In recognition of the talent and literary ingenuity of J.M.G. Le Clézio, winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize for literature, The Swedish Academy praised, among other qualities, the French author's ability to explore "....humanity beyond and below the reigning civilization". This idea possibly resonates in Onitsha (first published in 1991) , wherein the weighty and complex issues of colonialism and racism are represented through the perspective of 12-year-old Fintan and always in relation to the process of his growth and maturity. Following the thought process of a child serves a great purpose in intensifying the critiques on colonial atrocities, since they stem from simple observations and their impressions on a young mind.
The beginning of this novel, in terms of its style and imagery bears a striking resemblance to a novel written at the turn of the 20th century, Heart Of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. The depiction of a ship Surbaya, sailing towards the heart of the African continent and the anticipations and anxieties associated with the journey.
At this level, the image of a streamer cascading along imperial waterways towards a dark and mystical river of backwardness usually marks the beginning of an imperialist expedition. More recent of the colonial historical- fiction novels illustrating a similar visual would be Amitav Ghosh's Sea of Poppies . Ghosh's first book in the trilogy about opium wars and the profusion of opium factories in India, finds an interesting assortment of Indian and foreign characters travelling down the 'black sea' into the heartland of India to encounter the highs and lows of Indian life among other things.
Fintan travels to Onitsha (Nigeria) with his Italian mother 'Maou', as she is known to the reader, to meet Geoffrey Allen, his English father, and an officer of the East African Company, for the first time in 1948. The dominant emotion is that of severing ties with his present life in Marseilles (France) since "things would never be the same as before".
FACT BOX
Name: Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio
French Novelist
Date of Birth: 13 April 1940
Education and Academic Experience:
Studied at the University of Bristol in England from 1958 to 1959
Earned a master's degree with a thesis on Henri Michaux from the University of Provence in 1964
Has taught at a number of universities around the world. A frequent visitor to South Korea, he taught French language and literature at Ewha Womans University in Seoul for two semesters in 2007 and 2008
Literary Achievements:
Author of over forty works, many of which translated
Awarded the 1963 Prix Renaudot for his novel Le Procès-Verbal in 1963.
Winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize for Literature.
Important Works:
Le Procès-Verbal (The Interrogation, 1963)
Le Livre des fuites (The Book of Flights: An Adventure Story,1963)
Le Déluge (The Flood, 1966)
Terra Amata (Terra Amata,1969)
La Guerre (War,1970)
Le Chercheur d'or (The Prospector,1988)
Étoile Errante (Wandering Star:a Novel,1992)
Onitsha (Onitsha,1991)
In fact, a sense of fracture haunts Fintan throughout the course of the novel wherein he cannot identify himself completely with life in Great Britain later nor can he reconnect with his childhood in Onitsha, since "War (of Independence in Nigeria) has been erasing memories", Fintan's memories that span from his initial impressions of Africa and "barn yard disease', western ideas of intolerance and contempt of the civilisation all the way to his complete adaptation to local history and beliefs in Onitsha. A lot is tracked in the journey. An exposé of the barbarism of colonial rule and the plight of chained prisoners. Witnessing the depths of cultural life in Onitsha and its gradual decline and extinction. Aro Chuku and the wave of freedom struggle that takes over the country and displaces British officers like Geoffrey physically and culturally to places ' far from Onitsha".
A parallel and subjective narrative of Fintan's recollection alternates with the main course of the novel where he relives the history, culture, folklore and political struggles of the Ibo people in Onitsha. Curiously however, although the narrative largely comprises Geoffrey's anthropological interest and fascination with Meroe and the rich legacies of the Nigerian past, Fintan's romantic evocation of Geoffrey's adventure displays his identification with his father's voyages.
To return to Heart Of Darkness, much like Le Clézio's Onitsha, it represents the perspective of the coloniser in the context of imperialism and its impact of the colonial experience, primarily on the psychology of the outsider. The key difference, however, lies in the fact that while Conrad's novella explores the "horrors" and realisations of its protagonist (Marlow) it does so by marginalising and de-individualising Africa and the people of Congo. A critique duly and sharply voiced by the Nigerian novelist, Chinua Achebe.
In this novel,deeply hued in autobiographical elements, Fintan, in particular, lives very much amidst the people of Onitsha, forms formidable friendships with characters like Bony, (a fisherman's son who teaches him the way to appreciate nature)and partakes of their culture. Even though emotion is primary in depiction for Le Clézio, it does not dissolve fact, logic and faulty justifications of the European imperialist ideology. Critiques of which are always present along the course of the plot. Sometimes outright as with the character of Maou, whose demands to free slaves cost her castigation from polite British society in Onitsha or through Fintan's adult reflections on European brutalities, which he couldn't comprehend as a child. Shifting viewpoints showcase a 'heartfelt' account of the tragic loss of a rich civilisation to colonialism.
Book Reviews 
In recognition of the talent and literary ingenuity of J.M.G. Le Clézio, winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize for literature, The Swedish Academy praised, among other qualities, the French author's ability to explore "....humanity beyond and below the reigning civilization". This idea possibly resonates in Onitsha (first published in 1991) , wherein the weighty and complex issues of colonialism and racism are represented through the perspective of 12-year-old Fintan and always in relation to the process of his growth and maturity. Following the thought process of a child serves a great purpose in intensifying the critiques on colonial atrocities, since they stem from simple observations and their impressions on a young mind.
The beginning of this novel, in terms of its style and imagery bears a striking resemblance to a novel written at the turn of the 20th century, Heart Of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. The depiction of a ship Surbaya, sailing towards the heart of the African continent and the anticipations and anxieties associated with the journey.
