Language and Identity

“I have not been to the cinema in years, but given that, I don’t think it qualifies as an alternative world. I know all about the cinema. Believe me.”

“You speak too much English for a high-school dropout,” the King said. (Abani,132)

Elvis consistently speaks differently from the others in his surrounding community, both grammatically, phonetically, and in word choice. Whereas most characters use a “D” to replace the “Th” in words (i.e. Dat, dis instead of That, this), Elvis speaks in a dialect that appears much closer to “Standard English,” which sets him apart from many of the other characters thus far. The differences are subtle, but they stimulate the disconnection Elvis feels with Lagos. When Redemption tells Elvis he’s moving to Maroko: 

Elvis:     “This Maroko?”

Redemption:     “Dis Maroko?” 

The difference is slim, and neither of the characters acknowledge the difference, but it effectively draws a line between Redemption—a sort of representation of Lagos life—and Elvis. 

Okon and Elvis (Continued)

Okon appears in the story again on page 75, but assuming a new look this time. "A man stood in the open door of the buka, dressed like Superfly" (75).  Since Elvis had just been fired from his job, and was short on money, he allowed Okon to return the favor of the previous week. Elvis discovers that Okon sells his own blood two four different hospitals, but politely declines the offer given by Okon to donate his own blood for money as well. The donation of blood comes to symbolize more than monetary gain, though. The sacrifice of the body for money becomes a strong symbol of the vampirism of the society in which they live. In a way, it is a form of prostitution, in that the human body is commodified. Both traditional prostitution and the selling of blood are both a product of the system in which they live, but act as kind of loop-holes in their situation.

Okon and Elvis

After seeing his father drunk in the morning, and then watching a beggar scavenge rice off of the ground, Elvis treats the man to share his lunch. The man's name turns out to be Okon, and lets Elvis know that if he needs anything to call upon him. "I dey serious my friend, nobody knows tomorrow. Remember—Okon" (48). Elvis brushes the offering off with a casual "Ok, Okon," thinking that Okon could never be in a position to offer help, and the following paragraph draws a parallel between the two types of people in Marokol "Half of the town was built of a confused mix of clapboard, wood, cement and zinc sheets, raised above a swamp by means of stilts and wooden walkways. the other half, built on solid ground reclaimed from the sea, seemd to be clawing its way out of the primordial swamp, attempting to become something else" (48). The passage suggests that, like the buildings, Maroko is filled with people that are either disorganized, impermanent, and an almost "primordial" type like the beggars and his father, or else those who rise out of the swamp to become something more; something beyond the restrictions of the swampy Maroko. 

Music and Chapter 1

For this post, I would like to continue on the previous topic of cultural symbols. 

Immediately following the kola nut, a powerful connection of symbol and culture, is the reader's introduction to Elvis, as well as Lagos. The description of Elvis' surroundings are a bleak juxtaposition of rain, rust, and claustrophobia. The contrast draws out the dissonance between the cultural relevance and power of the kola nut with Elvis' stark situation. Then comes the description of Maroko, Lagos, which aids to the contrast of cultural elements. This is most evidenced in the mention of the music that is playing, which is a Bob Marley song playing against a more traditional song. The dichotomy of the two wonderfully exemplifies the collisions of culture in Lagos. The Bob Marley song is a Jamaican-by-way-of-America song, where as the other song is township jive, a genre birthed during the colonial days. Bob Marley was not only a performer of reggae music (a Jamaican/rock and roll hybrid), but is also a well known as a member of the Rastafari movement, who's central figure is Haile Selassie, former Emperor of Ethiopia. All of these elements combine at once over Elvis, the novel's main character, who's name is of obvious cultural importation. This exemplifies just how convoluted the notion of culture becomes, and further muddles the sense of cultural identity for Elvis. 

The Kola Nut

"This is the kola nut. This seed is a star. This star is life. This star is us."

"The igbo hold the kola nut to be sacred, offering it at every gathering and to every visitor, as a blessing, as refreshment, or to seal a covenant. The prayer that precedes the breaking and sharing of the nut is: He who brings kola, brings life."

The above excerpt is the opening to the first chapter of Book I in GraceLand. Though it is the first of many entries about the Kola nut, it is perhaps the most important to the reader. It works as a foundation for the non-Nigerian reader for how the kola nut is to be understood. Apparently, the kola nut comes to represent more than itself. But the effect of introducing such a powerful and important cultural symbol is a strange one; the reader is confronted with an aspect of culture that they are most likely unfamiliar with. Beyond that, though, the symbol of the kola nut is a positive one. It is a symbol of life and of "us," which is an inclusive, but also a symbol of a star, which is a very distant, albeit visible metaphor. The mention of the star is important, however, because the symbology lies within not only the kola nut, but the star that the kola makes. The star is a wide-spread symbol, generally used to show power, royalty, rank, or ideology. Additionally, the star of david was featured in the British Nigeria flag. You can see that here. 

Cultural Signifiers

"Cooking is always a good time for healing, so you must wash your pain, rinse and wash again until you too have washed out your bitterness in the green bile."

At the end of each chapter of GraceLand, Abani includes either a cooking recipe or supplementary information on a plant native to Nigeria, which calls into question for whom the book is written. By including cooking recipes and traditional cultural signifiers such as the kola nut, Abani finds a way to connect to his Nigerian, and even African audience. Beatrice, Elvis’ mother, explained that she was preparing Elvis for her impending death by teach him how to cook, among other things, and by leaving behind a written record. In a way, Abani is taking on the role of the mother by providing a record of culture and identity, food being a very important aspect of such. By imparting this knowledge, Abani creates a connection to his Nigerian audience, and subsequently ties his non-Nigerian audience to important artifacts of culture. Furthermore, the inclusion of these recipes and encyclopedic entries about the kola nut acts as a kind of reversal in the relationship between importing and exporting culture with the western world.

An Introduction

"It seemed almost incidental that he was African. So vast had his inner perceptions grown over the years…"

I feel as though a small introduction to this blog is necessary: I was initially drawn to Abani's GraceLand because of the sensitivity with which the complexities of cultural identities is handled. For a long time, the notion of national identity and, beyond that, identity and the individual in general has been of particular interest. What it means to be an individual is an essential quality of modern literature, and Abani deals with the subject in various ways, but is proved to be most poignant when examining the individual's (in this case, his character Elvis) role in society.


Book I begins with the above Bessie Head quote taken from A Question of Power and seems to set the tone for the ambiguity of identity. To use the word "incidental" is to suggest that, though he (whoever "he" happens to be) is indeed African, it is almost of no consequence. However, the inclusion of the words "seemed" and "almost," juxtaposed with the second sentence of the quote suggest that he is certainly still African, and that being African seems to run counter to clear understanding of oneself. Beginning the book in this manner is clearly presenting the reader the notion of identity, but that notion left very unclear. As this blog progresses, I hope to be able to further tease out these issues of identity presented in GraceLand into a cohesive and coherent understanding.