Rethinking Objects: The Numerological Signification of Kola Nuts in Chris Abani's Graceland

Souleymane TUO

Numéro 14 – RILE-2 de 2019 (Deuxième numéro 2019) (2019) Page(s) 35 - 46 ISSN 2076-6130

This paper, which is grounded on the epigraphs of Chris Abani’s Graceland, aims to cast light on the social life of kola nuts in the Igbo numerology. More pointedly, it investigates the alleged positive and negative influences lobes on kola nuts exert on the life of Eastern Nigerian people. This is in compliance with the rethinking of objects by Bill Brown’s thing theory. At issue is that kola nuts with two lobes are supposed to predict malediction on human fates. And according to this ancestral science, kola nuts with three lobes are assumed to change ill-omened fates into liminal destinies. Viewed as the best fruit, the four-lobed kola nut is thought to change a transitional fate into a life of blessing, that of success and achievement. Keywords: numerology, thing theory, kola nuts, lobes, male 36 upon ancestral empirical knowledge inspired from the study and interpretation of the design of lines imprinted on kola nuts. Some works on numerology centered on kola nuts abound. The article “The Symbolism of Kola Nut in Igbo Cosmology: A Reexamination” by C.G. Chidume, U.S Osisioma and S.O. Echem is a case in point. Not only does it investigate the role played by a kola nut in Eastern Nigeria, but this article also emphasizes all qualities attached to this fruit. This mainly concerns alleged mystical powers related to the number of lobes and their importance in decoding people’s personalities, their abilities and vocations. The same observation holds for Chinyere J. Anidobe and Uche Joy Uzoalor’s paper entitled “Kola Nut: Kolanut as an Embodiment for Completeness of the Igbo Cultur

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Souleymane TUO. « Rethinking Objects: The Numerological Signification of Kola Nuts in Chris Abani's Graceland ». Revue Ivoirienne de Langues Étrangères, Numéro 14, 2019, p. 35. ISSN 2076-6130.