#Decolonizing_Your_Bookshelf


#Tayeb_Salih's_Season_of_Migration_to_the_North"


  "Season of Migration" is a novel that should be read and reread again and again. Instead of teaching western literature in its entirety, students from ex-colonized countries should do what I want to  call "decolonizing their bookshelf." Decolonizing the bookshelf involves compromising with literary works by authors from communities that have been victims of colonialism and systemic racism. Accordingly, reading a book like The Season of Migration is more than just cognitive activity; it's also a political act of shifting the focus away from western literature and toward what Edward called "embargoed literature."


     "Season of Migration to the North" is a very marvellously, politically, and powerfully composed novel, which in summary relates the story of an anonymous narrator who comes to his native village after spending much of his life studying in Britain. Upon arriving, the narrator's attention was immediately attracted to a stranger who stood amid the crowd welcoming the narrator's arrival. Mustapha, the mysterious Mustafa Sa'eed, turns out to be the stranger later on. Tayeb Salih tells us about Mustapha, an intriguing man who lived in London at the start of the twentieth century and had a wonderful career as an economist before returning to his home country after a series of tumultuous and ultimately fatal relationships with European women.


The book seems on the surface to be as straightforward as it is. As one digs deeper, however, one discovers subtexts that are just as potent and defy the colonial foundations upon which the whole colonial discourse rests. In this short analysis, I concentrate on a single, profound statement: "I will liberate Africa with my penis." The most memorable and impactful statement from the book.


In a manner consistent with this phrase, Tayeb Salih depicts the influence of sexual politics in an ambiguous setting. Despite having been educated in the West, Mustafa Sa'eed, who is originally from Sudan, engages in sexual colonialism. To woo European women, he uses the same tired Western exotic and sexual tropes. He embodies his image as "a naked, primitive creature, a spear in one hand and arrows in the other, hunting elephants and lions".  Mustafa, rather than launching an open uprising against his conquerors, tries to undermine them by adopting some of their ways. Edward contends in "Culture and imperialism" that sex is his weapon and women are his way of retribution.


 Mustafa used to say, 'I'll liberate Africa with my penis over and above everything else am a colonizer. I am the intruder whose fate must be decided" (Salih 94).


 Mustafa harvests the love of Ann Hammond, Sheila Greenwood, and Isabella Seymour like a renewable source to be excavated and shipped overseas to the mother country. The ladies are the prey, and he is the hunter. Mustafa can bring about their demise because of their love. Suicide is the end for all three ladies. Mustafa uses them up emotionally before discarding them. Underlying this is the idea that Mustafa Sa'eed manipulates the women's perceptions of the East such that they are unable to see beyond stereotypical Orientalist stereotypes. The realization of deceit and deception is the last straw that leads to their demise.


 It's likely that a reader well-versed in Western literature, such as Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad or Othello by William Shakespeare, may see indexical connections between the two works and this one. A full book could be written on this novel, yet it wouldn't be enough since there's always something new to discover no matter how many times you read it. Putting it simply, this is the best novel ever written.