here? (the obvious ones are American imperialism, and  Dutch colonialist at the Cape. There are more!). 

I would like to know much more here about the content of the two narratives. The notion of parody, which you raise in the summary of Atwell's article, is clearly key ... Why would Coetzee play with historical records in this "metafictional" mode? What is the point? 

1. While the discourse is within the realm of desire, is it the same for both characters?

2. How does the discourse shape what
each character is able to say and not say?

3. Is using two characters able to somehow to transcend these limitations? And if so, how is this achieved?

In order to answer these questions, reading and exploring the discourse within, Dusklands, will not be enough. In order to properly explore these questions, I will consult David Attwell’s, The labyrinth of my history, as well as Derek Attridge’s, Ethical Modernism: Servants as Others in J.M. Coetzee’s Early Fiction.

David Attwell’s: The labyrinth of my history
Dusklands deals with the violence of colonialism and the legacy it leaves behind with its heirs and does so by critiquing colonialism and imperialism through the use of parody. Attwell argues that the novel is a break from the framework of colonialism and its intended discourse, and he is able to do this by giving the two protagonists a reflective consciousness: an ontological-metaphysical approach. The ontological-metaphysical aspects of his characters allow for the questioning of being and make the characters transparent, drawing the reader in. With both Eugene Dawn in “The Vietnam Project” (novella one) and Jacobus Coetzee in “The Narrative of Jacobus Coetzee” (novella 2) committing horrible acts against humanity, their character allow for the reader to be drawn into the events of their actions. With events being so crucial to understanding discourse, it is apparent that bringing the reader into the literature is important in determining what the characters are able and unable to say. This drawing in of the reader is further explored by Derek Attridge in, Ethical Modernism: Servants as Others in J.M. Coetzee’s Early Fiction.

Derek Attridge:  Ethical Modernism: Servants as Others in J.M. Coetzee’s Early Fiction
Duslkands focuses on inviting the reader ethically. There is an emphasis on the ‘event’, where discourse shapes social life. Coetzee uses an event, being the parody of events, to draw the reader in ethically. Coetzee has given the protagonists of the novel the ability to communicate to the reader through their actions within events and their reflections regarding events. By juxtaposing American imperialism and Dutch colonialism, and essentially juxtaposing the actions of the protagonist and those characters who are estranged, seen as the “other”, he is able to draw in the reader ethically and communicate with the reader beyond conventional discourse.

Through the use of these questions regarding discourse and the works of Atwell and Attridge, exploration into the discourse used within Coetzee’s, Dusklands, and how it shapes what the protagonists or main speaker says, can be done.

Works I intend on using:

These are useful readings as a starting point for your project, but there are many more. I think it would be useful to select particular passages from each narrative for close reading. 
 
Coetzee, J. M. Dusklands. Reprint, ed. Michigan: Penguin Books, 1996.

Attridge, Derek. “Ethical Modernism: Servants as Others in J. M. Coetzee’s Early Fiction.” Poetics Today, 25:4 (2004): 553-671.

Attwell, David. “’The labyrinth of my history’: J. M. Coetzee’s Dusklands.” Novel: A Forum on Fiction, 1 (1991): 7-32.

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.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

The composition of the final mark:

This will be composed of a global percentage grade in each of the following categories:

1)       Blog (weekly):                             (30%).

2)      Class presentations :                   (20%)

In these presentations, you will take charge of a discussion of a particular text. Your presentation will help to show the links between one of the primary texts and the blog postings on that particular topic.

3)      Long essay:                                  (50%)

You will submit an essay of between 5000 and 6000 words at the end of Term 4. The proposal for your essay (1 – 2 pages) is to be submitted before the end of Term 3.

DESCRIPTION OF TASKS:

1)      BLOG

Each week, one person will take responsibility for posting a substantial comment under the “Article summaries”, and one person will be responsible for the “Book reviews” category.

The “Gossip column” is open – contribute whenever you have something to add.

We will allocate the topics in class so that there isn’t a rush on a particular one.

Everyone else must have read the text as well, in order to be able to respond adequately to the posting.

The designated people who are posting to the blog must do so by 5 pm on evening.

Classmates must respond to the postings by 11 am on Friday morning. (You can also respond to other responders, of course, as well as to the original post). You obviously do not need to “respond” to your own post.

Each student needs to make a minimum of three postings in each category over the entire duration of the course (that is to say - 9 postings altogether). If you make more than these, your best grades will be chosen. Working consistently on the blog will obviously give you a significant advantage, both in terms of course credits, but also in terms of material that will help you develop your final essay.

Please note: these deadlines are absolute. Late contributions won’t be credited. Please factor in the potential for technological hazards. 

Evaluation system for the blog:

The blog will not be marked in detail, but each contribution will be graded, according to the system below.

5 –       The contribution is on time, accurate, and complete. More than this, it is well written, inspired, and thoughtful. It exceeds expectation.

4 –       The contribution is on time, accurate, and reasonably complete. It is well written and does a good job of representing the text accurately.

3 –       The contribution is submitted on time, but offers superficial, basic coverage of the text. Alternatively, potentially good insights are buried in careless or hasty expression.

0 –       The contribution is not submitted on time. Alternatively it is submitted, but offers no sensible engagement with the given texts, or the writing is incomprehensible.

Requirements for blog posts:

There are four different categories of posts:

1)   Article summaries ( + - 300 - 600 words).

Here, the writer will summarize the main points or central argument of an academic article. These posts must be formally written, and properly referenced. They will be judged on the accuracy and clarity with which key issues raised by the text are explained.

We will use these summaries for class discussion, and consider what the article reveals about the discourses at work in a particular text. What are these discourses? How do they limit what can be said in the primary text?  

2)   Book reviews or Movie reviews.  (300 – 600 words).

These posts comment on the primary texts under discussion. (These are: Woman and Labour, “A Policy in Favour of Protection”, “The Buddhist Priest’s Wife”, Manly Pursuits, Black Hamlet, Journey to the Kalahari, Soul of the White Ant, and Dusklands.)

Quote and analyze by all means, although the register need not be highly academic. A broad point of focus will be specified in the course outline.

You should try to both explain the text’s key concerns, and illustrate these briefly by means of an example. Again, we will use these in class to consider how the book reflects the discourses of the day.

3)   Gossip column/Trivia section.  (A paragraph or two).

These posts can be written in a less formal, more journalistic style, and can include any content of interest, including pictures, anecdotes, or “society-page” style gossip, or internet links.

Here you can comment on any of the historical figures in the texts you are reading, on the authors themselves, or on any relevant aspect of their lives and times – people they were reading, people they knew, loved or hated, etc.

I will make suggestions for each week, but you are encouraged to pursue your own obsessions that may arise from the texts.  You are not limited here to a discussion of characters – you might want to do research into a scientific discovery, a popular idea, or a developing technology (an example of this would be the changes in photographic technology in Manly Pursuits, or the meditations on weaponry and war technologies in Dusklands).

This posting can be as “chatty” and entertaining as suits your taste. Feel free to speculate on the motives or feelings of your characters, or to explore their friendships and influences. The ultimate point of this column is to help you understand how the discussions of the day feed into the writing and shape the limits of what can be said. But don’t feel limited by this broader concern – indulge your interests, and go into as much detail as pleases you, however meaningless it seems.

4)      Responses to the Wednesday Posts:

 ·         Each student must comment at least twice in each week.

·         You can either comment on both posts, or you can direct questions or comments to the author of a particular post, and then respond further to whatever answers may come.  

·         Everyone should check the blog at least once a day between Wednesday and Friday. I will gladly credit discussions that go past the weekly deadline, as long as the first two posts come in before the Friday deadline. 

-  Please be aware that your responses will be credited, as well as your posts.

You can, of course, post as often as you like. However the the minimum requirements are:

·            3 postings of “Article summaries” per student throughout the course.

·            3 “Book reviews” in which you comment on the primary texts.

·            3 postings towards the “Gossip column” per student.

If you make more than the required number of posts, the best grades will be used in calculating the final mark.

Eugene Marais' "The Soul of the Ape": A review of Chapter 5: Addiction and Depression

Eugene Marais’, The Soul of the Ape, holds an interesting chapter titled, Addiction and Depression, in which he discusses addiction to narcotics, which he calls poisons, and how depression could be linked to the cause of this addiction within the Chacma. He examines the Chacma’s addiction to certain fruit and draws comparisons to the phenomenon of addiction among humans. How he draws this comparison is definitely worth exploring, and the language which he uses within this chapter also differs from his other chapters, and the change in writing is quite fascinating.   

The Soul of the Ape, is a document of the observation of the Chacma baboons in the Northern Transvaal’s Waterberg over a period of 3 years by Marais, and is written in the form of various essays. Eugene’s manner of writing is simply exceptional, transforming a scientific undertaking, into a wonderful narrative which depicts the relationship he shared with a group of baboons as their observer. His writing is both captivating and shows his intensive study of the group’s behaviour. In the fifth chapter, “Addiction and Depression”, his manner of writing changes somewhat compared to other chapters, and he essentially makes the language of the chapter equally more complex and vulnerable. It is this change of writing that is so interesting and which potentially reveals more about his own addiction to morphine than in his previous chapters.

Unlike in his other chapters, he focuses more on the human component of addiction and how it comes about. A substance used for the purpose of intoxication, or as Marais referred to them as, “poisons”, were essentially used for the, “purpose of creating euphoria”, in order to alleviate the user of mental or emotional pain (101).  Marais continues to comment on the use of ‘poisons’ by humans and their leading to addiction, throughout the entirety of the chapter, paying very little attention to the chacma which he is studying. When he does speak of the chacma however, his language is fused with fascination behind the baboons’ ability to get addicted to certain fruit, alcohol and tobacco. What he does presume is that the chacma is in, “some degree liable to the same quality of suffering which is undoubtedly an attribute of human consciousness”, as chacma bound in captivity had more of a disposition to form addictions and addictive habits (Marais 113).

While it would make sense to contrast and compare the behaviour of chacma and their addiction forming capabilities to those of humans and their addiction, Marais takes it further and discusses Hesperian Depression within humans and within the chacma. It is within this comparison of depression among the two species where Marais uses the analogy of the progression of the day to explain how depression is, “tidal in character” (Marais 114). He beautifully explains depression as being at it’s, “lowest ebb” at sunrise or during early morning and it being influence being strongest, it’s, “highest flow”, being at the setting of the sun (Marais 114). Marais, only as he could, draws beautifully on the progression of the day, of light turning into dark, to evaluate and describe the manner in which depression works. It is difficult to read this chapter and not feel Marais’ association with the chacma; he did, after all, suffer from depression and an addiction to morphine and that struggle which he endured, is displayed by his subjects and is given form by his writing.

While his theories may not have been perfect, his writing of this chapter is absolutely wonderful. The chapter is quite dense and complex holding many ideas and thoughts, which requires the reader to unpack the chapter through multiple rereading’s of the chapter and book itself. Exceptionally well written, engaging and representing various new ideas about the chacma, the chapter, “Addiction and Depression”, is one of eleven chapters to truly captivate the reader.

     

Work cited

Marais, Eugene and Robert Ardrey. “Addiction and Depression.” The Soul of the Ape. Ed. Eugene Marais. Cape Town: Human & Rousseau, 2006. 101-120. Print.

Daswa: Witchcraft vs Faith

Benedict Daswa (16 June 1946-2 February 1990) was a South African school teacher and principal. He and his family belonged to a tribe called Lemba tribe in rural Venda, which follows many Jewish customs.

At the age of 17 he converted to Catholicism after being introduced to the faith when he visited a friend in Johannesburg. After taking up the faith he decided to teach Catholicism to young members of his community.

Thunderstorms and lightning struck the area of his tribe in November 1989 going on to January 1990, causing a group of local community leaders to think that the lightning occurred because of magic. The leaders collected R5 from all community members to pay for a “sangoma” (a traditional healer) who would find the “witch” responsible for the thunder and lightning storms. Daswa believed that the storms were a natural phenomena and said that a traditional healer constituted witchcraft and this went against his faith and beliefs. He, thus, refused to pay the money for the traditional healer.

Members of the community were offended by his decision. On the evening of February 2, 1990, Daswa was driving home alone after taking his sister-in-law and her son to the doctor. He came across tree logs that blocked the road. Daswa got out of the car to investigate when a mob of people came up to him and started to beat and stone him. He ran away but was soon trapped, his final words were “God, into your hands, receive my spirit” before he was hit over the head with a “knobkerrie”.

After his death, the Catholic Church viewed him as a martyr for his faith and his martyrdom was confirmed in 2015 and on September, 13, 2015 he was beatified in Limpopo. He is now known as Blessed Benedict Daswa in the Catholic Church.

Further Reading:

Benedict Daswa Archive

http://www.scross.co.za/category/benedict-daswa/

Benedict Daswa – A Saint for South Africa

http://benedictdaswa.org.za/