Wole Soyinka

Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka criticises the racial attitudes of his society to ironically highlight the unjust treatment of black people. The poem features a telephone conversation between an African traveller looking for accommodation and a white landlady, whom, upon hearing that the traveller is black, refuses to lodge him a room. Soyinka constructs three key concepts which include the supposed superiority of the white population, the ignorance of white people and the format of a real telephone conversation. Racial prejudice should not be present in any society, and Soyinka writes Telephone Conversation to criticise this issue. In Telephone Conversation, Soyinka investigates the hypothetical white superiority through the use of…

Acknowledged as one of the foremost living playwrights of the world, Wole Soyinka is the first African Nobel laureate who was awarded the covetous Nobel Prize for literature in 1986. As a playwright, Wole Soyinka has basically operated within two categories – the tragic and the satiric.Although the dramatic form itself and the Western generic categories are Western import, Soyinka has injected fresh energies into every genre by the incorporation of traditional Yoruba elements. Soyinka’s dramas…

In Death and the King’s Horseman by Wole Soyinka, the characters perceive the idea of death differently, creating a conflict between two different cultures within the play. One sees self-immolation as an inhuman and barbaric act and the other one as a ritual that will bring balance to the world. Considering Soyinka’s play in light of Ted Hughes’ essay, “Myth and Education”, the ideology of death reflects as an “ancient story” (Hughes 41) that is meaningful to Elesin and the other Yoruba…

B.Ananda Rao M.A,M.Phil,(Ph.D) Asst.Prof, of English Sri Vasavi Engg College, Tadepalligudem. “A study of tradition and culture in the selected plays of Wole Soyinka and Girish karnad”. INTRODUCTION Wole Soyinka is the first African writer to win the Nobel…

Culture is a way of life shared by people in a society. Culture is exceptional, although it may have other things in common with other cultures. Culture is all about religion, food, dressings, language, and music, believes, greetings, behavior, and other things. According to Live Science, the United States is one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world. Nearly every region of the world has influenced American culture, as it’s a country of immigrants. Within its vast area, Nigeria…

At the current rate of globalization in the twenty first century, many countries, cities, and even villages are being culturally influenced by Western ideals. Many are willing to accept this change as the way of the future, however, others are choosing to preserve their individual culture or at least approach these new ideals with skepticism. Wole Soyinka’s Lion & The Jewel is a story that exquisitely portrays the conflicting desire to follow tradition or concede to cultural change from a more…

to see him thwarted… Leave it to me. He will never suspect you of deceit.”(Soyinka 32)Is Sidi just a naïve village girl with pride and a huge ego? Sidi is a determined being with faults. Sidi is a young beautiful lady. Sidi`s appearance is simple yet very attractive. She is a “slim girl with plaited her”(Soyinka 3) , with “velvet skin” (Soyinka 21). She does not put much effort in her looks but nevertheless she still looks pretty. Wole Soyinka describes her as “A true village belle”(Soyinka…

Comparative Essay “Telephone Conversation” by Wole Soyinka was written in 1962, set in London. Soyinka is a Nigerian playwright who was the first African that won the noble for literature in 1986. Few years later, “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou was written in 1978 set in the American Slums of Harlem. Angelou is an educator, and civil rights activist. Together both poems explore the themes of prejudice and racial discrimination. “Telephone Conversation” explores the idea of racial prejudice…

of the Forests was presented at celebrations of Nigerian independence. Its playwright Wole Soyinka was born into a traditionally Yoruba family, incorporating various cultural practices into the work. Thus, the play entails a multi-faceted incorporation of Yoruba cosmology and Nigeria’s contemporary sociopolitical status. Soyinka highlights aspects of Yoruba heritage by setting the action of the play in a forest that intricately weaves the existence of mortals, gods, demons, and spirits in a…

Another man that describes the European attitude is Wole Soyinka an African man. Soyinka was born towards the end of Imperialism in Nigeria by Great Britain. He describes the attitudes of Europeans toward Africans. Soyinka grew up under Imperialism with the influence of European cultures, such as; religion and education. Soyinka wanted to inform how Imperialism affected Africans. In an interview he states, “I listened to lots of conversations between my father and his intellectual circle, in the…