ENGL 3413: World Literature

John M. Mercer, Professor of English

Northeastern State University, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma

Study Guide 14: Akhmatova, Mahfouz, Kojima

Revised 12-1-08

 

Background for Akhmatova’s Requiem

Joseph Stalin ruled the Soviet Union from about 1927 until his death in 1953.  Two important Russian writers who suffered under his totalitarian rule are Alexander Solzhenitsyn and Anna Akhmatova.

  1. Extra-credit research: Learn about the life and work of Solzhenitsyn. 
    1. How and why did Solzhenitsyn suffer under the Stalinist regime?  How was his persecution different from that suffered by Akhmatova?
    2. How does each of the following books by Solzhenitsyn relate to his own experiences and to the Stalinist totalitarian system?

(1)   One Day in the Life of Iván Denisovich

(2)   The Gulag Archipelago

    1. What is the history of the Soviet censorship of these books?
  1. Extra-credit video:  Watch and respond to the The Story of Anna Akhmatova (on reserve in the NSU-BA library).
  2. What happened during Stalin’s “Great Purge” of 1935-38?  How were Anna Akhmatova and her family members involved?  How does Akhmatova’s Requiem relate to the Great Purge?
  3. What is the history of the censorship of Akhmatova’s Requiem in the Soviet Union and Russia?  How does this compare with the censorship of Solzhenitsyn’s books listed above?
  4. What is meant by the statement that after Stalin’s death Akhmatova was “rehabilitated” (2804b)?
  5. The textbook’s introduction to Akhmatova refers to her Requiem as a “lyrical cycle” and a “short epic narrative.”
    1. What is the definition of lyric poetry?  Does Requiem fit this definition?  Why or why not?
    2. What is a cycle of poems?  Is Requiem a cycle?
    3. What is a narrative?  Is Requiem a narrative?
    4. Does Requiem fit the definition of epic?  Why or why not?  If it’s not a true epic, why does your textbook use this term?

 

Requiem

Read the excellent overview of Requiem (2805, first full paragraph), and keep referring to it as you read the poems.

  1. Look up “requiem” in your college dictionary. What does “requiem” mean in Latin? What is a “requiem”?  Why does Akhmatova use Requiem as the title of the poem?
  2. According to “Instead of a Preface” (2806b-07t), how did Akhmatova get the idea to write Requiem?
  3. “Dedication,” 2807
    1.   To whom does each of the following pronouns refer?

(1)   “We,” lines 8, 11

(2)    “her” and “she,” lines 16-17, 20

(3)   “they,” lines 18-19, 23

(4)   “I,” line 25

(5)   “them” line 25

    1. In lines 12-14, what daily activity is the narrator describing?  Why is this activity compared to attending an “early [church] service” (line 11)?  Why did the women continue to pursue this activity?
  1. “Prologue,” 2807b
    1. What is an “appendage” (line 3)?  Why is Leningrad compared to an appendage? (Another English translation uses “appendix” rather than “appendage.”)
    2. What is said to be the most important part of Leningrad?  Why?
    3. What are “Black Marias” (2080t)?  What specific images (appeals to the senses) does “Prologue” use to recreate what it was like to live in Leningrad at this time?  What is the name of Leningrad today?
  2. Poem I (2808) describes the early-morning arrest of the poet’s husband at their home.
    1. How do the children react to the arrest?
    2. What is apparently the last thing the man does before he submits to arrest?  Prior knowledge or extra-credit research: In the practice of Russian Orthodox Christianity, what is an “icon”?  What is an “icon shelf”? 
    3. What does the speaker of the poem do in response to the arrest (lines 2, 7-8)?
  3. Poem II (2808m) describes the speaker of the poem (“me,” line 8) at home.
    1. What scene does the poem describe?  What is wrong with “This woman” (lines 5-6)?
    2. How would you describe the mood of the poem?
  4. Poem IV (2808b) contrasts the speaker’s current life with her past.
    1. In this poem to whom does “you” refer?
    2. What particular period of her past (see footnote) does the speaker recall?
    3. How is her current life different from her past?  Which definition of “minion” (line 2) is appropriate here?  What is the meaning of “Gay little sinner” (line 3)?
    4. What does the speaker mean by saying, “You should have been shown . . . What would happen in your life” (lines 1, 4)?  Does she mean this literally?  Why or why not?
  5. Poem VII, “The Sentence” (2809b), concerns the sentencing of the speaker’s son.
    1. What is “the stone word” (line 1)?  How is the metaphor of “stone” appropriate?
    2. What is the son’s sentence?  Are we told?
    3. What does the speaker mean when she says, “I must turn my soul to stone” (line 7)?
  6. Poem VIII, “To Death” (2810m)
    1. Whose death is the speaker contemplating?  Why?
    2. What is the speaker’s attitude toward death in this poem?
  7. Poem X, “Crucifixion” (2811), alludes to the death of Jesus.
    1. The two-line quotation that follows the title and that is repeated in line 4 is not found in the New Testament.  According to the footnote, what is the source of this quotation?
    2. To whom does this poem compare Jesus?  To whom does this poem compare Mary, mother of Jesus?  Why does the poet make these comparisons?  Are these comparisons blasphemous?
    3. Explain the last two lines of section 2: “But where the silent Mother stood, there / No one glanced and no one would have dared.”  Why would no one have done this? 
  8. “Epilogue I” (2811b)
    1. Whose physical transformation does the speaker describe?  What particular changes does she mention?  What is “cuneiform”?  For what is cuneiform a metaphor here?  Is it believable that these physical changes could occur?
    2. For whom does the speaker pray?
  9. “Epilogue II” (2811)
    1. According to the footnote, what is “the day of remembrance” (line 1)?  Whom is the speaker remembering?
    2. Russians are fond of erecting statues of admired people.  Under what circumstances does the speaker say she would agree to have a monument erected in her honor (lines 17-26)?  Why?  

 

 Mahfouz

Naguib Mahfouz (nah-GEEB  mah-FOOZ), 1911-2006, wrote novels and short stories depicting the life of the Egyptian middle class, especially in urban Cairo.  Although he is classified as a realist, he also uses symbolism and allegory.  He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988.  Some of his stories, such as “Zaabalawi,” have been banned in Egypt.  Mahfouz believes that “Zaabalawi” was censored because of its last scene, which takes place in a bar.

  1. There are many bars in Cairo, Egypt.  Why would Mahfouz’s bar scene be objectionable in Egypt?
  2. What is the title of the collection of short stories in which “Zaabalawi” was published?  What is the significance of this title to the meaning of the story?
  3. In what language does Mahfouz write?  What is his nationality?

 

“Zaabalawi”

  1. When and where does this story take place?  Does it have a realistic contemporary setting?  How can you tell?
  2. On the literal level of interpretation, the first-person narrator seeks physical healing from Zaabalawi (zah-bah-LAH-wee).  What do we know about the disease from which he suffers?
  3. What does this story have in common with The Night Chant?
  4. What is the definition of “quest”?  In what sense is the narrator on a quest?
  5. Although the story is believable on the literal level of interpretation, the story can also be interpreted as an allegory concerning a quest for spiritual healing.  What specific passages in the story suggest that the narrator seeks spiritual healing?   
  6. Could Zaabalawi be interpreted as a symbol for God?  Why or why not?
  7. The narrator’s quest involves a series of encounters with different individuals (listed below in items 8-12).  What is the significance of the order in which the narrator encounters these individuals?  Why do the encounters need to be in this particular order?
  8. The narrator first goes to a lawyer (2886).
    1. Where did the lawyer’s office used to be?  Where is it now?
    2. How is his office furnished? 
    3. How is the lawyer dressed?
    4. How does the lawyer first greet the narrator?  How does the lawyer’s attitude toward him change?  Why?
  9. The narrator next goes to “the local sheikh of the district” (2887).  
    1. In what other work have we encountered “sheikhs”?  What was a “sheikh” in that context?  Which definition of “sheikh” applies here?  What is this man’s occupation?
    2. How is the local sheikh dressed?
    3. How long has it been since he has seen Zaabalawi?  Why?
    4. What item does the local sheikh give the narrator to help him find Zaabalawi?  How helpful is this item?  Why?
  10. Next the narrator visits the calligrapher Hassanein (2888b).  
    1. What does a calligrapher do?  Why is calligraphy an especially important art for Muslims?  What word is Hassanein writing when the narrator visits him?  What does this word mean?
    2. What effect does the calligrapher say Zaabalawi has had on his art?
  11. The narrator’s next encounter is with the composer Sheikh Gad (2889m).
    1. What does a composer do?  What does Sheikh Gad’s occupation have in common with Hassanein’s?
    2. What effect does the composer say Zaabalawi has had on his art?
    3. When the narrator apologizes for bothering the composer, how does the composer chide the narrator?  What does he say the narrator has overlooked (2890) about their meeting?
  12. Finally, the narrator meets Haag Wanas (2892). 
    1. Where does the narrator find Haag Wanas? 
    2. Haag Wanas refuses to talk with the narrator until the narrator has done what?  On the literal level, one might say that Wanas does this because he is an alcoholic.  On the allegorical level, however, what might be the significance of Wanas’s requirement?
    3. What dream or vision does the narrator have?  To what previously studied work does the description of the garden allude?  What is the definition of mysticism?  What indicates that the narrator is having a mystical experience while he is asleep?
    4. According to Haag Wanas, what actually happens while the narrator is asleep?
    5. How does the narrator feel as a result of this encounter?  How has the narrator changed from the beginning to the end of the story?  Has he  been successful in his quest?

 

Kojima

  1. This Japanese writer’s name is Kojima Nobuo (“koh-jee-mah noh-boo-oh”; note that in Japanese all syllables are pronounced with equal stress).  Why does the textbook refer to him as Kojima rather than as Nobuo?
  2. Kojima’s story “The American School” is set during the Allied Occupation of Japan (1945-52).  Historical background (do extra-credit research if necessary): Who were the “Allies” in World War II?  Why were the Allies occupying Japan?  What was the purpose of the occupation? 
  3. “The American School” was published in 1954.  Does the story have a realistic contemporary setting?  Why is there so much emphasis on teaching English?
  4. Kojima is known for writing novels and short stories.  What is the genre of “The American School”?
  5. Kojima is known as a satirist.  Does this story contain satire?  If so, what are its targets of satire?  
  6. What point of view is used to tell this story?  Which characters’ thoughts are revealed?  I count five characters whose thoughts are revealed.  Is this number correct?  What are the advantages of the story’s being told in this point of view?

 

Character of Isa

Isa is the protagonist of the story because he is the character most in conflict. 

  1. In the story’s antecedent action, what is the source of the conflict between Isa and the black American soldier (2897m-98)?  What strange behaviors does Isa exhibit?  Why?
  2. What circumstance causes Isa to meet the black American soldier again in the present? What is the source of the conflict with the soldier on this occasion?  How does the soldier threaten Isa?
  3. What suggestion by Yamada creates conflict with Isa?  What are the underlying sources of the antagonism between Yamada and Isa?
  4. The antagonist is the character most in conflict with the protagonist.  Who is the antagonist in this story?  Support your answer.
  5. Why does Isa not like to speak English?  (Give multiple reasons.)
  6. Based on the samples of Isa’s English in the story (2897b, 2908m, and possibly other places), evaluate his skill at speaking English.  Which Japanese character acts as if he thinks he speaks the best English?  Which Japanese character actually speaks the best English?
  7. Throughout the story, Isa demonstrates odd, sometimes bizarre, antisocial behaviors.
    1. List as many of these odd, antisocial behaviors as you can.
    2. Why does he behave in this way?
    3. Do you find these behaviors humorous?  Why or why not? 

 

Character of Yamada

  1. What was Yamada’s position during World War II? What does he say about his involvement with Americans during the war (2904)?  Do you believe him?  Given this claim, what is ironic about Yamada’s behavior toward Americans in the story?   
  2. What traits of Yamada are being satirized?  What character on Leave It to Beaver (or on other TV shows) does he remind you of?  How and why does Yamada use English?
  3. Examples of Yamada’s English are given on 2903b and 2916b.  How good is his English?  What does Michiko think about his English (2911)?

 

                                                            Character of Michiko

  1. What thoughts does Michiko have about her late husband (2905b)?  about Isa (2902)?  What do these thoughts reveal about her character?
  2. Mystery and suspense are created by Michiko’s thoughts about WHAT throughout the story?  At what point in the story are the mystery and suspense resolved?  This moment is the climax of the story, which also provides humorous resolution to the conflict between Isa and Yamada.

 

                                                  Indignities Faced by the Japanese

  1. Is Mr. Williams a sympathetic or unsympathetic character?  Does he make any inappropriate comments about Japanese culture (2914, 2918b)?
  2. What drawings do the American students make of the Japanese teachers?
  3. Evaluate the quality of life of the Japanese and Americans on the following criteria:
    1. clothing (including shoes)
    2. salary earned by (and status of ) teachers
    3. access to food and tobacco
    4. status of their own language