The Dialectic between Individuality and Society in Dagnachewu Worku’s Novel Adefirs: A Phenomenological Inquiry

Abstract

This study used a phenomenological approach to examine the dialectic between individuality and society in the Amharic novel, Adefris. The selection criterion for the novel is its inclusion of individuality as its main theme. Adefirs, the titular protagonist, as an individual is from the metropolis with advanced education. This later aspect, especially, was the epicenter for his presentation of himself that in the meantime goes astray. His low level of intersubjectivity resulting from his less involvement in the practical world follows a one sided exploration of reality that finally rested in his overused concept; the sub-conscious. Adefirs’s sub-world had a dialectical reflexivity when he met with some individuals who are educated and advanced in experience. They can be regarded as occupying an intermediary subworld between the world Adefirs joined and his sub-world. They lived a life mediated by both western education and practical experience. As a result of their relentless debates with Adefirs, he began to see beyond his academic horizon. He started to challenge practical impositions from foreigners. It is a sign that Adefirs remained antagonistic towards the sub-world of the rural and yet reexamined himself and adopted the view that propagates the value of Ethiopians.