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This page intentionally left blank 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 AiméCésaire,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 The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge  , United Kingdom Published in the United States by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521394864 © Cambridge University Press 2004 This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place 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 Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of s for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. 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