Rehashing: Memory and Time

I am not at the end of Book I, so it seems appropriate to take the time to evaluate the structure of the novel thus far.


The entire structure of the novel works as exploration of time and memory. The story-line of the novel is split into two parallel stories, which I will call section A and section B, but also littered with cultural artifacts and signifiers, recipes, and excerpts from other texts. Section A is the story that begins the novel in 1983, where Elvis is 16 and living in Lagos. The following chapter marks the beginning of Section B, with Elvis still living in his home town. At this point, his mother is alive, but that changes as Section B's story line progresses. It's important to note that Section B is told in a much less linear fashion than Section A, and for that reason, it may not even be entirely appropriate to designate it as a section unto itself. However, section A follows a much more structured time line, which keeps the novel from falling into disjointedness.


This is a similar way to how memory is reproduced, in that it isn't a linear process. Instead, recollections weave themselves in and out of each other and call other memories to the front of their mind in their place. The cultural entries that bookend the chapters provide even more structure to the novel, while simultaneous splitting the narrative even more. They end up providing a more traditional sense of history; a man-made "factual" reproduction, giving the novel a sense of comparison between institutionalized cultural memory and personal recollection.