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Dr. Amo's Lonely Planet

E-BookEPUB0 - No protectionE-Book
734 Seiten
Englisch
pmv Peter Meyer Verlagerschienen am01.03.20131. Auflage
This is the melodramatic reconstruction of a true lifestory of an African child from the 'Gold Coast' Ghana, who came in the year 1706 as a 'gift' to the Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel to Germany. The slave boy soon impresses with his extraordinary intelligence and sponsored by his patrons, he studies philosophy, medicine and law at the Universities of Wittenberg and Halle. But in spite of his doctorate degrees he feels always like living on a lonely planet...

Jojo Cobbinah, teacher, translator, author and journalist, was born in Tarkwa, Ghana. After schooling and graduating in Ghana, he made Germany his home and worked there in several fields for the good part of three decades. He now lives in Accra, Ghana, where he is a full-time author. His travel guide book of Ghana (in German language) is the most famous one, because Peter Meyer Travel Guides combine practical tips with useful information on cultures. Jojo Cobbinah also doubles up as a Senior Contributing Editor of the The African Courier, Germany's only English-language magazine on Africa. »Dr. Amo's Lonely Planet« is his first novel. For more information look at www.PeterMeyerVerlag.de.mehr

Produkt

KlappentextThis is the melodramatic reconstruction of a true lifestory of an African child from the 'Gold Coast' Ghana, who came in the year 1706 as a 'gift' to the Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel to Germany. The slave boy soon impresses with his extraordinary intelligence and sponsored by his patrons, he studies philosophy, medicine and law at the Universities of Wittenberg and Halle. But in spite of his doctorate degrees he feels always like living on a lonely planet...

Jojo Cobbinah, teacher, translator, author and journalist, was born in Tarkwa, Ghana. After schooling and graduating in Ghana, he made Germany his home and worked there in several fields for the good part of three decades. He now lives in Accra, Ghana, where he is a full-time author. His travel guide book of Ghana (in German language) is the most famous one, because Peter Meyer Travel Guides combine practical tips with useful information on cultures. Jojo Cobbinah also doubles up as a Senior Contributing Editor of the The African Courier, Germany's only English-language magazine on Africa. »Dr. Amo's Lonely Planet« is his first novel. For more information look at www.PeterMeyerVerlag.de.
Details
Weitere ISBN/GTIN9783898590013
ProduktartE-Book
EinbandartE-Book
FormatEPUB
Format Hinweis0 - No protection
FormatE101
Erscheinungsjahr2013
Erscheinungsdatum01.03.2013
Auflage1. Auflage
Seiten734 Seiten
SpracheEnglisch
Dateigrösse884 Kbytes
Artikel-Nr.11912050
Rubriken
Genre9201

Inhalt/Kritik

Inhaltsverzeichnis
Dr. Anton Wilhelm Amo was a real person.
He was born in the year 1703 near Axim in what is now Ghana. The circumstances of his arrival in Europe are controversial. One legend says he was presented as a "gift" to the Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel by the Dutch West India Company. Another says he was taken as a personal slave to the Region of Brunswick by a North German soldier, who died shortly after arrival.
What is certain is that he spent his early life at the court of the Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel and later in other German states, such as Brandenburg-Prussia and Saxony, at the said time and in the places described. Undisputed is also the fact that he studied philosophy and law in the mentioned cities, was mentored by the named lecturers, wrote on the quoted subjects, acquired a doctorate degree, lectured at the venues stated and finally returned to the Gold Coast to live for many more years around the time stated.
Though parallel to him another African, Abram Petrovich Hannibal, also reached great heights of achievement in Russia, Dr. Anton Wilhelm Amo is known to have been the very first African ever to go through such an academic biography of excellence.
In the same measure, Nana Yankey of Pokesu, Jan Konneh of Prisi and Kaku Akaa of Jomoro were all real people who did what have been attributed to them. King Yankey paid an official visit to Berlin, Jan Konneh was a constant headache to the Dutch and Kaku Akaa was notorious for his brutality. Lastly, and though modern Germany (formal successor to erstwhile Prussia), does not like to admit it openly, Brandenburg-Prussia did indeed participate in the slave trade, even if at a comparatively subordinate volume, and constructed forts Gross-Friedrichsburg, Dorothea, Sophie-Luise and Takarary to promote the human trade. Traces of these edifices are still extant in the Western Region of Ghana.
For want of accurate details on the private life of our hero, the story, as presented here, is completely fictitious, especially the things put into the mouths of all characters. Nevertheless, the novel is closely related to the real life of Dr. A.W. Amo.mehr
Leseprobe


Part II

Asaase ye duru

So heavy this our earth,

My friend

It s yonder sea that s heavy!

But heavier earth carries it.

O yes; so heavy is this earth.

Francis Kayper-Mensah, »Adinkra Poems«

II-01: Fish or Gold

If tradition had had its way, Morkeh Adiaba of Pokesu would have become a fisherman. And if Morkeh had become a fisherman, his life would not have taken a completely different turn, with an outcome nobody in Pokesu or in Europe would have even imagined as possible. It all began with a simple decision. Though not clear at the time it was taken, it was a far-reaching decision that was designed to drastically change his life and that of his children.

At the age of twelve, Morkeh Adiaba decided to break radically with a generations-old tradition. Throughout history, Morkeh s extended family had been fisher folk. His great-grandfather had been the most intrepid fisherman of his times, and Morkeh s own father - Kwaw Bilé - had set the record for catching the biggest ekyiekyi, blue marlin, ever landed on the coast. All of Papa Bilé s relatives had known no other trade. It was no surprise that from the age of seven, Morkeh dutifully began to accompany his relatives to sea, sometimes with Rudiger, the white man. All children did.

But when Morkeh was twelve and the time came to take possession of his first canoe, as tradition required, he surprised his family and the entire clan by choosing a different trade.

»I want to become a goldsmith,« he said laconically on the eve of the traditional initiation ceremony.

»Why, in the name of the Almighty do you want to become a goldsmith? Of all things!« his distressed father asked.

Morkeh lowered his head, looking for a good answer that would not annoy his father. Then looking up and speaking in a low voice to signal that he did not mean to be impertinent, he replied:

»I love melting metal, I love travelling, and I love meeting people. The Europeans pay high sums for everything made of gold and I ve heard that those in the big fort in Axim cannot even get enough of it.

»Melting metal! Meeting people! Travelling!« exclaimed old father Bilé, clearing his throat as he mockingly repeated his son s timid mutterings. »Where did you get this hot air from? Have you done any of these things before? How do you know you love them? When did you see any of us doing that? Do you know what it entails? Do you? Tell me!!«

»Yes father,« replied Morkeh with his face down.

»Don t be silly, you don t!«

To avoid being impolite, Morkeh said nothing more. Silence reigned for a lifetime. When Papa Bilé had found his voice, he continued with his protestations.

»The only place that comes in question is Axim. That s where all apprentices go to learn that strange trade. It s a town full of slave traders, tricksters and prostitutes. Is this where you really want to live?«

Morkeh nodded, his face still glued to the ground.

»You ll have to speak with your mother about it. Wait until she returns from the market to hear this. Pray that she does not break your neck. You know how she is,« said Papa Bilé with a threatening look in anticipation of the wrath to come.

Maame Nsowah, Morkeh s mother, was not only a resolute woman but feared for her hot temper. She would certainly not entertain such nonsense from her son, Papa Bilé knew and hoped. In the society he lived in, children belonged to their mothers, so they were the only people authorised to take final decisions on the welfare of offspring.

In a way, and to the chagrin of Papa Bilé, Morkeh resembled his mother and was just as resolute. His young age notwithstanding, Morkeh was convinced that goldsmithing would enable him to combine all his talents and interests. There was something mysterious about gold that fascinated Morkeh.

But his father was right. It would definitely mean leaving Pokesu and being separated from his entire family for a long time. There was nobody in town qualified to train young people in this trade. Nonetheless, goldsmithing was the only thing Morkeh ever wanted to do in his life and he was prepared to face the consequences, whatever these would be.

Great was the suspense, when Maame Nsowah returned from the market. She was capable of anything whenever her hot temper got the better of her.

Her feeble words of light protest upon hearing of her son s strange decision to learn the gold trade was the actual surprise of that day.

»A child that washes its hands before meals will certainly eat with adults,« was the only tangible comment she was heard to make. She loved her last child and only son among five daughters. The last thing she wanted to do was to put obstacles in the path of her last born. For all she knew, he could become the best goldsmith in Evaluê if given the chance.

In the ensuing days Maame Nsowah opted to protest lightly, moaning about Morkeh wanting to kill her, about his being only a child and requiring protection in a big town full of vice. She did not want to stand in the way of her beloved son. And though she hated to see him go work for strangers, she thought this step was inevitable. If the Almighty had not had anything to do with it, would such a little child have come to such a far-reaching decision? Everything, of course, lay in the hands of the gods. They would know how to guide the child.

Morkeh s parents agreed to send him to Axim to learn the desired trade. If the gods were against it, they would surely give them a visible sign later. For now, there was no cause for alarm.

Two months after Morkeh s twelfth birthday, his father sent him along with his uncle and another relative to Axim to learn the secrets of the goldsmithing trade.

After talking to several masters, Egya Tandoh, the most respected of them all, accepted the bottle of imported gin, the gold nugget and the white hen that Morkeh s relatives had brought along. He agreed to take on the young man. To seal the contract, all present at the meeting drank some of the gin from one glass, as a sign of consent.

For the next three cycles of forty weeks each, Morkeh would be adopted by his master and forced to live with him in Axim. He would eat, sleep and work in the house of his new master, not allowed under any circumstance to visit Pokesu during his time of apprenticeship.

Clearly, it would be hard for everybody concerned, but everybody involved, above all Morkeh himself, were determined to make the whole exercise work.

II-02: The Apprenticeship

Kwasi Adiabah Morkeh s adult life began on arrival in Axim to start his apprenticeship. He was still a child, but since he had left home to start life elsewhere, society considered him a mature person now. If his mother was right, then he had learned to wash his hands properly and was now invited to the high table to eat with adults.

Though Axim was only a day s journey from Pokesu and people spoke the same language, Morkeh had come to a new world. Like Pokesu, the town was flanked on its far western side by a big river which entered the sea in a huge estuary. This river enabled Axim to be reached easily by all the communities lying to the north of the town. Again like Pokesu, Axim was a port of call for white people. It had a natural harbour which was sheltered on one side by a long reef interrupted in three places by little islands that had been formed when the strong sea eroded parts of the reef. Between the side facing the beach and the town was the harbour. It provided the fishermen with a safe, calm haven for their canoes. When the Portuguese arrived here, they immediately recognised the advantages of this location and built Fort Saõ Antonio on the mainland facing the three islands.

The port, Morkeh noticed, was much busier than the one in his home town. There, a Brandenburger ship would throw anchor once every quarter of a year or so. There were also more ships, more white people and more African traders about.

Once a week, Fridays, was market day. The streets became glutted with traders, farmers, fishermen, and all kinds of people who assembled there for this and that. From what Morkeh heard, some of these people paddled for several days from the dense inland forests to reach the coast. A few of the townspeople had even become rich. What they bought or sold he did not know, but the sizes of their stone mansions spoke for themselves.

In one respect, Axim differed entirely from Pokesu. The town was far bigger. It consisted of several settlements situated on different hills, connected by footpaths. The hills provided natural protection from enemy attacks. From the top of a hill, an advancing army could be seen from a distance. An intruding army would have to fight its way up a hill to conquer the place. The white people who came here had seen the merit of such strategic locations and also built their forts and castles on cliffs that taunted the foaming sea. The most...
mehr

Autor

Jojo Cobbinah, teacher, translator, author and journalist, was born in Tarkwa, Ghana. After schooling and graduating in Ghana, he made Germany his home and worked there in several fields for the good part of three decades. He now lives in Accra, Ghana, where he is a full-time author. His travel guide book of Ghana (in German language) is the most famous one, because Peter Meyer Travel Guides combine practical tips with useful information on cultures. Jojo Cobbinah also doubles up as a Senior Contributing Editor of the The African Courier, Germany's only English-language magazine on Africa. »Dr. Amo's Lonely Planet« is his first novel. For more information look at PeterMeyerVerlag.de.
Dr. Amo's Lonely Planet
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