Mwongozo wa Riwaya ya "Things Fall Apart"

Mimi mwalimu wa fasihi ya ki-Ingereza. Kati ya mambo ninayofanya ni kuandika miongozo ya fasihi. Nimeshaandika miongozo kadhaa, ikiwemo mwongozo wa Things Fall Apart, riwaya ya Chinua Achebe.

Nimeridhika kuwa mwongozo huu una mawazo muhimu ya kumwezesha mwalimu, mwanafunzi, na msomaji yeyote kuelewa mambo mapya juu ya Things Fall Apart na pia juu ya nadharia ya fasihi. Leo nimezipitia kurasa kadhaa, nikafurahia niliyoandika juu ya mhusika aitwaye Unoka.

Suali ni je, mwongozo huu unawafikia wanafunzi wa waalimu wa Tanzania? Ni wazi kuwa ningependa wafaidike nao, kama wanavyofaidika wanafunzi na wengine nje ya Tanzania, kama vile hapa Marekani. Ningekuwa na uwezo, ningepeleka nakala katika shule na vyuo vyote.

Kwa bahati nzuri, kitabu kinapatikana mtandaoni kama kitabu pepe. Ninafahamu kuwa kuna watu Tanzania ambao wanaweza kuagiza vitabu vya aina hiyo. Ninaamini kuwa kadiri siku zinavyokwenda na tekinolojia kuenea, wengi zaidi watakuwa na uwezo huo. Kwa hivi, nina matumaini makubwa kwa siku za usoni.

Njia nyingine ni kusafirisha vitabu. Mimi mwenyewe, kila ninapokwenda Tanzania, huchukua vitabu na kuvigawa kwenye maktaba na vyuo. Kuna wa-Tanzania wengi huku nje, ambao nao huenda Tanzania. Kama kungekuwa na nia ya kuchangia elimu, ingekuwa rahisi wao pia kuchukua vitabu. Vitu vingine wanachukua, kwa nini washindwe kuchukua vitabu?

Ninafurahia Kusoma "Eugene Onegin"

Siku chache zilizopita, niliandika kuwa utungo wa Pushkin, Eugene Onegin, ni mtihani. Madhumuni ya kuandika taarifa ile ilikuwa ni kujiwekea kumbukumbu ya usomaji wangu, sio kufanya uchambuzi au tathmini ya utungo. Nilivyotaja dhana ya mtihani, nilimaanisha kuwa utungo huo unahitaji tafakari ya dhati kuelewa vizuri. Wazo hilo lilijengeka akili mwangu wakati nasoma sura ya kwanza ya Eugene Onegin.

Lakini lazima nikiri pia kuwa kuna beti ambazo hazihitaji juhudi kubwa kuzielewa. Kwa kuwa ninasoma tafsiri, siwezi kujua kama ugumu unatokana na utungo wa asili au tafsiri. Kwa pamoja, ingawa ni tafsiri, hizi beti zote zinavutia kwa ukwasi wa sanaa. Mfano ni beti mbili za mwanzo wa sura ya pili ya Eugene Onegin:

They bored Onegin past all measure
These woodlands, though a charming spot.
A friend of innocent, sweet pleasure
Might well thank Heaven for this plot.
The lonely manor found protection
From wind in hills, and in reflection
It danced upon the brook below.
The distant meadows' blurry glow
Was gold from untold blooms collected.
Far hamlets glistened through the air,
And flocks sought pasture here and there.
A garden, grand but long neglected,
Was choked with weeds grown thick and tight:
Fine shelter for a dreamy sprite.

The stately manse had been erected
As manses ought to be: to last.
'Twas solid, tranquil, well-protected:
A tasteful tribute to the past.
The rooms were high and overawing,
And in the drawing-room, some drawing --
Tsarina, tsar -- graced every tall
And plushly damask-covered wall.
The ovens featured flow'ry tiles.
Although this sounds passe today,
The reason why, I can't quite say.
At any rate, to all such styles
The squire was equally undrawn:
At old rooms, new rooms, he'd just yawn.

Katika beti hizi, tunaona kuwa Onegin, ambaye ndiye mhusika mkuu, ni mtu wa ajabu. Mazingira ambayo yangemvutia binadamu mwingine, yeye hayamshitui, wala haoni mvuto wake. Mazingira haya yanaelezwa kwa mtindo unaonikumbusha mkondo wa fasihi uitwao "Romanticism," kama inavyodhihirika, kwa mfano, katika shairi la William Wordsworth, "Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey," ambalo linaanza hivi :

Five years have past; five summers, with the length
Of five long winters! and again I hear
These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs
With a soft inland murmur.--Once again
Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs,
That on a wide secluded scene impress
Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect
The landscape with the quiet of the sky.

Pushkin alifahamu fasihi za mataifa mbali mbali, kama nilivyogusia katika blogu hii.
Hata hao waandishi wa mkondo wa "Romanticism" aliwafahamu. Kwa mfano, katika sura ya pili ya Eugene Onegin, kwa mfano, Pushkin anawataja Goethe na Schiller, waandishi maarufu wa Ujerumani.