IamaNigerianGuy:


I would like to know how y ou came about that information.
'Ake' was not even mentioned in the 1986 Nobel prize citation.
It is the consensus that ' The Man Died' - written in prison, banned by the FG and later a battle manual for agitators and revolutionaries was direct the impetus for the prize.

Actually no work of his was mentioned in the citation and I should have included "widely believed". I was in such a hurry.

I doubt it was 'The Man Died'

It was believed that prior to 1986, the Nobel Prize was very Eurocentric. Considerations were made toward expanding the Prize and it fell towards the time when Soyinka's major autobiography was published. The citation seemed to make it seem like he was given based on the strength of his plays and poems but I have read journals that believed it was on the strength of Ake.

divicode:


The "mofo" is greater than anybody dead or alive in your biafrauud virtual republic

#GBAM# well said

northvietnam:


Talk is cheap boy...
All yee Descendants of Awolowo..
the poison Consumer 1 Of AfonJa Nation...
he who fights and Run Lives to fight Another..
but
He who drinks poison, Lolzzzzz.... ur guess is good as mine.
I feel like crying, cuz ur God Awolowo drank poison made in Aba...
Ezi offia... Otu Nne gi dia

eeyah, i understand ur bitterness...take pure water.

Thistrendblog:
Top 5 Books By Wole Soyinka: The Tale, The Story and a Must Read.

Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka is one of the most talented playwright and poet in Nigeria. Wole Soyinka books are read throughout the whole world. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986. He is the first African laureate. His poetic overtones and cultural perspectives of his drama helped him to be recognized in the whole world. He is from Yoruba tribe, Nigeria. In this article, we gathered Top 5 books of Wole Soyinka you must read!


Wole Soyinka Books
Wole Soyinka is arguably the most famous African author. He is the best known as a playwright. His legacy is not only in his literary career. He is also a scientist, poet, novelist, and actor. He worked in various theaters in the Great Britain and Nigeria. Wole Soyinka writes in English. Still, his works are rooted to his motherland – Nigeria. Yoruba culture is the most related to him.

He included Yoruba traditions, tales, legends and myths in his works. Alas, as any modern writer, he also influenced by the modern tendencies. He is considered as a proponent of Democracy in Nigeria.

He criticized non-democratic and even authoritarian tendencies of Nigeria leaders in his books.

Wole Soyinka introduced the culture of Nigeria to the whole world. We should all read these books one of our greatest compatriots. Here are the Top 5 Wole Soyinka books you should read!

1. The Lion and the Jewel
It`s one of the books by Prof Wole Soyinka that you should read. It was performed for the first time at the Ibadan Arts Theatre in 1959. The comedy is set in the remote village of Ilujinle. There are three main characters in the play.

The first character is Baroka. He is a village chief and a tyrant who only wants to have his own way. He detests Western ideas as he believes that they oppose his rule.

The second character is Lakunle. He is a naive schoolteacher that has come to the village. His heart is filled with hopes and dreams for the future. He blindly accepts Western ideas without a complete understanding of them.

The third character is Sidi. She is a gorgeous woman that has to choose whom to marry. Baroka and Lakunle are so different! They both have something to offer and they both want to marry the damsel.

Though the characters are exaggerated, they represent a clear confrontation between two entirely different ideas. Both of them are neither good nor evil. Both have their good and bad sides. In the center of this is a woman, who needs to choose who she should spend her life with. The adversarial relationships between the two antagonists create comedic situations in the play. This makes readers read the book till the end to find out who will conquer Sidi`s heart.

2. The Trials of Brother Jero
This book follows a simple day in the life of the self-proclaimed prophet Jero. He is a person who wants to show he's cunning and wise to all people but fails to do that. The Brother Jero is a clear satire to all false prophets created in today`s Nigeria. In the very first monologue, the false prophet reveals that he is chosen by God to lead. He also explains his vision of the prophet hood as a “trade”. If people want to be close to God, then they should trade for His love with the Brother Jero.

Other two main heroes of the play are Chume and Amope. Chume is a follower of Brother Jero. He is also a messenger from the government. Amope is his wife.

She wants to receive money from Brother Jero, which he owes her. She is also a very ill-tempered woman who continually drives her man crazy. The strange collision between three of them will lead to a very sad end.

This is one of Wole Soyinka books that heavily criticizes not only the religion but also gender stereotypes. The prophet in the book is a composite character of today`s religion situation in the country. It also shows how this kind of people may trick others. The false prophet of God may play a bad joke with followers and there is no government to stop him.

3. Madmen and Specialists
Books from Wole Soyinka describe not only problems of Nigerian society, but also the general principles of right and wrong. Madmen and Specialists is one of those books. It describes a confrontation between the forces of good and evil.

What is good according to Wole Soyinka?
Good is represented by kindness, humanism, creativity, and altruism. What is evil then? It`s a complete opposite. The sadistic, destructive, selfish and reductionist nature of evil which does not assure a good outcome.

In the book, you can find two supernatural characters. They are called the Earth Mothers – Iya Mate and Iya Agba. They create a certain order which rules in the universe. The antagonist of the book is Bero. He claims to destroy the natural order and create chaos. Bero represents the chaos of the book. He is a simple force of madness.

Wole Soyinka creates the Old Man, who opposes to Bero. The Old Man is filled with wisdom of Socrates. The Old Man destroys the ranks of Bero with only his mind. He provides the philosophy that can`t stand Bero`s ideas. As a good character in the book, the Old Man believes that Bero can also find a path to the salvation.

The book shows confrontation of good and evil, chaos and cosmos, order and disorder. Still, good always wins and evil can always find its path to the salvation.

4. The Strong Breed
It`s a story about Emen, a man who lives in a strange village and has to make the ultimate sacrifice to save it. It`s a tragedy where a person has to make a choice between life and the common benefits. The main protagonist shares common parallels with the story of Jesus Christ.

The set of the play has deep Yoruba culture. Wole Soyinka describes the Yoruba`s New Year ritual. During this festival, Yoruba sacrifice a carrier. Eman represents all victims of the so-called carrier.

Death plays a significant role in the play. It represents a crucial point of struggle between personal and public. Emon is brought to readers as a person; he is nota Holy being. Still, he is not the first victim of this cruel ritual. His father was also sacrificed for this common goal.

Wole Soyinka questions a repressive ideology which regulates this ritual. In this play, ideology plays a bridge between imaginary and real. The ideology and real world have its own relationship. People want to enter the imaginary world and they follow ideology to do that. What happens when ideology is wrong? If it lets individuals make sacrifices for nothing? Wole Soyinka tries to show you answers through the prism of Yoruba society.

5. The Beautification of Area Boy
That`s one of the recent books of Wole Soyinka. In this story, he portrays a life of the street urchins or “area boys”. The plot of the play is set in Lagos, Nigeria. The main personages of this play show how they face the everyday struggles and challenges.

Sanda is a university drop out. His wit helped made him a student but life forced him to dropout. He is a leader of a syndicate. Sanda works as a security guard in a shopping mall where he finds potential victims. Wole Soyinka portrays Sanda as the Nigerian version of Robin Hood. The character is a criminal but he is also a product of military oppressive rule.

The second character is Miseyi. She once studied at the same University as Sanda. Still, her quick judgment condemns any relationship between the two. Alas, when she starts to know him better – it becomes a new love story.

Another main character of the play is Judge. Through his deeds, we find Wole Soyinka`s philosophy of this play. Sometimes justice can be provided not through the laws but the merciful deeds.

Source: http://www.thistrend.com.ng/2017/05/top-5-books-by-wole-soyinka-tale-story.html?m=1

lalasticlala, Mynd44, Seun, Obinnau, Fynestboi, dominique, Obinoscopy

Who christianed them 'top five books'? It's just your opinion jor, how can you list top five without 'The Man Died' and some other good works by him? Just say "My Top Five Books" period.

AustineCJ:
I just love good works,Lion n the jewel is cool but Things fall apart is more cool.The Gods r not to blame is so special but Joys of Motherhood will always be in my heart.A lucky Chance was my first primary novel but I can't forget Chike n the river/Without a silver spoon.... Don't tell me you haven't read Our Husband Have Gone Mad Again.

Those are two different genres of literature. Soyinka writes PLAYS for stage performance. PLAY is different from PROSE. prose is story telling. Chinua Achebe writes and "tell" stories (although in a captivating way) . The writing styles is totally different.

FreshShavedBalls:
Hmmm, just realising that i have not even read any of Wole's top 5 books

It can't be as bad as me. I studied English in school and still never read his books

northvietnam:



Talk is cheap boy...

All yee Descendants of Awolowo..

the poison Consumer 1 Of AfonJa Nation...

he who fights and Run Lives to fight Another..

but

He who drinks poison, Lolzzzzz.... ur guess is good as mine.

I feel like crying, cuz ur God Awolowo drank poison made in Aba...

Ezi offia... Otu Nne gi dia

Is that not better than a bloody coward who abandoned some idioots at the war front and bolted away with his family? Is is not better than going to look for a vagabond like Fayose to lead you to war
I pity fllatties like you! Wasted generation

author=LordOfNaira post=56665638]

Actually no work of his was mentioned in the citation and I should have included "widely believed". I was in such a hurry.

You are right. But in the presentation speech at the Award ceremony, the awarding fellows specifically mention the works that informed their decision to select WS.
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1986/presentation-speech.html

I doubt it was 'The Man Died'

Wole Soyinka's greatest 'career move' was getting imprisoned. The Man Died - penned in part in prison and published in 1971, solidified his reputation and is his most lasting work. Absent these two events, WS in my considered opinion would not enjoy the stature he has today.

It was believed that prior to 1986, the Nobel Prize was very Eurocentric. Considerations were made toward expanding the Prize and it fell towards the time when Soyinka's major autobiography was published. The citation seemed to make it seem like he was given based on the strength of his plays and poems but I have read journals that believed it was on the strength of Ake

Ake is an enjoyable read but inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. It is possible to remove Ake from the corpus of Soyinka's work and still leave his monumental legacy intact.
Furthermore, it was written in 1981 - just 5 years before the award of the prize. Nobels are not given so close to individual publications no matter how good, and as I have opined the book is not stellar. The only exception to this unwritten rule I am aware of, is Hemingway's prize in which his recently published novella 'The Old Man And The Sea' was mentioned in the award. It could not escape critical acclaim as it is perhaps his greatest book (and he surprised the literary world with its publication), but the committee would have awarded him a prize sooner or later anyway on the strength of his previous works. Same with Soyinka.

IamaNigerianGuy:
author=LordOfNaira post=56665638]



You are right. But in the presentation speech at the Award ceremony, the awarding fellows specifically mention the works that informed their decision to select WS.
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1986/presentation-speech.html


Wole Soyinka's greatest 'career move' was getting imprisoned. The Man Died - penned in part in prison and published in 1971, solidified his reputation and is his most lasting work. Absent these two events, WS in my considered opinion would not enjoy the stature he has today.



Ake is an enjoyable read but inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. It is possible to remove Ake from the corpus of Soyinka's work and still leave his monumental legacy intact.
Furthermore, it was written in 1981 - just 5 years before the award of the prize. Nobels are not given so close to individual publications no matter how good, and as I have opined the book is not stellar. The only exception to this unwritten rule I am aware of, is Hemingway's prize in which his recently published novella 'The Old Man And The Sea' was mentioned in the award. It could not escape critical acclaim as it is perhaps his greatest book (and he surprised the literary world with its publication), but the committee would have awarded him a prize sooner or later anyway on the strength of his previous works. Same with Soyinka.

You are perfectly right. I have read the whole citation. Thank you for the educative piece!!!

No mention of A Play Of Giants?

That list is incomplete and inaccurate if "A Play of Giants" is conspicuously missing..."A Play of Giants" is arguably Wole's best book alongside "Lion and the Jewel"

raphieMontella:
the lion and the jewel is my favorite.
another writer I respect a lot is chinua Achebe.
no longer at ease etc.
who has read chinua Achebe's; The Trouble With Nigeria?

Have u read "Anthills of the Savannah"?

My best Achebe's book by a mile, alongside "Things Fall Apart"

Wole Soyinka and his unreadable books

raphieMontella:

greater than okonji iweala?
Pls think well and stop this tribalism bs

Comparing Okonjo Iweala to Wole Soyinka is an insult to Soyinka!!

I'm no Yoruba but as a literati and scholar, Soyinka is one of the most outstanding Nigerians EVER!!!

Give honour to whom honour is due.

IamaNigerianGuy:
author=LordOfNaira post=56665638]



You are right. But in the presentation speech at the Award ceremony, the awarding fellows specifically mention the works that informed their decision to select WS.
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1986/presentation-speech.html


Wole Soyinka's greatest 'career move' was getting imprisoned. The Man Died - penned in part in prison and published in 1971, solidified his reputation and is his most lasting work. Absent these two events, WS in my considered opinion would not enjoy the stature he has today.



Ake is an enjoyable read but inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. It is possible to remove Ake from the corpus of Soyinka's work and still leave his monumental legacy intact.
Furthermore, it was written in 1981 - just 5 years before the award of the prize. Nobels are not given so close to individual publications no matter how good, and as I have opined the book is not stellar. The only exception to this unwritten rule I am aware of, is Hemingway's prize in which his recently published novella 'The Old Man And The Sea' was mentioned in the award. It could not escape critical acclaim as it is perhaps his greatest book (and he surprised the literary world with its publication), but the committee would have awarded him a prize sooner or later anyway on the strength of his previous works. Same with Soyinka.

Soyinka's magnum opus, simply put, is DEATH AND THE KING'S HORSEMAN!!!

The Man Died is not regarded as canonical in Soyinka's literary artistry. I am speaking as a scholar of Literature.

IamaNigerianGuy:
The Man Died

Death And The Kings Horseman

The Jero Plays

The Lion And The Jewel

Ake : The years of childhood

Any list were 'The Man Died' is not present in first position is wrong my opinion. This has become WS's most important work.

Mind you, The Man Died is not really "literature" in its traditional sense but a memoir. WS was awarded the prize for his DRAMATURGY, not even his poetry, which he is also known for. The Man Died is not a play and neither is it wholly literary.

For those in the non-literary field (public readers), The Man Died may be of use as a historical document and masterpiece of Soyinka's PROSE!

fratermathy:


Mind you, The Man Died is not really "literature" in its traditional sense but a memoir. WS was awarded the prize for his DRAMATURGY, not even his poetry, which he is also known for. The Man Died is not a play and neither is it wholly literary.

For those in the non-literary field (public readers), The Man Died may be of use as a historical document and masterpiece of Soyinka's PROSE!

Heresy.

Literature is prose and poetry (and with the 2016 award to Bob Dylan perhaps music as well, but I digress).
Churchill was awarded the 1953 prize for historical non-fiction and autobiographical accounts of WWII. Where does that leave your theory ?

If you have read the book you will recognize it as a work of art.

Read my previous post with the link to the award speech. WS was awarded the prize for his drama, poetry and prose work.

IamaNigerianGuy:


Heresy.

Literature is prose and poetry (and with the 2016 award to Bob Dylan perhaps music as well, but I digress).
Churchill was awarded the 1953 prize for historical non-fiction and autobiographical accounts of WWII. Where does that leave your theory ?

If you have read the book you will recognize it as a work of art.

Read my previous post with the link to the award speech. WS was awarded the prize for his drama, poetry and prose work.

There is no heresy here. Autobiographies and non-fiction MAY be considered literature in exceptional circumstances, just like some forms of music maybe. However, literature is IMAGINATIVE! Anything that documents real happenings is no longer literature but history! The Man Died documents Soyinka's prison experience during the civil war and is thus not imaginative (like A Shuttle in the Crypt or Madmen and Specialists which are also products of the same war). A Man Died is a historical book that shouldn't have a place in literary studies but historiography!

In literary studies, we are concerned with PROSE FICTION, not just any prose. If so, then newspaper articles may also be considered literature and if all music can be considered poetry then Terry G may be called a poet!

And Wole Soyinka wasn't awarded for his prose or poetry but his drama. In his citation, he was said to have won the award for his fashioning of the "drama of existence"!

@IamaNigerianGuy

These are the exact words of the committee:

"who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence"!

I don't see the PROSE of existence there. Take your time to read the full award citation speech. He was cited for his drama, not prose! Generally, Soyinka is even known to write bad prose (The Interpreters as case study).

fratermathy:
@IamaNigerianGuy

These are the exact words of the committee:

"who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence"!

I don't see the PROSE of existence there. Take your time to read the full award citation speech. He was cited for his drama, not prose! Generally, Soyinka is even known to write bad prose (The Interpreters as case study).

Go over the entire presentation speech. This time with care.

IamaNigerianGuy:



Go over the entire presentation speech. This time with care.

Award Ceremony Speech
Presentation Speech by Professor Lars Gyllensten, of the Swedish Academy

Translation from the Swedish text

Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Wole Soyinka, born in Nigeria in 1934, writes in English and is chiefly recognized as a dramatist. His many-sided and vital literary works also include some important collections of poems and novels, an interesting autobiography and a large number of articles and essays. He has been, and is, very active as a man of the theatre and has staged his own plays in England and Nigeria. He has himself taken part as an actor and energetically joined in theatrical debates and theatre policies. During the civil war in Nigeria in the middle of the 1960s he was drawn into the struggle for liberty because of his opposition to violence and terror. He was imprisoned under brutal and illegal forms in 1967 and was released over two years later - an experience that drastically affected his outlook on life and literary work.

Soyinka has depicted his childhood in a little African village. His father was a teacher, his mother a social worker - both Christian. But in the preceding generation there were medicine men and others who believed firmly in spirits, magic, and rites of anything but a Christian kind. We encounter a world in which tree sprites, ghosts, sorcerer and primitive African traditions were living realities. We also come face to face with a more complicated world of myth, which has its roots far back in an African culture handed down by word of mouth. This account of childhood gives a background to Soyinka's literary works - a self-experienced, close connection with a rich and complex African heritage.

Soyinka made an early appearance as a dramatist. It was natural for him to seek this art form, which is closely linked with the African material and with African forms of linguistic and mime creation. His plays make frequent and skilful use of many elements belonging to stage art and which also have genuine roots in African culture-dance and rites, masques and pantomime, rhythm and music, declamation, theatre within the theatre etc. His first dramas are lighter and more playful than the later ones - pranks, ironical and satirical scenes, pictures of everyday life with telling and witty dialogue, often with a tragicomical or grotesque sense of life as keynote. Among these early plays can be mentioned A Dance of the Forests - a kind of African "Midsummer Night's Dream", with dryads, ghosts, spirits, and gods or demi-gods. It is about creativeness and sacrifice, with the god or hero Ogun as one of the performers. This Ogun is a Prometheus - like figure - the demigod of iron and artistic skill but also of war and battle, a double figure combining both creation and destruction in his being. Soyinka has often reverted to him.

Soyinka's dramas are deeply rooted in an African world and culture. But he is also a widely read, not to say learned writer and dramatist. He is familiar with western literature, from the Greek tragedies to Beckett and Brecht. Also outside the field of drama he is well versed in the great European literature. A writer like James Joyce, for instance, has left traces in his novels. Soyinka is an author who writes with great deliberation, and especially in his novels and poems he can be avant-gardistically sophisticated.

During the war years, his time in prison and afterwards, his writing takes on a more tragic character. The psychological, moral and social conflicts appear more and more complex and menacing. The book-keeping of good and evil, of destructive and constructive forces, becomes increasingly ambiguous. His dramas become equivocal - dramas which in the shape of allegory or satire take up moral, social, and political matters for mythical-dramatic creation. The dialogue is sharpened, the characters become more expressive, often exaggerated to the point of caricature, demanding denouement - the dramatic temperature is raised. The vitality is no less than in the first works - on the contrary: the satire, the humour, the elements of grotesquery and comedy, and the mythical fable-making come vividly to life. The way in which Soyinka makes use of the mythical material, the African, and the literary schooling, the European, is very independent. He says he uses the myths as "the aesthetic matrix" for his writing. It is thus not a question of a folkloristic reproduction, a kind of exoticism, but an independent and co-operative work. The myths, traditions, and rites are integrated as nourishment for his writing, not a masquerade costume. He has called his wide reading and literary awareness a "selective eclecticism" - i.e. purposeful and sovereign choice. Among the later dramas special mention can be made of Death and the King's Horseman - a genuinely, dramatically convincing work full of many ideas and meanings, of poetry, satire, surprise, cruelty, and lust. Superficially it is about a conflict between western morals and convention on the one hand, and African culture and tradition on the other. The theme moves around a ritual or cultic human sacrifice. The drama goes so deeply into human and superhuman conditions that it cannot be reduced to something that teaches us about breaches between different civilizations. Soyinka himself prefers to see it as a metaphysical and religious drama of fate. It is about the conditions of the human identity and realization, the mythical pact of life and death, and the possibilities of the unborn.

To Soyinka's non-dramatic works belong the autobiographically inspired accounts The Man Died, from his time in prison, and the novel The Interpreters, from intellectual circles in Nigeria. The novel Season of Anomy is an allegory with the Orpheus and Eurydice myth as framework, a somewhat complicated, symbolic-expressionistic story with a background in brutal social and political conditions of oppression and corruption. Outstanding among the poems are collections with motifs from his time in prison, some of them written during his imprisonment as a kind of mental exercise to help the author survive with dignity and fortitude. The imagery in these poems is compact and rather hard to penetrate, sometimes, however, with a laconic or ascetic concentration. It takes some time to get to know them intimately, but they can then yield a strange emanation that gives evidence of their background and role in a harsh, difficult period in the poet's life - moving testimony to courage and artistic strength.

As already mentioned, it is chiefly the dramas that stand out as Wole Soyinka's most significant achievement. They are of course made to be acted on the stage, with dance, music, masques, and mime as essential components. But his plays can also be read as important and fascinating literary works from a richly endowed writer's experience and imagination - and with roots in a composite culture with a wealth of living and artistically inspiring traditions.

Dear Mr. Soyinka, In your versatile writings you have been able to synthesize a very rich heritage from your own country, ancient myths and old traditions, with literary legacies and traditions of European culture. There is a third component, a most important component in what you have thus achieved - your own genuine and impressive creativity as an artist, a master of language, and your commitment as a dramatist and writer of poetry and prose to problems of general and deep significance for man, modern or ancient. It is my privilege to convey to you the warm congratulations of the Swedish Academy and to ask you to receive this year's Nobel Prize for Literature from the hand of His Majesty the King.

From Nobel Lectures, Literature 1981-1990, Editor-in-Charge Tore Frängsmyr, Editor Sture Allén, World Scientific Publishing Co., Singapore, 1993

@IamaNigerianGuy

Only a mention was made to Soyinka's The Man Died and it was clearly stated there that it is an autobiography. The emphasis was on his drama!

"it is chiefly the dramas that stand out as Wole Soyinka's most significant achievement. They are of course made to be acted on the stage, with dance, music, masques, and mime as essential components. But his plays can also be read as important and fascinating literary works from a richly endowed writer's experience and imagination - and with roots in a composite culture with a wealth of living and artistically inspiring traditions".

divicode:

Wasted generation

just like westerners

northvietnam:



just like me

I don comot!!

divicode:

I don comot!!

yeye

ImaIma1:


It can't be as bad as me. I studied English in school and still never read his books

Unforgivable.