Re-"The Past Is Prologue"

[Chidi Anthony Opara]

President Buhari while trying to debunk opinions in some quarters that he would be vindictive in power said in his inaugural speech that "the past is prologue".

One have been at lost at what the president meant by that quote, within the context of the message he was trying to pass across.

The president surely, could not have meant that he would preface (start) this present with the past, which is what his quote potrayed in my opinion.

What about "the past is epilogue"?

CAO.

[Gbolahan Gbadamosi]

Chidi,

What about 'prologue' suggesting a start by learning from the mistakes of the past so as to avoid a repeat in the future?

I trust you will agree that there has been mistakes in the past and going forward we need to keep away from them. Ignoring them is to allow history to repeat itself in a manner we do not want.

Chidi, I wonder why you have been picking sentences from Buhari's speech and making a big deal out of each one in a way that could make readers suspect there are other motives and intentions into what you write even though you probably actually mean well?

I think you will do well to critique the entire speech in a robust manner that can allow for a continued debate if you really feel there are serious issues to be raised. 

Take care.

Gbolahan Gbadamosi 

Sent from my old reliable Olivetti Typewriter 

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[Bode]

There are many phrases in that speech that makes me suspect I know who may have contributed to the speech from this list! In any case, CAO, neither the prologue nor the epilogue are part of Act, one introduces the audience to the first Act and the other provides additional information not known to the audience even after the final Act. How can the past come after the final Act of Buhari’s Presidency, that is just about to begin? By saying the past is prologue, could he be saying the past is not the main Act or focus of his presidency? I agree as an idiom, it could mean a lot more…

Bode 

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[Nnaemeka, Obioma G]

President Buhari gave an excellent speech. However, "prologue" is the wrong word in the context it is used:  "A few people have privately voiced fears that on coming back to office I shall go after them. These fears are groundless. There will be no paying off old scores. The past is prologue." We can parse the word which way we want, it does not make it correct.

Obioma Nnaemeka, PhD

Chancellor's Distinguished Professor
President, Association of African Women Scholars (AAWS)
Dept. of World Languages & Cultures   Phone: 317-278-2038; 317-274-0062 (messages)
Cavanaugh Hall 543A                          Fax: 317-278-7375

Indiana University                               E-mail: nnae...@iupui.edu
425 University Boulevard                   

Indianapolis, IN 46202  USA

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From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com [usaafric...@googlegroups.com] on behalf of Bode [omi...@gmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, May 30, 2015 1:47 PM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re-"The Past Is Prologue"

[Mobolaji Aluko]

My People:

May I contribute here without being original - for PMB (President Muhammadu Buhari) quoted Shakespeare twice, with one only by attribution

QUOTE

http://www.yaliberty.org/posts/repulse-a-modern-constitution-convention

THE PAST IS PROLOGUE

Jan 13, 2011 at 12:38 PM

By John Delaney

Written by my good friend and constitutional scholar, Scott N. Bradley.

At the beginning of the American Revolution, the great patriot Patrick Henry stated, “I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided; and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging the future but by the past.”

In The Tempest, William Shakespeare (act 1, scene 1) observed “What’s past is prologue,” meaning, the experience of the past is but an introduction to that which is to come.

In many ways, history repeats itself. If we are willing to learn the lessons of history, perhaps the nation may avoid the mistakes of the past.

UNQUOTE

The important thing is that we must all be change agents, to transform this country thoroughly.  We must be able to investigate the past thoroughly without living in it, so that our present may be better, and our tuture even brighter.

And there you have it.

Bolaji Aluko

[Bode]

interesting: this is actually an allusion to Shakespeare see wiki:

"What's past is prologue" is a quotation by William Shakespeare from his play The Tempest. The phrase was originally used in The Tempest, Act 2, Scene I. Antonio uses it to suggest that all that has happened before that time, the "past," has led Sebastian and himself to this opportunity to do what they are about to do: commit murder.

[kenneth harrow]

it's hamlet, a misquote so to speak--like a spoonerism. funny mistake, when people quote something like shakespeare but don't quite get it right....

-- 
kenneth w. harrow 
faculty excellence advocate
professor of english
michigan state university
department of english
619 red cedar road
room C-614 wells hall
east lansing, mi 48824
ph. 517 803 8839
har...@msu.edu

[Assensoh, Akwasi B.]

Professor Lady Nnaemeka:

 

Some of you -- including VC Aluko and  Sir Toyin himself --  make the Dialogue series a joy to read and archive! Thank you very much! Also, I  totally agree that President Buhari gave a great speech with a lot of historicity, and laced with Lincolnian analogies. In fact, his use of the Prologue word, just like saying that the past being the past, did remind me of what a former Ghanaian leader said about those, who often dwelt on the past and its scores, as the Ghanaian leader bemoaned in his own appeal to forget about past scores: "He who dwells on the past does not only lose the past but the present also."

 

Some of us, as Nigerians at heart, are celebrating with our Nigerian cousins over the anthills in order to have a dance in the forest, in Achebean-cum-Soyinkan analogy, laced with Zikism and Awoism!

 

A.B. Assensoh.  

 

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From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com [usaafric...@googlegroups.com] on behalf of Nnaemeka, Obioma G [nnae...@iupui.edu]
Sent: Saturday, May 30, 2015 3:50 PM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re-"The Past Is Prologue"

[Chika Onyeani]

RECENT ARTICLES

• CHIMAMANDA ADICHIE NARRATES FATHER’S KIDNAPPING IN NIGERIA – WHY WAS HER FATHER KIDNAPPED?
• 
  
• FULL TEXT OF BUHARI’S INAUGURAL ADDRESS
• 
  
• AKINWUMI ADESINA, FORMER AGRICULTURE MINISTER, VOTED AFDB PRESIDENT
• 
  
• OSHIOMHOLE’S BASELESS DIATRIBE AGAINST OKONJO-IWEALA
• 
  
• NIGERIAN-AMERICAN LEADERSHIP COUNCIL PUSHES FOR A BOLD AGENDA BEYOND THE 2015 BALLOT

[Mobolaji Aluko]

Kenneth:

No - there is no such "Past is Prologue" quote in Hamlet, nor is there a character named Antonio.

The Tempest it is:

QUOTE

http://www.enotes.com/shakespeare-quotes/whats-past-prologue

Antomo:
. . . Who's the next heir of Naples?

Sebastian:
Claribel.

Antonio:
She that is Queen of Tunis; she that dwells
Ten leagues beyond man's life; she that from Naples
Can have no note, unless the sun were post—
The Man i' th' Moon's too slow—till new-born chins
Be rough and razorable; she that from whom
We all were sea-swallow'd, though some cast again
(And by that destiny) to perform an act
Whereof what's past is prologue; what to come,
In yours and my discharge.

The Tempest Act 2, scene 1, 245–254

UNQUOTE

And there you have it.

Bolaji Aluko

[Nnaemeka, Obioma G]

Context matters. The context in which it is used in Shakespeare is different from its inscription in President Buhari's speech. Quoting Shakespeare out of context is not a good idea.

 

Obioma Nnaemeka, PhD

Chancellor's Distinguished Professor
President, Association of African Women Scholars (AAWS)
Dept. of World Languages & Cultures   Phone: 317-278-2038; 317-274-0062 (messages)
Cavanaugh Hall 543A                          Fax: 317-278-7375

Indiana University                               E-mail: nnae...@iupui.edu
425 University Boulevard                   

Indianapolis, IN 46202  USA

From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com [usaafric...@googlegroups.com] on behalf of Bode [omi...@gmail.com]

Sent: Saturday, May 30, 2015 11:27 PM

[Bode]

I always thought allusions work by taking an image, phrase, or saying from its original context not as a means of reproducing the original context or meaning but using it to give expression to new meaning in another context, which is not always neat and nicely fitted. The past and the opportunity it affords is what is common to both contexts here. But I agree that while Shakespeare used the phrase as a signal of an intent to action, of continuity of action, Buhari seems to be using it as a signal of an intent to non-action and justification or opportunity for a break with past actions, sort of. So, CAO is right after all in sensing that if the past is the prologue of Buhari’s presidency, it can only mean that the past will inform his  actions, which is not what Buhari seems to mean. Which also would mean you are right in suggesting Buhari this time may be quoting the wrong Shakespeare if indeed he does not intend to revisit the past or allow it to determine his actions. It is like saying the past is appetizer…. Like prologue, that builds suspense and generates an expectation 

[Rex Marinus]

However, Professor, there is also the nature of allusion, which enlarges, changes, and reframes context. Seen from that point, Buhari's statement is apt to its own specific context. It is suggestive rather than literal.
Obi Nwakanma

 

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From: nnae...@iupui.edu
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re-"The Past Is Prologue"
Date: Sun, 31 May 2015 22:39:42 +0000

[kenneth harrow]

right, my mistake
thanks
ken (bode posted the correct reading of the line, which got reversed in buhari's use of it)

[kenneth harrow]

seems pretty clear that the phrase was misunderstood and this misquoted. sounds fancy and good, but means clearly that the past will predict and lead to what is to come, and he meant something different. no point in trying to explain it away as if protecting him from a mistake. whether suggestive or literal, i don't see how the reading could be properly construed otherwise.

-- 
kenneth w. harrow 
faculty excellence advocate
professor of english
michigan state university
department of english
619 red cedar road
room C-614 wells hall
east lansing, mi 48824
ph. 517 803 8839
har...@msu.edu

[Oluwatoyin Adepoju]

Beautiful

 

'.. there is also the nature of allusion, which enlarges, changes, and reframes context. Seen from that point, Buhari's statement is apt to its own specific context. It is suggestive rather than literal.'
Obi Nwakanma

 

[Chidi Anthony Opara]

Yes Professor Harrow, "Sounds fancy and good" and someone decided to showcase the President's knowledge of literature, especially, in view of the secondary school certificate saga, by quoting Shakespeare out of context, and without attribution, yet, some held up the speech as "excellent". For me, the speech was good only in saying things that are "politically correct".

CAO.

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