A TA SANTE, WOLE SOYINKA!

Nobel Laureate notches 80

By O Bolaji

Wole Soyinka at 80.  It exhilarates the soul just thinking about the nonpareil writer and activist, Wole Soyinka, clocking 80 at the weekend. What a remarkable man!  

Happily enough the great man himself has essentially chronicled his own extraordinary life over the decades in a series of celebrated published literary autobiographies: in works like Ake, the years of childhood, Ibadan: the penkelemes years, The Man Died, Isara: a voyage around essay, You must set forth at dawn etc. The world knows Soyinka, Nigeria's first and only (literary) Nobel laureate is an incredibly versatile writer.

Our own W.S (William Shakespeare/Wole Soyinka) has straddled virtually every aspect of creative writing; first and foremost as a dramatist and playwright churning out dozens of polished plays. But he is also a novelist, poet, literary critic, essayist, translator, film-maker, among many other things.  

Soyinka has also always been a political activist and humanist "for me justice is the first condition of humanity" "the man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny". He has been the scourge of successive regimes who have held Nigeria to ransom. Soyinka even spent years in gaol to reinforce his commitment to pristine humanity.

In respect of literature, Soyinka is easily one of the greatest writers the world has ever seen. He is a one man literature industry. He has published dozens of world class works, and dozens of literary works have been published on him and his work. Some of the best literary critics in the world - including USA's acclaimed Harold Bloom - have zeroed in on his fecund works.

Countless critics would of course continue to comment on the brilliance and "difficulty" of his published works. A friend of mine, who studied English at one of Nigeria's premier universities told me: "To call Wole Soyinka a genius is to indulge in ludicrous understatement. For decades I read his novel, Season of anomy and still hardly understand it. Every page is a masterpiece of sorts, the evocative descriptions, diction, allusions et al. You read and re-read the pages and accept in your relative ignorance that you are confronted with an eclectic skilled, literary master..."

Indeed, Soyinka's creative works resonate on the reader for years on end (for ever?) He adumbrates his ideas in unforgettable fashion even in microcosmic passages. Consider this for example (from Season of anomy) - relating to the catalytic role of women in revolutions:      

"We must acknowledge the fact - pimps, whores - are the familiar vanguard of the army of change. When the moment arrives a woman like Iriyise becomes for the people a Chantal, a Deborah, touch and standard-bearer, super mistress of universal insurgence. To abandon such a potential weapon in any struggle is to admit to a lack of foresight. Or imagination"

For me I have always felt that the humour and irony integral in Soyinka's work is perhaps not appreciated enough. Examples in this wise are legion; "When you try to sneer, Lasunwon you look singularly ugly" (The Interpreters) "I know the brother (a religious prophet) and this admission is enough for anyone with a sense of shame" (Jero's Metamorphosis).

Or from many passages in You must set forth at dawn; where the likes of Olusegun Obasanjo, Ibrahim Babangida, the late Arisekola Alao etc are described in candid, yet humorous manner. From the sublime to the ridiculous also in the same work, with the "transfiguration" of a bottle of beer as Soyinka flees the borders!

As befits such an outstanding, world-class writer, Soyinka has his critics, and those who laud him to the highest heavens! Unashamedly I admit I belong to the latter category; yet I feel his "critics" have every right to ventilate their reservations also. As a lofty literary critic himself, Soyinka knows ‘literary criticism’ is part of the game, to put it crudely and in elementary fashion.      

Indeed as we all wish Soyinka a wonderful 80th birthday I again recollect a colleague of mine abroad who swore at some of Soyinka's critics and said to me: "How can anybody have the temerity to criticise such a great great man, a man whose literary achievements are such that other peers can only dream of emulating the same; a man who is arguably the greatest-ever living Nigerian?" Happy Birthday, Sir!!!

Selected bibliography

The Swamp Dwellers (1958)

The Lion and the Jewel (1959)

The Trials of Brother Jero

A Dance of the Forests (1960)

The Strong Breed (1964)

Kongi's Harvest (1964)

The Road (1965)

Madmen and Specialists (1970)

The Bacchae of Euripides (1973)

Death and the King's Horseman (1975)

Opera Wonyosi (1977)

Requiem for a Futurologist (1983)

A Play of Giants (1984)

The Beatification of Area Boy (1996)

King Baabu (2001)

The Interpreters (novel)

Season of Anomy (1972)

The Man Died: Prison Notes (1971)

Aké: The Years of Childhood (1981)

Ibadan: The Penkelemes Years: a memoir 1946-65 (1989)

Isara: A Voyage around Essay (1990)

You Must Set Forth at Dawn (2006)

Idanre and other poems (1967)

A Shuttle in the Crypt (1971)

Myth, Literature and the African World (1976)

Mandela's Earth and other poems (1988)

Art, Dialogue, and Outrage: Essays on Literature and Culture (1988)

The Credo of Being and Nothingness (1991)

The Burden of Memory – The Muse of Forgiveness (1999)

TABAN LO LIYONG.

    

           

 "A story does not have to have many characters in it...As we feel that what (the protagonist) ate for breakfast that morning has no relevance whatsoever on the visit, nor the colour of the sky while he passed through the countryside, nor how sharp his nose is. Nor how blue his eyes - since we feel that these extraneous things other writers use for fleshing up scanty stories are not constitutional ingredients of the story, we shall cut them out - for the readers' benefit. We understand our readers are busy people, rushing from one phase of life to another"

- Taban lo Liyong in 'He and Him'

THE INDELIBLE LEGACY OF LORRAINE HANSBERRY

By Ishmael Mzwandile Soqaga

Apparently swathes of blacks worldwide are now content with the euphoria of liberty that they peacefully enjoy.  It is really important to understand how that liberty was achieved.  Absolutely, the world has changed now.  What used to be oppression on black people is the pinnacle of freedom and human rights which they enjoy with great ecstasy.  

Not long ago the world witnessed the iconic phenomenal  American black African writer in 1993, Angelou recited her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton, becoming the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at President John F. Kennedy's inauguration in 1961.  Moreover, after so many years of bitter tussle of racial segregation in USA, today there is black president (Barack Obama).

Significantly, it took so many decades for black people to be completely recognized as full human beings by the previous white oppressive administration.  The commencing of Atlantic slave trade cultivated the different type of new man in black situation.  Slavery was subsequently resisted and rejected whole by African slave themselves, from intellectual Fredrick Douglas, Booker T Washington etc.

In fact, it must be taken into cognizance that Africans both in Africa and in Diaspora resisted oppression with intellect and diligent.   This is not a hush-hush or a myth, but is the tangible evidence that blacks themselves should feel proud.

For instance, Lorraine Hansberry played a very impressive and pivotal role for the liberty of black people all over the world.  Firstly, she was born in Chicago (USA).  The vigor and the enthusiasm that she had against racial oppression were very dramatic.  Factually, she was one of the charismatic people that man can rely on for inspiration, she epitomised the symbol of liberty and intellectual resistance.  Her immense effort in expressing antipathy towards discombobulating racial oppression was essentially outstanding.

Importantly, she is the first black female in the USA to write a major play.  Her first known work, the play “A Raisin in the Sun” highlighted the lives of Black Americans living under racial segregation.  After she moved to New York City, Hansberry worked at the Pan-Africanist newspaper “Freedom” and she dealt with intellectuals such as Paul Robeson and W.E.B.  Du Bois.  Much of her work during this time concerned the African struggle for liberation and their impact on the world.

Hansberry was a remarkable young woman who invested all her entire energy for the freedom of the black people.  Her vision of black freedom was not narrowly concentrated on black American only but was globally oriented

It is not far-fetched to suggest that Lorraine Hansberry's literary achievements must have influenced many excellent African writers over the decades; including early great African writers who visited or studied in America. I have in mind African writers like Ama Ata Aidoo, Ayi Kwei Armah (both from Ghana), Zulu Sofola, Obi Egbuna, Ola Rotimi (Nigerians), Richard Rive, Mongane Wally Serote, Sindiwe Magona (South Africans). Or even Zimbabwe's Tsitsi Dangarembga, who as a young woman also wrote plays.

On many occasions Hansberry was passionate about Africa.  She wrote in support of the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya, criticizing the mainstream media for its biased coverage.  She was particularly interested in the situation of Egypt, “the traditional Islamic ‘cradle of civilization,’ where women had led one of the most important fights anywhere for the equality of their sex.”

Incredibly, as young as she was, she successfully spawned extraordinary literary works that are tremendously gripping.  The thrilling enthusiasm of her effort is sacrosanct.  This is the type of the character the world needs to emulate.  Although, she died young at the age of 34 in 1965 she had witness the dream of Free Africa when Ghana become independent in the late 50s.  In response to the independence of Ghana, led by Kwame Nkrumah, Hansberry wrote:  “The promise of the future of Ghana is that of all the colored people of the world; it is the promise of freedom.”

It is fundamentally important to remember Hansberry as an inspiration for the survival to the black people.  Invariably I am completely convinced that Africans have to celebrate the achievements of Black literature at home and abroad.  Black Africans have Nobel prize winners in literature in Africa (Wole Soyinka) and abroad (Toni Morrison).  It is further necessary to acknowledge how black literature keeps on proliferating.  Credit must significantly be given to the sublime Lorraine Hansberry, not because of her remarkable political activism but albeit also as a superlative, prodigious and transcendent iconic writer.  

CAMARA LAYE (1928 - 1980)

   

Camara Laye from Guinea was one of the early outstanding creative writers in Africa. He is best known for his two superb novels, The African child, and The radiance of the king.  

Remarkably these two superb works were published even before Chinua Achebe's first great novel, Things fall apart. But because Laye was writing in French it took the emergence of English translations of his work for the literary world at large to appreciate his genius.  

The African child revisited Laye's childhood in a stunning, charming manner that critics found lyrical and attractive. His second work, The radiance of the king was considered by some experts to be the best novel ever published by an African.      

"In 1954 when The Radiance of the king was first published (in French) Laye had been living in France for ten years, well aware of the various achievements of the modern European novel".    

Wole Soyinka would inter alia comment on The Radiance: "Despite the mystical effusions at the end (of the novel) the aesthetics of the novel are secular".

Indeed: "It is a remarkably modern achievement (for Laye) to have won critical praise in Paris and respect from the Malinke griots of Guinea"

Still as regards The Radiance of the king with its excellent descriptions and other esoteric aspects: "In a dream Clarence (the protagonist of the novel) is frightened by 'fish women'; somewhere between sirens and manatees...the king is God in Africa rather than an African God".

Camara Laye would later publish two other works: A dream of Africa; and The Guardian of the word. He died in1980 after protracted problems with his health.

- R Mokoena