The Dilemma of a Ghost
The Dilemma of a Ghost | |
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Written by | Ama Ata Aidoo |
Date premiered | 1964 |
Place premiered | University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana |
Original language | English |
The Dilemma of a Ghost is a play by Ghanaian writer
A domestic satire, The Dilemma of a Ghost concerns a Ghanaian student returning from education abroad with his Black American wife, and her struggle coming to terms with her cultural past in her new African home.[6][7] Simon Gikandi writes that the play "is both structurally and thematically related to the traditional dilemma tale. By focusing on the questions and problems of appropriate moral behavior, the dilemma tale invites the audience to adjudicate between conflicting possibilities of action. The drama centers on the problems of childbearing, infidelity, and exogamy that arise when Ato Yawson, the protagonist, returns to Ghana with an Afro-American wife, Eulalie Rush. The consequences of this unannounced marriage symbolize both the private and the public dilemmas of the postcolonial subject and her or his society. ... The ideological and stereotypical assumptions of both Eulalie and her new in-laws give rise to the seemingly irreconcilable encounter between the West (the United States) and Africa (Ghana)."[8]
Editions
- Christina Ama Ata Aidoo, The Dilemma of a Ghost, Accra, Ghana: Longman, 1965, 50pp. ISBN 9780582608368
- Christina Ama Ata Aidoo, The Dilemma of a Ghost (with an Introduction by Karen C. Chapman), New York: Collier Books, 1971.
- Ama Ata Aidoo, Two Plays: The Dilemma of a Ghost / Anowa, Longman African Classic, 1987, 124pp. ISBN 9780582002449
- Ama Ata Aidoo, The Dilemma of a Ghost and Anowa, Longman African Classic, 1995, 128pp. ISBN 978-0582276024
References
- ^ Owomoyela, Oyekan (2008). The Columbia Guide to West African Literature in English. p. 64.
- ^ Dodgson-Katiyo, Pauline (1 November 2016). "Ama Ata Aidoo, Dilemma of a Ghost". The Literary Encyclopedia. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
- ^ Thompson, Clifford, ed. (1999). World Authors 1990–1995. H. W. Wilson. p. 6.
- ^ Banyiwa Horne, Naana (2001). "Aidoo, Ama Ata". Who's Who in Contemporary Women's Writing. Routledge.
- ISBN 9780954262402.
- ^ Banham, Martin. "African theatre". Britannica. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
- ^ "Ama Ata Aidoo". Britannica. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
- ^ Odamtten, Vincent O. (2003). "Aidoo, Ama Ata". In Gikandi, Simon (ed.). Encyclopedia of African Literature. Routledge. p. 20.
- ^ Msiska, Mpalive-Hangson; Paul Hyland, eds. (2017). "'Between mothers, daughters, sisters...'". Writing and Africa. Routledge.
Further reading
- Connie Rapoo (2019), "Scripting Diasporic Identity in Ama Ata Aidoo's The Dilemma of a Ghost", English Academy Review, 36:2, 16–24.