Apologia pro Ben Okri's In Arcadia : a neglected masterpiece?

Abstract

This article begins by pointing to the dearth of critical attention to Ben Okri’s novel, In Arcadia ([2002] 2003. London: Phoenix). Examples of the sparse but dismissive critical reviews of this novel are given, showing how these seemingly fail to read Okri on his own terms. The focus here is on an alternate reading in which the proposition is that, narratologically, this three-part novel evinces a careful structure, delineating three phases of spiritual growth: breakdown, breakthrough and emergence. The phases are interlinked by the linear motif of Akashic still points or ‘intuitions’ (that is, numbered meditations of poetic insight). The argument draws upon Okri’s philosophical decoding of the labyrinthine symbolism in Poussin’s famous painting Les Bergers d’Arcadie, as well as Steven Harrison’s What’s next after now: Post- irituality and the creative life (2005. Boulder, Colorado: Sentient). The article closes with the rationale for its critical approach.