Season of Migration to the North
Encyclopedia
Season of Migration to the North (Arabic
: موسم الهجرة إلى الشمال ) is a classic post-colonial
Sudanese novel
by the late novelist Tayeb Salih
. Originally published in Arabic in 1966, it has since been translated into more than 30 languages, including English, French
, German
, Dutch
, Hebrew and Swedish
.
after seven years in England
furthering his education.
On his arrival home, he encounters a new villager named Mustafa Sa'eed
who exhibits none of the adulation for his achievements that most others do, and displays an antagonistically aloof nature. The villager betrays his past one drunken evening by wistfully reciting poetry in fluent English, leaving the narrator resolute to discover the stranger's identity. As it turns out Mustafa was also a precocious student educated in the west but simultaneously harbors a violently hateful and complex relationship with his western identity and acquaintances. The story of Mustafa's troubled past in Europe and in particular his love affair with a British
woman, forms the center of the novel. What the narrator then discovers about the stranger, Mustafa Sa'eed, awakens in him great curiosity, despair and anger, as Mustafa emerges as his doppelgänger
. The stories of Mustafa's past life in England, and the repercussions on the village around him, take a toll on the narrator, who is driven to the very edge of sanity. It is only finally, floating in the river Nile
, precariously between life and death, that the narrator makes the conscious choice to rid himself of Mustafa's lingering presence, and to stand as an influential individual in his own right.
The novel has also been related in many senses to Heart of Darkness
by author Joseph Conrad
. Both novels explore cultural hybridity, cross-colonial experiences, and orientalism.
for a period of time. This may have had to do with the second half of the novel, which contains some graphic sexual imagery, of which the Islamic government of Sudan may not have approved.
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
: موسم الهجرة إلى الشمال ) is a classic post-colonial
Post-colonial literature
Postcolonial literature , is a body of literary writings that reacts to the discourse of colonization. Post-colonial literature often involves writings that deal with issues of de-colonization or the political and cultural independence of people formerly subjugated to colonial rule...
Sudanese novel
Sudanese literature
There are records of Sudanese literature dating from the 15th century, but it wasn't until the 16th and 17th centuries that a distinctive Sudanese literature began to appear. The ruler of Sudan, and the Songhai Empire at the time, Askia the Great was a patron of literature...
by the late novelist Tayeb Salih
Tayeb Salih
-Early life:Born in Karmakol, near the village of Al Dabbah in the Northern Province of Sudan, he studied at the University of Khartoum before leaving for the University of London in England. Coming from a background of small farmers and religious teachers, his original intention was to work in...
. Originally published in Arabic in 1966, it has since been translated into more than 30 languages, including English, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
, Hebrew and Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
.
Summary
The unnamed narrator has returned to his native village in the SudanSudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
after seven years in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
furthering his education.
On his arrival home, he encounters a new villager named Mustafa Sa'eed
Mustafa Sa'eed
Mustafa Sa'eed is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the Tayeb Salih's most known novel,Season of Migration to the North, The character of Mustafa Sa'eed presents an early example about the Clash of Civilizations between the North and the South.-Early life:He was born in Khartoum,...
who exhibits none of the adulation for his achievements that most others do, and displays an antagonistically aloof nature. The villager betrays his past one drunken evening by wistfully reciting poetry in fluent English, leaving the narrator resolute to discover the stranger's identity. As it turns out Mustafa was also a precocious student educated in the west but simultaneously harbors a violently hateful and complex relationship with his western identity and acquaintances. The story of Mustafa's troubled past in Europe and in particular his love affair with a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
woman, forms the center of the novel. What the narrator then discovers about the stranger, Mustafa Sa'eed, awakens in him great curiosity, despair and anger, as Mustafa emerges as his doppelgänger
Doppelgänger
In fiction and folklore, a doppelgänger is a paranormal double of a living person, typically representing evil or misfortune...
. The stories of Mustafa's past life in England, and the repercussions on the village around him, take a toll on the narrator, who is driven to the very edge of sanity. It is only finally, floating in the river Nile
Nile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
, precariously between life and death, that the narrator makes the conscious choice to rid himself of Mustafa's lingering presence, and to stand as an influential individual in his own right.
The novel has also been related in many senses to Heart of Darkness
Heart of Darkness
Heart of Darkness is a novella written by Joseph Conrad. Before its 1903 publication, it appeared as a three-part series in Blackwood's Magazine. It was classified by the Modern Library website editors as one of the "100 best novels" and part of the Western canon.The story centres on Charles...
by author Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad was a Polish-born English novelist.Conrad is regarded as one of the great novelists in English, although he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties...
. Both novels explore cultural hybridity, cross-colonial experiences, and orientalism.
Controversy
The novel was banned in the author's native SudanSudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
for a period of time. This may have had to do with the second half of the novel, which contains some graphic sexual imagery, of which the Islamic government of Sudan may not have approved.
Characters
- Mustafa Sa'eedMustafa Sa'eedMustafa Sa'eed is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the Tayeb Salih's most known novel,Season of Migration to the North, The character of Mustafa Sa'eed presents an early example about the Clash of Civilizations between the North and the South.-Early life:He was born in Khartoum,...
- The Narrator*
- Jean Morris
- Sheila Greenwood
- Ann Hammond
- Mahjoub
- Bint Mahmoud (Hosna)
- Bint Majzoub
- The Narrator's Wife
- The Narrator's Father
- Hajj Ahmed (The Narrator's Grandfather)
- The Narrator's Mother
- Wad Rayyes
- Isabella Seymour
- Mrs. Robinson
- Mr. Robinson
- The Narrator is commonly mistakenly referred to as "Effendi" - the word Effendi is merely a sign of respect for another. The narrator's actual name is never given throughout the novel.
Theater
- Season of Migration to the North, adapted and directed by Ouriel ZoharOuriel ZoharOuriel Zohar , is an Israeli and French theater director, playwright and translator from French to Hebrew. He created the Technion theater in 1986 and has been visiting Professor at the University of Paris VIII and HEC Paris since 1995....
, starring Mohammed Bakri. Bakri won the award for best actor in the 1993 Acco Festival of Alternative Israeli TheatreAcco Festival of Alternative Israeli TheatreThe Acco Festival of Alternative Israeli Theatre is a four-day performing arts festival held annually in the city of Acre, Israel during the Intermediate Days of the Sukkot holiday in early autumn...
.
Editions in print
- ISBN 0-435-90630-5 Season of Migration to the North, 1969 Heinemann
- ISBN 0-935576-29-0 Season of Migration to the North (hardcover), 1989 M. Kesend Pub. Ltd.
- ISBN 0-435-90066-8 Season of Migration to the North (paperback), 1970 Heinemann
- ISBN 0-89410-199-4 Season of Migration to the North: A novel (paperback reprint), 1980 Lynne Rienner PublishersLynne Rienner PublishersLynne Rienner Publishers is an independent scholarly and textbook publishing firm. It was founded in 1984 and publishes in the fields of international studies and comparative world politics. It also publishes books about US politics, sociology and criminology. It also translates foreign books to...
- ISBN 0-14-118720-4 Season of Migration to the North, 2003 Penguin Classics Series
External Links
- Review by Marina Harss at Words Without Borders