Election campaign in the Caribbean

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Election campaign in the Caribbean. Or: One hand washes the other ( English : The Suffrage of Elvira , first published in 1958) is a novel by the Trinidadian Nobel Prize laureate V. S. Naipaul . It satirically depicts a fictional election campaign in the country that actually became independent only four years later (1962).

In this novel, Naipaul takes up problems such as corruption , nepotism and populism , with which many countries that later became independent and democratic actually have to struggle.

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Democracy was introduced on the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago four years ago, in 1946 . Surujpat Harbans, known as Pat Harbans or simply Pat, would like to win the second choice of his home county Naparoni, which includes the cities of Cordoba and Elvira. To do this, however, he has to get the majority of the county's approximately 8,000 eligible voters on his side, which is more difficult than expected. Because first of all, Harbans assumes that he only has to pull the various ringleaders of the ethnic groups on his side in order to win. Specifically, these are the tailor Mazurus Baksh, the "leader of the Muslims in Elvira", whose supposed 1000 votes he intends to gain by employing and paying Baksh's son, and the goldsmith Chittaranjan, the "most important personality in Elvira", who both unites the Hindu voices behind them and maintains a good relationship with the Spaniards in Cordoba and enjoys respect even among Muslims and the black population and thus stands for around 5,000 votes. In return for his support, Harbans promises that his (Harban's) son, a budding doctor, will marry Chittaranjan's daughter. Harban's challenger Nathaniel Anaclitus Thomas, called Preacher, on the other hand, stands for the remaining 2,000 votes, mainly those of the black population.

What looks like a clear and easy victory, however, stands on increasingly shaky legs in the course of the election campaign. Because Harban's opponent Preacher relies on personal contact with the voters and goes from house to house every day in order to win votes for himself through personal contact. In addition, with the help of Lorkhoor, a young Hindu, he also captured some Hindu voices. When the votes of the Spaniards, which were also believed to be secure - they had been convinced by two American Jehovah's Witnesses that voting was unchristian - and the votes of the Muslims - since Baksh took the preacher's side for personal reasons - were lost, Harbans' victory suddenly anything but certain. Harbans and his election committee, which includes Chittaranjan and Baksh's still loyal son Foreman, called Foam, are trying to turn the election in their favor with new ideas. However, your endeavors have been crowned with somewhat dubious success.

Nevertheless, Harbans can ultimately win the election with a safe margin, as the Jehovah's Witnesses lose the favor of the Spaniards, who then vote again, and Lorkhoor takes Harbans' side for $ 500. Another reason for his election victory were the ever more generous bribes being paid to individuals or groups of people. Harbans, frustrated by the turmoil of the election campaign and the ingratitude and greed of the people of Elvira, decides during the election campaign to turn his back on Elvira forever. When he returns one last time to give his election committee a case of whiskey as a reward for a successful election campaign, he is downright besieged by the already forgotten people of Elvira. Although he manages to calm people down by promising gifts of money, his newly bought Jaguar is set on fire and explodes.

Release history

Originally published in English in 1958, the novel was first published in German in 1975.

expenditure

  • The Suffrage of Elvira . VS Naipaul, London 1958. (first edition)
  • Election campaign in the Caribbean. Or: one hand washes the other . Translated from English by Werner Peterich . Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag, Reinbek near Hamburg, 1986. ISBN 978-3-499-15679-3 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Naipaul, Vidiadhar S .: Election campaign in Caribbean or: one hand washes the other . Rowohlt, Reinbek near Hamburg 1986, ISBN 3-499-15679-2 .