The Place of Identity and Hybridity on Literary Commitment in Bessie Head's Semi autobiographical Works

Abstract

Identity emerges as a kind of unsettled space, or as an unresolved question in that space between a number of intersecting discourses. Likewise, hybridity is a concept that confronts and problematises boundaries although it does not erase them. As such, it always.implies an unsettling of identities. Thus, texts by writers of color are multiple inflected hybrids that blur but do not erase cultural differences thereby allowing for multiple crossings or intersection of meaning. In this regard, the current study examines the influence of identity on literary commitment of Bessie Head based on two texts, When rain clouds gather and Maru. In particular, the study is interested in the hybrid syncretic crossings reflected in her works and which define her commitment as a writer in the Third Space - a dimension that has so far been overlooked by critics of her literary works. In view of the current literary debate surrounding the concept of commitment in African Literature, the study also interrogates how the writer, grapples with commitment on the African literary scene and whether her works are an authentic instrument of investigating historical and social issues peculiarly African. The objectives of the study are to: interrogate Bessie Head's commitment as a writer, as a woman and as a Third World person, analyze how identity and hybridity influence her commitment in the selected texts and finally, analyze how hybridity informs the interaction of time and space in the selected texts. The texts of choice, drawn from approximately six novels and collections of short stories are significant because they are both semi-autobiographical and so are most likely 1:) express the writer's most personal conviction. For the present day scholar, a study on identity and hybridity is important because commonalities among people cannot be recognized unless difference is acknowledged. The study thus adds to the corpus of knowledge as well as creates respect for diverse opinion. It adopts the analytical research design. The primary data is generated through content analysis of the selected texts. This involves the analysis of the explicit or manifest content of the text as well as interpretation of latent content of the texts, that is, that which can be interpolated from the text but is not explicitly stated in it. This data is then coded according to thematic concerns, stylistic choices, mode of characterization and the vision of the author, The postcolonial theory, particularly, the more comprehensive comparative model that argues for features such as hybridity and syncreticity as constitutive elements of all postcolonial literatures is employed in the reading, analysis and interpretation of the selected texts. The findings reveal that Head is committed to championing the rights of the oppressed and the marginalized. She also challenges stereotypical perceptions of women through creating characters that are assertive and economically independent. In addition, she explores the women's most personal convictions thereby presenting their perception of issues as women. As a Third World writer, she explores issues of oppression, exploitation, racial discrimination, ethnic prejudice, imperialism, neocolonialism and bad leadership all of which characterize the Third World. Her identity is seen to influence her commitment in her choice of characters that like herself, are cast in the in-between space. These characters shuttle between points of inclusion and exclusion. Within this in-between or Third Space, identities defy fixity thereby remaining fickle, fluid and unstable. The quest for a universal identity that defies definitions ofrace or tribe is shrouded in shackles of prejudice enshrined in certain discriminative traditional outlook which must be dismantled to attain total liberty. The hybrid or interstitial space is created by a plurality of claims on identity resulting from the diversity of characters' culture, experience and age. Hybridity does' not merely imply blending into a comfortable synthesis; but rather also implies tolerance or mutual understanding of differences. Within the contested spaces of hybridity, time flows in a cyclic manner. Resistance to hybridity reflects stagnation of time as reflected in the character's conservative outlook towards issues. Such resistance gives vent to spaces of dehumanization, degradation and discrimination. On the other hand, hybridity is reflected as a site for social renewal, regeneration and reconstruction of identity. It transmutes time in the past in favor of a present which stresses acceptance of each other on equal terms irrespective of tribe, race or social status.