NO BOX FOR YOU TO MARK ON THIS APPLICATION: AN UNSUCCESSFUL DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE ADMINISTRATION IN GLEYVIS CORO MONTANET’S “ODIAR EL VERANO” AND CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE’S “THE AMERICAN EMBASSY”

Year 2022, , 1170 - 1186, 20.12.2022

Francisco Fuentes

https://doi.org/10.33171/dtcfjournal.2022.62.2.14

Abstract

The non-cooperation with the institutional authorities constitutes a powerful resistance weapon when it comes to undermining the authority of the nation-state (Rendón Corona, 2011: 79). This theory is informed in the works of Reece Jones (2012) and Frederick Mayer (2014), who point at bureaucracy and institutionalism as pillars of the nation-state and understand individuals as “embedded in institutions that constrain their choice” (Mayer, 2014: 37). In this article, I will examine the short stories “Odiar el Verano” (Hating Summer) (2013) by Gleyvis Coro Montanet, and “The American Embassy” (2009) by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. More specifically, I base myself on Douglas North’s concept of formal institutional constraints, that is, “rules, laws and constitutions,” (North, 1994: 360) to support the argument that these characters challenge formal institutions for the purpose of expressing a different point of view to that of the nation-state. I suggest that these two short stories depict an unsuccessful dialogue between the individual and the administration, recognizing the former’s challenge to institutions as an act of empowerment that provides citizen with a voice, since the non-cooperation with the institutional authorities represents one of the most striking features of Gandhi’s passive resistance (Rendón Corona, 2011: 79). By refusing to dance to bureaucracy’s tune and confronting security guards, these characters break with the implicit collaboration with the State by deciding to stop complying with its administration, for the authority of the State finds its expression in juridical codes and institutional organizations (Weber, 1991; Jones, 2012; Mayer, 2014). Therefore, this comparative analysis points to these literary accounts as a revealing point of view on the lack of recognition that many asylum seekers and displaced individuals experience on behalf of some national institutions.

Keywords

resistance literature, asylum seeker, institutions, Cuba, Nigeria

BU UYGULAMADA SENİN İŞARETLEMEN İÇİN KUTU YOK: GLEYVİS CORO MONTANET'İN “YAZDAN NEFRET ETMEK” VE CHIMAMANDA NGOZİ ADICHIE'NİN “AMERİKAN BÜYÜKELÇİLİĞİ” ADLI YAPITLARINDA BİREY İLE YÖNETİM ARASINDA GEÇEN BAŞARISIZ BİR DİYALOG

Abstract

Kurumsal otoritelerle işbirliği yapılmaması, ulus-devletin otoritesinin altını oymak söz konusu olduğunda güçlü bir direniş silahı oluşturur (Rendón Corona, 2011: 79). Bu teori, bürokrasi ve kurumsallığı ulus-devletin temel direkleri olarak gören ve bireyleri “seçimlerini kısıtlayan kurumlara gömülü” (Mayer, 2014: 37). Bu yazıda Gleyvis Coro Montanet'in “Odiar el Verano” (Yazdan Nefret) (2013) ve Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie'nin “Amerikan Büyükelçiliği” (2009) adlı kısa öykülerini inceleyeceğim. Daha spesifik olarak, bu karakterlerin farklı bir noktayı ifade etmek amacıyla resmi kurumlara meydan okuduğu argümanını desteklemek için kendimi Douglas North'un resmi kurumsal kısıtlamalar, yani “kurallar, yasalar ve anayasalar” (North, 1994: 360) kavramına dayandırıyorum. ulus-devletin bakış açısına göre. Bu iki kısa öykünün birey ve yönetim arasındaki başarısız bir diyaloğu betimlediğini öne sürüyorum, birincinin kurumlara meydan okumasını vatandaşa ses veren bir yetkilendirme eylemi olarak kabul ederek, kurumsal yetkililerle işbirliği yapmamanın en önemlilerinden birini temsil ettiğini düşünüyorum. Gandhi'nin pasif direnişinin çarpıcı özellikleri (Rendón Corona, 2011: 79). Bu karakterler bürokrasinin ritmine göre dans etmeyi reddederek ve güvenlik görevlileriyle karşı karşıya gelerek, Devletin otoritesi ifadesini hukuk kurallarında ve kurumsal örgütlerde bulduğu için, onun idaresine uymayı bırakmaya karar vererek Devlet ile örtülü işbirliğini kırarlar (Weber, 1991; Jones, 2012; Mayer, 2014). Bu nedenle, bu karşılaştırmalı analiz, birçok sığınmacı ve yerinden edilmiş kişinin bazı ulusal kurumlar adına yaşadığı tanınma eksikliğine ilişkin açıklayıcı bir bakış açısı olarak bu edebi anlatımlara işaret ediyor.

Keywords

Direnç edebiyatı, sığınmacı, Kurumlar, Ulus devlet, Küba, Nijerya

References

• Adichie, C. Ngozi. (2009). “The American Embassy.” In C. Ngozi Adichie (ed.) The Thing Around Your Neck (pp-128-141). London: Fourth Estate.
• ---. (2006). Half of the Yellow Sun. London: Fourth Estate.
• ---. (2013) Americanah. Alfred A. Knopf.
• Berman, J. (2017). “Trans.” In Ursula K. Heise (ed.) Futures of Comparative Literature. ACLA State of the Discipline Report (pp.106-108). London and New York: Routledge.
• Bush, Christopher. (2017). “Bigger than the nation, smaller than the world.” In Ursula K. Heise (ed.) Futures of Comparative Literature. ACLA State of the Discipline Report (pp.171-173). London and New York: Routledge.
• City of Asylum. “About.” City of Asylum, cityofasylum.org/about/. Accessed 17 Feb. 2019.
• Coro Montanet, G. (2013). “Odiar el Verano.” In Orlando Luís Pardo Lazo (ed.) Nuevarrativa Cubana. Sampsonia Way. Retrieved 3 Nov. 2020 from www.sampsoniaway.org/literary-voices/2013/08/12/odiar-el-verano-gleyvis-coro-montanet.
• Friedman, Susan S. (2007). “Migration, Diasporas, and Borders.” In David Nocholls (ed.) Introduction to Scholarship in Modern Languages and Literatures (pp.260-293). New York: MLA.
• Hodgson, G. M. (2006). “What are Institutions?” Journal of Economic Issues, 40 (1), 1-25. Taylor&Francis Online, doi.org/10.1080/00213624.2006.11506879
• “Interview with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie about Half of a Yellow Sun.” (2007 Apr. 11) Socialist Worker, https://socialistworker.co.uk/reviews-and-culture/interview-with-chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-about-half-of-a-yellow-sun/
• J. Parel, A. (Ed.) (1997). “Passive Resistance.” In Ghandi, Hind Swaraj and Other Writings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Mayer, F. W. (2014). Narrative Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• North, Douglas C. (1990) Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance. New York: Cambridge University Press.
• ---. “Institutions.” (1991) Journal of Economic Perspectives, 5 (1), 97-112.
• ---. “Economic Performance through Time.” (1994). American Economic Review, 84 (3), 359-67.
• Pardo Lazo, O.L (ed.) (2013). “Generación Cero: Nuevarrativa en la Literatura Cubana e-mergente.” Sampsonia Way, retrieved 14 Nov. 2020 from www.sampsoniaway.org/features/2013/07/29/generacion-cero-nuevarrativa-en-la-literatura-cubana-e-mergente/
• Personal Interview to Coro Montanet. (5 Aug. 2015).
• Rendón Corona, A. (2011). “Gandhi: la resistencia civil activa.” POLIS, 7 (1), 69-103. Scielo.org, http://www.scielo.org.mx/pdf/polis/v7n1/v7n1a4.pdf.
• Saussy, H. (2017). “Comparative Literature: the next ten years.” In Ursula K. heise (ed.) Futures of Comparative Literature. ACLA State of the Discipline Report (pp. 24-31). London and New York: Routledge.
• Staniland, Emma. (2014). “Fighting the Opposition: Lack and Excess in Cuban and Cuban- American Narratives of Selfhood.” Comparative American Studies, 12 (3), 190-204. Taylor & Francis Online, https://doi.org/10.1179/1477570014Z.00000000083.
• Swacha, Michael. (2015). “Comparing Structures of Knowledge.” The 2014-2015 Report on the State of the Discipline of Comparative Literature, retrieved 15 Jun. 2015 from ACLA, https://stateofthediscipline.acla.org/list-view/practices.
• Tauchnitz, J. and Julia Borst. (2017). “Migratory Movements and Diasporic Positionings in Contemporary Hispano and Catalano- African Literatures: Introductory Reflections.” Research in African Literatures, 48 (3), pp. vii-ix. JSTOR, DOI: 10.2979/reseafrilite.48.3.01.
• “The Interview: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.” (2009, Apr.5). Interview by William Skidelsky. The Guardian. www.theguardian.com/books/2009/apr/05/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-interview.
• Thomsen, M. R. (2017). “World famous, locally: insights from the study of international canonization.” In Ursula K. Heise (ed.) Futures of Comparative Literature. ACLA State of the Discipline Report (pp. 119-124). London and New York: Routledge.
• Weber, Max. (1991). Max Weber: Essays in Sociology. Ed. And trans. by H.H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills. London: Routledge.
• Wilson, Rob. (2002). “Imagining ‘Asia Pacific’ Today.” In Masao Miyoshi and H.D.F Harootunian (eds.) Learning Places: The Afterlives of Area Studies (pp. 231-260). Durham: Dyke University Press.