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ISSUE SIX/2001 

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with the last line of the preceding one essays
a  connecting  thread  in the more  narrative
"Ebo", the fact  that  this is often  so gives an
uneasy  feeling  of following  form  to a  fault;
though  in performance,  this  would  hardly
matter  if it beeps  the audience  focused on
the  tale  as a whole.  Moreso, one also  does
not  thinb  it comes off well  in lines such as:
"his  lorries  hurtling  down/down  to valley-
centre...",  "from  the world, the wider world
that  always  ... ". "of haggling  and hecbling.
hecbling  and  haggling"  ,  "matching  my
nomad's  regress  to the native's  progress/

matching  the  native's  progress  to  my
nomads  regress"  ("Gia^bone");  "its due. its
staggering due" ("Oxford  summer");  "as we
mabe  carnival,  a  hearty  carnival"  ("June
Around Us"), to cite a few.

I do not doubt  what  prosodic  uses  this
strategy can serve, but it is always at the cost
of  sharper,  crisper  lines  and  more  intense
imagery, not to mention  the subtlety  that a
greater  economy  of  words  assures.  This
unfortunately  leads to the lingering echo of
a tone, a monotone that is difficult  to get rid
of. GBS

The Likeness of An
Incomplete Masterpiece

BY ADEREMI  RAJI-OYELADE'

Memory is all: touchstone,  threat and guiding star.

IVE years after his death, the great American author comes alive,
assuredly  and textually  immortalized  in the publication  of a
second full-length  novel entitled Juneteenth. "Always in progress.
Ellison's worb may now find pause, not cessation but pause....",
so  concludes  John  E Callahan.  Ellison's  literary  editor,  in his
incisive  introduction  to the author's  long-awaited  narrative, a
worb  which  has  been  in  constant  and
peculiar progression over four decades until
its appearance  in the summer  of  1999.  The
expressed  notion  of  pause  rather  than
cessation's a subtle admission of the phoenix-
libe  creative  energies  generated  in the
'completion' of the text.

The story of the dynamic and inerasable
life of Ellisons Juneteenth  has taben on the
saga  of  myth.  It  is  perhaps  the  most
celebrated  worb-in-progress  in  American
literature that would span over four decades;
it is the only worb of fiction by a major writer
of  the  twentieth  century  that  would  be
literally  resuscitated  or wrested  from  the
fangs of fire which consumed over 360 pages
of  the original  manuscript;  and it  would
remain  for  a  long  time  to come  a  ready
material  for  literary  controversy,  an
uncompleted  narrative  rehabilitated  and
presented  in  part  as  an  organic  and
completed  novel  by the author's  literary
executor

Ellison started writing the post-Invisible
Afar? text in 1954 and had almost  completed
the  narrative  when  on November  29 1967,
his residence got burnt and with it a section
of the manuscript.  Between  1967 and 1977.
Ellison  presented  excerpts  from  the

Ralph  Ellison,
JUNETEENTH, Vintage
Books. New Ybrb,
2000, 400pp.

Glendora Books Supplement

manuscript  for  publication  in  literary
journals and magazines;  these  excerpts and
part of the original  manuscript  dating  bach
to 1960 (eight in all) were featured in The New
Yorker,  The Noble Savage, and The Quarterly
Review  of Literature. And for  twenty-seven
years  after  the  mysterious  fire  incident,
Ellison continued to re-imagine, reconceive,
and  re-write  his script  such  that  by March
1994 he had produced  over  two  thousand
pages  of  typescripts,  part  of  which  is now
bnown  as Juneteenth,  the second  novel, if
not the sequel to the author's  narratological
commitment  to the history,  memory  and
dream of the blacb persona in American life.
A prolonged  and postponed  composition.
Juneteenth  is the re-creation  of a  novelist
with  the soul  of a  musician,  a writer who
played  the trumpet  early,  studied  classical
music, worbed as a freelance  photographer
and became a virtuoso of jazz and the blues
tradition.

The  novel  revolves  around  Reverend
Alonzo "Daddy" Hicbman. a Southern  blacb
Baptist  minister,  and  Bliss,  his  formerly
beloved spiritual child who would leave him
to settle in Washington and live another  life
as  Senator  Adam  Sunraider.  Bliss, a  white
boy.  was  raised  by  the  minister  in  a
predominantly  blacb  community  and
church, and on the values of blacb  cultural
heritage  in  the  hope  of  mabing  him an
ambassador of blacbness. Sustained from the
interrogative  and dialogic  connections of
these  two characters,  the central  story of

ISSUE SIX/2001

Juneteenth 
reproduces,  with  a  certain
Ellisonian freshness, the stock themes of race
relations, kinship, bonding, betrayal and the
overarching  motif  of  African  American
identity.

The naming of the novel itself is a textual
reference  to  the  fact  that  it  is  a  boob  of
imaginative history and re-memorying of the
condition  of 
the  blach  person  and
community through such important  phases
in American  history  as the  Reconstruction
and  the  Civil  War  years.  In  a  sense,
Juneteenth  is a titular foregrounding  of  the
significance  of  June  19,  1865, perhaps  the
most memorable day in the life of the African
American  bondsman,  a  liberation  day
coinciding  with  the  termination  of  the
American Civil War and metaphorically,  the
July Fourth of Black Historysnhen Abraham
Lincoln's  Emancipation  Proclamation  of
1863 was  finally  announced  by  General
Gordon  Granger  in  Galveston.  Texas. It is
textually significant  that it is on the night of

Juneteenth  that  Reverend  Sunraider/BIiss
experienced,  in an  epiphanic  moment,  the
reality  as  well  as  implication  of  his
connection/bonding to the blacb experience
in America.

In essence, Juneteenthis  a metanarrative
of  the  dynamics  of  human  relationships,
survival, perseverance and the realization of
the  psychological  lift  which  absolute
liberation  offers  in  a  society  controlled  by
racial  considerations.  In  contemporary
American  history, Juneteenth  is signified  as
"a time for assessment, self-improvement  and
planning for the future";  in Ellisons text, the
literary executor. Callahan finds this historical
symbolism  of  Juneteenth  to  anchor  the
authorial  concern  for  reflection,  self-
assessment  and  the  possibility  of  retracing
one's  past  as  the  story  of  the  encounter  of
Hicfeman  and Bliss confirms.

the  blacb  reverend, 

When  the  novel  opens,  Reverend
Hicbman  is  involved  in  a  frantic  effort,  a
retinue of forty lowly Southern blacks in tow.
to  reach  Senator  Adam  Sunraider  in  order
to provide some information that would save
him from a fatal attack. But having spent his
formative  years  as  a  white  boy  under  the
tutelage  of 
the
Congressman  seehs  a  total  denial  of  that
relationship; his Mississippian secretary notes
early in the text "I've heard Senator Sunraider
state  that  the  only colored  he  bnows  is the
boy who  shines  shoes  at  his golf  club."  On
the strength of the premonition  of a lurbing
death  for  the  Senator.  Hicbman  travels  up
North to find the prodigal child who has now
transformed  into 'the most vehement enemy
of  [blacb folb]  in either  house  of Congress'.
Sunraider  launches  into  an  eloquence  of
ambiguity,  a  flight  of  rhetorical  flourish  on
nationhood. 
discipline,
transcendence  and  the  use(s)  of  memory
during  which  he  has an  ominous  vision  of
disorder before  he is felled  by the bullets of
an  assassin.  His  physical  deflation,  which
provobes  an  utter  awareness  of  aloneness,
forces  the  Senator  to  summon  old  faithful
Hicbman  for  a  much-desired  gesture  of
psychological  support  and 
spiritual
collaboration.  Through  the  lyrical  and
antiphonal  tangibility  of  their  dialogue,
aspects  of  the  historical  and  cultural
dispossession  of  the  blacb 
(African)
community (eyeless, drumless. danceless...)
are related with self-critical  resonance.

dream, 

To Bliss,  Reverend  Alonzo  Hicbman  is
Daddy  Hicbman;  to  the  reverend.  Senator
Sunraider  is  Bliss.  Apparently,  the  most
significant force of the narrative occurs at the
point  of  dialogic  encounter  between
Hicbman  and  Bliss after  years  of  deliberate
severance, transformations,  vacillation  and

Ralph Ellison  ©Jill Krementz

6lendora Books Supplement

19

ISSUE SIX/2001 

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Glendora  Books Supplement

20

fluctuation.  From apprentice  preacher. Bliss
becomes  a  filmmaker  and  confidence  man
before  finally  transforming  to a  respectable
but  controversial  Congressman;  in  his  new
image, Adam Sunraider is an avowed  hater
of blacb cultural values. Reverend  Hickman
mainly transformed  from jazz musician  to a
minister^  more  than  a  preacher,  father,  or
shepherd, he is a quester, the one who tabes
on  the function  of  memory-man  and  seebs
to reconcile the missing link of the past with
an  hypocritical  present.

Juneteenth  is the  textual  affirmation  of
Ellison's  conception  and  representation  of
blacbness  as  having  a  central  determinacy
for  the existence  and  multicultural  essence
of American society. In contriving an interior
antiphonal discourse between Hicbman and
Bliss/Sunraider,  the  text  reaches  sbin-deep
into the pastness or the blacbness of Senator
Sunraider's existence; and by confronting the
Senator  with  the  presence  of  Reverend
Hickman.  and  his  retinue  of  forty  lowly
Southern  blacks,  the  author  also  confronts
him  with  his  own  prejudice,  his  sense  of
dread  and  his  genuinely  hypocritical
consciousness.  Here  is  an  intellectually
imaginative  work  of 
fiction  which
interrogates  history,  memory  and  very
symbolically  the  characters'  capacities  to
forget  and  to  remember.  While  Sunraider
attempts  to  obliterate  his  past  and  act  of
betrayal by deliberate forgetfulness.  Hickman
persuades  him  into  an  act  of  retrieval
whereby  it  becomes  necessary  to  relive  or
review the pattern or course of his act of self-
immolation  from  the  umbilical  cord  of  the
blacb  community  to  which  he  owes  his
formative  years.  The entire  drift  of  the  text
following  the  shooting  of  the  Senator
involves an intellectual discourse of retracing
and journeying bacb without much episodic
movement  in  the  unfolding  narrative  plot
because the significant  activity of  reflection
occurs  at  the bedside  of  the Senator  inside
the hospital. For this reason, Juneteenth reads
in  part  as  a  static  text  filled  with  a  lot  of
movement without motion when compared
to  the  compellingly  excellent  'plot  of
characterization'  which  gives  the  author's
first  novel  -  Invisible  Man -  the  cap  of  a
complete  masterpiece.

Unlike Invisible Man in which the plot is
directly  and  progressively  binetic.  the
narrative of Juneteenth takes on a spiral-like,
shuttle-like  pattern  in  which  events  and
histories  are  reproduced  with  a  shifting
consciousness;  a  chronotopically  complex
text  in which  time  is constantly  scrambled
and reinvented, and in which space becomes
a  subject  of convenient  memorization,  the
narration of Juneteenthshutties between and

it 

text; 

across  important  phases  of  (African)
American history drawing upon the sub-texts
of  blacb  vernacular/musical  idioms.  Of
these,  it  is important  to add  that  the  novel
as published  is a microcosmic  presentation
of the bind of epical narrative which Ellison
had  imagined  at  the  onset  of  his  project.
What  would  be  hard  to  dispute  is  that  the
language of Juneteenth  is fluently  poetic in
spite of a tendency to call the work a patch-
and-paste 
is  marbed  by  a
commanding  mastery  of  vernacular  black
speech idioms and  is above all infused  with
a jazz-like eloquence. The important actions
tabe place  around  or  refer  to  the  congress
hall,  the  church,  and  the  hospital,  three
important  chronotopic  sites where  oratory
and  contemplation  or  a  certain  form  of
healing  are  entertained  and  are  made
possible.  The  essential  Ellisonian  style  is
foreshadowed  in  his  reference  to  a  deep
concern  for and struggle with form in order
to  transcend  the  condescension  of  typical
white American novelists and  to escape the
strict  naturalism  of  blacb American  writers
of his time. Ellison noted  his preference  for
a  narrative  form  which  would  be  "flexible
and  swift  as  American  change  is  swift,
confronting  the  inequalities  and  brutalities
of (our) society forthrightly. but yet thrusting
forth  its images  of  hope,  human  fraternity
and individual self-realization"  (Shadowand
Act, P 105).

There is a sense in which Juneteenth  can
be read as the metaphoric  and  intertextual
sequel to Invisible Man in the possibilities of
connecting aspects of the  progression/flight
of  the protagonist  of  the  1952 text with  the
signified experience of Bliss/Adam Sunraider
in the second  novel.

first  westwards, 

Libe invisible man. Bliss'  transformation
is both interior and intellectual. And almost
in similar vein,  he is involved  in a  physical
movement, 
then
northwards.  Essentially,  that  geographical
shift  is interpreted  as the character's  act of
flight  from  a kind of  knowledge  to another
shade  of  knowledge;  through  a  series  of
initiation and 'trials', the protagonist aspires
to  reach  a  certain  stratum  in  the  public
(social and  political) sphere. In  Juneteenth.
the reversal of transformation  symbolized in
the shooting of the Senator, is a unique way
of bringing him close to his past. Being shot
implies being immobilized, being cauterized,
being brought down to earth, as it were; the
act of falling/fainting  which comes after  the
gunman's attack is an obvious sign of descent
rather  than  ascent  which  the  protagonist
originally dreams of. At the peab of his career
and  in  search  of  economic,  political  and
social bliss. Senator Sunraider encounters a

ISSUE  SIX/2001

turbulent insurrection of a past which queries
the  present.

In  the  "Afterword"  to the novel.  John
Callahan  describes  the  "procrustean"  path
taben  to signify  on Boob II of the potential
three volumes' of Ellisons work,  pruned to
the story  of Hicbman  and Adam  Sunraider.
as the most central and engaging of Ellisons
prolonged creative motivation. He speabs of
the interesting  tedium of editorial silencing,
re-arrangement,  chapterization,  restoration
and excision, concluding with a promise that

"a  subsequent  scholar's  edition  will
document  my  corrections  and  include
sufficient  manuscripts  and drafts  to enable
scholars and readers alibe to follow Ellison's
some  forty  years  of worb  on his novel-in-
progress  '  Pause  then,  not cessation,  is the
immortal  flare  of a worb of genius.. .still in
progress  Partially liberated. Juneteenth has
been  brought  to the public  sphere,  a worb
to be read  and remembered  as the likeness
of an incomplete  masterpiece. GBS

Running Splash of Rust and Words

By Reuben  Abati

BADAN MESIOGO, subtitled  A Celebration of a City, its History
and  People  is a  most  interesting  boob,  in  part,  because  of its
impressive content presented by a broad array of talents, but even
more so because of the concept that it has turned  into subject and
metaphor. It is the biography of a city delivered through the vehicle
of poetry,  history, other creative writings and the essay form. It is
an elaborate ritual performed by devotees of
the  city  who commune  with  it as god, as
place,  as home,  and who in various  forms
confess  an  indebtedness  to.  and  an
identification  with the place as part of their
identity and growth as citizens or writers. The
contributors  cover  an  expansive  range of
time: from the past when Ibadan was a mere
war  camp, to its evolution  as a city, and an
organized political entity: that is, the not-too-
distant past when Ibadan played a major role
in  the  politics  of  the  nation  and  of
Yorubaland.  It equally  reaches  the present,
now  that  the past  is linbed  to the future in
form  of a continuing  dialogue  between the
modern and the traditional, the religious and
the secular, the individual and the communal.
But the dialogue which  contributors  to this
boob  begin  does  not end. What,  however,
endures is the image of Ibadan as a fertilizing
spirit.  Three  generations  meet  in the boob,
and  their  reflections  are animated,  exciting
and deep.

But still, IbadanMesiogocaptures  only an
aspect of this mythical, evocative city of the
seven  hills: it draws attention  to its value as
material  for  various  forms  of  creative
expression. With their effort, the authors have
managed  to both  demonstrate  the Iinbage
between  the city  and the imagination, and
also depict the writer as essential  molder of

Dapo Adelugba.  Remi
Raji.  Omowunmi
Segun and  Bankole
Olayebi (eds.)
IBADAN MESIOGO:
A CELEBRATION OF A
CITY, ITS HISTORY
AND PEOPLE.
Bookcraft  Ltd. Ibadan,
2001.  201pp.

Glendora  Books Supplement

21

the insights that the city offers. The offering
from  Ibadan  is rich.  Yet. Ibadan  is also a
major  hub: a  West  African  crossroads, a
center  of  commerce  and bureaucracy, of
politics - both local and national; in a sense,
it is the heartbeat  of Yorubaland.  meaning
that explorations of its significance can only
be a continuing process.

to  modern 

What is a city? A city is space, a locus, a
spiritual  center  connecting  man  to
geography.  The writers  in  this  boob  fasten
onto  these  notions  while  probing  into the
entrails  of  Ibadan;  but what  does  the city
reveal  from  these  encounters  ? How has it
responded 
fixations  on
development  and  growth?  "The Two
Hundred Snails" offered  at the divination tray
by  the original  founders  of  Ibadan  have
traveled in two hundred directions, but what
does  the city  present  - a  confused  urban
sprawl,  reduced  by  the  limitations  of
Nigerian  politics,  governance,  and chaotic
regional  planning. Or, should we be guided
by the overt romanticism of the contributors
to  this boob?  After  all. the artist  engaging
Ibadan at this day and time will not Hbely be
as besotted  with  the city as those  artists of
the moments celebrated in the boob. His/her
present experience of the city is defined by
poverty. 
speedy
disappearance  of  opportunities.  The
celebration  of 
Ibadan  compels  an
interrogation of meaning and essence almost
inevitably.

chaos 

and 

the 

In  five  different  sections,  classified  as
Parts One and Two. and a Prologue by Femi
Osofisan.  other  Ibadan  products,  devotees,