Of Africa - Hardcover

Wole Soyinka

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300140460 ISBN 13: 9780300140460

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2013

Synopsis

A member of the unique generation of African writers and intellectuals who came of age in the last days of colonialism, Wole Soyinka has witnessed the promise of independence and lived through postcolonial failure. He deeply comprehends the pressing problems of Africa, and, an irrepressible essayist and a staunch critic of the oppressive boot, he unhesitatingly speaks out. In this magnificent new work, Soyinka offers a wide ranging inquiry into Africa's culture, religion, history, imagination, and identity. He seeks to understand how the continent's history is entwined with the histories of others, while exploring Africa's truest assets: 'its humanity, the quality and valuation of its own existence, and modes of managing its environment both physical and intangible (which includes the spiritual)'. Fully grasping the extent of Africa's most challenging issues, Soyinka nevertheless refuses defeatism. With eloquence he analyzes problems ranging from the meaning of the past to the threat of theocracy. He asks hard questions about racial attitudes, inter ethnic and religious violence, the viability of nations whose boundaries were laid out by outsiders, African identity on the continent and among displaced Africans, and more. Soyinka's exploration of Africa relocates the continent in the reader's imagination and maps a course toward an African future of peace and affirmation.

About this title

Review:

'Among the Africans who deserve some kind of secular sainthood is Wole Soyinka ... Vast injustices remain, but the continent is lucky to have fearless men and women of conscience, like Soyinka, who are so acutely aware of them.' Adam Hochschild, New York Times Book Review --New York Times Book Review

''Of Africa' is an intellectually robust, book-length essay that attempts to unravel the paradoxes and contradictions plaguing Nigeria and, by extension, Africa ... Soyinka s motivation for writing Of Africa was his search for an African humanism that could counter the deadly consequences of religious fanaticism. He urges Africans to remember their continent s traditions and recognize that tolerance is at the center of African spirituality.' George Ayittey, Wall Street Journal --Wall Street journal

About the Author:

Wole Soyinka, the first African to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, is a Nigerian writer, poet, and playwright. He is the author of more than twenty plays and ten volumes of poetry. For his implacable resistance to political tyranny he has been imprisoned, threatened with assassination, and at times forced to live in exile.

About this edition

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0300140460
• ISBN 13: 9780300140460
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224