Myal

by Erna Brodber

Jamaican-born novelist and sociologist Erna Brodber describes Myal as “an exploration of the links between the way of life forged by the people of two points of the black diaspora—the Afro-Americans and the Afro-Jamaicans.” Operating on many literary levels—thematically, linguistically, stylistically—it is the story of women’s cultural and spiritual struggle in colonial Jamaica. The novel opens at the beginning of the 20th century with a community gathering to heal the mysterious illness of a young woman, Ella, who has returned to Jamaica after an unsuccessful marriage abroad. The Afro-Jamaican religion myal, which asserts that good has the power to conquer all, is invoked to heal Ella, who has been left “zombified” and devoid of any black soul. Ella, who is light skinned enough to pass for white, has suffered a breakdown after her white American husband produced a black-face minstrel show based on the stories of her village and childhood. This cultural appropriation is one of a series Ella encountered in her life, and parallels the ongoing theft of the labor and culture of colonized peoples for imperial gain and pleasure. The novel’s rich, vivid language and vital characters earned it the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Canada and the Caribbean.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literature, Read For School, Post Colonial, Novels, Literary Fiction

112 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1989

About the author

Erna Brodber (born 20 April 1940) is a Jamaican writer, sociologist and social activist.

Born in Woodside, Saint Mary Parish, Jamaica, she gained a B.A. from the University College of the West Indies, followed by an M.Sc and Ph.D. She subsequently worked as a civil servant, teacher, sociology lecturer, and at the Institute for Social and Economic Research in Mona, Jamaica.

She is the author of four novels: Jane and Louisa Will Soon Come Home (1980), Myal (1988), Louisiana (1994) and The Rainmaker's Mistake (2007). She won the Caribbean and Canadian regional Commonwealth Writers' Prize in 1989 for Myal. In 1999 she received the Jamaican Musgrave Gold Award for Literature and Orature. Brodber currently works as a freelance writer, researcher and lecturer in Jamaica. She is currently Writer in Residence at the University of the West Indies.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Laetitia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Myal isn't a book you just read. It's a bloody commitment. Yes, you'll look at it and think to yourself 'Oh hey, it's only a little over 100 pages. This will be a nice short read. Let's go!'

Well, forget it. It's not a 'nice, short read'. It's also not a novel I would have read in my freetime.

I spent hours on research while reading this novel, which is fine. I don't mind an engaging and challenging read. But it was frustrating at times because even with research I couldn't understand certain aspects of the novel. It drives me crazy when I read something I don't get because I want to find meaning in the text. I think I mostly understand Myal. I understand Brodber's issues with education in a colonised country. I understand the postcolonial aspect of the novel but then... I'm not entirely sure. Do I? Novels like these get lost on me, I feel, and I am sorry for it.

Maybe I'll read it again sometime and feel differently towards it. We'll see.

[Rasmus Festerling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Postkoloniel sociologisk teori omsat til skønlitterær praksis? Det lyder som et mareridt, men fungerer overraskende godt. Bogen er svær, meget svær, men for den nysgerrige og tålmodige læser åbenbares en smuk og intellektuelt pirrende fortælling.

[Dawn Stowell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brodber actualizes the oral storytelling tradition with this cautionary, yet light-hearted, semi-folk tale that explores how colonization can even occur within the darker elements of one’s religious system.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually finished this a couple days ago but I forgot to update on here. This is a really complex and hard-to-read book the first time around. I would definitely say you have to reread this more than once to really understand the characters and storyline. But once you get through that and unearth what the author is trying to say, you fall in love with the writing and the complexity of it all. I will definitely reread this in the future and see what else I discover!

[Christina Veldman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Difficult book about Jamaican post-colonial identity negotiating white North American influences and exploitation within economic and social spheres. Zombification, otherwise known as soul stealing, is the suppression of local, native culture in order to replace with white, imperial culture. However, negotiation and countering is possible through narrative (story telling) and education.

[Shalima Wellington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful, thought provoking- but an EFFORT TO READ.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmm, not sure about this one. A lot of it was written in Jamaican patois which made it very hard to rad. the story skipped around and one part seemed to have no connection to another.
I can't say I enjoyed it much and I wouldn't go looking for any others bu this author.
It might appeal to someone of Jamaican origin or who knows more about the religion and spiritual beliefs and has more insight into Jamaican culture but it really did nothing for me.

I persevered to the end and just felt relieved that I had finished it and could go and find a book with a bit more to draw me in.

[Yetzi Cortés · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Is not all the time is somebody do something; sometimes is you do you own self something."

"And his whole body broke out into smiles."

"Often Mass Cyrus used these same tears turned to gum, to glue together a broken heart or a broken relationship until the organism could manage on its own again."

These are my favourite quotes.

[Susana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ein Roman aus den 80er Jahren, der größtenteils in einer Dorfgemeinde im Osten Jamaikas während der Kolonialzeit spielt.
Die Handlung spielt sich vor dem Hintergrund der bewegten Geschichte des Landes ab, es geht um Hierarchien, Glaubensfragen, Umgang mit Außenseitern, Seelenraub, Spiritualität und Heilung.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

An essential, multilayered work. While it helps to have a background in Caribbean literature, history and culture to understand many of the book's references, a slow but steady read will be rewarding for most.

[Dionysus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my type

[Eric Boles · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rare miss from Professor Brown. Not a bad book I just didn't enjoy reading it at all.

[Carolin · Rating 5 out of 5]

:O

[ava ✧*̣̩⋆̩☽⋆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

oh so beautiful and oh so confusing

[Izabelle Nickel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book that analyzes cultural appropriation, colonization, and the disconnect for individuals who are biracial.

[Not Sarah Connor Writes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished this book for my Concepts of Culture class a month ago but haven't reviewed it because it is a very difficult text to discuss and to read. I wanted to wait until after a few lectures on the book so that I could better understand the story and give a fair review on the book.
Myal centres on Ella O'Grady (Langley later in the story), a mixed girl (Jamaican mother and Irish father) living in Grove Town Jamaica. The story focuses on Ella's upbringing, how she is ridiculed in her town for her mixed parentage but suddenly looked up to after she recites some of Kipling's works during a recitation at school. After this recitation Reverend and Mrs. Brassington (a man with mixed parentage like Ella and a white woman) offer to bring Ella with them to the States for education. The story focuses on Ella's life in Grove Town and in the States, how she changes and how colonialism changes her. There are also elements of voodooism, Myalism, and magic.

The story is confusing, especially when the elements of voodooism but moreso the emergence of telepathy between some of the characters in the text. It isn't fully explained how this magic came to be, and after reading the first chapter reader's can't help but feel their mind swirl with confusion and question what kind of book they're reading. The language is difficult, and their are so many characters it's hard to keep track of who is who in the novel.

But I still enjoyed Myal and discussing it in class helped me understand the book as a whole. It was interesting to learn about a new culture, watch the effects of colonialism, and learn about a different kind of spirituality I am unused to.
It's difficult to describe why I like this book any further, go check the books Goodreads page and you'll find less help. I recommend the book for a different read but it would be best if you're reading it from an academic point of view.

[Ishita · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strange sort of tale, Myal challenges conceptions of 'post'colonial realities through the stories of Ella and Anita, two girls living in Grove Town, Jamaica. When they are both victims of spirit thievery (products of colonialism), it is only the revitalization and reinterpretation of myalism, a traditional Jamaican spiritual practice, that can exorcise the destructive forces. Brodber offers a hopeful outlook on the possibilities of reshaping tradition to fit contemporary reality, as a possible decolonizing answer.

[Care · Rating 2 out of 5]

Myal wasn't written for me, yet I read it. Brodber speaks to Jamaicans and doesn't give a rat's ass what outsiders to their culture think. This is her tribute to the strife and oppression experienced at the hands of spirit thieves. To be able to read this complex storyline in her difficult-to-understand writing gave me a small glimpse at Brodber's feelings on colonialism and exposed me to her narrative that I hope I understood to some degree.

"there are ways and ways of knowing"

[Outi S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommended for anybody who thinks zombies are creatures getting up from a grave as in most of the American films. Tells what the zombies are really about. As a Nordic person all of this is a bit difficult to understand but the book is fascinating in any case.

[Jscorse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took a course from her in undergrad- loved it- gotta remember the other books.....

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful writing. This is a book I will have to re-read. Many things were not clear to me the first time through, and for me this is not a bad thing.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Without some postcolonial theory background, this can be a tricky read. With lots of postcolonial theory, Myal is poetic and beautiful, accomplishing as much as Homi Bhaba's work but in 100 pages.

[Sarah Guinee · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF.

[Kaley R · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t get it until I got it. This one definitely requires you to read beyond its pages.

[Samantha Reive · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book requires you to re-wire your brain... AMAZING.

[Gillena Cox · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this journey of two souls, the road forks with - Mrs Maydene Brassinton, [White Hen] wife of the Reverend at its pivot, of two religious and spiritual cultures.
On the one hand there is a tale of skin colour and displacement. (So the children only saw her and more so when rain fall and wouldn't deal with her at all. The most they could do was scream out "Salt Pork","Alabaster Baby" Red Ants Abundance"when they saw her).
An almost happily every after. [Wharf]ella, is found by a [fairy godmother] and her journey of transformation takes her to her [prince] - Selwyn Langley in Balitmore America, and her new life's gala. Until she gets to the realization that Selwyn was really sucking out the juice of her life culture to return to her a big annoying dud - his play he titled 'Caribbean Nights And Days'.
On the other other hand , there is the visera of drums and spirits into which Anita is placed. Terrorized by poltergeist, relocated and eventually released of spiritual harassment, on Miss Gatha's day, with the dark death of Mass Levi in his latrine.
All of this Erna Brodber has wrapped like a sweet mint, in the cultural traits and folk sayings of, Groove Town, Morant Bay, Port Antonio, and Saint Thomas, Jamaica.
A very interesting little book.