With Reincarnated Jezebel, Author Revisits Traditions, Reinforces Societal Archetypes

Yinka Olatunbosun

When a fictional work centres around the customs and tradition of the Igbo people, reading itself would feel like a time travel. In writing Reincarnated Jezebel, the writer Augustina Ugonna Mbah, resettles the mind in the age-long taboo and stigma that exist against the class of people deemed to belong to the Osu caste. For contextual purposes, the Osu caste system is notorious for its discriminatory social stratification among the Igbo people in southeastern Nigeria. By dividing the society into “freeborn” (Diala) and “outcasts” (Osu), this practice is a major setback for persons who try to marry from the Osu caste who were historically believed to have been dedicated to local deities. Though it has been outlawed, the generational social stigma and marriage restrictions persist today. Hence, that makes it a relevant subject matter for the author on which the plot is built.

Anchoring the conflict on Dan’s marriage to Nnenna, the writer tells the story using mixed language comprising English that’s embellished with proverbs with a few lines rendered in Igbo language. The Igbos typically communicate with proverbs to teach moral lessons, resolve conflicts peacefully and assert authority by show of wisdom.

Using the culture clash as the theme of the prose, the narration is logically developed from relatable characters: the parents, the in-laws, the elders and the villagers. Dan is an educated young man from a middle-class home who falls in love with Nnenna. Their journey to love begins with a survivor-savior relationship that blossomed into an enduring bond. Their love is put to test by traditional values and their defiance comes at a cost.

The narration in Reincarnated Jezebel was quick, sparing lengthy graphic scenic details but the ambience is not lost on the reader. The imagery of Mrs. Eze’s foodstuff business is vivid and commonplace; but the character of Dan and Nnenna weren’t developed enough to understand what they do for a living aside from the business of falling in love.

As a writer with the responsibility to tell a plausible story even in fictional form, it was no surprise to find how Mbah stirs up conversation about childlessness in the book. The harrowing tale of society’s stigma against Nnenna is a daily reality of African women. But the empathy of storytelling for Nnenna is different from that of Rose.

Rose, a single woman in her 40s, is portrayed as bitter, hopeless and sad. The author leaves no room to empathize with Rose like she did with Nnenna because the character of Rose is designed to create a picture of a frustrated woman who is unfulfilled and unfortunate in life. Sadly, this narrative only reinforces the misconception that older single women end up alone due to high expectations, unrequited love and bad character. While there are a great number of women who end up being single at 40 and above due to far more noble reasons. The truth is that some women prefer to focus on building their careers before jumping into a lifelong partnership; avoiding incompatibility and liability while others quietly endure illnesses that being open about them have only made them ineligible in some households for marriage.

The title Reincarnated Jezebel suggests a villain at the centre of the narrative. Dan’s mother, Mrs Eze and his sister Rose are the two antagonists in the story but Rose would later become a victim of her mother’s venom thus the villain remains Mrs Eze.

Reincarnated Jezebel is a timeless x-ray of life in post-colonial Africa and how obsolete cultures continue to ruin lives in contemporary times. The shrine- in the work- embodies the longstanding belief in spiritism or the supernatural upon which customs- sometimes unfounded- are rooted. In all, the novel though tragic preaches unconditional love, courage and self-determinism in the face of discriminatory cultural practice.