Wole Soyinka, the first African literature Nobel Prize – winner, 1986, is a man whose fame does not resonate with the appreciation of his works. “They are abstract,” majority of the readers mourn. They are likened with the famous Mandelbrot Set – incredibly complex and stunningly beautiful geometric form (Z= Z2 + C) used in graphical operations, but its end products (images) are awesome. Roger Penrose, an Oxford Mathematics Professor wrote that the Mandelbrot Set is not a human mind invention: it was a discovery. Like Mount Everest , it is just there!
This year 2009, Soyinka was expected to grace a literally leap: a vast gathering of literally figures, never witnessed before in the Kenyan soil.The Storymoja Hay Festival for a key note address at the Impara Grounds on Ngong Road – from July 30 to August 2.He did show up.
As before, discussions on Soyinka's works keeps on come up, one of the question that keeps on dripping is: Are Soyinka’s works another Mandelbrot Set admired from the elegance the threads of language usage interwoven with mystical themes, but a far as Mount Everest to the common readers?
During this year's 12th National International Book Fair - budding authors seminar; Prof Henry Indangazi who was one of the facilitators put an emphasis on simplicity of language usage. He says that Soyinka was at his best when he wrote "The Lion and the Jewel," when I asked him on how some writers (Soyinka) are using complex language texture as their winning tool.
John Mwazemba an editor with McMillan Publishers concurred with me that the "Interpreter" is a hard nut to crack.
I do remember the last time Soyinka came visiting, under the auspicious of Ford Foundation and Kwani? Trust to conclude the Art and Cultural convention with a keynote address at Stanley Hotel. Writers and journalist, literature and language scholars and students, creative works enthusiastic and common literati paid honor to listen to him. As he entered the room several things were not matching to our expectations: his simple dress verses the prizes he has scoped, his age and the energy he exhibited. But concurrences were quite handy: his speech, intellectualism, and masterly of geopolitics agreed with his genius works.
From his speech, he challenged true art to be an answer to contemporary challenges facing the society; he compared literary creativity with scientific journey to discovery – like the discovery of the law of gravity by Isaac Newton. Several apples had been falling but none ever took an observatory eye to question this phenomenon till, Newton a rose in the 17th century.
After the acclaimed speech one of the audience rose to admit that he was able to grasp 40 per cent of the speech notwithstanding that he was an MA graduate in linguistic. Prof. Wanjara, a prominent literary critic paused a question that is a norm from his students – in regard to the texture of Soyinka his works. There was a blend of humor and paradox when some one raised a question on Soyinka his expected constituency of readers, “you can chose from the many in the market, “he simply responded.
To some students of his works they are a force of change. I do remember of a young lady, from Moi University who testified that Soyinka his works have salvaged some students from drug addiction. His poems are the adornment with which there rooms are decorated with. Eureka , aspiring writers who can not embrace the reality in: "A Shuttle in the Crypt" – Ever – Ready Bank Accounts, where: Ever – ready bank accounts/ Are ever red/ Cash may be on paper, all it reads/ Is – Bread Bread Bread! Among a thousand fingers/… Embrace mankind. Ever – ready bank accounts/ Are never read where/ Children slay the cockroach for a meal…, can find it so discouraging.
In his childhood memoir: Ake: the Years of Childhood - Soyinka has echoed his creativity and rare memory. He is a mind that can integrate childhood happenings and adventures to achieve literary seismic. He applauds his masterly of words to the family environment he grew up – "they were word – spinners in recounting there daily episodes," he said during an interview after honored with the Nobel - Prize.
Soyinka is a renowned activist of sorts, he has paid a high price of years imprisonment – always shaking of the chains with literary arrows in accomplished works of poetry, plays, and novel (The Interpreter, which, he admits to be an accidental novel from the misfortunes he was going through), but this seems to be a childhood steak: he forced his way to school, at a tender age – following his sister. He first entered the class of Mr. Lagberju who fostered what; he has come to term as “a smooth inter-flow of life and learning and enjoyment and strife, and debate.” He used to stay with Mr. Lagberju when he didn’t want to go home, yes; this friend cum teacher had several things in agreement with the young Soyinka his father a part from being colleagues in teaching profession. They used to debate with the young Wole’s father on issues affecting the community at the backdrop of being voracious readers.
Soyinka started chewing literature from the on set of being able to read from his father’s collections of Dickens, anthologies of poetry (Tennyson, Browning…). Indeed he started living his enigmatic but forthright philosophy: “A tiger does not shout its Negritude it acts.” Even as primary school scholar, where he audaciously pocketed awards from composition completion.
The confidence that is mutual with Soyinka in theater, writing, wrestling for justice and fair governance in rapping shoulders with Nigeria tyrannical regimes –and across the world was nurtured by Mr. Lagberju who believed and encouraged him. His writings are indeed concerned with “the oppressive boot and the irrelevance of the colour of the foot that wears it.” It is from this backdrop that the indoctrinated dictator of Spain Fraco barred him to step into the country during his reign.
Soyinka can pay tribute to have grown in a matrix of religion and cultures (when things were falling apart). Christianity which his “wild mother” was evangelizing the community amid the Yoruba myths and traditions, his father-“Essy” who had embraced western education in the context of African philosophies, the canon a long with secular literature: isms and axioms. Obviously the product of this will be numinous. And this is what Soyinka his works are. “He uses Yoruba symbols and images to communicate his world view – thus people accusing him of private symbols difficult to understand. One needs to fathom the Yoruba culture and philosophies, nevertheless, Soyinka his works calls for a keen reader,” says Arwings Otieno a literature lecture at the University of Eastern Africa, Baraton .
It sounds paradoxical that this literature giant, Soyinka, never decided to become a writer. Writing just grew and grew to the realization that, that is what he wanted to be than anything else. Wow, he is not a methodical writer, getting up in the morning putting a piece of paper in a typewriter and start writing. His works are a product of day end writing, not interrupted by anything else. He treasure times of gestate in same proportion as festive and draining moments of writing. His advice to aspiring writers is: “Allow one’s self to be overwhelmed by phenomena, by experience. In other words, the ability to submit one’s ego, one’s personal self awareness to the phenomena a round one.”
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