QUESTION;USING A LITERARY TEXT ON A ANY THIRD YEAR LITERATURE COURSES,IDENTIFY AND DISCUSS THE VARIOUS VIOCES THE RESPECTIVE AUTHOURS EMPLOY HOW EFFECTIVE ARE THESE VOICES IN THE ARTICULTION OF HE THEMES AND CHARACTERS OF THE RESPECTIVE TEXTS CHELANGAT CONNIE, SIMINYU DEOGRACIOUS, MWEBAZA DOROTHY AND NATUHWEREZA JOAN

There are a number of literary voices that are used in practical criticism and these include intertextuality, focalisaion, the character and these are dicussed in detail in this essay. Intertextuality is a concept that has often been associated with postmodernism which can be seen as a development of modernism that came up in the first decades of the 20th century. Intertextuality as a word was not yet in existence but explorations in this area were already being done by the likes of David Jones and T.S Eliot both modernists. Intertextuality was first popular in Paris among the intellectual circles of the left Bank in the late 1960s and later was also among the American literary theorists and language philosophers one should bear in mind that the epistemological modernists rupture of the 1920s was the occasion for production of works and reflections. Intertextuality was first used with reference to what Bakhtin calls the dialogic aspect of language which “foregrounds the class ,ideological and other conflicts divisions and hierarchies in society.”He points to the otherness of language on its internal stratification on what he calls polyphony or heretoglossia. An interplay and coexistence of several types of discourse reflecting on class or social dialects, Bakhtin maintains the view that “ the life in a word is contained in it’s transfer from one mouth to the another, from one context to another and from one social collective to another.” Umberto contends that “its not true that works are created by the the authors,works are created by works, texts are created by texts , all together they speak to each other independently of the intensions of the authors.”What has been clearly established is that no text exists on it’s own,its always connected to another text but which text specifically and how? Intertextuality dwells on the dependence on prior words, concepts, connotations, codes, conventions, unconscious practices and text. This then points us into a direction were we can say that every text is an intertext that borrows knowingly or unknowingly from the immense archive of previous culture. An issue of absorption and transformation of one text into another is possible as forwarded by Clayton and Rothstein. Intertextuality can be evidenced in a number of contemplary African fictions that cement the richness of African culture like Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Allien woman by lawrance Ocen and Okot P’ Bitek’s song of prisoner and White teeth which is a stroy of a young man who leaves acoli land to go in search for money to pay for bride price for a girl of his dreams Cecilia Laliya. He faces many challenges like exploitation and arrest even when he is innocent,betrayal,and even theft of his property on his way back to Acoli land. In terms of charcter Ocen in Allein Woman creates a characters similar to those of Okot in White teeth.Ogang Apur in Allein Woman like Obal-lim in White teeth are characters that are considerably rich, selfish, proud, rude, conservative personalities that are the source of suffering of the other characters and do not listen to any one and in the two novellas show the hardness and difficulty of mans diseased heart. A reader can also draw similarity between Okeca-Ladwong a young man that leaves Acoli land to go get money for bride price and Opito who comes to kampala to further his studies at Makerere,both are robbed of their money while in the city away from home and affraid of cars. This points to the big disparity between the the people in rural areas and those in urban areas and the desperacy of people to survive by those that rob them. When we move to figurative language there is a similarity in Song of Prisoner and White teeth .In both the text the police officers are refered to as uniformed stones that potrays how they tend to unsensitive to other peoples feelings and cause harm to them and the irony is evident as they do this to the people they are supposed to protect. Progressing to the thematic occupations in the view of intertextuality is one can look at Okeca who on leaving Acoli land for the first time finds a place were they pay for food and sleep,he narrates how then he pays for a pool of water with a very small a piece and a lump of matooke. In Things Fall Apart we have Okwonkwo who on return from Mbata finds that things like palm wine were now being sold in markets. The two incidents bring to light the death of the African communal hospitable ways of African culture and the monetization of the African economies after the coming of the white man. In Things Fall Apart there is high regard for African culture especially in regards to payment of bride price as evidenced in Obeirika’s home during the bride price negotiations for his daughter and the number of pots of palm wine brought during the marriage ceremony. This is also clear as Okeca leaves for banana land in search for money to pay the bride price of Cecilia Laliya only to find himself in prison and later Kakira working on a sugar cane plantation like many young men were they are exploited for their labour. The issues of intermarriages is also dealt with in the novellas. Okwonkwo tells his daughters especially Ezinma that he prefers that she marries someone from Umofia after the period of living in exile has ended. Okot lays emphasis through Okeca and other men from Acoli land who return home to where the girls are so expensive and wonders if they are more sweeter.Ocen however goes further and focuses on the effecte of intermarriages of in Allein Woman through the marriage of Margret Nagawa and Opito, a marriage which parents from both sides of the two do not agree with right from the start. Polygamy as being part of African culture is also exhibited in Things Fall Apart and in White teeth through Okwonkwo who has three wivies before he is exiled from Umofia, this is the case with Corporal Okello the owner of the home where Okeca stays before going to Kakira who has two wivies that always quarrelsome and even have an disagreement on who should open for him. This also brings us to looking at another issue of the position of women in the African society in Things Fall Apart the weak are compared to women and are people who should not have a say in any matter this is seen in Okwonkwo who abuses one of the of the men in a meeting for being weak and not being able to farther children. In white teeth the women are compared to goods bought off the market stalls that are owned by men who paid bride price, have no say and are violently treated by their husbands. Intertextuality therefore looks at the interconnectedness of different text as they deal with the different literally levels of linguistics, theme, setting, character among others to which due attention should be put when dealing with ideas of literary voices and how they offer clarity of the issues of the that they deal with that tend to be part of our societies. The other source of voices is character especially in dialogues and interior monologues where the dialogue is a conversation or other form of discourse between two or more individuals whereas monologue is along, uninterrupted utterance that monopolizes a conversation these dialogues and monologues are important in the bringing out of themes and characters in white teeth by Okot. P Bitek as explained below; The dialogue between the two women going to the market helps us to know the suffering of married women through ochan’s mother who says “friend you are lucky your husband only quarrels with you. Mine! He comes drunk every night and beats me to kill. Ochan’s father is a beast not a human being” that our lot married women treated like slaves not as properly married wives. I wish I could be lucky enough to find a non to elope with: this portray Ochans father as a tough and violent man. Through the dialogue between Okeca and the woman he encounters with in the bus after reaching Okeca gets hope that he will get where to sleep that night and will not sleep on the velander where he will be surrounded by thieves and this shows that the woman is merciful for she helps Okeca to get where to sleep. More so, in the dialogue between Okeca general clerk and Ogwang portrays betrayal Ogwang betrays Okeca saying that he prayed part in Onen’s leaving of the sugar plantation. Okeca says “Ogwang Michaki was called. And that Luo son talked! He really tore me to shreds! He sang out everything without hiding anything at all as if it was me who killed his anything that is if his father was dead. As if it was me who rained his schooling. We get to know that Ogwang is merciless and a betrayer. Through Okeca monologue after realizing that he has lost his money and the bus from Kampala continues but he does not even have enough money to take him home portrays pessimism and poverty for he says he left home because he was poverty stricken and wanted money to marry Cecilia but he loses hope for he nolonger has the money to use to marry since it is stolen this portrays Okeca as a determined person for he moved from his home because of his determination to marry Cecilia. Okeca in a monologue after the uncle refuses to give him money for married Cecilia but tells him to wait for his seven old year sister so that he can get money to use to marry which portrays suffering and the uncle as a rude and inconsiderate person. Focalization is a term coined by Genette and is defined as a selection of a narrative information in relation to the experience and knowledge of the narrator. Focalization is composed of the omniscient narrative, first person narrative and second person narrative. At the beginning of the novella White Teeth, the omniscient narrator about the women who have woken up early in the morning and they go to colleen shea nuts in order to make shea butter. But these women have to go when thesun has come out so that they are not eatenby wild animals. In case they go out very early when it is still dark. This brings out the theme of insecurity in the novella white Teeth. The omniscient narrator still brings out the theme of hostility when Okeca’s father bays some goals and puts them under the care of Okeca, some other herds boys do not like Okeca and they attack him and there is a terrible fight between the two groups of herds boys and they hurt themselves. This omniscient narrative brings out the theme of hostility. Through the omniscient narrative, we get to know about Okeca’s journey to Kampala, the people he is travelling within the same bus, how he gets his ticket to Kampala. And he says one has to be strong in order to fight very hard to get the ticket to Kampala and he is travelling with some school girls, women who are eloping with some men, women going back to their husbands among others. This brings out the theme of struggling, marriage and education. Omniscient narrative also shows the theme of conflict. This is seen when Okello comes back home with another wife and the two wives of Okello beat up Okello’s ne wife. Okello tries to solve the situation by calling for a meeting so that issues can be solved. And still the omniscient narrator is able to tell who comes for the meeting and who does not come because of some reasons. Through the omniscient narrative, the theme of imprisonment. This is seen when Okeca goes to Kampala and by mistake knocks down a white man, he is arrested and even fi he tries to defend himself, he is locked up in prison and he is beaten up. This also shows how the omniscient narrative in white teeth brings up the theme of imprisonment. Using the second person narrative, the theme of marriage is brought out where on Saturday girls go to the market and boys tries to get their future wives from there. This is written as “You girl infront of the other girls, look this way” A boys says this statement to the girl leading to other girls because he wants to capture her attention and her heart and then marry him. This brings out the theme of marriage. Through the second person narrative, the theme of oppression of women is seen. This si when Ochan’s mother says that her husband beats her because of the bride price he paid for her and she says this as; “You are reminded all the time about the bride price”……….. “Don’t you realize I paid you with money I suffered to earn?’ And he says this while beating her and letting her know that he paid her bride price. The second person narrative still portrays the theme of suffering when Okeca decides to go to Kampala to work hard in order to get money to pay bride price. He feels sad to leave his mother and sister behind and cries while looking through the windows and one of the people tells him not to put his head out through the window. This is written as “You, Youngman, do not put your head out of the bus window” This brings out his pain for leaving his family behind This brings out his Through the second person narrative, the theme of starvation is potrayed in the novella “White Teeth”. This is seen when Ijeria (Okello’s wife) comes back to Kampala from Gulu and one of Okello’s wives asks her why she has come back so soon. And yet they are also starving with nothing to eat in the house. This is written as “Ijeria, why have you returned to Kampala so soon?.................... “We are also not well, we are starving.” This second person narrative portrays the theme of starvation First person narrative is used to bring out the theme of death. When Okeca goes back home after looking after his father’s goats, he finds his mother crying and people trying to conform her. He also sees her mother putting on clothes for widows. This is written as “I took a peep inside, mother was wearing a dress I had never seen before and his head was tied with same red bond.” This shows the theme of death in the Novella White Teeth. Through first person narrative, the theme of poverty is also portrayed in the novella “White Teeth”. This is seen when Okeca has no where to get money form to pay bride price. He begins to lament and he says he has no sister and father to facilitate his paying of bride price. And this is written as; “I have no sister Where shall I gather the cattle from”… And I have no father Where shall this young man find money t pay the bride price? This makes first person narration to bring out the theme of poverty. In conclusion then voices that comprise of intertextuality,chareacters focalization,authorial intrusion, all come together to in effectively communicating the message intended by the authors that include themes and character as the discussion above. REFERENCES Ayo.Kihinde.Intertextuality and the contemplary African novel;Obafemi Awolowo university Nigeria accessed on November 4th 2015 Adolphe Haberer. Intertextuality in theory and practice University of Lyon 2 accessed on November 4th