Abstract

An Akan derivation of the cyclical worldview is projected as the controlling focus of Ayi Kwei Armah's artistic vision, and as providing thematic and structural perspectives for his novels. This philosophical conception, it is proposed, manifests itself in Armah's novels in a holistic integrative approach to life and experience, which accentuates the continuities in the seemingly disparate realities. An aesthetic matrix is derived from the cyclical worldview and applied as a framework for the thematic and structural analysis of each novel, projecting the cyclical worldview to be the major means through which Armah effects the process of cultural retrieval that undergirds his purpose and infuses his art with a social vision. In The Beautyful Ones, the aesthetic ramifications in the cyclical worldview are explored in relation to Armah's organization of images and symbols. The structure and themes in Fragments are explored as continuums conceived in the form of narrative and imagistic frames that blend smoothly to give that novel its high aesthetic appeal. The female presence is projected as the embodiment of worldview in that novel. In Why Are We So Blest?, the theme of violence and the process of mythmaking as integral aspects of the process of cultural retrieval are explored. The process of cultural retrieval is explored closely in Two Thousand Seasons through aesthetic indices such as the communal approach to narration and the cyclical configuration of time and history. In The Healers, the process of reconstructing African history with the vision of mapping out new, constructive and ethical directions focused on in the previous novel is explored further, and the specific devices employed to create a novel derived from African aesthetics are examined. The factors ensuring Armah's enduring reputation are discussed in the conclusion