Wole
Soyinka was 26 years old in 1960 when the Federal Government
commissioned him to produce a play for our Independence celebration. His
play, “A dance of the forests”, was rejected because the “play was
unfit for celebration”. Had Nigeria accepted the play and its message,
Nigeria would certainly have been a better nation today.
In assessing the literary impact of
Soyinka, it should be noted that he’s (about) the only African writer
with prodigious productivity in all genres of literature (prose, poetry
and play) and yet more (music and cinema). Let’s start with drama.
Soyinka formed his drama troupe (1960 masks in 1960); this became Orisun
Theatre in 1963. This troupe, which collaborated with Hubert Ogunde,
Duro Ladipo, Kola Ogunmola and produced theatre greats like Jimmy
Solanke, Tunji Oyelana, Taiwo Ajai lycett, Olu and Joke Jacobs and Sam
Loco, could be said to be the origin, the bed rock of today’s Nollywood.
Many practitioners of theatre today, many scholars and writers of drama
are his boys!
Soyinka wrote A Dance of the Forest
(1960); Kongi’s Harvest (1965); Death and the King’s Horseman (1975); A
Play of Giants (1984); From Zia with Love (1992); Beautification of Area
Boy (1995) and King Baabu (2001) etc. It is to be mentioned that his
drama works cover almost all aspects of human existence. “Death and the
King Horseman” staged on the Broadway (1987) to world acclaim remains
one of the world’s best.
His poetry collections include Idanre
(1967); Poems from Prison (1969); Mandela’s Earth (1988); A shuttle in
the crypt (1972); Samark land and other markets…(2002) etc. It would
have been outrageous if Soyinka had been denied the Nobel Prize for
Literature with this unusual productivity. In any case, let’s consider
the official statement from Stockholm on the award: “In a wide cultural
perspective, and using strong poetic undertones, Soyinka fashions out
the drama of existence”. In other words, he was given the Nobel prize
because: (1) of his strong poems; (2) he operates from a wide world
view; (3) and his plays address the entire human existence!
His novels include the Interpreters
(1965); Season of Anomy (1973); Collection of Essays: the credo of being
and nothingness (1991); Open Sore of a Continent (1996) – where he
recounts Nigerian history (1960 – Abacha years). His major critical work
is the “Myth, Literature and the African World” (1976). In 1999 he
wrote “The Burden of Memory and the Muse of Forgiveness” (which deals
with crimes against humanity and the difficult issue of reconciliation.
Added to these are his collections of lectures: Climate of fear; the
quest for dignity in a dehumanised world (2005).
His three autobiographical works include,
Ake (1981); Isara (1989); and You must set forth at dawn (2006). He
produced a popular long playing music album in 1983 and has produced an
equally popular film on celluloid (1984) all to attack the inept
civilian regime of Shagari.
Soyinka’s works are far more than this,
but this summary will do. As a result of this unusual prodigious volume
of work, he has become a father figure in our literary world. When he
has not spoken on an issue, it is as if the ultimate authority has not
talked. The authority that his name carries is awesome. In him, the
relationship between literature and society, between ideas and man,
between the word and the world becomes so evident. No other African
writer has been able to bring to bear on man and society, the power and
influence of literature.
In his writings, in a single sentence, a
story is told, a page is often compressed into a single sentence (which
is why we crucify him for being “obscure” and “unreadable”). He has
written on almost all aspects of human social and emotional life. Though
his style and language could sometimes be hard, is there any secondary
school student in those days that did not understand the “Lion and the
Jewel” or the “Jero plays”? How difficult is “Ake”? Who will not marvel
at his “Death and the Kings Horseman”?
His poetry is something else; in a single
poem, five others can be distilled with different topics, which is why
the comparison between him and Chinua Achebe is trite and unnecessary.
Achebe is a great story teller, with clear simple prose: he has
addressed some of our human conditions, but how many books did he write?
Which of our moral, fundamental issues did he deal with? What were his
moral and human battles and victories? What are his legacies? What did
he leave us with? What will future generations thank him for? Beyond his
simple readable prose? It is definitely not true that “Achebe pioneered
and popularised modern African English literature”. This was done by
Amos Tutuola through Palm wine drunkard (1952).
Should Soyinka depart today, it would
appear as if the majestic authority of literature is dead. It would
almost mean the end of the indestructibility of the pen, the death of
reasoning and original thinking. Should he depart today, who will fight
for us? Who will bring faculty to bear on our national life? Who will
challenge us mentally and task us cerebrally?
His belief and optimism in Nigeria are
unshakeable. His confrontation with all forms of abuse of power is
legendary. His advocacy of the intellectual culture and his campaign for
a life of reasoning stand him out. He believes so much in the power of
ideas and the majestic influency of lite.
His essay, “When a Nation”, remains one
of the greatest political documents for Nigeria. He argued in that paper
that a nation is not a fixation, not a sovereignty that can’t be
negotiated, not a constant. He says nations go through redesign,
restructure until the people finally agree on the concept; but he
prefers Nigeria to still be one, even though we need to talk about the
mode of staying together; he argued also that what we need is healing,
not reconciliation. I recommend the poem he wrote for Achebe’s 70th
birthday, reproduced for his funeral to all Nigerians, to show case the
genius of the man.
Africa’s most persecuted writer (jailed
for three years, exiled twice, wrongly charged with treason, his house
burgled and destroyed), yet unlike Achebe, there is no bitterness in him
(anger sometimes, yes!). Neither does he exhibit any persecution
complex; he is far too elevated for that. Instead, he remains one of the
world’s most debonair, most travelled and urbane writers with great
exotic taste.
Whenever the nation is facing a
challenge, should we look hard, behind the challenge, we will see a grey
haired, grey bearded man, smiling at us, saying, “I have analysed this
challenge before, I have solved the problem, just go through my books”
No more will anybody in this land ask the question ‘what’s literature
got to do with it’”!
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