Transnationalism in Gabriel Okara’s ‘Once Upon A Time’

Abstract

This paper attempts to explore the nexus between transnational approaches and their manifestations in addressing the ongoing questions regarding nation, culture and the language of the community. The Transnational spotlight is on the connections that migrant establish between countries which showcases tensions and ambivalences resulting in constant negotiations , reinventions and remediations of national traditions. As the term, transnationalism suggests, transnational literature is located in the age of the national state, however also taking place in the pre and post-national conditions. This paper foregrounds the methodology interrogating the past terminologies of the national and global hierarchy thus creating a historical reality and residual idea in the literary cultural space. It is a blurring of the geographical boundaries to create a unique way of traversing the continents and culture. This leads to a greater degree of connection between individuals, communities and societies across borders bringing about changes in the social, cultural, economic and political landscapes of societies of origins and destinations. This paper further intends to study Gabriel Okara Once Upon A Time using a transnational approach, where the speaker longs to regain his innocence, by reflecting on the two phases of his life. The poet portrays the advent of the Western imperialism of which he was a victim and the cry of the colonised against the colonisers. This paper foreshadows the rudiments of Western Imperialism in terms of culture. It also shows how manhood has changed from the past. Nostalgia about the past is detailed by the poet to his son which in terms of reality is said to be a Utopian dream for the poet and where he firmly registers that for him giving up the past is difficult and to live in the present is an alienated feeling.