Between Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe :The Man Died VS There Was a Country

Over the last week, debates on social media spaces have ensued over who makes for more enjoyable reading between the colossal, juggernauts of African Literature, Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe – please forgive my praise-singing – it is our African tradition to sing praises of people we like.

These two writers, the fathers of African Literature, are the most brilliant. To attempt an objective criticism of their styles, however, I thought to use one of their similar works – a personal account of Nigeria’s military dictatorship and the civil war. The Man Died by Wole Soyinka, 1985 and Chinua Achebe’s There Was A Country, 2012.

It interests me that Wole Soyinka fought for the people of Biafra – not Biafra per se, as much as Chinua Achebe. So, those who have turned the debate between Achebe and Soyinka to ‘ethnic battleliness’ – borrowing from Wole Soyinka's expression, are disappointing. In fact, in The Man Died, Wole Soyinka would have lost his life to the military dictators for gathering support for the people of Biafra.

Background

Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe had some education at the University of Ibadan. Both are very proud of their heritage – maybe Chinua Achebe a little more than Wole Soyinka, because Achebe’s writings are heavily punctuated with Igbo Language and philosophy.

They also commendably, used their writings to promote freedom of expression and to fight against atrocities committed by the Nigerian military and paramilitary agents. But there is more evidence in Wole Soyinka’s work of commitment to oneness in Nigeria, Chinua Achebe was largely Biafra.

Approach ???

Wole Soyinka’s style is highly journalistic. He does not dwell on juicy details. Reading Wole Soyinka’s preface in The Man Died is like reading a New York Times Feature or a Newspaper report. He goes straight to the point, Chinua Achebe is, however, fatherly in his approach. He is conscious of who he is and who he is writing for. He uses a lot of Igbo proverbs and approaches his story from simple to simpler – in a deliberate attempt to help his readers understand. If I was recommending, I would say you take Wole Soyinka in the morning when you are bright and let Chinua Achebe lull you to bed. The subject matter for both writers is, however, serious.

Philosophy

Wole Soyinka may be a typical Egba man at heart. I met one, who said he would rather be killed at gunpoint than humiliated by kidnappers on the Lagos -Ibadan highway. Wole Soyinka is not an emotive writer – he might be provocative. As I perceived, his unwillingness to sit with his emotions or accept them denies him of some observation power that Chinua Achebe shows. Chinua Achebe, observed a woman caring for her dying son in There Was a Country, and came up with a poem that can turn a monster into a human – such observation power comes only to writers who are willing to be vulnerable. While Wole Soyinka would tell you how his framing and arresting were separate affairs and how he was in control all the time before he nearly lost control but did not lose it, Chinua Achebe would accept defeat, when he tells you how his Things Fall Apart, gave his brother a terrible headache after he had read it, and how he did not think the book will be a success.

A lack of vulnerability in writing – especially in personal accounts, leads to dishonesty or incomplete information or total disconnect for the reader . For example, Wole Soyinka refuses to mention the name of a particular Military Governor of the West, who tortured a journalist, Segun Sowemimo, until he lost his leg and eventually died after a failed treatment abroad. Achebe would have dwelt on the details of that story to provide some powerful reflections that will impart the reader for life. ?

Choice of Words

You already know where this is going, I am close to a PhD, however, I feel the urge to look for some of the meanings of the words used in Wole Soyinka’s The Man Died – cul de sac, catechumenical pronouncement, double prefixed and suffixed words, and very deep deep metaphors. Nevertheless, I must say that the choice of words in The Man Died, does not hinder the flow of reading – unlike some of other Wole Soyinka’s books, The Man Died is easy to read.

On the other hand, I believe that a market woman who completed Primary School can pick and make sense of most of Achebe’s writings. The choice of words in There Was a Country is easy to understand.

Ideologies

Wole Soyinka in The Man Died is elitist. His writings are not for the Nigerian masses but for the Nigerian elites, who he has access to and believes had the power to change Nigeria – with the support of the press. He shamefully admits at some point during his preventative detention – not imprisonment, that his writing was now for his people to whom he belonged – and not to the elite, who he regarded as the broad stratum of privileged slaves.

My interpretation is that Wole Soyinka recognizes with people in power and not the masses – especially when he enjoys power privilege or access – which informs his language. When he gets into trouble with power, he shamefully recognizes his people. Chinua Achebe in There Was a Country, was representing his people most of the time. Still, we might not say elitism is a minus for Wole Soyinka, we might say, it is his different strategy of partnering with power – or a misunderstanding of my thinking. Chinua Achebe appears to be an egalitarian or a democrat.

Close

I would like to complete reading The Man Died and reread There Was a Country, for my education. I am saddened by the Nigeria that was discussed in both books. A Nigeria of atrocious leaders and an oppressed populace, a Nigeria where people were selfish, timid, and bitterly divided across ethnic lines. Compared to that time, I think we have made some progress, I cannot imagine living in a Nigeria where broomstick switches are driven up people’s penises for any reason, it tells me that the democracy that we presently manage must be guarded with our lives and made better for future generations. ???