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| Title: | Returning to the 'motherland', illusions and realities: a study of Aidoo's 'The dilemma of a ghost' and Onwueme's 'Legacies/The missing face' |
| Author: | Asiedu, Awo Mana |
| Year: | 2008 |
| Periodical: | Legon Journal of the Humanities (ISSN 0855-1502) |
| Volume: | 19 |
| Pages: | 1-19 |
| Language: | English |
| Notes: | biblio. refs. |
| Geographic terms: | Africa Ghana Nigeria |
| Subjects: | diasporas return migration drama literature Illusion in literature Reality in literature African diaspora |
| About persons: | Christina Ama Ata Aidoo (1942-) Tess Akaeke Onwueme (1955-) |
| Abstract: | Africans in the diaspora have been coming back to Africa for centuries. The 20th century saw increased interest in Africa as the home of all black people, with the work of influential black revolutionaries such as Marcus Garvey and George Padmore. Individual searches for family roots and sojourns in Africa have become increasingly common. This journey, however, has not always resulted in a satisfying experience. The reactions of Africans on the continent to their returning kin from the diaspora also needs considering. These themes are central to Nigerian writer Tess Onwueme's play 'Legacies' (1989), rewritten extensively and published as 'The missing face' in 2002, and form a large part of Ghanaian writer Ama Ata Aidoo's 'The dilemma of a ghost' (1965). This paper examines expectations of characters in these plays as they return to Africa and what they actually find once they arrive. It also highlights the attitudes of Africans on the continent towards the claim of kinship by Africans in the diaspora. Bibliogr., notes, sum. [Journal abstract] |
