‘You Laughed and Laughed and Laughed’ by Gabriel Okara
Name: Emisha Ravani
Paper: 206: The African Literature
Roll no: 07
Enrollment no: 4069206420210031
Email id: emisharavani3459@gmail.com
Batch: 2021-2023(M.A. Sem 4)
Submitted to: S. B. Gardi Department of English, Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University
About the Gabriel Okara
Gabriel Okara was a Nigerian poet and novelist who gained international recognition for his works, with some of his poems being translated into multiple languages in the 1960s. Despite being mostly self-educated, he had a talent for writing and began producing plays and radio features after working as a bookbinder. In 1953, he won an award for his poem "The Call of the River Nun" at the Nigerian Festival of Arts. Okara's poems were published in the influential magazine Black Orpheus, and he became widely acknowledged as a skilled literary artist by 1960.
Okara's poetry employs a contrasting style where symbols are delicately counterbalanced against each other. His poems frequently explore the struggle to reconcile extreme experiences, with common themes such as life and death. Typically, his poetry takes the reader on a circular journey from ordinary reality to a moment of happiness before returning to reality.
Okara's literary works incorporate African ideology, religion, folklore, and imagery into both his poetry and prose. His first novel, The Voice (1964), is an impressive linguistic experiment where Okara translated directly from the Ijo (Ijaw) language, utilizing Ijo syntax in English to express African concepts and imagery literally. The novel presents a symbolic landscape in which the forces of traditional African culture and Western materialism contend. The novel's tragic protagonist, Okolo, is a figure who embodies both individual and universal qualities, and the elusive "it" he searches for could represent various moral values. Okara's skilled depiction of his hero's internal tensions distinguished him from other Nigerian novelists. For a significant part of the 1960s, Okara worked in civil service, and from 1972 to 1980, he was the director of the Rivers State Publishing House in Port Harcourt. He continued writing throughout his life, including a poetry collection titled The Fisherman's Invocation (1978) and two books for children, Little Snake and Little Frog (1981) and An Adventure to Juju Island (1992).
African literature
African literature is a vast collection of traditional oral and written works, created in Afro-Asiatic and African languages, as well as works written by Africans in European languages. While written literature is more common in sub-Saharan cultures that have been influenced by Mediterranean cultures, such as the scholars of what is now northern Nigeria who produced written literatures in both Hausa and Arabic, and the Somali people who have a traditional written literature, there are also works in GeĘżez (Ethiopic) and Amharic from Ethiopia, the only part of Africa where Christianity has been practised long enough to be considered traditional. In contrast, literature written in European languages emerged mainly in the 20th century.
The relationship between oral and written traditions, particularly between oral and modern written literatures, is not a simple evolutionary process, but a complex one. Modern African literature emerged in the educational systems imposed by colonialism, which drew models from Europe instead of existing African traditions. Nevertheless, African oral traditions have influenced these literatures in their own way.
The poem
In your ears my song
is motor car misfiring
stopping with a choking cough;
and you laughed and laughed and laughed.
In your eyes my ante-
natal walk was inhuman, passing
your ‘omnivorous understanding’
and you laughed and laughed and laughed
You laughed at my song,
you laughed at my walk.
Then I danced my magic dance
to the rhythm of talking drums pleading, but you shut your eyes
and laughed and laughed and laughed
And then I opened my mystic
inside wide like the sky,
instead you entered your
car and laughed and laughed and laughed
You laughed at my dance,
you laughed at my inside.
You laughed and laughed and laughed.
But your laughter was ice-block
laughter and it froze your inside froze
your voice froze your ears
froze your eyes and froze your tongue.
And now it’s my turn to laugh;
but my laughter is not
ice-block laughter. For I
know not cars, know not ice-blocks.
My laughter is the fire
of the eye of the sky, the fire
of the earth, the fire of the air,
the fie of the seas and the
rivers fishes animals trees
and it thawed your inside,
thawed your voice, thawed your
ears, thawed your eyes and
thawed your tongue.
So a meek wonder held
your shadow and you whispered;
‘Why so?’
And I answered:
‘Because my fathers and I
are owned by the living
warmth of the earth
through our naked feet.’
Interpretation
The poem is comprised of ten stanzas where the poet employs a tone of sarcasm to critique the treatment of African people. He addresses the lack of attention given to their plight by white people, highlighting the disparities in societal treatment.
The poet titled his work "You Laughed and Laughed and Laughed" to highlight the mockery and discrimination faced by black Africans at the hands of white people. The cultural norms of black people, such as their songs, dances, and music, were belittled and considered abnormal by the dominating white society. Throughout the poem, the poet portrays the white people's control and domination over the native Africans. The central theme of the poem is racism and the suffering faced by black Africans as a result of white supremacy. The poet brings to light the pain and challenges faced by black people, who were not understood by their white oppressors. The introduction of the European language in Africa paved the way for white people to enslave Africans and treat them as inferior beings.
White people ridiculed and laughed at black natives for everything they did, including their emotional songs that expressed the pain and struggles of their people. Unfortunately, the white people failed to understand the depth of these songs and dismissed them as harsh sounds resembling a car that had stopped running.
In your ears my song
is motor car misfiring
stopping with a choking cough;
and you laughed and laughed and laughed.
The black natives were unfairly deemed as less stylish and modern compared to their white counterparts, with a perceived clumsiness in their physical appearance. White people mocked their gait, describing it as resembling that of an immature man's walk, or "Ante natal." This mockery overlooked the natural power and grace inherent in the natives' physical form, which was unfortunately disregarded and dismissed by the white observers.
In your eyes my ante-
natal walk was inhuman, passing
your ‘omnivorous understanding’
The black natives were subject to teasing and ridicule for their traditional and cultural rituals, such as their mad and furious dance accompanied by the beating of heavy drums. Unfortunately, the curious and wild drumming was perceived as barbaric by white observers, despite the fact that the sound produced revealed the deep emotions and moods of the native people. The drumming had the power to evoke a strong response within the black natives, who would dance in a way that expressed their innermost feelings. The white people closed their eyes and ears to the beauty and power of this tradition, instead labelling it as clumsy and uncivilized, and thus further perpetuating the unjust treatment of the native Africans.
You laughed at my dance,
you laughed at my inside.
You laughed and laughed and laughed.
The white people's treatment of the native Africans was marked by a disturbing lack of empathy and understanding, driven by their preoccupation with appearance, skin colour, and behaviour. Black natives were consistently subjected to mockery and ridicule by the white people. In response to the ongoing injustices he witnessed, the narrator launched a scathing attack on white people, describing them as "frozen" in all aspects of their being. Their eyes, ears, tongues, and hearts were all stilled and unresponsive, demonstrating a complete lack of awareness or concern for the inner feelings of the native Africans. The black natives drew strength and bravery from their interactions with the natural world, basking in the warming rays of the sun, plunging deep into the sea, and even facing down the searing heat of a raging fire. The white observers, bewildered by the native people's seemingly carefree joy, were slowly melted by the warmth of their merriment, and became eager to unlock the secrets of their strength and resilience.
The whites were amazed by the manual dexterity of the black individuals whom they had previously ridiculed. They expressed curiosity about the source of their incredible strength. The black individuals explained that they had a strong connection to the natural elements, including the sun, sea, air, and fire. They walked barefooted across the land, allowing their bodies to absorb the energy of the earth. In contrast, the whites primarily interacted with machines and had limited exposure to the natural world.
And I answered:
‘Because my fathers and I
are owned by the living
warmth of the earth
through our naked feet.’
\
Thus, Okara's poetry serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of social justice and equality, particularly for those who have historically been disenfranchised and oppressed.
Racism in African Literature
Racism is a prevalent theme in African literature, as it is in the literature of many regions that have experienced colonialism and the exploitation of their people. African writers have used their works to explore and expose the experiences of racism and its impact on individuals and societies. Some African writers have focused on the dehumanizing effects of racism, particularly the way it diminishes the value of black lives and perpetuates inequality. For example, Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" portrays the impact of colonialism on an African society and the destruction of traditional culture and values. Wole Soyinka's "The Interpreters" addresses the struggles of black people to achieve social and political equality in a white-dominated society.
Other African writers have explored the psychological effects of racism on individuals. In Tsitsi Dangarembga's "Nervous Conditions," the main character struggles to reconcile her African identity with the Western ideals imposed on her by colonialism, leading to a sense of cultural dislocation and alienation. Similarly, in Nadine Gordimer's "July's People," the white protagonist grapples with his own sense of guilt and privilege as he navigates his relationship with his black servant during a period of political upheaval. African literature has been a powerful tool for exploring and confronting the experiences of racism and its enduring impact on African societies and individuals.
Conclusion
This poem is a very good example to give justice to African literature. As well as the way poet portrayed, all the things are very important and remarkable too. Colonised people were suffering not by their beliefs only but mentally and psychologically also. The ill treatment is the core point which we could find here by the poet.
Another question we found here is that the poet is putting his native people and his culture higher than the white people and blaming them for their way of treatment towards them. So can we interpret it in way that poet is doing same thing by his act of writing in this way. Does the poet raise the same tone which white people poured into them?
We can interpret it in many other ways too. We can see here one thing is that when western people want black people as a benefit in their trades and how black people had to suffer by various aspects in social discourse as well as individually.
Work Cited
“African literature | History, Writers, Books, Characteristics, Themes, & Facts.” Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/art/African-literature. Accessed 28 March 2023.
Ajitha, M. “Racism Faced by Natives with Reference to Gabriel Okara’s You Laughed And Laughed And Laughed.” Language in India, vol. 19, no. 9, 2019, pp. 08-11. www.languageinindia.com, http://languageinindia.com/sep2019/mkuliterature2019/ajitha.pdf. Accessed 28 3 2023.
Echeruo, Michael J. C. “Gabriel Okara: A Poet and His Seasons.” World Literature Today, vol. 66, no. 3, 1992, pp. 454–56. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/40148369. Accessed 28 Mar. 2023.
Okara, Gabriel. “You Laughed And laughed And Laughed By Gabriel Okara – Pick Me Up Poetry.” Pick Me Up Poetry, 2 April 2022, https://pickmeuppoetry.org/you-laughed-and-laughed-and-laughed-by-gabriel-okara/. Accessed 28 March 2023.
Smith, Charlotte. “Gabriel Okara | Biography, Books, & Poems | Britannica.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 21 March 2023, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gabriel-Okara. Accessed 28 March 2023.
