Trying To Frame The Unframable: Oroonoko, By Daniel Pigg

Aphra Behn is one of the first female writers and, a very successful one. She came into writing after being cheated out of her earnings but, this proves worthwhile as, two centuries later, her work is still provoking arguments and reviews. As one of the persons to read her work and peak into her life I, like many others, see her as the mother of literature. One of the most read and analysed of her work in “Oroonoko” and, among those to peruse such is Daniel Pigg. In his article, “Trying to Frame the Unframable: Oroonoko as Discourse in Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko”, Pigg brings to the fore the multi-faceted nature of the main character in Behn’s work Oroonoko which for him, makes it impossible to ‘frame” him or represent him in a set way. Pigg’s
This understanding of discourse came through the highlighting of the works, at the time when Oroonoko was written, of linguists such as Cave Beck and philosophers’ such as Descartes whose works comprise of making the link between natural language as speech and also as emotion or gestures. This was especially important since he has initially introduce to us the ideology of European discourse that according to him is identified by verbal communication only and contrasts such to point out that Oroonoko communicates through words but most importantly through gestures which was used to set him apart from others (pg.106). Through this, discourse is seen as referring to the way or ways in which people communicate within a certain group. Hence, proving that Oroonoko as a character cannot be seen as single discourse or be framed distinctly as, he at the time communicated in ways that were not common (i.e. through gestures) and went beyond the limit of the discourse at the time . In other words, he cannot be represented clearly as, through his ability to communicate at a higher paradigm than was traditional, he sets himself apart as one different in complex
This through the way she sees herself as unworthy of writing about Oroonoko, a job she thinks a male could do better (pg 107). He also points out that though timid, the narrator shows great insight and ability by making something of significance of her narration- something that cannot be framed. This suggests that the narrator was experiencing in Oroonoko something very different from what she is used to at the time. Further, through the constant use of the word “discursive” in the context of disorder, Pigg also shows that the character of Oroonoko exists outside the frame of the time. For example, having one single discourse at the time in the European verbal discourse, Oroonoko communication of his thoughts through gestures and gaze (pg 109) instead of verbally shows a great difference from the norm of the day that was verbal. Bearing in mind the fact that at the time of the writing, other types of communication was just being studied (pg 106), Oroonoko characterisation does make him unfit for the frame of the