I think Tina has it right in her interpretations of the epigraphs. For chapter 11, I also saw the dead ant as Soyaan and the live one as Loyaan, who doesn't realize the approach of the river until too late. I thought it was interesting in light of some of our past discussions that the living ant is characterized as female.
As for chapter 12's epigraph, the mother is unknowingly trying to lead her child to danger (the scorpion in between them), but if the child sticks with his choice (the grasshopper) he will be okay (i'm pretty sure a gecko isn't going to hurt anyone). In consideration of what happens in this chapter, this seems to be suggesting that if Loyaan just does what he wants, instead of following the advice of everyone else (his neighbor, his mother, his sister, etc.), who may mean well but are "blind" to what is really going on, then he will be okay. This then raises the question of what Loyaan really wants, which still seems kind of ambigious to me. It seems like Loyaan himself is not even sure what to do, and we see that through the internal dialogue that is constantly ordering and questioning everything he does.
In thinking about these particular epigraphs, I wonder what the point of the epigraphs in general is. Why did Farah choose to include them at the beginning of each chapter? Each epigraph seems to be a mini-parable or part of a parable that relates the overall or central moral of the following chapter to the reader. It seems like Farah is trying to make sure that the reader gets his point, and thus expresses it in a different way.
I also think that the epigraphs can relate to the discussion on Orientalism and Occidentalism (or Eurocentrism) in class. We talked about how often the dominated or colonized cultures were ones with an oral tradition. The epigraphs remind me of the kind of stories or parables that would be passed down in an oral tradition, from one generation to the next. They might eventually be written down, but originate from and connect back to this oral tradition. Perhaps Farah is reminding his people of this oral tradtion, and the lessons that it has to offer through these stories, and showing how these lessons are even more important in the current situation.
And according to our educated friend wikipedia, " Somali was a mainly oral culture... Speakers in political or religious assemblies and litigants in courts traditionally were expected to use poetry or poetic proverbs. Even everyday talk tended to have a terse, vivid, poetic style, characterized by carefully chosen words, condensed meaning, and alliteration."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Somalia
As for chapter 12's epigraph, the mother is unknowingly trying to lead her child to danger (the scorpion in between them), but if the child sticks with his choice (the grasshopper) he will be okay (i'm pretty sure a gecko isn't going to hurt anyone). In consideration of what happens in this chapter, this seems to be suggesting that if Loyaan just does what he wants, instead of following the advice of everyone else (his neighbor, his mother, his sister, etc.), who may mean well but are "blind" to what is really going on, then he will be okay. This then raises the question of what Loyaan really wants, which still seems kind of ambigious to me. It seems like Loyaan himself is not even sure what to do, and we see that through the internal dialogue that is constantly ordering and questioning everything he does.
In thinking about these particular epigraphs, I wonder what the point of the epigraphs in general is. Why did Farah choose to include them at the beginning of each chapter? Each epigraph seems to be a mini-parable or part of a parable that relates the overall or central moral of the following chapter to the reader. It seems like Farah is trying to make sure that the reader gets his point, and thus expresses it in a different way.
I also think that the epigraphs can relate to the discussion on Orientalism and Occidentalism (or Eurocentrism) in class. We talked about how often the dominated or colonized cultures were ones with an oral tradition. The epigraphs remind me of the kind of stories or parables that would be passed down in an oral tradition, from one generation to the next. They might eventually be written down, but originate from and connect back to this oral tradition. Perhaps Farah is reminding his people of this oral tradtion, and the lessons that it has to offer through these stories, and showing how these lessons are even more important in the current situation.
And according to our educated friend wikipedia, " Somali was a mainly oral culture... Speakers in political or religious assemblies and litigants in courts traditionally were expected to use poetry or poetic proverbs. Even everyday talk tended to have a terse, vivid, poetic style, characterized by carefully chosen words, condensed meaning, and alliteration."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Somalia
posted by Kate Merwald at 11:53 AM
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