This blog is for students of Civilizations of Africa at American University in Washington, DC and the ABTI-American University of Nigeria in Yola. You can use the blog for class assignments, to comment on things we've discussed in class and interact with other students.
Nzeanzo attracted my attention because of its resemblance to the fairy tale "Hop o' My Thumb" by Charles Perrault (1697). Nzeanzo is the fifth son of Venin, the mother of the gods. Since his birth he shows his wonderful capacities, but he doesn’t seem to be considered in high esteem either by his brothers or his mother. Indeed, his brothers are said to be “scornful of their younger brother” (p. 299, §3) and his mother doesn’t take him to visit her brother Wun. Similarly, Hop o' My Thumb is the youngest of seven brothers. He is small, despised by his brothers and ignored by his parents.
In these tales, the despised youngest brother proves to be much wiser than his older brothers and saves their lives. Indeed, Nzeanzo foresees that the visit of his mother and his brothers to his uncle’s house is “a bad idea” and that they could “get into trouble” (p. 299, §4). Thus, he decides to follow them in secret. His uncle Wun, the god of death, seems nice when he welcomes his sister and her sons. Wun invites them to play with his own daughters of similar ages. At night, when everyone is asleep, Nzeanzo guesses the lives of his brothers are endangered and decides to go to the children’s bedroom to exchange their clothes with those of Wun’s daughters. Later, Wun puts his daughters in a pot of boiling water, believing that they are his sister’s sons.
In the same way, Hop o' My Thumb and his brothers come to the house of an ogre who seems nice at first. The ogre has seven daughters close in age to the boys. At night, feeling the danger, Hop o' My Thumb exchanges the girls’ night-caps with the ones of his brothers. Later, the ogre puts his daughters in a pot of boiling water.
In both stories, the protagonist (Wun, in Nzeano, and the Ogre, in Hop o’ My Thumb) chases the young hero. In both, magic is present: Nzeanzo reduces the size of the natural obstacles built by Wun with a spell; Hop o' My Thumb uses the magic boots he stole from the ogre to escape him.
At the end, these tales turn out to have an allegoric meaning. Both Nzeanzo and Hop o' My Thumb prove that their wisdom can be rewarded, even if they are considered young and are ignored at first. Nzeanzo and Hop o' My Thumb are acknowledged as mighty at the end. Nzeanzo’s brothers recognize that “though he [is] the youngest, he [is] the most powerful of them” (p. 300, §3). In the two stories, the brothers and the parents of the young heroes are ignorant and weak characters (along with the bad ogre and god of death). They eat and sleep when they should be careful. Nzeanzo’s mother refuses to help him to be brought to life early; he has to come out of the womb alone. Since birth he is able to talk and his mother doesn’t have to teach him anything. His greedy brothers release the disturbing flies he has enclosed in a calabash. In parallel, Hop o' My Thumb’s parents abandon their children to have enough food to eat.
Because of the similarities between the tales, it is interesting to analyze Nzeanzo in light of the analysis of Hop o' My Thumb. According to psychoanalysis, the tale of Hop o' My Thumb shows how a child can overcome his primary needs and develop his intelligence. The child has to learn that he cannot be dependent on his parents during his entire life. He has to learn to grow up and to use his own ingeniousness and wisdom to succeed in life. Nzeanzo symbolizes this ideal of a strong and independent boy who helps his family instead of asking for help. Later, he is rewarded as he becomes a god whose cult is superior to the ones of his brothers.
I insisted on the comparison between the two tales, notably because Hop o' My Thumb comes from the French oral tradition, and thus has a structure and social role that are close to the ones of the myth of Nzeanzo. I think the role of such tales is to promote certain values and to use the magic and fairy atmosphere to appeal to the imagination of people rather than to their rationality. In our modern western society, adults are asked to develop a sense of rationality and the creativity and imagination is reserved more for children. Yet, I remember having heard a psychologist say that this pressure for rationality is so strong that more and more people are attracted by extraordinary and magic stories, which explains notably the success of the book Harry Potter among adults. In any case, Nzeanzo definitely reminds us of the way imagination may be a great device to encourage people to surpass their limitations.
The Bachama and Bata of the Upper Benue worship in the rain cult of Nazeazno to promote agricultural fertility. The story of Nzeanzo portrays its young hero as wise beyond his years. He can speak and think before leaving his mother’s womb and is much more perceptive, protective and innovative than either his older brothers or mother. The story explains that Nzeanzo asks his mother to release him from the womb earlier than planned and she says she cannot help him but “‘if you can find some way for yourself you may try it’” (299). His solution is to exit through her thigh earlier than planned. This reminded me of the birth of Athena from the top of Zeus’s head in Greek mythology. The difference is however that Athena was not born from a mother, only a father who was also an important god like Nzeanzo’s mother, Venin, is the mother of the gods. Similarly, Nzeanzo’s mother also seems to not have much power in this myth. Zeus’s power is emphasized in the story of Athena’s birth but Venin’s is trivialized. She seems incapable. Athena also needed no help from her mother and emerged fully grown. Both myths deemphasize the role of the woman as mother. Nzeanzo also goes on to protect his older brothers better than his mother can. She puts them in harm’s way by bringing them to the house of her brother, Wun, the god of death. It is Nzeanzo that saves them by tricking his uncle.
However Nzeanzo also tries to take care of the women in his life. He tries to capture all the flies that plague his mother, though his brothers set them free, and he looks after his grandmother and gives her milk even though a hippopotamus comes and kills her. Nzeanzo only seems to be able to save the men in the story. Eventually Venin and her four older sons all become worshiped in cults but none of their cults are as important as the one that worships Nzeanzo (301). Nzeanzo’s qualities make him a good god to worship however his success rate and the untold stories of his brothers make it seem as though there is more to this story and these cults than is written. The views of the Bachama and Bata on women would be interesting to further explore as would the myths associated with the brothers.
After additional thought, I want to come back on the conclusion of my last post. I insisted on the power of myths that appeal to our imagination. In this way, I associated myths with fairy tales, and explained that children were more sensitive to it than adults in our modern society.
But, the truth is that, as other people on the blog have mentioned, myths may be seen in several religions in the world. Thus, myths also appeal to a lot of adults.
My last comment reflected some presuppositions I had. First, that our society has been marked by the enlightenment and that now the society is more rational than it has ever been, and doesn't rely much on religion. This is definitely debatable. Second, I thought that the African myths we study were actual beliefs among the African societies where they emerged. I described our modern society as rational in opposition to African societies that were not as rational. This is the result of a generalization on my part. I just want to apologize for this.
3 comments:
Nzeanzo attracted my attention because of its resemblance to the fairy tale "Hop o' My Thumb" by Charles Perrault (1697). Nzeanzo is the fifth son of Venin, the mother of the gods. Since his birth he shows his wonderful capacities, but he doesn’t seem to be considered in high esteem either by his brothers or his mother. Indeed, his brothers are said to be “scornful of their younger brother” (p. 299, §3) and his mother doesn’t take him to visit her brother Wun. Similarly, Hop o' My Thumb is the youngest of seven brothers. He is small, despised by his brothers and ignored by his parents.
In these tales, the despised youngest brother proves to be much wiser than his older brothers and saves their lives. Indeed, Nzeanzo foresees that the visit of his mother and his brothers to his uncle’s house is “a bad idea” and that they could “get into trouble” (p. 299, §4). Thus, he decides to follow them in secret. His uncle Wun, the god of death, seems nice when he welcomes his sister and her sons. Wun invites them to play with his own daughters of similar ages. At night, when everyone is asleep, Nzeanzo guesses the lives of his brothers are endangered and decides to go to the children’s bedroom to exchange their clothes with those of Wun’s daughters. Later, Wun puts his daughters in a pot of boiling water, believing that they are his sister’s sons.
In the same way, Hop o' My Thumb and his brothers come to the house of an ogre who seems nice at first. The ogre has seven daughters close in age to the boys. At night, feeling the danger, Hop o' My Thumb exchanges the girls’ night-caps with the ones of his brothers. Later, the ogre puts his daughters in a pot of boiling water.
In both stories, the protagonist (Wun, in Nzeano, and the Ogre, in Hop o’ My Thumb) chases the young hero. In both, magic is present: Nzeanzo reduces the size of the natural obstacles built by Wun with a spell; Hop o' My Thumb uses the magic boots he stole from the ogre to escape him.
At the end, these tales turn out to have an allegoric meaning. Both Nzeanzo and Hop o' My Thumb prove that their wisdom can be rewarded, even if they are considered young and are ignored at first. Nzeanzo and Hop o' My Thumb are acknowledged as mighty at the end. Nzeanzo’s brothers recognize that “though he [is] the youngest, he [is] the most powerful of them” (p. 300, §3). In the two stories, the brothers and the parents of the young heroes are ignorant and weak characters (along with the bad ogre and god of death). They eat and sleep when they should be careful. Nzeanzo’s mother refuses to help him to be brought to life early; he has to come out of the womb alone. Since birth he is able to talk and his mother doesn’t have to teach him anything. His greedy brothers release the disturbing flies he has enclosed in a calabash. In parallel, Hop o' My Thumb’s parents abandon their children to have enough food to eat.
Because of the similarities between the tales, it is interesting to analyze Nzeanzo in light of the analysis of Hop o' My Thumb. According to psychoanalysis, the tale of Hop o' My Thumb shows how a child can overcome his primary needs and develop his intelligence. The child has to learn that he cannot be dependent on his parents during his entire life. He has to learn to grow up and to use his own ingeniousness and wisdom to succeed in life. Nzeanzo symbolizes this ideal of a strong and independent boy who helps his family instead of asking for help. Later, he is rewarded as he becomes a god whose cult is superior to the ones of his brothers.
I insisted on the comparison between the two tales, notably because Hop o' My Thumb comes from the French oral tradition, and thus has a structure and social role that are close to the ones of the myth of Nzeanzo. I think the role of such tales is to promote certain values and to use the magic and fairy atmosphere to appeal to the imagination of people rather than to their rationality. In our modern western society, adults are asked to develop a sense of rationality and the creativity and imagination is reserved more for children. Yet, I remember having heard a psychologist say that this pressure for rationality is so strong that more and more people are attracted by extraordinary and magic stories, which explains notably the success of the book Harry Potter among adults. In any case, Nzeanzo definitely reminds us of the way imagination may be a great device to encourage people to surpass their limitations.
The Bachama and Bata of the Upper Benue worship in the rain cult of Nazeazno to promote agricultural fertility. The story of Nzeanzo portrays its young hero as wise beyond his years. He can speak and think before leaving his mother’s womb and is much more perceptive, protective and innovative than either his older brothers or mother. The story explains that Nzeanzo asks his mother to release him from the womb earlier than planned and she says she cannot help him but “‘if you can find some way for yourself you may try it’” (299). His solution is to exit through her thigh earlier than planned. This reminded me of the birth of Athena from the top of Zeus’s head in Greek mythology. The difference is however that Athena was not born from a mother, only a father who was also an important god like Nzeanzo’s mother, Venin, is the mother of the gods. Similarly, Nzeanzo’s mother also seems to not have much power in this myth. Zeus’s power is emphasized in the story of Athena’s birth but Venin’s is trivialized. She seems incapable. Athena also needed no help from her mother and emerged fully grown. Both myths deemphasize the role of the woman as mother. Nzeanzo also goes on to protect his older brothers better than his mother can. She puts them in harm’s way by bringing them to the house of her brother, Wun, the god of death. It is Nzeanzo that saves them by tricking his uncle.
However Nzeanzo also tries to take care of the women in his life. He tries to capture all the flies that plague his mother, though his brothers set them free, and he looks after his grandmother and gives her milk even though a hippopotamus comes and kills her. Nzeanzo only seems to be able to save the men in the story. Eventually Venin and her four older sons all become worshiped in cults but none of their cults are as important as the one that worships Nzeanzo (301). Nzeanzo’s qualities make him a good god to worship however his success rate and the untold stories of his brothers make it seem as though there is more to this story and these cults than is written. The views of the Bachama and Bata on women would be interesting to further explore as would the myths associated with the brothers.
After additional thought, I want to come back on the conclusion of my last post. I insisted on the power of myths that appeal to our imagination. In this way, I associated myths with fairy tales, and explained that children were more sensitive to it than adults in our modern society.
But, the truth is that, as other people on the blog have mentioned, myths may be seen in several religions in the world. Thus, myths also appeal to a lot of adults.
My last comment reflected some presuppositions I had. First, that our society has been marked by the enlightenment and that now the society is more rational than it has ever been, and doesn't rely much on religion. This is definitely debatable. Second, I thought that the African myths we study were actual beliefs among the African societies where they emerged. I described our modern society as rational in opposition to African societies that were not as rational. This is the result of a generalization on my part. I just want to apologize for this.
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