Soyinka’s use of satire to forecast the evolution of civilizations: the power drive is the supreme evil

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Soyinka’s use of satire to forecast the evolution of civilizations: the power drive is the supreme evil

Journal Title: Rocznik Filozoficzno - Społeczny Civitas Hominibus - Year 2015, Vol 10, Issue

Abstract

"Wole Soyinka is a playwright and poet who in a wide cultural perspective and poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence” – this is how the Swedish Academy presents Soyinka, the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986. The academy here reaffirms the literary and social/ethical values of Soyinka’s works which were published before he was awarded the prize, but the comment could have been made with equal truth of his works published after the award, especially his play From Zia With Love (1992) which is a work of a “graffiti” virtuoso. It is Soyinka’s post-Nobel masterpiece, still in the tradition of Soyinka’s activist humanism, altruistic defence of human rights, and the preservation of the dignity of man in a humane world of “live and let live”. This play is deliberately overloaded with apparent dramatic tautology to further emphasize the author’s consistency and irrepressible spirit of commitment. In his primarily satirical theatre Wole Soyinka’s gaze is firmly fixed on contemporary social and political life, and what he sees, before all else, is the ruthless exercise and abuse of power. Power has, in fact, an obsessive fascination for Soyinka, and a double face. In its creative, spiritual form he is its celebrant, even as he recognizes that the force of its creative energy may take into destructive excess. But in its aspect as political or social control, the power drive is the supreme evil, which he sees as being everywhere and at all times deeply corrupting and destructive. What we intend to make clear in this paper is that Soyinka has a well-deserved reputation as the most consistently trenchant satirist among African writers. As a national (and even continental) moralist, he has throughout his career written plays which directly focus on current social and political evils and heap mockery on their perpetrators. Satire is, in fact, one of the ways by which Soyinka, as it were, pounces on the various issues with which he engages. The focus of this paper will be on his pre and post-Nobel plays. „Wole Soyinka jest dramaturgiem i poetą, którego twórczość ma wydźwięk dramatu istnienia" - w ten sposób szwedzka akademia prezentuje Soyinkę - zdobywcę Nagrody Nobla w dziedzinie literatury z 1986 roku. Akademia potwierdza literacką i społeczno- etyczną wartość prac Soyinki, które zostały opublikowane, zanim jeszcze został nagrodzony, ale komentarzem do nagrody mogłoby być także dzieła wydane już po zdobyciu nagrody, zwłaszcza Zia With Love (1992), który to utwór jest wirtuozerskim "graffiti". Soyinka dostał Nobla także za działanie w obronie praw człowieka. Teatr Soyinki jest mocno osadzony na współczesnym życiu społeczno-politycznym, a to, co widzi on w nim nade wszystko, to bezwzględne nadużycia władzy. Władza jest w rzeczywistości obsesyjną fascynacją Soyinki. W artykule zamierzam wykazać, że Soyinka zasłużył na reputację najbardziej kąśliwego satyrka wśród pisarzy afrykańskich. Jako narodowy moralista, koncentruje się na złu w życiu społeczno-politycznym szydzi z jego sprawców.

Authors and Affiliations

Rosa Branca Figueiredo

Keywords

Wole Soyinka power drive Nobel Prize for Literature satire / Wole Soyinka pęd ku władzy literacka Nagroda Nobla satyra

EP ID EP304050
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