Wole Soyinka: Politics, Poetics, and Postcolonialism

358 Pages·2003·1.35 MB·English

by  Biodun Jeyifo

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WOLE SOYINKA
Politics,PoeticsandPostcolonialism
Biodun Jeyifo examines the connections between the innovative
and influential writings of Wole Soyinka and his radical politi-
calactivism.JeyifocarriesoutdetailedanalysesofSoyinka’smost
ambitious works, relating them to the controversies generated by
Soyinka’suseofliteratureandtheatreforradicalpoliticalpurposes.
He gives a fascinating account of the profound but paradoxical
affinitiesandmisgivingsSoyinkahasfeltaboutthesignificanceof
the avant-garde movements of the twentieth century. Jeyifo also
explores Soyinka’s works with regard to the impact on his artistic
sensibilitiesofthepervasivenessofrepresentationalambiguityand
linguistic exuberance in Yoruba culture. The analyses and evalu-
ations of this study are presented in the context of Soyinka’s sus-
tained engagement with the violence of collective experience in
post-independence,postcolonialAfricaandthedevelopingworld.
NoexistingstudyofSoyinka’sworksandcareerhasattemptedsuch
asystematicinvestigationoftheircomplexrelationshiptopolitics.
  isProfessorofEnglishatCornellUniversity.He
is the author of The Popular Travelling Theatre of Nigeria () and
The Truthful Lie: Essays in a Radical Sociology of African Drama ().
He has written essays and monographs on Anglophone African
andCaribbeanliteratures,Marxistculturaltheoryandcolonialand
postcolonialstudiesandhasalsoeditedseveralvolumesonAfrican
dramaandcriticaldiscourse.

     

Serieseditor:ProfessorAbiolaIrele,OhioStateUniversity
Eachvolumeinthisuniqueseriesofcriticalstudieswillofferacomprehensive
and in-depth account of the whole œuvre of one individual writer from Africa
ortheCaribbean,insuchawaythatthebookmaybeconsideredacomplete
coverageofthewriter’sexpressionuptothetimethestudyisundertaken.Atten-
tionwillbedevotedprimarilytotheworksthemselves–theirsignificantthemes,
governingideasandformalprocedures,biographicalandotherbackgroundin-
formationwillthusbeemployedsecondarily,toilluminatetheseaspectsofthe
writer’sworkwherenecessary.
The emergence in the twentieth century of black literature in the United
States,theCaribbean,andAfricaasadistinctcorpusofimaginativeworkrep-
resents one of the most notable developments in world literature in modern
times.Thisserieshasbeenestablishedtomeettheneedsofthisgrowingarea
ofstudy.Itishopedthatitwillnotonlycontributetoawiderunderstandingof
thehumanisticsignificanceofmodernliteraturefromAfricaandtheCaribbean
throughthescholarlypresentationoftheworkofthemajorwriters,butalsooffer
awiderframeworkfortheongoingdebatesabouttheproblemsofinterpretation
withinthedisciplinesconcerned.
Alreadypublished
ChinuaAchebe,byC.L.Innes
NadineGordimer,byDominicHead
EdouardGlissant,byJ.MichaelDash
V.S.Naipaul,byFawziaMustafa
Aim´eC´esaire,byGregsonDavis
J.M.Coetzee,byDominicHead
JeanRhys,byElaineSavory

WOLE SOYINKA
Politics, Poetics and Postcolonialism
BIODUN JEYIFO
CornellUniversity
  
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
Cambridge University Press
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Published in the United States by Cambridge University Press, New York
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© Cambridge University Press 2004
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without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published in print format 2003
ISBN-13 978-0-511-06751-8 eBook (EBL)
ISBN-10 0-511-06751-8 eBook (EBL)
ISBN-13 978-0-521-39486-4 hardback
ISBN-10 0-521-39486-4 hardback
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Formymother
MorounrantiAdukeJeyifous(neeOyebanji)
(Inmemoriam:“opemikoito”)
Formysons
OkunolaBamideleandOlalekanBabajide
Andfortheirmother
SheilaWalker
My task is to keep company with the fallen, and this word rose
inprideabovespikedbushes.Wemustallsticktogether.Onlythe
fallenhaveneedofrestitution.
TheRoad
Wordsaremadhorses
runninghardtocollect
recalcitrantdebtfrommyteeminghead
Iwillnottamethem.
JohnLaRose
Any culture contains essential and secondary elements, strengths
andweaknesses,virtues,defects,positiveandnegativeaspects,fac-
torsforprogressorforregression.
AmilcarCabral
Contradictionsareouronlyhope.
BertoltBrecht