Using a literary text studied on any third year Literature courses, identify and discuss the various voices the respective authors employ. How effective are these voices in the articulation of the themes and characters of the respective texts? GAI JOHN, ALUMA FABIAN, MUGERWA DERRICK AND MUWANGUZI JOEL

McConnel(1939 ) observes that the concept of the various voices that are employed by authors in a literary text is what Mikhael Bakhtin termed as “polyphony”. According to Emerson(1990),polyphony literary means multiple voices. He further observes that Bakhtin first applied this concept in the analysis of Dostoevsky’s poetics and published his arguments as “The Problems of Dostoevsky’s Poetics” in 1972.In this text, he argues that one ought to read a literary text as consisting of variety of voices, unmerged into a single perspective, and not subordinated to the voice of the author. To stress his point, Bakhtin summarized his claim in a quotation thus, a text comprises, “a plurality of independent and unmerged voices and consciousness, a genuine polyphony of fully valid voices.” Therefore, in essence, a literary text should be dialogical and not monological according to Bakhtin since the former does not depend on the centrality of a single authoritative voice like the latter. In order for the various voices to be realized in a given literary text, various sources come into play, namely; intertextuality, focalization, dialogue, among others. Below is the effectiveness of the various voices in bringing out the themes and characters in “White Teeth” by Okot P’Bitek ; Intoduction of the novella “White Teeth” Okot p`Bitek `s White Teeth tells the story of a young man known as Okeca Ladwong who is orphaned at a young age. He leaves his village Ajuru in northern Uganda to seek for work in Kampala in order to acquire wealth necessary to pay the bride price of one thousand shillings to marry his lover Cecilia Laliya .The life in Kampala proves to be overwhelming for Okeca who endures a tough time in the city that he finally opts for Kakira Sugar Plantations as a shamba boy. After an unsuccessful exploitative work spell at the plantations, he considers to go back to his motherland Gulu impoverished as he left. Intertextuality is one of the sources of the various voices. M.H. Abrahams (1991:200) observes that intertextuality is a creative means used to; “signify the multiple ways in which one literary text echoes, or is inescapably linked to, other texts, whether by open or covert citations and allusions ,or by the assimilation of the features of an earlier text by a later text or simply by participation in a common stock of literary codes and conventions.” “White Teeth” by Okot P’Bitek is a perfect illustration of this for example, in terms of setting, it was set on an Acoli background just like Okot P’Bitek’s earlier works most especially “Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol”.This is highlighted by the fact that “White Teeth” was originally written as “Lak Tar”, an Acoli word to mean white teeth. It was only translated later into English in the wake of 1980 just before Okot P’Bitek’s death. Similarly, before translation to “Song of Lawino” in 1971,it was known as “Wer Pa Lawino” an Acoli term to mean “Song of Lawino.” Thematic wise, “White Teeth” re-echoes some thematic concerns from Okot P’Bitek’s earlier works for instance the theme of African tradition versus western civilization is running throughout almost if not all his works. For instance, in “Song of Lawino”, Lawino laments over the ill treatment she is subjected to by her husband Ocol, due to the latter’s obsession with western values and now despises his own black people and their traditions. Similarly in “White Teeth”, the monetization of the Ugandan economy by the colonialists impacted negatively on the Acoli traditions especially, the paying of bride price since just like corporal Okello’s wife Min Nyero Ladwong asserts, “marriage in Acoli those days was almost like slave trade” (White Teeth: Page 48-51). In both instances, the effect of Western culture has had a negative impact on the Acoli traditions and values. Intertextuality also effectively brings out the theme of brutality in both “Song of Prisoner” and “White Teeth”, both texts by Okot P’Bitek. Coincidentally, in both texts ,the protagonists are arrested and imprisoned. In “White Teeth”, Okeca Ladwong is unfairly arrested and wrongly accused of trying to rob a one Mister Singh Bai Baxis of Uganda Works Company of thirty shillings which is not true since Okeca just knocked the Indian as he was trying to hurriedly cross the road and infact the thirty shillings were his own and they just fell on the ground during the scuffle. Much as he is later acquitted, the rough experience he undergoes in prison together with his comrade Obina at the hands of the ruthless prison warders leaves a lasting memory in his life.Similarly, in “Song of Prisoner”, the protagonist who is a convicted criminal describes the anguish he suffers when he is incarcerated. The specific nature of the prisoner’s crime becomes unclear: he first claims that he was arrested for loitering in the park but later asserts that he has assassinated a political leader whom he describes as a murderer/A racist/A tribalist /A tribalist/A clanist/A brotherist. The gothic circumstances the prisoner experiences in the prison at the hands of the brutal warders is what drives him in a state of despair. Worse still, he is imprisoned even before being found guilty. He says thus; “Your honour, Why do they Punish me Before I plead Or am found Guilty?” (S.O.P, Pg 16) Dialogue is also one of the major sources of a variety of voices. Bakhtin (1972) argues that a work of art will live only if it is engaged in dialogue. In such a work, the dialogue is facilitated by the highly independent characters who are capable of interacting with each other as well as their information. These various characters independently voice their thoughts without any subordination by the author hence effectively portraying the traits of the various characters as well as the thematic concerns in the text. Referring to polyphonic approach to the novella characters involvement in the interaction has significant role in enhancing the themes which are paramount in the novel. The dialogue between Ochan`s mother, Min Nyero Ladwong and other women in the market gives the voice which effectively reveals the major concern of Okot P`bitek. In their interaction, the women talk about the mistreatment subjected to them by their husbands because they were bought from their parents with bride price. .The expensiveness of the women’s bride price is what makes the men so arrogant and harsh in their treatment of their wives .This is best summed up by Min Nyero Ladwong , Corporal Okello’s elder wife who says that marriage in Acoli those days was almost like slave trade. Okot P` Bitek therefore uses the novella to condemn oppressive cultural practices. The dialogue in the novella also gives insight into character traits of some characters, in the beginning of the novella the protagonist interacts with his age mates while grazing, and later in the novel Okeca tells his Uncle Omach about his intention of going to Kakira to fend for himself. Through this dialogue, Okeca Ladwong’s character is portrayed as determined and hard working since he is willing to do all kinds of jobs so long as he succeeds in earning enough money that is to say, one thousand Ugandan shillings to pay for Cecilia Laliya his lover. The novella`s striking depiction of dialogue between Okeca Ladwong and his mother acts as a voice for illustrating the importance of Acholi women. In the interaction, his mother gives him advice about life in another man`s land and tells him not to take peoples decisions without consideration. The dialogue gives much light on condemning the mistreatment of women since they have significant roles in upbringing their children morally. At a certain point in the prison, Okot involves the main character, Okeca Ladwong and his friend Obina where both discuss their predicament while in prison. They agree that most of the young men locked up in the cell and suffering in the streets of Kampala are Acholi and it is mainly because of the exorbitant charges for bride price that they came to Kampala. The dialogue gives insight into effects of bride price on an individual most especially in the colonial Acholi .The young men wonder how special the Acholi women are and whether they has extra sweetness unlike other women. This conversation is a clear condemnation of the idea of bride price. Authorial intrusion has also been used to bring forth the several voices. According to Ofuani (1996), White Teeth draws heavily from p' Bitek's background, tending towards the autobiographical, even if fictional. It is set in many parts of pre-Independence post-World War II Uganda and begins and ends in the traditional homelands of the Acoli. The Acoli live in the savannah grasslands of Northern Uganda, an area stretching northwards from the Murchison area of the Victoria Falls to the Sudanese border. Gulu, their main administrative town, features in White Teeth, as does Ajulu, the home village of Okeca Ladwong, at the foot of the Ladwong Hill. Okot p'Bitek's father, Opii Jebedyo, was from the Pa-Cua clan of the Patiko chief-dom, whose clan homeland is Ajulu. His mother, Lacwaa Cerina, also called Lawino, came from the Palaro chiefdom, whose homeland is north of Ajulu. The Acoli phrase "Lak Tar" was p'Bitek's father's mwoc (praise name), as he tells us in Horn of My Love (169). Could the story have been that of Okot's childhood friend Atuk (Horn of My Love 169) who is made to tell the story as affected persona Okeca Ladwong? Is it by chance that Okeca's father adopts Okot's father's mwoc? Another character, Ongiya, takes the name of still another of Okot's friends (Horn of My Love 169). Furthermore, the circumstances of Okot p'Bitek's birth are similar to Okeca Ladwong's in Chapter One. Okot p'Bitek delighted in explaining the circumstances of his birth. According to one version reported by p'Chong, he told his friends: On the day I screamed out of my mother's womb, whether in protest, or excitement, or for whatever reason, it was in the house and hands of Miss Brown Cave, a famous White missionary in Gulu. When my mother was in labour pain, Miss Cave was sent to take her to Gulu Hospital. But they could not reach the hospital because I was too much in a hurry to come out. So Miss Cave drove to her house where I was born, she acting as the midwife. (Artist the Ruler 1) Focalisation is also a major source of voices in the text. Gerard Genette (1972) viewed focalization as a replacement for perspective or point of view. It therefore primarily deals with the various kinds of narration employed in a text.In the text “White Teeth”. In the text Okot employs the first person narrative where the main character Okeca Ladwong who narrates his story of misery right from the time of birth in cave to where a thousand mosquitoes and fleas sacked his infant blood and made it rough like the tongue of an ox, to the tough times endured in the dehumanizing labor at Kakira plantation. Through all these we are able to figure out the theme of suffering. The theme of frustration and disillusionment is also depicted through the voice of the narrator when he tells us that he laughs not because he happy but because e has white teeth .the many poor people suffer humiliation as they struggle. This clearly reveals the frustrations that the protagonist experiences. In conclusion Mikhael Bakhtin’s theory of polyphony has been effectively employed through its various sources for instance, intertextuality whereby a relation between the text “White Teeth and other texts such as “Song of Prisoner” and “Song of Lawino” has been realized, dialogue for instance one between Alobo and Min Nyero Ladwong and focalization as well as authorial intrusion. All these are key in revealing the themes of brutality, African tradition versus Western culture among others as well as revealing the character traits of various individuals as discussed above. REFERENCES Mikhail Bakhtin, Problems of Dostoevsky’s Poetics (ed. and trans. C. Emerson; Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1984). Mikhail Bakhtin, “From M. M. Bakhtin, The Dialogic Imagination, in The Bakhtin Reader (ed. P. Morris; London: Edward Arnold, 1994), 77. White Teeth: A Novel. Nairobi: Heinemann Kenya, 1989. 1971 Two Songs by Okot P’Bitek . Nairobi: East African Publishing House. Song of Lawino : A Lament. Nairobi: East African Publishing House, 1966. Old Wine in New Skins? An Exploratory Review of Okot p'Bitek's "White Teeth: A Novel" Author(s): Ogo A. Ofuani Source: Research in African Literatures, Vol. 27, No. 2 (Summer,1996), pp. 185-193 Published by: Indiana University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3820171 Accessed: 03-11-2015 11:17 UTC Clayton, J. and Rothstein, E.1991. Figures in the corpus: theories of influence and intertextuality. In: Influence and Intertextuality in Literary History, J. Clayton and E.Intertextuality and the Contemporary African Novel 385 Rothstein (eds.), pp. 3–35. Madison, Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press.