A Naked Needle,1976 (Heinemann African Writers Series)

A Naked Needle is a 1976 novel by Somali writer Nuruddin Farah. It was Farah's second English language novel and was published as the 184th book in Heinemann's African Writers Series.

Background

Following good reviews for his first novel, From A Crooked Rib, Farah produced a much more ambitious manuscript for A Naked Needle, which was accepted by James Currey for inclusion in the African Writers Series in 1972.[1]

It was to be Farah's only novel written in Somalia.[2] He had returned to the country in 1969 from India, where he had been studying Philosophy and Literature at Panjab University. In the same year a coup d'état had bought President Major General Mohamed Siad Barre to power at the head of a socialist military government.[3]

Farah believed his country needed a revolution and was initially supportive of the new regime. But by 1971 his political awareness had grown and he began questioning the success of the revolution in Somalia. A Naked Needle was his response to the political corruption he saw and the need for national unity.[3][4]

Comments on the first manuscript were received from Ros de Lanerolle and Richard Lister, who were largely supportive but also clear that it could not be published as it was. The manuscript went through several rewrites over the next three years, with Lister eventually losing patience on the third version. He reported that the novel was too obscure because Farah had previously written a thesis on James Joyce.  Much more positive reviews were received by Henry Chakava, Heinemann's editor in East Africa, and Omolara Ogundipe-Leslie.[5][6]

A Naked Needle was eventually published in July 1976 at a launch at the Africa Centre. By this time Farah had left Somalia to study Theatre at the universities of London and Essex, but was due to return home the same year. He left Britain for Rome with the intention of taking a plane to Mogadishu. However, when he called his brother in Somalia to arrange for someone to pick him up from the airport, he was told it was not safe to return because of the content of the novel. Farah remained in exile until 1996.[3][7][8]

Plot

Taking place over a single day in Mogadishu, A Naked Needle is the story of Koschin, a university professor and passionate revolutionary who is awaiting the arrival of Nancy, a woman he had met in London who had agreed to marry him. His faith in the 1969 revolution is strong but is not matched by his superiors at the university. Rather than compromise, he resigns and begins to wonder how Nancy will fit into Somali society. These thoughts are explored through Koschin's friends, who have already married foreign wives.[4]

The novel describes various parts of Mogadishu as Koschin wanders the city, something that Farah considered a success: ‘…the real Mogadiscio today fades in comparison to the written-about Mogadiscio and so if somebody wants to reconstruct Mogadiscio today one may read A Naked Needle and see what street was called what, and what it looked like.’[9]

Reception

Jonty Driver, writing in The Guardian in July 1976, described the novel as ‘a witty, wordy, hilarious celebration of a modern African dilemma’.[10]

In academic reviews, Koschin is seen as a Somali Stephen Dedalus engaging in intellectual debates with his friends in a manner quite unlike Farah's other novels.[11][12]

In presenting his character in this way, Farah questions but does not denounce the revolution. His protagonist takes a ‘wait and see’ attitude as he weighs the positives and negatives. This contrasts with the opposition that Farah presents in his later novels to Barre's regime.[13]

References

  1. ↑ Currey, James (2008). Africa writes back : the African writers series & the launch of African literature. Sub-Saharan Publishers. p. 158. ISBN 978-9988-550-20-2. OCLC 1048771315.
  2. ↑ Farah, Nuruddin (1998). "In praise of exile". Third World Affairs: 181–82.
  3. 1 2 3 Jaggi, Maya; Farah, Nuruddin (1989). "Nuruddin Farah: A Combining of Gifts: An Interview". Third World Quarterly. 11 (3): 183. ISSN 0143-6597. JSTOR 3992624.
  4. 1 2 Schraeder, Peter J. (1988). "The Novels of Nuruddin Farah: The Sociopolitical Evolution of a Somali Writer". Northeast African Studies. 10 (2/3): 17. ISSN 0740-9133. JSTOR 43661181.
  5. ↑ Currey, James (2000). Africa writes back : the African writers series & the launch of African literature. Sub-Saharan Publishers. pp. 159–60. ISBN 978-9988-550-20-2. OCLC 1048771315.
  6. ↑ Currey, James (2003). "Chinua Achebe, the African Writers Series and the Establishment of African Literature". African Affairs. 102 (409): 583–84. doi:10.1093/afraf/adg067. ISSN 0001-9909. JSTOR 3518514.
  7. ↑ Appiah, Kwame Anthony (1998). "For Nuruddin Farah". World Literature Today. 72 (4): 705. doi:10.2307/40154254. ISSN 0196-3570. JSTOR 40154254.
  8. ↑ Gray, Stephen; Farah, Nuruddin (2000). "Interview with Nuruddin Farah". English in Africa. 27 (1): 133. ISSN 0376-8902. JSTOR 40238895.
  9. ↑ Pajalich, Armando (2019-06-25). "Nuruddin Farah Interviewed by Armando Pajalich". Kunapipi. 15 (1): 63. ISSN 0106-5734.
  10. ↑ Currey, James (2008). Africa writes back : the African writers series & the launch of African literature. Sub-Saharan Publishers. p. 161. ISBN 978-9988-550-20-2. OCLC 1048771315.
  11. ↑ Waberi, Abdourahman A.; Schoolcraft, Ralph (1998). "Organic Metaphor in Two Novels by Nuruddin Farah". World Literature Today. 72 (4): 779. doi:10.2307/40154269. ISSN 0196-3570. JSTOR 40154269.
  12. ↑ Bardolph, Jacqueline (1998). "Dreams and Identity in the Novels of Nuruddin Farah". Research in African Literatures. 29 (1): 166. ISSN 0034-5210. JSTOR 3820538.
  13. ↑ Schraeder, Peter J. (1988). "The Novels of Nuruddin Farah: The Sociopolitical Evolution of a Somali Writer". Northeast African Studies. 10 (2/3): 18. ISSN 0740-9133. JSTOR 43661181.
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