Lak Tar: Acoli Oral Narrative and Cultural Critique
From his father Okot learnt the art of storytelling and Acoli wisdom (philosophy) which he applied creatively in his only novel published in the Acoli language: Lak Tar Miyo ki Nyero i wi Lobo, shortened to Lak Tar (1953/ latest edition 2021) and translated into English as White Teeth (1989). The novel is a critique of the Acoli traditional marriage custom which was being exploited by colonially enlightened Acoli parents whose value systems were being monetized. The genesis of the novel is based on what happened to Okot when he tried the Acoli courtship practice on an educated Acoli girl from a royal family when both were students in King’s College, Budo (1948-50). Okot fell passionately in love with the girl who unfortunately knew him as coming from a poor family and therefore not fit to court her even by Acoli customary standards. She was royal (nyaker) and he was non-royal (labong). Okot’s pride was wounded but instead of sulking, he sat in his dormitory and composed an opera called Acan. The content of the opera spoke of the poor boy who is rejected but who hopes to grow into someone important in future. She should wait and see. It was a very touching composition coming from deep within Okot’s heart. The Budo Nightingales Choir, of which Okot was a founder member, practiced and blended it with a Mozartian tune from the Magic Flute. At the concert, which was attended by the Governor of Uganda, Okot’s opera won the first prize for original composition. This brought fame to Okot as an individual and Budo as a school and it wiped out Okot’s shame over unrequited love (The Budonian 1996).
Okot developed the opera into a novel whose title he drew from a proverb: Lak tar miyo Kinyero i wi lobo: people laugh because they want to show the whiteness of their teeth rather than expressing joy. The laughter is in defiance of poverty or misfortune which one can neither change nor succumb to. From the success of the opera, Okot had the last laugh at the girl who rejected his love because he was from a poor family, the son of a mere catechist who sold sugar cane and fruits to supplement his meager income.
The structure of the novel is based on some of the Acoli quest narratives where the poor hero goes on a quest and, depending on his behaviour or circumstances, comes back either rich or poorer than when he set out. Okot knew those narratives which he learnt from his father or from the wang-oo, the traditional evening fireside school. In Lak Tar, Okeca’s quest is for money (bridewealth) to enable him to marry his beautiful Cicilia. Like Okot, Okeca is from a poor family. His father died when he was young leaving him with thirty goats, which were later inherited together with Okeca’s mother and her two children by his father’s brother. This left Okeca without any inheritance and hence a challenge in finding bridewealth to marry his Cicilia. In Acoli culture, when a young man failed to raise bridewealth, his paternal and maternal uncles were responsible for providing it. In Okeca’s case, both uncles refused. Traditionally, the option was for a young man to use a sister’s bridewealth for his own marriage. Unfortunately, Okeca’s only sister was young and sickly so he could not wait for her bridewealth.