Page 168 - Communication Processes Volume 3 Communication Culture and Confrontation

The Donkey 143

The inverse of this total subordination of the donkey to the potter
and of the potter to the king is, on the part of the potter and the donkey,
the total dependency of the potter upon the donkey’s physical labour
as a carrier of the soil that he needs, and of the king upon the potter’s
work as there is no other potter in town. This ambivalent semantic
redundancy of subordination and dependency projects the donkey—the
central personage and ‘actant’ of the narrative—as the symbolic dupli-
cate of his master. Both masters are obliged to the subaltern. Yet at the
level of the daylight visibility none of the masters sees or recognizes
his obligation. The daylight can be said in this regard to be so strong
as to act as a blinding clarity.

Donkey versus King as Builder
As a builder of a royal city, the donkey displays miraculous strength.
His genius transcends all expectations. The king cannot but be taken
aback in front of a competence that manifests itself as simply divine.
The donkey gives a city to the king, a city that the king is supposedly
the only one capable of offering to his citizens. The earthen pot of the
potter, the donkey’s master, gives way to metal walls and houses defy-
ing the ages. The one who carries soil and stones for potters, builders,
-
Vadars and kings to build up earth wares, temples, houses, palaces
.
and towns proves to be more powerful than all of them: he erects in no
time a city that may last forever. The donkey as city builder is implicitly
putting a claim to royal prerogatives and capacities.
But this happens only during the night. The daylight ignores the
deed. The king only acknowledges the remarkable feat, but does not
recognize it. He sends the new king and queen to live in the jungle,
alone, outside of the world of human beings, in the world of beasts that
the donkey belongs to. The palace in the jungle for the king-donkey to
live absolutely aloof from the society of human beings corresponds to
the deed being performed only during the night. The revelation of the
donkey’s miraculous strength shines only in the dark. Apparently, no
one in the kingdom knows about it. The new king-donkey is invested
with no royal power or status over the city’s population.
There is no denial of the fact either. The king is likely to own the
deed as it is clear that only a king can perform such feats, and there
should be no denying this. The king-donkey is ousted from the city of
humans and sent to live in a no-man’s land lest his demonstration of