TERROR AND TRAGIC OPTIMISM AS SUSTAINING CONSTRUCTS IN CAMUS’S THE PLAGUE AND SOYINKA’S SEASON OF ANOMY

TERROR AND TRAGIC OPTIMISM AS SUSTAINING CONSTRUCTS IN CAMUS’S THE PLAGUE AND SOYINKA’S SEASON OF ANOMY

ABSTRACT

Camus’s The Plague has been read variously as an allegory of Nazi terror in France as well as a depiction of Camus’s absurdist philosophy. Many critics of Soyinka’s Season of Anomy strangely also have interpreted the text as an allegory of the Nigerian civil war in which terror is seen as a political weapon. Although these modes of reading explore the resistance to terror, critical reading of a work cannot be achieved through allegory which searches for meaning outside the text. The present reading, therefore, while distancing itself from the above perspectives, undertakes a comparative examination of the two novels in order to demonstrate that terror and tragic optimism are their sustaining constructs. The study examines tragic optimism following Nietzsche’s notion of the universal instinct. In his theory of the Ubermensch, Nietzsche presents the figure of the Overman who is able to shatter the rules of rationality that are often built on mediocrity, and set up new ones out of his own superabundant life and power. This figure views life as evolving to higher forms with the human instinct as the spear-point of this evolution. In tragedy, the Overman resembles the “titanically striving” individual who struggles because he must. Tragic optimism as a Nietzschean notion that runs in opposition to Schopenhauerean pessimism, is thus about “saying yes” to life in all its tragic realities, an idea that runs through The Plague and  Season of Anomy. Using formalist-oriented critical approach, this research shows that in the heroes’ confrontation with the “more than man”, the universal instinct and cheerfulness which they possess as heroic beings enable them to face up to what had to be done. In the paradox underlying tragic suffering in the texts, not only does the research suggest that collective suffering creates the necessity for solidarity, it also concludes that for the tragic optimist, defiant struggle is uplifting.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page——————————————————————————————– i

Approval——————————————————————————————— ii

Certification—————————————————————————————– iii

Dedication——————————————————————————————- iv

Acknowledgements——————————————————————————- v

Table of contents———————————————————————————– vi

Abstract—————————————————————————————- —– viii

CHAPTER ONE:  INTRODUCTION——————————————————– 1

1.1 Background of Study————————————————————————- 1

1.2 Statement of Problem———————————————————————— 2

1.3 Research Questions————————————————————————— 2

1.4 Significance of Study———————————————————————— 3

1.5 Purpose of Study———————————————————————— —– 3

1.6 Scope and Limitations of Study———————————————————– 4

1.7 Research Methodology———————————————————————- 5

1.8 Definition of Terms————————————————————————– 6

1.9 Structure—————————————————————————————- 6

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW—————————————— —– 8

2.1 Review on Camus’s The Plague ———————————————————- 13

2.2 Review on Soyinka’s Season of Anomy——————————————– —– 32

CHAPTER THREE: THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK—————————- 50

3.1 Tragedy as a Literary Mode—————————————————————- 51

3.2 Nietzsche’s Concept of the Overman and the Universal Instinct————- —– 72

CHAPTER FOUR:  FACING UP TO WHAT HAD TO BE DONE————- —– 95       

4.1 Tragic Optimism and What Had to be Done————————————– —– 97

4.2 Cheerfulness before the Abyss——————————————————- —– 131

CHAPTER FOUR: CONFRONTATION OF MAN WITH THE MORE

THAN MAN—————————————————————- 138

5.1 Terror and the More than Man in The Plague and Season of Anomy——– —– 139

5.2 The Inexorable and Human Cussedness——————————————– —– 153

CHAPTER SIX:  THE PARADOX OF SUFFERING———————————— 168

6.1 From Solitude to Solidarity———————————————————– —– 176

6.2 Fulfilment through Tragic Struggle————————————————- —– 184

CHAPTER SEVEN: CONCLUSION————————————————— —– 190

WORKS CITED—————————————————————————– —– 198

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of Study

Nietzsche’s theory of the Ubermensch (the Overman) shows that the superior individual, propelled by tragic optimism, struggles relentlessly and cheerfully in the face of terror, a notion that is also applicable to characters in literature. In Camus’s The Plague and Soyinka’s Season of Anomy, tragic optimism shows the hero’s defiant will to struggle in the face of terrible circumstances. Literary studies in general and tragedy in particular, grapple with this question of the impulse that propels the hero’s defiant will to struggle in the face of terror. To be sure, Aristotle in his theory of tragedy, provides the background for apprehending the hero as one who must show great courage in the face of adversity. This individual must be accounted to be “more than man” (Oedipusthe King, lines 29) in as much as the experience facing him is more than man. In a way, he connects to the figure that Nietzsche identifies as “a titanically striving individual who struggles because he must” (The Birth of Tragedy 72) and who must affirm the invincibility of the human spirit in the midst of terrible circumstances. According to Akwanya and Anohu, Nietzsche’s Superman “resembles the Aristotelian hero in so far as he stands above mediocrity but differs from him in that the latter is already realized” (44). Thus in his theory of the Ubermench (the Overman or Superman ), Nietzsche proposes that the superior individual fights defiantly and cheerfully in the face of suffering (Human All Too Human 340). Nietzsche indicates that the universal instinct, which the Overman possesses enables him find freedom in struggle, and for this fact, he cannot refuse to struggle no matter the degree of terror that faces him. His striving therefore has more to do with tragic optimism than with the outcome, an idea that is also applicable to the heroic characters in Camus’s The Plague and Soyinka’s Season of Anomy.  Tragic optimism as a Nietzschean idea that runs in opposition to Schopenhauerean pessimism is that impulse that propels the tragic optimist to “say yes” to life in all its tragic realities. And facing the situation with cheerfulness, he achieves freedom through defiant struggle. In Iliad narrative model to which these two novels belong, the career of this individual is also to bear communal burden on his wide back. This study thus applies a formalist-oriented critical approach in its comparative examination of the characters’ will to action in The Plague and Season of Anomy and argues that terror and tragic optimism are the backbones that sustain the two novels as works of art.

1.2 Statement of Problem

There have been many critical works on Albert Camus’ The Plague and Wole Soyinka’s Season of Anomy such as essays, commentaries and book-length studies and these have too often attempted to evaluate the allegorical, philosophical and political implications of the texts. However, none of these studies has been devoted to a comparison between the two texts. The literature review in this study shows that The Plague has been read variously as an allegorical representation of the terror of Nazi invasion in France as well as a depiction of Camus’s absurdist philosophy. Strangely also, Season of Anomy has been considered as an allegory of the terror of the Nigerian civil war. Although these modes of reading reflect the resistance to terror, they cannot give an account of these texts as works of art as critical reading of a work cannot be achieved through allegory which searches for meaning outside the text. The present reading, therefore, while distancing itself from the above perspectives, undertakes a comparative examination of the two novels in order to show that terror and tragic optimism are the infrastructures that sustain the texts as literary works. This art question is the yawning gap which this study attempts to fill.

 1.3 Research Questions In applying a formalist-oriented critical approach in the examination of the constructs of terror and tragic optimism in our chosen texts, this study seeks to provide answers to some fundamental questions based on the research gaps identified above. These questions focus on the comparative possibility between The Plague and Season of Anomy. It examines the propelling spirit that enables the tragic optimists to struggle defiantly in the face of terror. It seeks to know also the origin of terror in these narratives and how terror and tragic optimism are represented as sustaining constructs in the two texts. These are the basic issues of inquiry in this study.1.4 Significance of StudyThe significance of this study is that it shows that the two texts under study are tragic novels which are interconnected and self-contained as literary works. Again, the study, through the application of the formalist oriented critical approach takes the concepts of terror and optimism beyond the boundaries of psychology to the realm of mythic ideation. It reveals that the leading characters are not tragic heroes but tragic optimists, who in their very courageous spirit, especially in their facing up to what had to be done with a sense of cheerfulness, are masks of Dionysus, that god of the mysteries who bears communal burdens on his wide back. As a contribution to knowledge, apart from demonstrating that there is a possibility of comparison between The Plague and Season of Anomy, the research shows also that because the two novels reveal a concern with the helplessness of the human spirit, their underlying constructs are worthy of critical examination. Hence the thesis will serve as a useful resource material for studies in comparative literature, literary theory, literature and terrorism, studies in the novel and mythology.

1.5  Purpose of Study

The fundamental aim of the study is to analyse The Plague and Season of Anomy using formalist-oriented literary criticism, and to examine how the characters’ affirmation of struggle relates to the concept of the universal instinct which underlies Nietzsche’s Overman theory. The central objectives of this study are to investigate the spiritual endowment that enables the heroic individuals in these texts to fight on in the face of the more than man; to examine the origin of terror in The Plague and Season of Anomy in order to understand the form of narrative to which they belong; and to show that terror and tragic optimism are sustaining constructs in the novels. Our study will approach its questions from textual analysis with focus on terror and tragic optimism in order to understand the characters’ mode of being, their experiences and their struggling and infallible spirits in the face of terror.

1.6 Scope and Limitation of Study.

The primary texts for this study have been selected from Europe and Africa in order to show that literature is universal. The two texts have also been selected in view of their belongingness to the heroic narratives as well as their having come from two different cultures and written by Nobel Laureates. The two works published about 26 years apart are closely linked by their very attempt to take terror and optimism to the mythic realm. The Plague and Season of Anomy have been chosen precisely because they capture fully the idea of terror and tragic optimism and the mode through which the former provokes the latter. Our examination limits itself by dwelling essentially on terror and tragic optimism as sustaining constructs in the chosen texts using formalist oriented critical approach. Among its obvious limitations, it raises but does not address the question of tragic pessimism, even as it shows in its analysis that such a notion is present in the texts. It does not also approach its analysis of terror and optimism from a thematic or psychological perspective. The investigation also does not cover detailed analysis of other works by the authors under study but has only paid close attention to the two chosen texts. Although detailed cross references are made in the study to some other literary works, including those of the authors under study, what is attempted here is a detailed critical examination of The Plague and Season of Anomy. The limitations arise because of the nature, time and the requirements of our study.

1.7 Research Methodology

The study adopts interpretative design. It applies a qualitative research method with its data derived from books and journals. The definition of the concepts of terror and tragic optimism is based on the data derived from the secondary sources. While these concepts are used to provide the conceptual framework for the study, they also serve as tools of analysis for the primary texts. In view of the fact that this investigation takes a comparative approach, the primary texts come from two different cultural backgrounds while the focus of comparison is on the literariness of the texts and the commonality of the genre. The concepts, terror and tragic optimism derive from Nietzsche’s theory of tragedy, specifically his concept of the Ubermensch or Overman or Superman. In his theory, Nietzsche presents a figure of a superior individual who struggles defiantly and cheerfully in the face of suffering. This figure exhibits an incurable aversion to the human herd whose conventional reflexes must be transcended in the necessarily lonely pilgrimage to freedom. For him also, the great challenge of the human condition is to be able to transform the object of terror into the element in which the spirit affirms its immortality. In his capacity to endure, he shows that the life that prevails is the life of the spirit, the life in which the spirit is triumphant over the lure of terror. Tragic optimism thus is the resilient spirit of action that affirms the value of struggle in the face of necessity. Nietzsche’s idea of the universal instinct which underlies the theory of the overman is applied in the critical interpretations of the primary texts. The interpretations are based on textual analyses with a focus on terror, tragic optimism and the affirmation of struggle in the face of the inexorable. This critical examination locates the texts within the framework of the Iliad model of heroic narrative which focuses on collective struggle in the face of what had to be done.

1.8 Definition of Terms

• Terror: is an intense fear or an event or situation that causes intense fear. In this study, terror is seen as a literary construct placed side by side with optimism with a proposition that in the experience of the tragic optimist, terror often provokes the optimistic impulse to struggle
• Tragic Optimism: Tragic optimism is about saying yes to life despite the terrible suffering that is embedded in it. It suggests that deep meaning can be unearthed even in the most terrible and horrific of circumstances. It is associated with the universal instinct that propels the will to action in the face of terror which Nietzsche links to the
• Cheerfulness: Nietzsche applies this concept in The Birth of Tragedy to describe the spiritual joyfulness that sustains the hero in his confrontation with terror. The term as used in this study is “a blissful affirmation of existence” (Akwanya, Discourse Analysis 201).
• Sustaining Constructs: The mythic ideation by which the work is built. In the present study, terror and tragic optimism are identified as sustaining constructs in The Plague and Season of Anomy.

1.9 Structure

The study is rendered in seven chapters beginning with the introductory chapter that provides the background of study and the study’s objectives which are placed within the entire thesis. Chapter Two presents a Literature Review of the study that reviews current literature on The Plague and Season of Anomy and how terror and tragic optimism have been considered in order to foreground the need for this research. Chapter Three provides a Conceptual Framework that establishes the theories and analytic tools used in the analysis of the texts in the study. It considers tragedy as a literary mode as well as Nietzsche’s concept of the Overman and the universal instinct which are invoked in the interpretation of the texts. Chapter Four entitled “Facing Up to What Had to be Done” focuses on the universal instinct as the spiritual endowment that enables the individual to face up to what had to be done. It also examines the affirmation of cheerfulness as the necessary attitude before the abyss. Chapter Five entitled “Confrontation of Man with the More than Man” examines terror and the history of struggle in the chosen texts, focusing on the impersonal forces and human cussedness in ThePlague and SeasonofAnomy respectively. In Chapter Six, entitled “The Paradox of Suffering,” the study discusses the value and pains of suffering, identifying defiant struggle as a means to freedom. The study is concluded in Chapter Seven with a summary of research findings, some of the implications of the findings and the study’s contribution to knowledge. It also considers the limitations of the study and suggestions for further research in the field.

TERROR AND TRAGIC OPTIMISM AS SUSTAINING CONSTRUCTS IN CAMUS’S THE PLAGUE AND SOYINKA’S SEASON OF ANOMY