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Gods, Ancestors, and Hermeneutics of Liberation in Ayi Kwei Armah’s Two Thousand Seasons

Saint Mary's University

The objective of this article is to articulate the hermeneutics of liberation in Ayi Kwei Armah’s Two Thousand Seasons. Premised on an assertion that Two Thousand Seasons is divisible into three sections—the realm of the godhead, the realm of the ancestors, and the realm of the living—this article will argue that the protagonists of the novel use land, an abode of the ancestors, as a text through which they form themselves into a healing community. Reinterpreting African belief systems’ claim of connectedness of the ancestors to the gods and the godhead, this article will assert that when the protagonists have authentic relationship with each other and their world, they constitute gods or creative forces and consequently have a glimpse of the godhead. Commencing by articulating African belief systems’ concepts of godhead, gods, and ancestors, this article concludes by describing the hermeneutic project of the novel’s protagonists.

Key Words: Ayi Kwei Armah • African belief systems • African religions • African philosophy • hermeneutics

This version was published on November 1, 2009

Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 40, No. 2, 171-188 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0021934707307835


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