Historical Context
Ghana
Aidoo was born in 1924 in what is now known as Ghana, Africa. The history of Ghana, like many African countries, involves European colonization followed by achieving independence in the 20th century. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive by sea in 1471, initially seeking gold to export to Europe. Consequently, Europeans referred to the area as the Gold Coast until 1957. During the 1600s, Portuguese control in the Gold Coast was overtaken by Dutch, British, and Danish traders, who captured Africans to be sold as slaves in the United States. In the early 1800s, these European nations banned the slave trade. Throughout the 1800s, British influence in the Gold Coast grew, and by 1874, it became a British colony. In the early 1900s, the region’s main trade resource shifted to cocoa due to the establishment of extensive cocoa plantations. In 1957, the area, renamed Ghana, gained self-governance while remaining part of the British Commonwealth. By 1960, Ghana became a republic. A military coup in 1972 led to repressive policies, followed by another coup in 1981. A new constitution was introduced in 1992, and the Fourth Republic of Ghana was established in 1993.
Education in Ghana
Chicha, the story's narrator, is a schoolteacher in the small village of Bamso. Ghana boasts a relatively high adult literacy rate, partly due to the government's introduction of a new education system in 1974. Ghana has three government-run universities: The University of Ghana, the University of Science and Technology, and the University of Cape Coast.
West African Literature
M. Keith Booker has analyzed Aidoo's works in the context of the evolution of the novel form in West African literature. Booker notes, “Writers from countries such as Nigeria and Ghana have been especially significant in the development of the African novel, partly because Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, and Ghana was the first African colony to gain independence from British rule.” Highlighting Amos Tutuola as a crucial figure, Booker mentions, "Nigerian novelists can draw upon an especially strong tradition of oral storytelling.” Tutuola's novel The Palm-Wine Drunkard (1952) was a pivotal work in the emergence of West African literature in English. Booker suggests that Tutuola "can be seen as a sort of bridge between traditional African oral narratives and the more conventionally literary African novels that began to be published soon after his work first appeared.” Another significant West African novelist, according to Booker, is Chinua Achebe, particularly for his novel Things Fall Apart (1958); Booker asserts, “Achebe has been an inspirational figure for the generation of African writers who followed him, not only in West Africa, but across the entire continent.”
Literary Style
Narration
This story is narrated from a first person restricted point of view. Essentially, the narrator is a character within the story, and the narrative scope is confined to what this character knows. The reader only receives information that the narrator, Chicha, a schoolteacher in the small Fanti village of Bamso, has access to. This narrative approach effectively allows readers to connect with a woman who is somewhat of an outsider to the traditional village culture where she lives and works. Consequently, her perspective on the characters and events surrounding her, such as the marital conditions and divorce traditions between Maami Ama and Kodjo Fi, is that of an external observer. Despite being her culture of origin, her Western education has made these traditions unfamiliar to her. This dual perspective offers both an insider's view of traditional African culture and an outsider's vantage point. This technique facilitates the exploration of themes central to much of Aidoo's fiction, such as the struggles faced by African women exposed to Western education and...
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culture, and the inequities faced by African women within traditional African culture.
Language
Language plays a crucial role in Aidoo's story. Though Aidoo writes in English, she integrates elements of African languages and words, as well as hybridized terms that have emerged from the intersection of African and Western cultures. For example, the narrator goes by the name Chicha, which is described as the "Fanticized" pronunciation of the English word "teacher." Another instance of "Fanticized" English is evident in an exchange between Chicha and Nana, whom she encounters on her way home:
'Kudiimin-o, Chicha.' Then I would answer, 'Kudiimin, Nana.' When I greeted her first, the response was 'Tanchiw', meaning 'Thank you.'
Readers might infer that "Kudiimin-o" is the Fanticized pronunciation of "Good morning."
Dialogue
Aidoo's initial two literary works were stage plays. Critics have observed that her prose fiction, much like a stage play, relies extensively on dialogue to convey character and advance the story. This technique allows characters to express themselves directly, rather than the narrator interpreting their actions for the reader. In this story, dialogue between Maami Ama and Chicha reveals Maami Ama's emotions about her son and her relationship with her husband and his family. Dialogue is also pivotal in the divorce proceedings scene, where Maami Ama's family members debate with Kodjo Fi's family members about the divorce's outcome.
Description
Dialogue plays a crucial role in character development and advancing the story, but Aidoo also employs vivid descriptive language to depict the daily life of a traditional woman in her village. During Chicha's conversation with Maami Ama about her son Kwesi and her marriage, the detailed description of Maami Ama preparing the food she has just harvested from her field beautifully illustrates her everyday life and labor. This vivid depiction, filled with mouth-watering details and vibrant colors, is worth quoting extensively:
...when I arrived at the hut, Maami Ama had just come back from the farm. Oh, that image remains clear in my memory. She was seated on a low stool with her load in front of her. Like all the loads the other women brought from the farms into their homes, it was a colorful assortment of various items. At the very bottom of the broad wooden tray lay cassava and yam tubers, rich muddy brown, matching the earth's hue. Next came the plantains, green like the woods they came from. Then there were the bright vegetables: the scarlet pepper, garden eggs, golden pawpaw, and crimson tomatoes. Over this riot of colors, the little woman's eyes were fixed, absorbed, while her tiny hands delicately picked the pepper.
Literary Heritage
Similar to many African nations and cultures, each ethnic group in Ghana has a rich tradition of oral storytelling, including myths and legends about their religious figures and the creation of the universe. Folktales are particularly significant as they entertain and impart values. One type of folk story is the "dilemma tale," which presents social and moral issues in a manner that encourages discussion on the topics raised. An example of this is Aidoo's Anowa.
While oral transmission of folktales emphasizes performance, Ghana also boasts a more modern theatrical tradition. Starting in the late nineteenth century, commercial theater shows and troupes traveled across Ghana, gaining prominence after World War II. These performances, part of the so-called "concert parties," featured three or more comedic actors in a troupe using stock characters to comment on social and familial issues while entertaining audiences. Predominantly a nonurban phenomenon, these concert parties were somewhat akin to vaudeville in the United States during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, both in form and, to some extent, content.
Compare and Contrast
Late 19th-Early 20th Centuries: From 1874 to 1957, the area now known as Ghana was a British colony called the Gold Coast.
Late 20th Century: In 1957, the Gold Coast gained independence and was renamed the Republic of Ghana.
1970s: During the publication of Aidoo's early works, Ghana underwent several military coups, leading to various forms of repression.
1990s: Starting in 1994, Ghana faced violent ethnic clashes and protests against new tax policies.
Early 20th Century: In the early 1900s, the Gold Coast was no longer a major gold producer but had established cocoa plantations as a key export.
Late 20th Century: In 1997, new gold deposits were found in the Republic of Ghana, sparking renewed mining activities.
1960: The average life expectancy in Ghana was about 46 years.
1990: By 1990, the life expectancy in Ghana had increased to 55 years.
Bibliography and Further Reading
Sources
Banyiwa Horne, Naana, Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 117: Twentieth Century Caribbean and Black African Writers, Gale, 1992.
Booker, M. Keith, The African Novel in English, Heinemann, 1998, pp. 30-32.
Opoku-Agyemang, Naana Jane, "Narrative Turns in Ama Ata Aidoo's 'No Sweetness Here,'" in Emerging Perspectives on Ama Ata Aidoo, edited by Ada Uzoamaka Azodo and Gay Wilentz, Africa World Press, 1999, pp. 128-135.
Strong-Leek, Linda, "Inverting the Institutions: Ama Ata Aidoo's 'No Sweetness Here' and Deconstructive Theory," in Emerging Perspectives on Ama Ata Aidoo, edited by Ada Uzoamaka Azodo and Gay Wilentz, Africa World Press, 1999, p. 146.
Uzoamaka Azodo, Ada, and Gay Wilentz, eds., Emerging Perspectives on Ama Ata Aidoo, Africa World Press, 1999, pp. xv-xvi.
Further Reading
Odamtten, Vincent O., The Art of Ama Ata Aidoo: Polylectics and Reading Against Neocolonialism, 1994. Odamtten offers critical essays on most of Aidoo's significant works, interpreting them within the framework of African history and culture.
