Abdulrazak Gurnah
Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah, the 2021 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, explores the impact of colonialism on the identity of the colonized.
The novel is set in Tanzania during the colonial rule of Germany before the first World War and spans about 60 years. It follows the lives of four principal characters through separate threads which intersect and coalesce at the end of the novel. The characters are Khalifa, Ilyas, Afiya (Ilyas’ sister), and Hamza.
It opens with the story of Khalifa, the son of an African mother and Indian father. He begins work with Amur Biashara, a merchant, and later marries Biashara’s niece. His life intersects with an adult Ilyas, a German-speaking African who was sent to a German mission school as a child and worked on a German owned family farm. Ilyas brings his sister, Afiya, to live with him in Khalifa’s house when he learns of her existence. He later volunteers to fight alongside the Germans. He is not heard from, again.
The bulk of the narrative focuses on Hamza, an Askari volunteer who quickly regrets his decision to fight for the Germans. He becomes the personal servant to the Oberleutenant who teaches him German. He is taken to a mission to be treated for the serious injuries experienced in a violent beating. After recovering, he goes home to Zanzibar where he finds employment with Biashara’s son who now runs his father’s company. His co-worker is Khalifa, and the two become friends. He moves in with Khalifa and his wife, falls in love with and marries Afiya. The novel ends in 1963 when Ilyas, the son of Hamza and Afiya, goes to Germany and learns the fate of his uncle.
Woven throughout these threads are historical events—the various uprisings against colonial rule; the brutal reprisals to squash them; the graphic details of Hamza’s life with the German army; the role Christianity plays in advancing the colonial agenda; the events leading up to World War I and its aftermath; World War II; and British colonialism.
This wide scope of colonial history acts as a backdrop since Gurnah is more focused on the many ways in which colonialism impacts his characters. Some manage to carve an existence and livelihood for themselves; others develop a complex relationship with the oppressor, basking in even the slightest display of kindness; while others experience the brutality of colonialism first-hand. But most question their identity and sense of belonging. No one escapes unscathed.
In this sweeping, multigenerational sage, Gurnah is to be commended for exploring the devastating legacy of colonialism on the colonized. His style is straightforward and unemotional. But the abrupt shifts from one protagonist to another are disconcerting. There was too much exposition, too much telling, too much summary, and too little direct dialogue. This creates distance and gives the impression that one is reading a history book rather than a novel. The conclusion is abrupt and hurried, as if Gurnah was in a rush to tie up all the loose ends. In spite of these shortcomings, the novel is recommended because it gives voice to the marginalized and illustrates how the legacy of colonialism is experienced by those who lived through it and those who came after.