A New Historicists Analysis of J. A. Annobil’s Abotar

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume VI, Issue IV, April 2022 | ISSN 2454–6186

A New Historicists Analysis of J. A. Annobil’s Abotar

Comfort Bonsu
University Cape Coast, Ghana

Abstract: This paper aims at employing the New historicism theory in analyzing J. A. Annobil’s Abotar. The New Historicism theory, as propounded by Stephen Greenblatt, is based on the idea that a literary composition is affected by the author’s time and circumstances, however, the critic’s evaluation of the work is also affected by his surroundings, beliefs, or preconceptions. The Analysis of J. A.. Annobil’s Abotar captures how a writer’s literary composition mirrors his/her milieu. On citing instances from the text, Ghanaian culture (specifically Akan) and aspects of Ghanaian history are well demonstrated and explained.

Keywords: New Historicism, Ghanaian Culture, Akan culture, Historical context.

I. INTRODUCTION

Literature is understood in a multiplicity of ways. It can be seen as a body of written or oral works such as novels, poetry, or drama that uses words to stimulate the imagination and confront the reader with a unique vision of life. The underlying assumption here is that a work of literature is a creative, universal form of expression that addresses the emotional, spiritual, or intellectual concerns of humanity. According to Angmor (1996), “literature is life” (P.1). In effect, literary works express the day-to-day activities of human life. Thus, literature can be said to be an art that uses language as a means to shape an image to reflect social life and express the author’s thoughts and feelings. Lynn (2004) considers literature as “something that speaks to humans, an important part of what connects people to the past, helps to grasp the present, and also sparks people to shape the future”. Based on Lynn’s view, it could be said that to treat African indigenous literature in its own right, our main focus of attention should be on the established cultural traditions and historical experiences, together with those aspects of the social and political life of the Africans which are the most helpful sources of our inspiration and techniques. Boulton (1979) argues that “all plays need to be seen with their historical background, the theatre of the time, the artistic standards of the time and the general mental and moral climate of the time” (p.171). Baeber & Furniss (2006), in corroborating Boulton (1979), assert that texts do not have exclusively specific textual origins but are produced within historical conditions and linked to a variety of other texts with the spectrum of literary history. The above submissions support the assertion that most literary works, if not all, have manifestations of cultural and historical happenings of the place and time settings in which they are created. For example, most of Shakespeare’s literary works are evidence that literature employs historical facts as resources. Hopkins (2005), through an analysis of Othello, King Lear, and Julius Caesar, confirmed that these drama texts exhibit themes that are derived from socio-political events and ideologies. Other studies have also revealed that the socio-cultural and historical

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