Background/Contexts
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Background/Contexts |
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Backgrounds and Contexts
Some stories are timeless; they make sense regardless of where and when they take place. To understand others, however, we may need historical facts or an understanding of a culture or set of values different from our own. Below you will find some help with backgrounds and contexts that may help you understand and enjoy the common stories.
You are probably quite accomplished at “googling” for information. Google and other search engines are great places to begin a search for information, although you need to bring a critical eye to the content of many web sites. Below are some sites that may help with your understanding of the common stories. Feel free to surf for additional sites, and please let us know of any good ones you find. Or go to www.meredith.edu/library and check out our databases (The New York Times Index and Infotrack are good ones) or web sources such as Voice of the Shuttle and Internet Public Library.
Please note that the links on this page will take you to sites created and maintained by others, not by Meredith College. We do not control their content or their accessibility.
“Sugar Baby” (Chinua Achebe)
This story is set in the Nigerian province of Biafra. The narrator refers to the period in the 1970s when Biafra tried to break off from Nigeria and establish itself as a separate county. Nigeria responded by cutting off food and other necessities, and the resulting civil war was quite violent. As you can see from some of the links below, some people continue to strive for an independent Biafra.
A general resource:
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0807443.html
Advocates for Biafra:
BBC story on Biafra 30 years after the war:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/596712.stm
“Death Beyond Contant Love” (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
This story and other works
by the Columbian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez make use of a storytelling technique
known as magic (or magical) realism. They include elements of fantasy or exaggeration
told in a straightforward voice, as if the narrator actually believes them.
Common in Latin American fiction, magic realism makes a social and political
critique of a country or culture. Senator Sanchez seems to be using these techniques
on the people in his district as he promises them a future of prosperity that
no one really believes will ever come.
Yet he and the other characters do show depth of understanding and feeling,
and their humanness asks us to think about the hope, the value of life, and
the promise of love.
Garcia Marquez’s use of magical realism:
http://www.themodernword.com/gabo/gabo_mr.html
Biographical information on Garcia Marquez:
http://www.themodernword.com/gabo/gabo_biography.html
“The Ultimate Safari” (Nadine Gordimer)
This story offers little overt contextual information. We can guess that the young narrator and her family are fleeing civil war in Mozambique; they travel on foot through Kruger Park, a wild animal preserve, and the story ends with their arrival at a refugee camp. Civil war took place in Mozambique in the 1970s. A quick web search suggests that Kruger Park is a popular safari destination.
General information on Mozambique:
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/mz.html
Information on Kruger National Park
http://www.bookinafrica.com/kruger-national-park/