Fantasies and realities of independence: Ayi Kwei Armah's 'The beautyful ones are not yet born' and John McGahern's 'The barracks'

Explore how two novels from Ghana and Ireland reimagine political independence - moving from the idealism of liberation to the complex, interdependent realities of family and community

Julia’s paper explores experiences of political independence in two novels set in post-colonial settings. Although they come from different parts of the world – Ghana and Ireland – the novels describe a similar process. Independence is first imagined through the analogy of Plato’s cave, as enlightenment, the idea that individuals, once released from the darkness of colonialism, will come to see the world and themselves with moral clarity. In both novels, political independence has failed to bring such clarity. A second idea of independence emerges by reading the novels through relationships within the messy realities of family life. By exploring how their protagonists square up to the realities of interdependence, the novels show how they step back from enlightenment ideals to develop more critical approaches. This kind of ‘independence’ is a partial, ambiguous process that does not lead to certainty. Nevertheless, both novelists, in exploring a more complex and provisional independence, establish a subtle critique of independence’s inevitable limits – and possibilities – within relationships and communities.