Global Journal of Human Social Science, H: Interdisciplinary, Volume 22 Issue 7

Mimicry in Ted Elemeforo’s Fountain of Betrayal Timibofa, Ayebanoa Abstract - This paper examines mimicry as an opportunistic pattern of behavior where women or the oppressed copy or imitate the lifestyle, pattern, language, values, dress codes and food of people in power with the hope or desire to have access to that same power in the future in Ted Elemeforo’s Fountain of Betrayal . Although the concept of mimicry has received significant attention, Fountain of Betrayal has not been examined along this axis. Furthermore, most of these earlier studies conceived mimicry only as an attempt by the colonized (black) to mimic the colonizer (white). The significance of this work is that it adopts the concept to mean, an attempt by the oppressed, especially women or any person in a disadvantaged position to mimic the behaviour of those in advantageous positions. Hence, it has added novelty to the corpus of Niger Delta literary scholarship. The essay adopts the qualitative research method for data collection, while the postcolonial theory was applied for analysis. Findings show that the actions of the women in the text are geared toward becoming relevant in the society they find themselves. The essay concludes that as pleasurable and desirable mimicry seems, it is also subversive. The study recommends a fair share of the oil boom in the Niger Delta across genders without discrimination. More so, further exploration of the concepts be done in recent Niger Deltan texts, to find out some other reasons for mimicry. I. I ntroduction imicry is the art of mimicking somebody or something with the intention of becoming exactly like it but only arriving at a blurred copy of the original. It can also be called the unsuccessful imitation of the values, dress, and life pattern of others with the intention to belong or be seen and addressed like the object being mimicked but becomes ambivalent in the same process of being a mimic man or woman. The idea of mimicry has gained scholarly attention in recent times, especially with the works of Homi Bhaba who popularized the concept and asserts, “that mimicry is the process by which the colonized subject is reproduced as ‘almost the same, but not quite” (Bhabha 86). The copying of the colonizing culture, behaviour, manners and values by the colonized contains both mockery and a certain ‘menace’, ‘so that mimicry is at once resemblance and menace’ (86). In other words, mimicry is an attempt made by those in disadvantaged positions, especially women to become like others or imitate the behaviors, values, and attitudes of people in authority but end up in regret as all attempts to become exactly like their postcolonial or oppressive forces proved abortive. A closer study of Elemeforo’s Fountain of Betrayal foregrounds many instances of mimicry, especially on the part of the female characters. It is clear from the text that Elemeforo’s women are trapped in a web of hegemony and, they are all in search of greener pastures or escape routes. They all try to mimic a better life out there. They all wished for a better life and acted as people of the said class by attempting to live above their earnings. This can be seen in the characters of Bodiere, Ovie, Mama, Angelina, and Imomotimi, as well as, Ovie’s mother. It is obvious in the text, that these characters all belong to the lower class or the poor but they strive to join the hegemonic class by living above their means. They cherished the ostentatious lifestyle of the rich and mimicked it. No wonder, many involved themselves in different forms of immoral conduct just to feel among but could not achieve that. The target of this paper is to examine Elemeforo’s female characters as mimics of hegemonic neocolonial masters and agencies of state forces through the lenses of Homi Bhaba’s concept of mimicry. Author’s Bio Data Ted Tonbara Elemeforo hails from Okordia in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. He had formal education at St. Mathias Primary School Amarata, Bishop Dimieari Grammar School Yenagoa, and the University of Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, where he is rounding off a Graduate Programme in International Relations. He had a brief spell in politics in his early twenties when he was elected Councillor representing Ward 14 (Okordia-Zarama) in Yenagoa Local Government Area (between 1991 and 1993) and had afterward remained an advocate for good governance. His entrance novel, Child of Destiny published by Kraft Books, Ibadan in 2009 has been listed twice as an approved literature text for secondary schools in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. He is a Deacon in the Church of God Mission International, the current State house of Assembly member, representing the good characters of Yenagoa Constituency 3 in Bayelsa State house of Assembly and above all, married with children. II. R eview of R elated L iterature The subject of postcolonial mimicry has garnered critical attention. Each of these critical voices sees the concept through the glasses of Bhabha, the apostle of this ideology. Since his popularization of the concepts, many postcolonial writers have also adopted the concept in their analysis of postcolonial texts. M © 2022 Global Journals Volume XXII Issue VII Version I 5 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2022 H Author: Ph.D Student, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. e-mail: Ayisat24@gmail.com