Paper 5 M adness and Free Association in Evelyne Mpoudi N golle’s Sous la cendre le feu UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY tm IBADAN JOURNAL OF EUROPEAN STUDIES UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY Ibadan Journal of European Studies No 7, April, 2007 ISSN 1595-0344 A Journal of the Department of European Studies University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY I B A D A N J O U R N A L O F E U R O P E A N STUDIES ( IS S N 1 5 9 5 -0 3 4 4 ) , a publication of the Department of European Studies, University of Ibadan, is published once a,year in November. Each issue is a Collection of original research papers on all aspects o f European civilization, such as language, culture, linguistics, literature, history, politics and institutions including Modem European and African thoughts. The aim of the journal is to encourage scholarship in all its richness and diversity. The journal is formally recognized as a publication of international standards.. Prof. Walderman Pfeiffer Prof. F. A. Irele Prof. L.J. Munoz Prof. Segun Odunuga Prof. Dapo Adelugba Prof. (Mrs) Biola Odejide Prof. Flavien Gbeto Advisory Board iffer Germany USA University o f Ibadan University o f Ibadan University o f Ibadan University o f Ibadan Dr. Yaroslav Koval Universite d'Abomey-Calavy, Cotonou Pushkin Institute, Russia Editorial Board Prof.; (Mrs) Aduke Adebayo Dr. L.B. Ayelem Dr. S;A. Ademuyiwa Dr. R.A. Sanusi Mrs. M. Akinduro Member Member Member Member Chairperson UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY Issue Editor Dr Babatunde AYELERU University o f Ibadan, Ibadan. Subscription Rate Individual N 1,000.00 Institutition N 1,500.00 Unit Price Nigeria Elsewhere N 1,000.00 $ 15.00 UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY Notes for C ontributors Articles should be written in English, French, German or Russian, typed double space on A4 paper and should not exceed 15 pages. The MLA style of documentation should be used. 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The essays cover different areas like Language and Language Teaching, Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, Literary Criticism and Cultural Studies are well researched. We must apologise for the delay in publication of these issues. It is mainly due to the long peer-review process occasioned by the tight schedule of our reviewers. While assuring you that the next issue will be promptly published, we sincerely believe'that you will enjoy the articles which are carefully and meticulously selected for these issues. Babatunde Ayeleru, Ph.D Reader in French, Applied Linguistics & African Literatures UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY Notes on Contributors Dr. Babatunde Ayeleru, Department of European Studies, University of Ibadan, Ibadan. Dr. Sule E. Egya, Georg Forster Post-Doc. Research Fellow, Department of African Studies, Humboldt University, Berlin Richard Oko Ajah, Department of Foreign Language, University ofUyo. " •‘•JC.-.’ Wumi Olayinka, Department o f European.Studies, University of Ibadan, Ibadan. Amos lyiola, University of Ibadan, Ibadan Dr. Dele Adeyanju, Department o f English, University of Ibadan, Ibadan. Dr. Bidemi Okanlawon, Department o f English, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. Prof. Medard Dominique Bada, University d ’ Abomey-Calavi Dr. Adenike Akinjobi & Akpoghene Ilolo, University of Ibadan and Western Delta University, Oghara Dr. Folorunso Taiwo, Classics Department University of Ibadan Prof. Segun Odunuga, University o f Ibadan, Ibadan Dr. Salawu Adewumi, Department o f French, University of Ado-Ekiti, Ado-Ekiti. Dr. Christopher Agulanna, Department o f Philosophy, University o f Ibadan, Ibadan. Dr. C. B. N. Ogbogbo & D. O. Ajayi, Department of History University o f Ibada, Ibadan. Dr. Oyewo Olusola Oyeyinka, Department o f Communication and Language Arts, University of Ibadan, Ibadan. Dr. Goke Akinboye, Department o f Classics, University of Ibadan, Ibadan. Dr. Ramohu Sanusi, Department o f European Studies University o f Ibadan, Ibadan. UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY Contents Notes for Contributors From the Editors Desk •A Postmodernist Deconstruction of Beyala's C'est le soleil qui m 'a brulee and Shoneyin's The Secret Lives o f Baba Segi's Wives Babatunde Ayeleru . . : ............................................. 1 The Dialogic Mode in Agatu Oral Poetry Sule E. E g y a ............................................................. 16 L'Inaletrangete : Representation de 1'exil dans les CEuvres de Tahar Ben Jelloun. Richard Oko A ja h ........................................................ 33 Madness and Free Association in Evelyne Mpoudi Ngolle's Sous la cendre, le feu Eyiwumi Bolutito O layinka........................................... 54 Lecture realiste magique dans Cent ans de solitude - De Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Amos Damilare Sangotade.............................................. 73 .Expressing the African Culture Through Taboo Phenomenon in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart: Sociolinguistic and Pedagogical Implications. Dele Adeyanju ................................................................ 84 Modal Auxiliaries in the English of Some Selected Nigerian Secondary School Students Bidemi O kanlaw on........................................................ 98 Evaluation des competences linguistique en Franqais Au Benin : cas des eleves de la commune de Glazoue Medard Dominique B A D A .............................................. 115 UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY Reduction of Vowels in Nigerian English: an Isoko English Example Adenike Akinjobi and Akpoghene Ilolo............ A Marxist Material/Historical Reading of Juvenal Satires. Folorunso T aiw o............................... . Poland, Visegrad Group and Russia Segun Odunuga........ ........... The Subject Matter in Translation Adewuni Salaw u............................... The Moral Ramifications of Whistle-blowing: An Applied Ethical Approach Christopher A gulanna............................................... Historicizing Africa's International Economic Relations C.B.N. Ogbogbo andD.O. Ajayi .................................. Rumour and its challenges in Sustainable Development Olusola Oyeyinka Oyewo.............................................. Europe in Africa: Some System of Roman Economic Colonization in Africa. Goke Akinboye...................., 150 172 187 199 228 246 259 140 La langue d ’Ahmadou Kourouma dans Allah n ’est pas oblige et.. Ramonu Sanusi.................................. 279 UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY M adness and Free Association in Evelyne M pondi Ngolle s Sous la cendre lefeu W umi OLAYINKA Department o f European Studies University o f Ibadan Tel: 08023685603 or 08094655798 Email: wumiolayinka@yahoo.co.uk Abstract ... •"* Psychoanalytic insight facilitates the analysis of works of art through which literary analysts are able to access the psyche of authors and their characters. (M.M. Schwartz and D. Willbem: 1982). One of such psychoanalytic devices is free association. Free association technique applied during psychotherapy sessions provides a royal road into the psyche of humans, as can be observed in Mina's case in Mpoudi Ngolle's Sous la cendre lefeu. This paper concludes that repression of negative and unpleasant experiences lived within patriarchal limitations, as promoted by African male hegemonic traditions, subjects women-victim of oppression to anxiety disorder which may occur in the form of d e p r e s s i o n , s c h i z o p h r e n i a , o b s e s s i v e d i s o r d e r s , depersonalisation, derealisation among others. It seems natural to think about literature in terms of dreams. Like dreams, literary works are fictions, inventions of the mind that, although based on reality, are by definition not literally true. Like a literary work, a dream may have some truth to tell, but, like a literary work, it may need to be interpreted before that truth can be grasped. (R.C. Murfin, (internet article: accessed 30 May 2011: 502) Introduction Evelyne Mpoudi Ngolle, a Cameroonian novelist, was greatly influenced by her English teacher, to whom she dedicated her debut novel, Sous la Cendre le feu (1990) in which Mina, the UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY mailto:wumiolayinka@yahoo.co.uk Ibadan Journal of European Studies, No 7, 2007. 55 novel's protagonist suffers from trauma and madness' in her matrimonial home. ( 1 - VFree association is a method by which psychoanalysts allow patients suffering from anxiety disorders to talk freely about threatening, unresolved and unpleasant conflicts they experience in life, be it in their childhood or adulthood. If for any reason ah individual is unable to express repressed unpleasant negative experience or ungratified libido, Freud claims that this results in anxiety disorders and by reliving these repressed feelings duripg psychotherapy sessions, the patient is able to gradually lead a normal life again. This method has been skilfully applied by Evelyne Mpoudi Ngolle in Sous la cendre for, Mina, at the end of the novel is able to lead a normal life after she has undergone psychotherapy sessions under the surveillance o f a psychotherapist, Dr Lobe. Many African feminist writers who have treated the theme of madness suffered by women in their literary texts have also named patriarchy as one of the primary causes of women's mental debilities (Osaki, 2002). In this category, we find Buchi Emecheta in The Joys o f Motherhood, Ama Ata Aidoo in Anowa, Mariama Ba in Un chant ecarlate, Bessie Head in A Question o f Power (1974), and Calixthe Beyala in Tu t'appelleras Tanga, among others. Moreover, the importance of madness of women as portrayed in African and Caribbean women's writings is underscored by Veit-Wild in Writing Madness: Borderlines o f the Body in African Literature (2006) and Lyons Tobert (2007) in her unpublished dissertation entitled Making Sense o f Madness: A Study o f the Theme o f Madness in Selected Novels o f Mariama Ba, Ken Bugul, and Myriam Warner-Vieyra where they each respectively explore the theme of gendered violence as a precursor to madness in women in patriarchal settings. Madness is a mental way of functioning in terms of conduct and thought behaviour which society adjudges abnormal, defective, aberrant, bizarre and undesirable Osaki, (2002). While it may be UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY Wumi OLAYINKA 56 argued that there is no fixed definition of madness, Lilian Feder's definition as quoted by Osaki (2002) will be adopted in this paper because o f its aptness in describing Mina's psychological state in Sous la cendre. Madness, is thus defined as: a state in which unconscious processes predominate over conscious ones to the extent that they control them and determine perceptions of and responses to experience that, judged by prevailing standards o f logical thought and relevant emotion, are confused and inappropriate (internet article accessed on 18 August 2011). Like the feminist authors cited above, Ngolle presents her protagonist, Mina, as a psychological wreck who could have been m entally destroyed but for tim ely psychotherapeutic interventions. These psychotherapeutic interventions are what one can regard as the act o f telling otherwise known as talking therapy, according to Bouchard (2007). In keeping with Irene Assiba d’Ameilda’s opinion, Bouchard (2007) claims that “the act o f telling produces extraordinary results... It brings forth life, liberates, restores sanity and ensures immortality” (65). Through this act o f telling, Mina recounts her story in a narrative method that skilfully applies psychotherapeutic technique of free association. With this technique, Dr Lobe is able to dig into Mina's subconscious: ... Vous savez, les problemes les plus graves qui secouent le psychisme de l'adulte-ont souvent leurs racines dans leur enfance. Si nous gardions intactes nos souvenirs d'enfance, peut-etre serions-nous en mesure de mieux expliquer certains de nos comportements d'adultes (90). ... You know, the greatest problems that shake the psyche of an adult often have their roots in their childhood. If we kept our childhood memories intact, perhaps would we be capable of explaining some of our adulthood behaviours. (My translation). UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY Ibadan Journal of European Studies, No 7, 2007. 57 Mpoudi Ngolle, in an interview with Amina (May 1991), affirms that people are often different from what they appear to be on the outside. This statement adequately underscores the author's presentation of Djibril Mohammadou's personality, and, of course, Mina's father: Ce n'estpaspar hasard. Le titre etait deja trouve depuis le debut de l'histoire. La cendre parait froide, mais dessous il y a de la braise. Les gens cachent en eux ce qu'ils sont vraiment, mais on le decouvre tot ou tard, meme s'il n'y a qu'illusion(83). It is not by hazard. The title was already discovered from the beginning of the story. Ash appears cold, but underneath, there are live coals. People hide in them what they truly are, but one discovers it sooner or later, even if it is only an illusion (My translation). The title o f the novel seems, therefore, to have been chosen as a result o f human nature that is in most cases characterized by hypocrisy and generally man's propensity for doing good and bad. Ngolle seems to be affirming in Sous la cendre that the evil that man is cannot be hidden just as the smoke cannot be hidden, and that, no matter how good a human being tries to be, his or her real personality comes to the surface in a matter o f time, doing away with the persona in critical moments. In tandem with Ngolle's philosophical disposition towards man's unpredictable character, Mina makes a confession of what will truly be Djibril Mohammadou's human nature full of deception and contradiction to what his physical mien appears to depict. Tout mon probleme est la : dans le contraste qui existe entre Djibril tel qu'il se montre aux autres, et le Djibril reel, que je pense etre la seule a connaitre. C'est ahurissant qu'un individu soit capable d'une telle duplicite; pourtous ceux qui connaissent je devrais dire croient connaitre Djibril Mohamadou, il s'agit d'un homme admirable : calme, reflechi, gentil, d'une serviabilite a nulle autre pareille, qui ne ferait pas de mal UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY Wumi OLAYINKA 58 a une mouche ; il ne sort de sa reserve que dans le cadre de sa profession, et l'ondit volontiers de lui qu'il est l'un des meilleurs avocats de la ville de Douala. Dans ce contexte, il passe aisement pour un bon mari et un bon pere de famille. Du reste, il s'arrange pour que cela apparaisse ainsi, et j'ai toujours ete consciente du fait que j'aurais beaucoup de mal a faire admettre que l'homme que j'ai epouse est tout a fait different de celui que tout le mondeconnait. (7-8). ; ’ ■ '• A Y . All my problem lies there : in the contrast that exists between Djibril and how he presents himself to others, and the real Djibril, that I think I'm the only one to know. It is bewildering that an individual is capable of such a duplicity; for all those who know I should say who believe they know Djibril Mohamadou, he is an admirable man, calm, reflected, kind, agreeably comparable to none, who would not hurt a fly; he only goes out of his cocoon for professional reasons, one would say gladly of him that he is one ofthe best lawyers of Douala. In this context, he easily passes for a good husband and a good father. As for what remains, it's only a simulacrum, and I've always been conscious ofthe fact that it would be very difficult for me to admit that the man I married is completely different from the one the whole world knows (My translation). Journey from sanity to madness Using the foregoing as theoretical underpinning, this paper focuses on the psychological significances o f free association in Evelyne Mpoudi Ngolle's Sous la cendre. Mina exists in two opposing modern but traditionally male-dominated worlds of emerging modern Cameroonian milieu and the traditional one. Young Mina is brought up in a supposedly 'monogamous' Christian family. As will be observed later, the core of Mina's eventual psychological disintegration is not farfetched from the notorious African patriarchal practices which allow men to relish in both unquestioned traditional polygamy and “modern polygamy”. “modem polygamy” we mean the habit of most UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY Ibadan Journal of European Studies, No 7, 2007. 59 African men keeping illicitly consummated marital and or sensual relationships with other women either than then legal spouses. Patriarchal practices in this sense also do not exclude the constriction and preclusion ofjuvenal freedom of speech. At age sixteen, Mina marries a young, pleasant, vibrant, and handsome man called Djibril Mohammadou, a Cameroonian from the Islamic north. Early in her childhood, Mina discovers to her chagrin that the angelic fascination she has for her father as God incarnate on earth is nothing but a farce, when, on an eventful day, it comes to her knowledge that her father is not the saint she believes him to be: ... eh bien, dans ma tete d'enfant, ce Pere, je l'identifiais a mon pere, inconsciemment. Je n'ai jamais pense que mon pere etait Dieu, mais par je ne sais quelle logique puerile, je me disais qu'il etait son representant, qu'il etait l'imageterrestre de ce Pere que Ton ne peut ni voir, ni entendre, ni toucher... des lors, je le croyais incapable de toutes ces mauvaises choses que Ton racontait sur tel ou tel autre voisin : le mensonge, le vol, l'infidelite, la medisance, la mechancete et que sais-je encore! (80). ... well, in my childish imagination, I identify this Father to my father, unconsciously. I have never thought that my father was God, but by some sort of juvenile logic, I told myself that he was his incarnate, that he was the earthly image of this Father who one neither sees nor hears, nor touches ... since then, I believed him to be incapable of all these stories of evils that people circulated about such or such other neighbour: lie, theft, infidelity, scandal, wickedness, and what more! (My translation). Mina's shocking discovery of her father's illicit amorous affair with her mother's friend sentences her to a psychological trauma she finds difficult to express to anyone until adulthood when her mental health gives way leading to her admission into a UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY Wumi OLAYINKA 60 psychiatric hospital where she confesses to Dr Lobe, the psychoanalyst, who takes her through several sessions of psychotherapy. Shortly before Mina's discovery of her father's love escapades, she suspects that her parents must be experiencing turmoil as she interrogates her mother one day on her return from school “Maman? ... Papa et toi vous allez divorcer? (83). Mother? ... Father and you, are you getting divorced? (My translation). Rather than confide in her, Mina's mother refuses to bring her to the light o f the goings-on in the family but would condemn her: D'ou te vient une telle idee ? Vous les enfants d'aujourd'hui, vous n'avez peur de rien, et les mots qui sortent de votre bouche sont plus grands que vous. Cours deposer ton cartable et va ou je t'ai envoyee, gronda-t- elle...(84). Where do you get such an idea from? You children of nowadays, you fear nothing, and-the words that come out of your mouth are bigger than you. Run and drop off your folder and go where I sent you, she snarled (My translation). Mina obviously becomes disillusioned as a result of her mother's reaction to her question and worries. She declares, in a hopeless tone, the root cause o f her psychological trauma and her future psychological imbalance: m*0 Ma mere avait reagi violemment et n'avait pas repondu a ma question du tout, j'acquis ainsi la conviction que j 'avais ff ole la verite, et cela ne fit qu'accroitre ma peur de l'avenir. Et si mes parents se separaient eux aussi ? Si je me retrouvais un j our comme Prisca ? Une semaine plus tard, j 'assistai sans l'avoir vraiment voulu a une scene qui Vint, aggraver cette angoisse viscerale qui m'habitait depuis un moment (84). My mother reacted violently and did not respond to my question at all, thus, I became convinced that I had slightly touched the truth, and that only amplified my UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY Ibadan Journal of European Studies, No 7, 2007. 61 fear of the future. And if my parents were separated also? If I found myself one day like Prisca? One week later, I witnessed without having truly wanted to, a scene which aggravated this visceral anguish which I harboured for some time (My translation). Apart from her disillusionment and anguish, Mina becomes a victim of this familial crisis, a crisis which she is incapable of surmounting and ends up burying it in her subconscious. This event will eventually have tremendous negative psychological effects on her and will be the source o f her anxiety disorder as the protagonist herself remarks: Cette periode de crise prit fin sans que je m'en sois rendu compte ... bref, tout etait rentrer dans l'ordre. Mais pas pour moi, j'etais encore accrochee a la rancoeur gardee de cette periode de crise, je ne comprenais pas qu'ils aient pu, mon pere et ma mere, passer 1'eponge sur des faits qui m'avaient si profondement marquee (86-87). This period of crisis ended without me realising it ... •briefly, everything went back to order. But not for me, I still held on to the rancour of this period of crisis, I did not understand that my father and my mother, could treat with levity the actual events that profoundly marked my life (My translation). Subsequently, four other major similarly depressing events occur in Mina's life, which by implication, render her psychically vulnerable to mental atrophy coupled with the crises above. The first o f these four events is Mina's teenage pregnancy, as a result o f her unprotected first attempt at sexual intercourse with her first boyfriend, Joel Edimo, a young medical student in the university who, during a casual holiday acquaintance, sleeps with Mina and impregnates her. This throws Mina into an abysmal dismay: ... il avait fallu que je rencontre Joel. Je me demandais maintenant ce qui avait pu me scduire en lui, au point de me faire oubliertous mes bons principes. Apres lui avoir cede une fois, je m'etais rctractcc ct n'avais plus voulu le UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY Wumi OLAYINKA 62 voir dans l'intimite, effrayee par ce que nous venions de faire et deipue de n'avoir rien ressenti de ce que j'avais lu dans les romans. Naivement, j'avais cm qu'en arretant la mon experience, j'allais tout effacer comme sur une ardoise magique. Helas, les consequences de mon inconduite allaient peut-etre marquer toutemon existence. (38) ... it became necessary for me to meet- Joel. 1 wondered • • what could have seduced me in him, to the point of forgetting all my good principles. After having allowed him once, I was retracted from him and no longer wanted to be intimate with him, frightened by what we had just done and disappointed for not having felt any of those things I read in novels. Naively, I had believed that ending my experience there, I was going to erase everything like a magic slate. Alas, the consequences of my conduct were perhaps going to mark the totality o f my existence (38). To compound her malaise, Joel refuses to accept responsibility for this pregnancy but by share providence, Djibril Mohammadou, who falls in love with Mina at first sight when they met at Sylvie's birthday party, accepts to father the unborn child. Mina's marriage to Djibril is initially what one can describe as an exciting and exhilarating one until the intrusion of Djibril's sister, Hadja, who unfortunately plays the role o f female patriarchal agency. It would be pertinent to allude to the negative turn of events during the visit of Hadja to the couple's family because it is at this point that the couple starts to gradually drift apart. Consequently, the atmosphere in Djibril and Mina's home becomes heavy, lacking the usual delight and spark; the love they share for each other and their children begins to fade away. The strain in Mina and Hadja's relationship becomes more tense by the day until both women stop talking to each other, and when UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY Ibadan Journal of European Studies, No 7, 2007. 63 they do, it is in monosyllables. Mina remarks this uncomfortable situation: Cela dura ainsi trois jours, au cours desquels l'atmosphere s'alourdit progressivement a la maison : Hadja ne faisait que des apparitions sporadiques, principalement pour aller aux toilettes, et alors elle traversait ostensiblement la cuisine, ignorant completement ma presence, repondant a peine a mon bonjour(lll). That lasted for three days, in the course of which the ' atmosphere grew progressively heavy in the house: Hadja only made sporadic appearances, mainly to go to the toilet, and then she ostensibly passed through the kitchen, completely ignoring my presence, hardly responding to my greetings (My translation). The altercations that ensue between Hadja and Mina as a result of the former's intrusion into the domestic affairs of Djibril and Mina and the cowardly manner in which Djibril handles this challenge would be the first indicator of the weakling Djibril Mohammadou truly is as well as the overall effect of the vicissitudes of the influence o f extended family members in a modem African home setting within patriarchal confines. From the passage quoted below, Djibril's inability to keep his sister at bay from their marital space is highly resented by Mina: Parallelement, Djibril devenait de plus en plus irascible, s'emportant pour un rien. II ne jouait meme plus avec les enfants comme avant, et restait longtemps plonge dans la lecture de documents qu'il rapportait de plus en plus nombreux a la maison.... Je voyais bien que devant cette grande soeur qui l'avait eleve parce que sa propre mere etaif restee longtemps souffrante apres sa naissance, Djibril perdait tous ses moyens ; elle n'avait qu’a dire un motpour que toutes les paroles dc revolte preparecs par Djibril rentrent dans sa gorge. Sa (c-a-d Hadja) seule presence semblait lc paralyser, e'etait ahurissant (111). UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY Wurai OLAYINKA 64 Similarly, Djibril became more and more irritable, flaring up at nothing. He was no longer playing with the children as before, and remained immersed in reading documents he brought home more and more. ... I observed quite well that in the presence of this big sister who raised him because his real mother was ill for a long time after his birth, Djibril lost all his senses; she only had to pronounce a word for Djibril to swallow all the speeches of revolt he had prepared. Her (i.e.; .Hadja) simple presence seems to paralyse him, it is bewildering . (My translation). Furthermore, Mina's discovery of Djibril's attempt to have sex with Essebe, her sister, leading to the two sisters' bitter separation, contributes to Mina's nervous breakdown. The final straw that will break the camel's back is when Mina discovers that Djibril rapes their daughter Fanny, at age twelve. The rape of Fanny by Djibril catalyzes the eruption of previous contacts Mina has had with phobia and depression generating objects or situations in childhood. J'etais dans la situation d'une personne qui a tellement bien cache un objet auquel elle tient, qu'elle se trouve ensuite dans l'incapacite de le retrouver. J'avais ferme une porte dans mon cerveau, et j'en avais egare la clef. Depuis un certain temps, j'essayais de forcer la porte, mais mes efforts s'averaient vains. A certains moments, parfois alors que je ne m'y attendais pas du tout, la porte s'entrouvrait un petit peu, et des images sans suite logique apparaissaient dans mon esprit embrouille: ma fille Fanny, les deux betes en furie qui m'avaient tant effrayee quand je n'etais qu'une petite fille, puis Djibril, et enfin le gouffre infmiment profond dans lequel je sombrais (191). I was in the state of a person who very much hides an obj ect which she clings to, which she then finds herself unable to find. I have locked a door in my brain, and I have misplaced the key. For sometime, I tried to force the door open, but my efforts were in vain. At certain UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY Ibadan Journal of European Studies, No 7, 2007. 65 moments, at times when I was not expecting it at all, the door opened a little bit, and images without a logical sequence appeared in my embroiled mind: my daughter Fanny, the two furious animals which so much scared me when I was only a little girl, then Djibril, and at last the infinitely profound gulf inside which I foundered (My translation). Mina's internal turmoil as a result of the combination of these unpleasant experiences throws her into a state of mental confusion. Mina is aware she is hiding and holding on to something, but she is unable to locate or decipher what this trouble is because it is locked up in her subconscious. Deep inside her brain is this sentiment of feeling of loss locked up. She knows she seems to have lost the key of her chagrin which should bring her relief and healing. This experience is typical of individuals subjected to torment as a result of repression of unpleasant experience to the subconscious within the principles of Freudian psychoanalytic theory o f the topography of the mind; until this lost key to the royal road o f the psyche is found, such an individual remains in a psychologically imbalanced state. Mina's ability to relive these experiences will be the key to her mental health returning to normalcy, due to the psychotherapeutic sessions she undergoes with Dr Lobe. During these sessions, she is able to gradually relate threatening unresolved and unacceptable past conflicts which she has repressed into her subconscious: Ce fait, je crois que c'est celui que le docteur Lobe attend. Je l'avais enfoui au plus profond de moi-meme, pour ne jamais le reveler a personne, je l'y avais tellement enferme que ma propre memoire se refusait a le laisser remonter a la surface. Et alors s'etait reveillee la chose qui hibemait en moi, et que mes responsabilites familiales m'avaient permis d'oublier: ma vieille angoisse avait repris possession de moi, etait remontee lentement, envahissant mon etre tout entier, rongeant mon cerveau. Et c'est pourquoi aujourd'huije suis devenue folle (190-191). UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY Wumi OLAYINKA 66 This fact, I believe is the one Dr Lobe awaits. I have buried it in the most profound part of me, never to reveal it to anyone, I have so much locked it up that my own memory refused to bring it to the surface. And so it was that the thing that hibernated in me was revealed, and that which my domestic responsibilities made me forget: my ancient anguish had taken possession of me, it had resurfaced slowly, invading, ■ my being in its entirety, devouring my brain. • And today, it is the cause of my madness-; (My translation) •• These revelations Mina makes, however, with what is known, in psychotherapeutic terminology, as resistance (Feldman, 1996),' because Mina is, once in a while, unable to either discuss or remember some of the memories of her childhood experiences that culminate into her anxiety disorder. Dr Lobe remarks this at the end of one of Mina's psychotherapeutic sessions: Mais ne vous inquietez pas, nous prendrons le temps qu'il faut, et nous arriverons, si vous ,le voulez, a trouver ce qui vous bloque (79). But do not worry yourself, we will take the time required, and we will discover, if you want, what blocks your memory (My translation). Doris L. Obieje (2011), in her article entitled “La folie dans La Folie et la mort de Ken Bugul”, claims that depression occurs as a result of deception and is one o f the causes of madness. One is favourably disposed to agreeing with Obieje that Mina's madness must have occurred because of the deception she suffers from her significant others, firstly, her father, secondly, her husband Djibril and thirdly, her sister, Essebe, all these three having been involved in immoral sexual acts that directly affect Mina's life and mental wellbeing. Mina has thus been deceived and disappointed by several people in her life who she has found unpredictable. Especially, the male gender who all seem to be at the bottom line o f the deceptions she will ever experience in life. UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY Ibadan Journal of European Studies, No 7, 2007. 67 During a conversation between Mina and her four year old child at the very beginning o f the narrative, Mina exposes her madness as she becomes a depersonalized being, a psychological state that has rendered her family members, including her children, helpless and troubled: Dis, Maman... c’est vrai que tu es devenue folle? ... C'est done cela, les airs mysterieux que je perpois sur les visages autour de moi ; cela que masquent les regards tristes et fuyants de ma mere, de mes amies qui viennent me rendre visite a l'hopital;... c'est cela qui se projette dans les yeux de mes enfants, dont les visites sont abregees des que leur pere les sent au bord des larmes ... C'est done cela, je suis folle! (5). Mother, is it true that you are mad? ...That is it, the mysterious expressions which. I perceive on the faces around me; that which mask the sad and fleeing looks of my mother, of my friends who pay me visits at the hospital;... same proj ecf s from the eyes of my children, whose visits are shortened once their father senses they are at the brink of tears ... That is it therefore, I am mad! (My translation). Although her suffering from depersonalization disorder is interpreted as madness by Mina herself, her family members, friends and neighbours, Dr Lobe diagnoses Mina with a temporary depressive state, of which she will be cured after she has calmed down and is well rested. Despite this reassurance from her psychoanalyst, Mina remains worried and talks about her depersonalized state: Le docteur Lobe ne m'a parle que d'un etat depressif, qui necessite beaucoup de calme et de repos, raison pour laquelle je dois rester hospitalisee jusqu'a ce qu'on note une amelioration certaine. Je sens bien a certains moments, qu'il y a une ombre quelque part ; qu'une certaine partie de moi-meme m'echappe totalement.... j'ai l'impression d'avoir ete absente de mon propre corps ; je ne perqois aucun desordre precis, mais je sens UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY Wumi OLAYINKA 68 bien que quelque chose m'echappe, qu'en cherchant bien, j e finirai par trouver (5-6). Dr Lobe only told me of a depressive state, which necessitates a lot of calmness and rest, the reason for which I must remain hospitalised until a definite improvement is observed. I feel sometimes, that there is a shadow somewhere; that a certain part of .me escapes from me totally. ... I. feel as if I have been absent from my own body; I- do not perceive any • ■ precise disorder, but I feel so sure that something escapes from me, that by searching thoroughly for it, I will find it in the end (My translation). Madness resulting from having suffered from deception and betrayal o f trust is not only observed in Mpoudi Ngolle's novel. Obieje (2011) notes several other instances in the novels o f some African and Caribbean feminists. In Maryse Conde's Pays mele translated as Land o f Many Colours, for example, she makes particular reference to Belle, who becomes mad because her lover deceives her. Mireille, in Mariama Ba's posthumously published novel, Un chant ecarlate translated as Scarlet Song, declines to a state of madness because of her husband's unfaithfulness to her. Mireille ends up poisoning her baby and stabbing her husband, Ousmane Gueye, to death. In the case of Mpoudi Ngolle's Sous la cendre, Mina, the protagonist becomes depersonalized, often experiencing an escape from her real self. However, with the application of psychotherapy, she receives a cure, and the novel ends with the couple happily reunited. Obieje (2011) referring to Cazenave, observes with respect to postcolonial African feminist writings that: Un panorama de la litterature negro-africaine des annees 8 0 montre un certain nombre de romans dont le protagoniste est un personnage feminin en voie de depression, proche de la folie et en situation de marginalisation (93). UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY Ibadan Journal of European Studies, No 7, 2007. 69 A panorama of black-African literature of the 80s show a certain number of novels whose protagonists are female at the point of depression, close to madness and in situation of marginalization (My translation). Oppression and repression of ungratified libido and negative experiences may then be seen as a major cause of anxiety disorders in Mina because these factors seem to positively correlate. Ayo Kehinde (2006), commenting on Coetzee's In the Heart o f the Country, pinpoints the penal factors of patriarchy on women. He succinctly notes that Coetzee's text “foregrounds symptoms of madness that emerge as a result of excessive patriarchal suppression” (170) which Magda the protagonist is subjected to. Conclusion It is obvious that Mpoudi Ngolle echoes other African feminist writers who have denounced the decadent effects of patriarchy on women. In doing this however, she emulates Buchi Emecheta's philosophical disposition, as well as the feminist voices of other liberal feminist avant-garde, that African men and women need each other to stamp out obnoxious patriarchal practices in order to achieve the ideal society they require. This same suggestion has been made by Akujobi (2008) who opines that there is a link between fictional madness portrayed in literary works and real madness as it exits in the society. In her view, mad people, particularly mad women, are a source of social concerns and do constitute a nuisance to the society at large. The treatment of the theme of madness is not only restricted to the sphere o f African female writers. Maryse Conde (1993), citing an array of West Indian feminist novels that dwell on the same subject notes that “mental breakdown, madness, and eventual suicide are common themes among feminist writers. This goes a long way to confirm that female madness is preponderant in societies where sexism exists. UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY Wumi OLAYINKA 70 Although, Mpoudi Ngolle fails to create an opportunity for Mina to deal with her psychical conflicts, before her condition disintegrates into madness, through available psychological defence mechanisms of sublimation, regression, projection, dreams, parapraxes, slip of the tongue, etc, she has demonstrated that it is possible to rescue the plethora of mad. women, whose mental health have become compromised as a result of patriarchal oppression, through psychotherapy and restore them to a state o f psychological balance, ' UNIV ERSIT Y O F IB ADAN L IB RARY Ibadan Journal of European Studies, No 7, 2007. 71 References Akujobi, Remi. “Womanhood Under the Magnifying Glass:' A Look at Insanity Among Women in African Literature and Society”, OAU, Ile-Ife: Gender and Behaviour, African Journals Online (AJOL) Vol. 6 (2), (2008): 1689-1701. Ba, Mariama. Un chant ecarlate, Dakar : Les Nouvelles Editions Afri caines du Senegal, 1981. 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