Wole Soyinka Politics, Poetics, and Postcolonialism

Biodun Jeyifo examines the relationship between the innovative and influential writings of Wole Soyinka and his radical political activism. Jeyifo analyzes Soyinka’s most ambitious works, relating them to the controversies generated by his appropriation of literature and theater for radical political objectives. The evaluations of this study are presented in the context of Soyinka’s sustained engagement with the collective experience of violence in post-independence, post-colonial Africa.

Sheds light on the literary career of Wole Soyinka as it intersects with politics and collective identities in the developing world
Investigates Soyinka’s ambiguous relationship to forms of avant-garde representation in the twentieth century
Will be of interest to African literature scholars as well as scholars of politics and literature