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Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Politics / Chinua Achebe VS Wole Soyinka (4138 Views)
The Politics Of Literature : Chinua Achebe Vs. Wole Soyinka / Wole Soyinka: Obasanjo Knelt Down For Atiku In 2003 / Gumsu Abacha Slams Wole Soyinka: Your Hate For My Father Shall Kill You, Mad Cow (2) (3) (4)
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Chinua Achebe VS Wole Soyinka by Makavelli001: 5:11pm On Jun 09 |
I think the comparision of Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe is mischievous at best. There is no comparison really. I like to think that what makes someone a SPECTACULAR writer is their ability to tell stories that finds a home in your heart. I left secondary school MANY YEARS AGO, and I can tell you, that there are literatures I read back then, that I can still remember today... I can remember the dialogues... Incidents...Names... And even the pictures I created in my mind of what I think the writer was trying to portray. I only read Wole Soyinka because I needed to pass my literature exams. I remember how we had to debate The Lion and the jewel in our literature class... Soyinka portrayed Africa like a helpless continent that needed western civilization to survive. I have never opened any of his books since after secondary school. But I have read Things fall apart by Chinua Achebe more than 10 times. I have read The Concubine by Elechi Amadi more than 15 times. I mean, from start to end. I have replayed different scenarios and different endings in my head. I have thought about A Things Fall Apart where Ikemefuna did not die... A concubine where Ihuoma's children didn't hunt lizards on the very day Ekwume came visiting... These are memories that will remain with me forever because a writer dared intrude my subconscious and made a home there. . . . I will chose to read Efuru by Flora Nwapa over any of Woke Soyinka "finest works". There are at least 10 African writers who I'll read first before I pick any Wole Soyinkas books, like; Ngugi wa Thiongo Cyprian Ekwensi Mongo Beti Buchi Emecheta Aye Kwei Armah Etc. And No, my submission is NOT because of the politics of "ANYWHERE BELLE FACE' Wole Soyinka has subjected himself to, which has made him a nuisance/laughing stock right now, it's just how I have always felt about his works. I never connected to ANY of his books, I had to struggle to read, to relate, or even understand them and I have read over 200 books from African writers series alone. Many Nigerians will easily remember Ikemefuna and Okonkwo more than they can remember any character in Wole Soyinka's books, this is because of RELATABILITY, a writer speaking to the reader in a familiar language. Chinua Achebe is NIGERIA'S GREATEST LITERARY EXPORT to the world and there is a reason he is called THE GODFATHER OF AFRICAN LITERATURE... I mean, THINGS FALL APART alone has been translated into 57 Languages!!! It is not news that the reason why Achebe was snubbed for a Nobel Prize for literature was because he was too committed in his support of African culture and the oppressed, instead of using his platform to serve the interests of big powers in the west who were and are still our puppet masters. Like the late Nelson Mandela once said; paraphrased, Achebe is the writer in whose company the prison walls fell down. Achebe is THE GOAT. There is NO COMPARISON. Kapish? 36 Likes 7 Shares |
Re: Chinua Achebe VS Wole Soyinka by FourQu: 5:13pm On Jun 09 |
Shhhh 🤫 op off mic . . . off mic 🎤 These people you're looking for their trouble no dey waste time on 'common sense' 🙄 13 Likes |
Re: Chinua Achebe VS Wole Soyinka by mrvitalis(m): 5:14pm On Jun 09 |
The greatest book written by a black man is Things fall apart Nothing comes close 55 Likes 6 Shares |
Re: Chinua Achebe VS Wole Soyinka by BentizilL0: 5:22pm On Jun 09 |
Respect to Achebe but Soyinka is above his level... 💯 27 Likes 5 Shares |
Re: Chinua Achebe VS Wole Soyinka by Senioreddy: 5:28pm On Jun 09 |
Mehn guy you dey yarn wella. Ngugi wa Thiongo Cyprian Ekwensi Mongo Beti Buchi Emecheta Aye Kwei Armah These are the real scholars. Nigeria today is a replica of 'The beautiful ones are not yet born'. I also know that one day what happened to the political elites in that novel, will happen in Nigeria. 11 Likes 1 Share |
Re: Chinua Achebe VS Wole Soyinka by ObaOfBeninNahMu: 5:35pm On Jun 09 |
Who is comparing Wole Soyinka (free born) to one useless Godforaaken Osu born chinua achebe (of cursed memory)? 22 Likes 5 Shares |
Re: Chinua Achebe VS Wole Soyinka by Putinofrussia: 5:41pm On Jun 09 |
Makavelli001:If you are good,you are good. The truth is Achebe was a great man but he was lesser to the Nobel Laureate,Wole Soyinka. Achebe was a small baby compared to Professor Wole Soyinka,his father. 60 Likes 4 Shares |
Re: Chinua Achebe VS Wole Soyinka by BlowYourMind: 5:41pm On Jun 09 |
Chinua Achebe died miserable, full of confusion and anguish, he was attacking wole Soyinka and yorubas because he could reach the height WS got to, what a life, that is the same thing that happened to the bitter grieving obi, he too is on bitterness and anguish on rampage and his people with them, Achebe full of wrath and depression thought he deserved the prize Wole Soyinka got with his mediocrity and bitter grieving obi thought he deserved presidency by causing mayhem and chaos, no mediocre can go through the backdoor to get anything. God bless Wole Soyinka the nemesis of bitter grieving obi. 60 Likes 4 Shares
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Re: Chinua Achebe VS Wole Soyinka by kettykin: 5:45pm On Jun 09 |
Nelson Mandela held Chinua Achebe in high esteem, considering him a significant figure in literature and African culture. Mandela recognized Achebe's impact on African identity and storytelling, often praising his works, especially "Things Fall Apart," for their profound influence on the global perception of Africa and its people. Mandela once said about Achebe: There was a writer named Chinua Achebe, in whose company the prison walls fell down. This quote highlights the comfort and liberation Mandela found in Achebe's literature during his imprisonment. Achebe's storytelling provided not only a connection to African heritage and culture but also a sense of mental and spiritual freedom for Mandela during his years of incarceration. 19 Likes 6 Shares |
Re: Chinua Achebe VS Wole Soyinka by kettykin: 5:45pm On Jun 09 |
Nelson Mandela also held Wole Soyinka in high regard, recognizing his contributions to literature and activism. Soyinka, a Nigerian playwright and poet, was the first African laureate to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986. Mandela admired Soyinka's courage and commitment to justice, particularly in standing against oppressive regimes. In his foreword to Soyinka's memoir "You Must Set Forth at Dawn," Mandela wrote: Wole Soyinka is a brilliant dramatist, a gifted writer, and a courageous activist who has consistently spoken out against injustice in his homeland and beyond This praise underscores Mandela's recognition of Soyinka's literary genius and his unwavering stance on human rights and freedom, paralleling Mandela's own lifelong struggle against apartheid and oppression. 8 Likes 3 Shares |
Re: Chinua Achebe VS Wole Soyinka by duruZed: 5:47pm On Jun 09 |
Pls allow the dead to rest in peace. He came, he saw and he conqured. 4 Likes 1 Share |
Re: Chinua Achebe VS Wole Soyinka by ObaOfBeninNahMu: 5:47pm On Jun 09 |
![]() Putinofrussia: Some people will still argue this 1 Like 1 Share |
Re: Chinua Achebe VS Wole Soyinka by Putinofrussia: 5:47pm On Jun 09 |
Achebe was just a mere story teller. Soyinka is more of a genius. This is Soyinka's showcase: Plays Keffi's Birthday Treat (1954) The Invention (1957) The Swamp Dwellers (1958) A Quality of Violence (1959)[134] The Lion and the Jewel (1959) The Trials of Brother Jero (1960) A Dance of the Forests (1960) My Father's Burden (1960) The Strong Breed (1964) Before the Blackout (1964) Kongi's Harvest (1964) The Road (1965) Madmen and Specialists (1970) The Bacchae of Euripides (1973) Camwood on the Leaves (1973) Jero's Metamorphosis (1973) Death and the King's Horseman (1975) Opera Wonyosi (1977) Requiem for a Futurologist (1983) A Play of Giants (1984) Childe Internationale (1987)[135][136] From Zia with Love (1992) The Detainee (radio play) A Scourge of Hyacinths (radio play) The Beatification of the Area Boy (1996) Document of Identity (radio play, 1999) King Baabu (2001) Etiki Revu Wetin Alapata Apata (2011) "Thus Spake Orunmila" (in Sixty-Six Books (2011) Novels The Interpreters (1965) Season of Anomy (1973) Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth (Bookcraft, Nigeria; Bloomsbury, UK; Pantheon, US, 2021)[138][139] Harmattan Haze on an African Spring Short stories A Tale of Two (1958) Egbe's Sworn Enemy (1960) Madame Etienne's Establishment (1960) Memoirs The Man Died: Prison Notes (1972) Aké: The Years of Childhood (1981) Ibadan: The Penkelemes Years: a memoir 1945–1965 (1989) Ìsarà: A Voyage around Essay (1989) You Must Set Forth at Dawn (2006) Climate of Fear (Literature) (2005) Poetry collections Telephone Conversation (1963) (appeared in Modern Poetry in Africa) Idanre and other poems (1967) A Big Airplane Crashed into The Earth (original title Poems from Prison) (1969) A Shuttle in the Crypt (1971) Ogun Abibiman (1976) Mandela's Earth and other poems (1988) Early Poems (1997) Samarkand and Other Markets I Have Known (2002) Essays "Towards a True Theater" (1962) Culture in Transition (1963) Neo-Tarzanism: The Poetics of Pseudo-Transition A Voice That Would Not Be Silenced Art, Dialogue, and Outrage: Essays on Literature and Culture (1988) From Drama and the African World View (1976) Myth, Literature, and the African World (1976) The Blackman and the Veil (1990)[141] The Credo of Being and Nothingness (1991) The Burden of Memory – The Muse of Forgiveness (1999) A Climate of Fear (the BBC Reith Lectures 2004, audio and transcripts) New Imperialism (2009) Of Africa (2012)[143] Beyond Aesthetics: Use, Abuse, and Dissonance in African Art Traditions (2019) Films Kongi's Harvest Culture in Transition Blues for a Prodigal Translations The Forest of a Thousand Demons: A Hunter's Saga (1968; a translation of D. O. Fagunwa's Ògbójú Ọdẹ nínú Igbó Irúnmalẹ̀) In the Forest of Olodumare (2010; a translation of D. O. Fagunwa's Igbo Olodumare) .. 65 Likes 5 Shares |
Re: Chinua Achebe VS Wole Soyinka by ElSudani: 5:48pm On Jun 09 |
mrvitalis: Not good enough to secure a Nobel. Dr. D.O Fagunwa was a better story teller than Achebe, Achebe is not even close. 20 Likes 2 Shares |
Re: Chinua Achebe VS Wole Soyinka by Ogonimilitant(m): 5:50pm On Jun 09 |
Soyinka, a men that can not even control his family should not be taken seriously. 9 Likes 4 Shares
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Re: Chinua Achebe VS Wole Soyinka by kettykin: 5:50pm On Jun 09 |
Putinofrussia: How many of these sold upto 100,000 copies outside the shores of Nigeria. Most of these are short poems and drama and not novels . It is novels that rule the world of literature and not poems.nibhave friends and relatives that have written more poems than this. In this artificial intelligence age , I can surpass this poems and plays in 24 hours 12 Likes 7 Shares |
Re: Chinua Achebe VS Wole Soyinka by mrvitalis(m): 5:52pm On Jun 09 |
ElSudani:There has never been a time Noble price has been used to determine best in any field at all Stephen Hawkings is the best physicists in the last 100 years he never won it Some people win it by accidental discoveries 17 Likes 1 Share |
Re: Chinua Achebe VS Wole Soyinka by BlowYourMind: 5:52pm On Jun 09 |
Achebe is dead and rotten away, the perverted embittered clown and warmonger died miserable barking like a dog at Wole Soyinka the moon, he can never reach 51 Likes 2 Shares |
Re: Chinua Achebe VS Wole Soyinka by ElSudani: 5:55pm On Jun 09 |
mrvitalis: Same way commercial success is not a factor in determining a literary value. Otherwise, J.K Rowling will be rated far higher than most writers. 13 Likes 1 Share |
Re: Chinua Achebe VS Wole Soyinka by kettykin: 5:55pm On Jun 09 |
Chat GPT can surpass all of Soyinka's work in 24 hours . It is not about quantity but quality, how many of your books are selling outside ibadan Lagos market 8 Likes 3 Shares |
Re: Chinua Achebe VS Wole Soyinka by Ogonimilitant(m): 5:57pm On Jun 09 |
Putinofrussia:all these you mentioned are poetry that most of then are not upt two pages. ![]() 7 Likes 3 Shares |
Re: Chinua Achebe VS Wole Soyinka by mrvitalis(m): 6:01pm On Jun 09 |
ElSudani:Everyone who knows book known peer review and recommendations of your work in scholary projects is what determins your work and who's best In that class Achebe beats every African His work is used to teach African literature than any other African 9 Likes 4 Shares |
Re: Chinua Achebe VS Wole Soyinka by Putinofrussia: 6:09pm On Jun 09 |
kettykin:lol Talk is cheap. Chimamanda is still alive.Tell her to do close to these. If she didnt win a Nobel,then we will know there is something fishy. The truth is neither Chima nor Acheba has the strength. We are differently gifted. Only a genius like Prof Soyinka could do that. Secondly,,there are a lo of best sellers who didnt win Nobel because it is 'special' Took this from Quora... Why are books by Nobel literature Laureates not best sellers? For one thing, the Nobel is an international prize. In the last ten years' winners, only three are primarily writing in English. A lot of prizes are awarded for efforts in poetry and drama, which you wouldn't find on bookshelves in any case. Also, the prize was not always as elitist as it is today. Historical winners include Ernest Hemingway, Pearl S Buck and Rudyard Kipling, all big-selling authors in their day. How can I study abroad when I do not have the finances? Studying abroad can be difficult without the proper finances, but there are options available to international students to help them pursue their dreams. Many international students secure educational loans through private lenders like MPOWER Financing. Uniquely though, MPOWER also provides immigration, career development and financial empowerment support before, during and after graduation. Another unique aspect of MPOWER is that your loan application can be approved on the basis of your future earning potential, not your current wealth. You can get an MPOWER loan even if your family doesn’t have For the same reason that McDonalds doesn't have any Michelin stars. Product made for mass consumption requiring little consideration of it's value is not the same as great food or literature. Both have their place in the market but they cater for a different consumer. Are there writers whose popularity has kept them from ever earning a Nobel Prize in Literature? The short answer is, “No, don’t be silly.” To pick a few writers whose work sold well who won the Nobel, consider Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, Pearl S. Buck, and Sinclair Lewis. Recall what the award was set up to do. The award was supposed to go to an author from any country “who has produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction.” That is a bit vague, but there should be an emphasis on the words outstanding work and ideal. So the goals are that the work should be of superlative quality and that there is a tendency towards advancing ideals. From these goals, we can reasonably conclude that they want to choose writers who have produced great works of literature, and that the literature needs to say something about the ideals and goals of Man and society. The Nobel committee has made many dubious choices over the years, but they have never been deterred by good sales or popularity. They have sometimes chosen writers who were perhaps not quite of the first rank, but you could never argue that the choices were entirely frivolous. Debatable yes. Now, let’s look at this question from the other direction. Consider some popular novels. Do people who are serious lovers of literature want the author of Fifty Shades of Grey to receive a Nobel? No, oh god no. Is it because of the popularity of the books? No, it’s because the books are, quite frankly, a boatload of bat guano that panders to a taste for a certain type of salaciousness that is frankly tedious if you aren’t subject to such obsessions. Similarly, who would seriously advance the case for a Nobel for Dan Brown? Or Ken Follett? None of us begrudge others their appetite for the literary equivalent of a McDonald’s greaseburger, but don’t try to convince us that it is truite braisée aux champignons et au riesling. The defining qualities for the Nobel are high intentions, intelligent and brilliant execution, and seriousness about mankind and our ideals and situation. A lot of bestsellers don’t make the grade. It’s not because they are popular. It’s because you got them at McDonald’s. It’s not McPoisonous, because it’s made to a certain McStandard of hygiene, but it’s not wonderful. Don’t try to call it gourmet dining. Embrace the fundamental tackiness and enjoy it, but don’t demand elevation to the pantheon of honour in modern literature. These books were not written with serious literary intentions. They were written with a goal to entertain, often to entertain within the confines of some genre, and even when they are intelligently told, it is not the job of such writers to think below the surface of their material. 10 Likes |
Re: Chinua Achebe VS Wole Soyinka by Sccarrr: 6:29pm On Jun 09 |
Chukwudis and jealousy, if na dem mistakenly win that noble prize ehn, we for no hear word again 😹😹........Useless illiterates trying to demean the biggest and most prestigious award in the world cos no b dia ppl win am, if e easy make una run am na.. haters! One pained , illiterate, Bitter Obi ppl even said this... mrvitalis: That's like the most stupid statement ever in the history of the world 😹 18 Likes 2 Shares |
Re: Chinua Achebe VS Wole Soyinka by seunowa(f): 6:32pm On Jun 09 |
mrvitalis:Pls can you name two or three persons who have won nobel prize by accidental mistake.... ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() 18 Likes 1 Share |
Re: Chinua Achebe VS Wole Soyinka by mrvitalis(m): 6:32pm On Jun 09 |
seunowa:By accidental discovery I meant and yes there are many 3 Likes 2 Shares |
Re: Chinua Achebe VS Wole Soyinka by Paystack: 6:37pm On Jun 09 |
People don't even regard noble prize in literature and arts Those ones are useless Nobel prize just like the Noble peace prize. Like Sheldon cooper in Big Bang theory will say "Real Nobel prize are those in physics and sciences" Soyinka was gifted a noble prize because of memoirs from prison, I also respect him sha for bringing glory to Nigeria and black people in general 5 Likes 2 Shares |
Re: Chinua Achebe VS Wole Soyinka by EcoNews: 6:42pm On Jun 09 |
As Igbos will not allow Achebe rest, Yorubas no be HausaFulani see your see that foolish China Achebe we will drag his Igbo soul on footbal field like football. E no go beta for Chinua Achebe for the hell de. May he rest in pieces. duruZed: 8 Likes 1 Share |
Re: Chinua Achebe VS Wole Soyinka by Paystack: 6:44pm On Jun 09 |
EcoNews:🤪 Still greater than Awolowo and Soyinka combined 3 Likes 2 Shares |
Re: Chinua Achebe VS Wole Soyinka by seunowa(f): 6:49pm On Jun 09 |
Very gullible people It is just shameful comparing a mere story teller to an epitome and embodiment of all literature genre. 15 Likes 3 Shares |
Re: Chinua Achebe VS Wole Soyinka by Paystack: 6:53pm On Jun 09 |
seunowa:Wole Soyinka has no popular work. An average lover of literature doesn't know any of Soyinka's works . He just kept spamming people with 2 pages of books every month when he was actively smoking cannabis and sniffing cocaine. It was same period he founded cultism in Nigeria. In a civilized country he just have been sentenced long ago 7 Likes 2 Shares |
Re: Chinua Achebe VS Wole Soyinka by TimeManager(m): 6:54pm On Jun 09 |
Prof WS is all rounder- drama, poetry, prose, story telling, fiction/non fiction, name it. Achebe was only good at story telling. With due respect, i'd pick Ola Rotimi's body of work over Achebe's. -Kiss the truth! 17 Likes 2 Shares |
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