CMMU 136
April 15, 2008
Wole Soyinka, Political Prisoner, Nobel Laureate, Dramatist
“Wole Soyinka was born on 13 July 1934 at Abeokuta, near Ibadan in western Nigeria. After preparatory university studies in 1954 at Government College in Ibadan, he continued at the University of Leeds, where, later, in 1973, he took his doctorate. During the six years spent in England, he was a dramaturgist at the Royal Court Theatre in London 1958-1959. In 1960, he was awarded a Rockefeller bursary and returned to Nigeria to study African drama. At the same time, he taught drama and literature at various universities in Ibadan, Lagos, and Ife, where, since 1975, he has been professor of comparative literature. In 1960, he founded the theatre group, "The 1960 Masks" and in 1964, the "Orisun Theatre Company", in which he has produced his own plays and taken part as actor. He has periodically been visiting professor at the universities of Cambridge, Sheffield, and Yale.
During the civil war in Nigeria, Soyinka appealed in an article for cease-fire. For this he was arrested in 1967, accused of conspiring with the Biafra rebels, and was held as a political prisoner for 22 months untill 1969. Soyinka has published about 20 works: drama, novels and poetry. He writes in English and his literary language is marked by great scope and richness of words.
As dramatist, Soyinka has been influenced by, among others, the Irish writer, J.M. Synge, but links up with the traditional popular African theatre with its combination of dance, music, and action. He bases his writing on the mythology of his own tribe-the Yoruba-with Ogun, the god of iron and war, at the centre. He wrote his first plays during his time in London, The Swamp Dwellers and The Lion and the Jewel (a light comedy), which were performed at Ibadan in 1958 and 1959 and were published in 1963. Later, satirical comedies are The Trial of Brother Jero (performed in 1960, publ. 1963) with its sequel, Jero's Metamorphosis (performed 1974, publ. 1973), A Dance of the Forests (performed 1960, publ.1963), Kongi's Harvest (performed 1965, publ. 1967) and Madmen and Specialists (performed 1970, publ. 1971). Among Soyinka's serious philosophic plays are (apart from "The Swamp Dwellers") The Strong Breed (performed 1966, publ. 1963), The Road ( 1965) and Death and the King's Horseman (performed 1976, publ. 1975). In The Bacchae of Euripides (1973), he has rewritten the Bacchae for the African stage and in Opera Wonyosi (performed 1977, publ. 1981), bases himself on John Gay's Beggar's Opera and Brecht's The Threepenny Opera. Soyinka's latest dramatic works are A Play of Giants (1984) and Requiem for a Futurologist (1985).”
From: Les Prix Nobel. The Nobel Prizes 1986, Editor Wilhelm Odelberg, [Nobel Foundation], Stockholm, 1987 http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1986/soyinka-bio.html
CMMU 136 LIBERATION AND LITERATURE READING QUESTIONS
Wole Soyinka
Compare and contrast the social philosophy held by the teacher with that of the “traditional” village. How do his ideas on women’s rights, labor, technology (modernity if you will) compare with the other major protagonists—especially the female protagonists!
Overall, how does “modernity” impact the relationships between the members of the village?
How does Soyinka use comedy to communicate serious social issues? (Might compare with Ousmane Sembene here).
Soyinka shows us characters who are ordinarily seen by westerners as “backwards.”
INSTEAD, Soyinka shows these so-called “backwards” characters dealing with the most profound questions of the human condition and doing this with extraordinary intellectual facility.
ON THE OTHER HAND, the individuals who are normally seen as heroes in contemporary literature, are treated like buffoons. The notion of the individual, model minority is scoffed at. What on earth is the school teacher’s problem?
How much more bumbling can the intrepid, explorers be in the play? Instead of “discovering” the village they stumble upon it. It is the village which knows what it is about. While the outsiders are merely sharpening their claws in anticipation of making a profit out of the village.
But where does Sidi stand in all of this? How does she define her identity in a rapidly changing world? How does she decide how much of this new world she will participate in? No one from the Peace Corps will tell her how to do this. Nor will the school teacher and his ridiculous, European ideals of modernity and women’s liberation.
Think of Sidi vs. the School teacher
George Lamming
According to Lamming, what are some of the unique characteristics of the novel in the Caribbean?
What does Lamming mean by his assertion that the village, not the individual, is the major protagonist of the Caribbean novel?
What political implications does this have?
Does Salt, a novel set in Trinidad, seem to fit Lamming’s interpretive framework?
How does Earl Lovelace treat the passage of time in his novel, Salt?
What questions regarding liberation and freedom does Lovelace pose with his characters and their relationships towards each other?
Homecoming, ownership, capitalism/colonialism, slavery, belonging, gender, sports, religion. Discuss how these are all important elements of Salt.
Why does Lovelace opens this novel with a story set in slavery times?
In Soyinka and Lovelace
Pick two major protagonists from each story and draw up a character sketch. What are this character’s aspirations or dreams? How would he or she define liberation and freedom? How rooted is each in his or her community?
Communalism vs. Competition in the stories: comment
Oppression, Solidarity, and Community Tensions: comment