Reading Nuruddin Farah: The Individual, the Novel and the Idea of Home

A close analysis of Farah's novels is used to track the contradictions implicit in the notion of the modern, disengaged self and how transformations of the novel in literary history attempt to negotiate this founding contradiction. The Somali novelist, Nuruddin Farah, is one of the most important African writers today. The central question that this book investigates is the relationship between modern identity and the novel as a genre. Nuruddin Farah's novels are shown by Moolla to encompass the history of the novel: from the 'proto-realism' of the acclaimed From a Crooked Rib to the modernism of A Naked Needle and the postmodernism of, most notably, Maps, returning almost full circle with his most recent novel Crossbones. Moolla examines his writing within the framework of Somali society and culture, Islamic traditions and political contexts, all of which are central themesin his work. She also addresses Farah's engagement with women's lives - his female characters and identities being at the heart of, rather than peripheral, to his stories - something that has distinguished him from many other male African writers. The book finally suggests that through his literary negotiation of the central contradiction of modern identity, Farah comes close to constituting a subject who no longer is transcendentally 'homeless', butfinds a home 'everywhere' - a fitting project for a writer who has been in exile for the greater part of his life. F. Fiona Moolla is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Arts at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa as well as a freelance writer and published author of short stories. South Africa and Zimbabwe (pb only): Blue Weaver Frontcover Contents Introduction Backgrounds: Orality, Feminism & Exile The Polyphonies of Farah’s Novels Novelisation & Individualisation Overview 1 Defining the Individual: Conceptual & Historical Limits Locating Ethical Sources: A Philosophical Detour The Novel Self Nation & Novel The Subject of Empire Transformations of Consciousness The Individual Unbound: Non-Modern Subjectivities Somali Heteronomy Islamic Heteronomy 2 From a Crooked Rib & the Bildungsroman: Developing the Self, Developing the Nation A Short History of the Bildungsroman: German Romantic Origins George Lukács: Bildung & Transcendental Homelessness Living with Contradiction: Franco Moretti and the Comfort of Civilisation Autonomous Personality Development in From A Crooked Rib: A Universal Law? Foreign Form, Local Content: The Example of Leopard Among the Women 3 The ‘Gynocentric’ Bildungsroman: Sardines & Gifts Trends in the Female Bildungsroman Sardines: Constructing the Self, Constructing the World Reading subjects: the novel of development in the novel of development Coming home: castles in the sky The Subject of Economies of Exchange in Gifts Mauss’s gift: from potlatch to art 4 Modernism in A Naked Needle & Sweet & Sour Milk: Irony, Morality & the Aesthetic Individualism & Textuality in A Naked Needle Postcolonial odysseys African modernism Reflexive unities: musical idealism Aestheticising time & space Aestheticising time & space Homecomings The Existential Question in Sweet & Sour Milk Linguistic materiality and linguistic transcendence: hiccuping and silence 5 Close Sesame & the Representation of Heteronomy External Ethical Sources & the Novel: Trying to Find Common Ground Ignorance is the Enemy of Love: The Example of the Unnovelistic Novel Transcendental Moral Sources & the Novelistic Hero Close Sesame and the Representation of Socially Constituted Selfhood 6 Dissolving the Boundaries of Self & Nation in Maps & Secrets Questioning Identity in Maps Affiliative Bonds in Secrets Pushing the Boundaries: Gender & Sexuality in Maps & Secrets Schizophrenia Under Scrutiny: Me, Myself & I 7 Reconstructing the Subject in the Third Trilogy Links, Knots & Crossbones Moral Vocabulary & the Associational Self in Links Trapped in the seventh circle: the moral paradoxes of individualism Islands of hope, islands of despair ‘In the sea of life enisled’: pronouns & the meeting of marges Knots & the Romance of the Postcolonial Public Sphere Variations on the theme of the public sphere Lifestyle enclaves: aestheticising/ performing the self Crossbones & Postnational Realism Networking criminality: piracy & terrorism Selfmade man – unmade man Investigative journalism & fictional realism Homecoming & the novel Conclusion Bibliography Index Backcover The Somali novelist, Nuruddin Farah, is one of the most important African writers today. The central question that this book investigates is the relationship between modern identity and the novel as a genre. Nuruddin Farah's novels are shown by Moolla to encompass the history of the novel: from the 'proto-realism' of the acclaimed From a Crooked Rib to the modernism of A Naked Needle/ and the postmodernism of, most notably, Maps, returning almost full circle with his most recent novel Crossbones. Moolla examines his writing within the framework of Somali society and culture, Islamic traditions and political contexts, all of which are central themes in his work. She also addresses Farah's engagement with women's lives - his female characters and identities being at the heart of, rather than peripheral, to his stories - something that has distinguished him from many other male African writers. The book finally suggests that through his literary negotiation of the central contradiction of modern identity, Farah comes close to constituting a subject who no longer is transcendentally 'homeless', but finds a home 'everywhere' - a fitting project for a writer who has been in exile for the greater part of his life. F. Fiona Moolla is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Arts at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa as well as a freelance writer and published author of short stories. South Africa and Zimbabwe (pb only): Blue Weaver The Somali novelist, Nuruddin Farah, is one of the most important African writers today. The central question that this book investigates is the relationship between modern identity and the novel as a genre. Nuruddin Farah's novels are shown by Moolla to encompass the history of the novel: from the 'proto-realism' of the acclaimed From a Crooked Rib to the modernism of A Naked Needle and the postmodernism of, most notably, Maps, returning almost full circle with his most recent novel Crossbones. Moolla examines his writing within the framework of Somali society and culture, Islamic traditions and political contexts, all of which are central themesin his novels. She also addresses his engagement with women's lives - his female characters and identities being at the heart of, rather than peripheral, to his stories - something that has always distinguished Farah from many other male African writers. The book finally suggests that through his literary negotiation of the central contradiction of modern identity, Farah comes close to constituting a subject who no longer is transcendentally 'homeless', but finds a home 'everywhere' - a fitting project for a writer who has been in exile for the greater part of his life. F. Fiona Moolla is a lecturer in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Western Cape in SouthAfrica as well as freelance writer and published author of short stories and novels The Somali novelist, Nuruddin Farah, is one of the most important African writers today. The central question that this book investigates is the relationship between modern identity and the novel as a genre. Nuruddin Farah's novels are shown by Moolla to encompass the history of the novel: from the 'proto-realism' of the acclaimed From a Crooked Rib to the modernism of A Naked Needle/ and the postmodernism of, most notably, Maps, returning almost full circle with his most recent novel Crossbones. Moolla examines his writing within the framework of Somali society and culture, Islamic traditions and political contexts, all of which are central themes in his work. She also addresses Farah's engagement with women's lives--his female characters and identities being at the heart of, rather than peripheral, to his stories - something that has distinguished him from many other male African writers. The book finally suggests that through his literary negotiation of the central contradiction of modern identity, Farah comes close to constituting a subject who no longer is transcendentally 'homeless', but finds a home 'everywhere' - a fitting project for a writer who has been in exile for the greater part of his life.--Amazon.com