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 Forget About Mustafa Said: Here is Jane Morris, in person!!!i
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Forget About Mustafa Said: Here is Jane Morris, in person!!!i
Before starting to read, I should immediately warn you that this is not at all a critical review/analysis or appraisal of Season of Migration to the North. I have no desire to do so here! And it is certainly not a journalistic investigation into the lives' of real people who might have/ or have not inspired some of the novelist's characters. I believe such search is needless; these sorts of discoveries add nothing to our understanding of any literary work.i
However, sometime names of characters work as cultural signifiers or references, especially when such names carry a significant cultural relevance; and this is where it could be important to know that there is a real Jane Morris out there! For a writer to choose to name one of his/her main character Mustafa Said or Jane Morris, this can be a very arbitrary act but it can also be a very intentional choice. If the writer gives the name Faust to one of his/her characters there is no way we as readers can escape certain associations and meanings evoked by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in his famous novel by the same name. The Satanic Verses shows a blunt example of the power of the name, in Rushdie's choice of the name Mahound.i
That's been said, I will again relieve myself from the task of looking at the issues involved here in a more serious critical approach… Here, I'm writing rather in a playful way to look into how al-Tayb Salih found a name for one of his main characters, namely Jane Morris!i
It was in 1999 when I was making a short docu-drama on the nature of narrative and the notion of author. The central question in the film was: What is Fiction & What is Realty? and I used al-Tayeb Salih as an example because of the complex way he approached the issue of identity in regard to the character of Mustafa Said. In my film, I was arguing that there are no boundaries between fiction and reality (Roland Barthes was so dominant in our film school; you couldn't walk around without a copy of Camera Lucida!i)i
Anyway, I had to do some casting and get somebody to play the role of an actress who is playing the role of Jane Morris! (it was a bit of a complicated student film!i)i
I was very obsessed with the idea of fakery in Art, so I was ready to do all sort of things in that film, since it was all fake anyway: my film was a documentary about fiction as well as a fiction about documentary! So it was my intention to create a documentary that is not a documentary, a fiction that is not a fiction, a Jane Morris who is not a Jane Morris, etc.! I even went as far as faking al-Tayeb Salih, the writer himself!i
But when I actually bumped into Jane Morris (yes, her, personally !) I was a bit disappointed! I somehow had an image of her in mind and that image was not very accurate! I thought she would look more mysterious and maybe slightly mad or just different.i
But when I read more, both about her personal life and the history she was rooted in, it all made sense!i
Well, here is Jane Morris:i
Who is Jane Morris?i
Jane Morris was the wife of Pre-Raphaelite painter/poet William Morris, who formed with a group of otherartists the movement of Pre-Raphaelite painters. She was also, at the same time, the lover of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, another member of the group. | Quote: After the death of Rossetti's wife, Elizabeth Sidal, Rossetti fell passionately and obsessively in love with Jane Morris, using her constantly as the model for his paintings. Jane Morris came to epitomize the Pre-Raphaelite image of woman--very much in contrast to the slight, blond, fragile, corseted female form that typified conventional Victorian female beauty.i |
So, Jane Morris was indeed different! What's more? There was the link to the name Dante (both the name of the painter and the name of the writer of Devine Comedy!) According to Jonathan Jones:i | Quote: The Victorians rediscovered Dante Alighieri (1265-1321.) about the same time as Botticelli. They adored the story of [Dante's] unrequited love for Beatrice Portinari, which he wrote about in La Vita Nuova.i |
The English painter Dante himself was, curiously, named after the Italian poet Dante by his father. Mr. Rossetti, the father, was an Italian patriot exiled from Naples for his political activity and a Dante scholar who became professor of Italian at King's College, London, in 1831.i
For a learned English reader of Season of Migration to the North, the name of Jane Morris will not pass unnoticed; in fact it will immediately recall all sorts of associations, especially to the famous huge painting of by Rossetti Dante named Dante's Dream. Here, Jonathan Jones gives a curious comment on the painting:i | Quote: Victorian painters, including Dante Gabriel Rossetti, loved to imagine the world of desire of Dante's Florence; in Rossetti's Dante's Dream (1871.), with a view of the Palazzo Vecchio in the background, Dante sees Beatrice – posed by Rossetti's lover Jane Morris - in her tomb. It is a morbidly sensual vision of sexx* and death.i |
Since I wasn't aware of all the associations of the name Jane Morris in English Art's history, Jonathan comment made a confusing impact on me. Although the morbidly sensual vision of sexx and death makes clear connection to Jane Morris's place in Seasons of Migration to the North, I could not readily equate this with the model (Jane Morris) who is posing for the artist (Rossetti Dante). I emailed Jonathan Jones to get more information about Jane Morris in the hope that it will help me to understand what might have prompted al-Tayeb Salih to choose such a famous name. It turned out from his reply that the story of Dante's obsessive love for Jane Morris is well known and documented, although there are lots of myth and fog surrounding their relationship.i
Finally, the painter himself was a poet (I know, it is getting more confusing!) He sometimes wrote poems relating to his paintings, and he is still widely recognised as a poet. His poems were attacked mercilessly in those Victorian times and were labelled, with others as "The Fleshly School of Poetry"i
Now the last connection is his poem The Last Confession, which I can not find yet, but is described here by George P. Landow, Professor of English and Art History, Brown University:i Quote: A related, if rather different effect appears in two of his best long poems, "Jenny" (1848-185  and "The Last Confession" (1849), both of which begin with a single point, a single event, and continually find themselves led back to it. We do not find out until the closing lines of "The Last Confession," which is set in Italy of the Risorgimento, that this event was the Italian speaker's murder of his beloved. This entire poem, which bears the impress of Browning's "My Last Duchess" (1842), moves toward the point at which we learn this fact and then perceive that for the dying man this murder has become the center of his life, the significant moment toward which he moved and which still obsesses him.i |
Another writer, Archibald Lampman, refers to the same poem in this quote: | Quote: Another poem, realistic also, but of somewhat greater worth is the "Last Confession", the narrative of one who has loved with Italian fervour and revenged desertion by striking a dagger into the heart of his mistress. The manner of it is intensely quiet and vivid. There are passages of enormous pathos, with a subtle and terrible insight into the darker workings of passion. It is put together with consummate talent, but is, of course, in its nature, painful and disagreeable.i |
Although I can see the problem of trying to equate all these references and relate them to Jane Morris, I find no difficulty in claiming that I'm now treading the same backstreets in which the author of Season of Migration to the North was forming his first thoughts about Jane Morris (in the novel) and her tragic death! It is so obvious to me now that al-Tayeb Salih had placed his novel concretely in a context that is immediately graspable by the English reader. Jane Morris was a cultural signifier that referred to a whole corpus of stories, poems, paintings and images.i
To be continued…..
Footnotes:i
i spelling the word sexx in this way was caused by the fact that the browser filter decided to filter out the word! Talk about excessive moral vigilance!i
The first painting is titled: proserpinen
The second painting is titled Dream at the Time of the Death of Beatrice
both are paintings by Rossetti Dante Gabriel
the model in the centre of both is Jane Morris!!i
(عدل بواسطة farda on 02-02-2004, 08:46 PM)
(عدل بواسطة farda on 02-02-2004, 08:58 PM)
(عدل بواسطة farda on 02-02-2004, 09:16 PM)
(عدل بواسطة farda on 02-02-2004, 11:33 PM)
(عدل بواسطة farda on 02-03-2004, 04:23 PM)
(عدل بواسطة farda on 03-18-2004, 09:07 PM)
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Re: Forget About Mustafa Said: Here is Jane Morris, in person!!!i (Re: farda)
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as I may guess it is totally new unearthing idea, most of those who try to criticize this great novel were concentrating on Mustafa Saeed and how he represents the south intellectuals and symbolizing the historical north / south conflicts, may be because it was easy to find such persons in our societies that Salih wasn’t greatly concerned about choosing an indicative name. And it is really amazing that the name of the English lady was a real matter for this great novel, that it need to be at least available at the memory – subconscious of the western society, look at these associations, painters, poets, strange love psychology and stranger / invader intellectual implanted in such psychodrama, what you are trying to say necessitate re-reading of this great novel again
Thanks Hafiz
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 Re: Forget About Mustafa Said: Here is Jane Morris, in person!!!i (Re: farda)
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| Quote: كلُّ مافي الأمر أن الطيب صالح إختار اسم جين مورس كإشارة مرجعية (أو سمِّها تناصِّية. ذلك المصطلح!)، إذ أنه بالطبع يعرف جيداً المكانة شبه الأسطورية لجين مورس في هذا التاريخ الحي والمعروف (بالنسبة للقارئ/القارئة الأنكليزي/ــية |
الاخ حافظ اعرف حساسيتك تجاه هذا الموضوع
واعرف العقلية التجريمية التي تقل حسنا النقدي
الذي لا يفرق بين التناص والسرقة،وقد ترددت كثيرا قبل ان
افرغ من مداخلتي في هذا الشان وفكرت اكثر من مرة ان اعيد
تحريرها لولا المشاغل وكان لدي احساس طاغ جدا بانك سوف تتحفظ
علي تعليقي !ولم اكن راضي عنه حتي الي اخر لحظة!
ولكن مع ذلك يصعب جدا الفصل بين اختيار الطيب صالح
لاسم جين مورس،والدلالة الرمزية للوحة!
كيف يتسني له ان يسقط من ذاكرته الجمالية هذه اللوحة
التي تحفر عميقا في وجدان اي فنان شفاف مثل الطيب صالح؟
هذا طعبا اذا افترضناان ما ذهبت اليه انت صحيحا،وان
الطيب صالح شاهد تلك اللوحة.
ساعيد تحرير مداخلتي اعلاه بما يرضي قناعتي الشخصية
ولك الود
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Re: Forget About Mustafa Said: Here is Jane Morris, in person!!!i (Re: farda)
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ممتع و مثير لزوايا نظر جديده زى ما قال عماد
| Quote: were concentrating on Mustafa Saeed and how he represents the south intellectuals and symbolizing the historical north / south conflicts, may be because it was easy to find such persons in our societies that Salih wasn’t greatly concerned about choosing an indicative name |
فى انتظار مزيد من الكتابات/الاضاءات..اعتقد من الافضل عدم التسرع فى اخراج استنتاجات جديده..دعوا وقت للتأمل
دبيب اصلى يا فرده
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Re: Forget About Mustafa Said: Here is Jane Morris, in person!!!i (Re: esam gabralla)
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العزيز عصام جبرالله
لك الشوق والمحبة ،
أظنك ستعود لهذه الصفحة الآن لتجد أنَّ كلماتك الثاقبة | Quote: اعتقد من الافضل عدم التسرع فى اخراج استنتاجات جديده..دعوا وقت للتأمل |
لاشك صحيحة ومهمة!!. أرجو أن تقرأ تعليقي الأخير حول اسم جين مورس!
أما بشأن تعبير الدبيب ، فلي فيه نظرة ولكني لن أكتبها هنا قبل أن أدع وقتاً للتأمل
(سأكون سعيداً لو التقيك في زيارتك الى هذه المدينة!)
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 Re: Forget About Mustafa Said: Here is Jane Morris, in person!!!i (Re: farda)
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"رفعت الخنجر ببط فتابعت حده بعينيها.اتسعت حدقتا العينين
فجاءة واضاء وجهها بنور خاطف كانه لمع برق.لبثت تنظر الي حدالخنجر
بخليط من الدهشة والخوف والشبق.ثم امسكت الخنجر
وقبلته بلهفة.وفجاءة اغمضضت عينيها،وتمطت في السرير رافعة وسطها قليلا فاتحة فخذيها اكثر.وتاوهت وقالت:ارجوك يا حلوي هيا.انا
مستعدة الان. لم استجب لندائها فتاوهت اهة اكثر الما.وانتظرت.بكت
خرج صوتها خافتا لا يكاد يسمع:ارجوك يا حبيبي"
"ها هي ذي سفني يا حبيبتي تبحر نحو شاطي الهلاك.ملت عليها وقبلتها .وضعت الخنجر بين نهديها،وشبكت هي رجليها.ضغطت ببط.فتحت عينيها.اي شبق في هذه العيون
وبدت لي اجمل من كل شي في الوجود.قالت بالم :يا حبيبي .ظننت انك لن تفعل هذا ابدا.كدت اياس منك .وضغطت الخنجر بصدري حتي غاب كله في
صدرها بين النهدين.اسست بدمهاالحار يتفجر من صدرها.واخذت ادعك صدرها بصدري وهي تصرخ متوسلة :تعال معي .تعال لا تدعني اذهب وحدي..
وقالت لي :احبك- فصدقتها.وقلت :احبك وكنت صادقا.ونحن شعلة من اللهب ،حواف الفراش ،ألسنة من نيران الجحيم ورائحة الدخان اشمه بانفي
وهي تقول لي :احبك يا حبيبي،وانا اقول لها احبك يا حبيبتي.
والكون بماضيه ومستقبله اجتمع في نقطة واحدة ليس قبلها ولا بعدها
شي."
موسم الهجرة - الفصل التاسع
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Re: Forget About Mustafa Said: Here is Jane Morris, in person!!!i (Re: Agab Alfaya)
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Dear Farda
The topic was the best reflection I ever had in respect of this Novel. You have succeeded very much in throwing a light on the personality of Al Tayeb Saleh and the quantom of his available sources.
The question of the name "Jane" & "Jean" does not reck the building of the enlightening facts in your subject :an intention behind the spelling may be found somewhere within the many other writings that covered " Season of Migration to the North
or its giant writer, Al Tayeb Salih.
Thank you so much and do investigate and relate your findings.
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Re: Forget About Mustafa Said: Here is Jane Morris, in person!!!i (Re: al-Hameem)
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Please let us not forget that the novel was originally written in Arabic, then translated into English. So, the change/transliteration of the woman's name could both be JANE or JEAN. Perhaps the translator discussed the correct rendering of the name with the author before they settled on the final version which was published in 1969 and which was read by many of us here
My advice to Farda is to contact either the author or the translator or both to verify the accurate rendering of the name and hence the cultural/artistic speculation about its choice. It is a known fact that Al Tayeb Salih has wide and deep knowledge of western literature and cultures, old and modern
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Sudanese
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farda
Adil Osman
Tumadir
Agab Alfaya
فيس بوك
تويتر
انستقرام
يوتيوب
بنتيريست