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O Leão e a Joia
No pequeno povoado de Ilujinle, Baroka, o sexagenário chefe da aldeia, conhecido como 'o Leão', e Lakunle, o jovem professor de ideias avançadas e ocidentais, disputam o amor de Sidi, a Joia do vilarejo. Fábula sobre os conflitos entre valores africanos e costumes europeus, entre o desejo das mulheres de serem livres e o seu apego a tradições que as desvalorizam, entre o progresso e o conservadorismo.
152 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1959
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About the author
Wole Soyinka
207 books1,238 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka, known as Wole Soyinka, is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature for his "wide cultural perspective and... poetic overtones fashioning the drama of existence", the first sub-Saharan African to be honoured in that category.
Soyinka was born into a Yoruba family in Abeokuta. In 1954, he attended Government College in Ibadan, and subsequently University College Ibadan and the University of Leeds in England. After studying in Nigeria and the UK, he worked with the Royal Court Theatre in London. He went on to write plays that were produced in both countries, in theatres and on radio. He took an active role in Nigeria's political history and its campaign for independence from British colonial rule. In 1965, he seized the Western Nigeria Broadcasting Service studio and broadcast a demand for the cancellation of the Western Nigeria Regional Elections. In 1967, during the Nigerian Civil War, he was arrested by the federal government of General Yakubu Gowon and put in solitary confinement for two years, for volunteering to be a non-government mediating actor.
Soyinka has been a strong critic of successive Nigerian (and African at large) governments, especially the country's many military dictators, as well as other political tyrannies, including the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe. Much of his writing has been concerned with "the oppressive boot and the irrelevance of the colour of the foot that wears it". During the regime of General Sani Abacha (1993–98), Soyinka escaped from Nigeria on a motorcycle via the "NADECO Route". Abacha later proclaimed a death sentence against him "in absentia". With civilian rule restored to Nigeria in 1999, Soyinka returned to his nation.
In Nigeria, Soyinka was a Professor of Comparative literature (1975 to 1999) at the Obafemi Awolowo University, then called the University of Ifẹ̀. With civilian rule restored to Nigeria in 1999, he was made professor emeritus. While in the United States, he first taught at Cornell University as Goldwin Smith professor for African Studies and Theatre Arts from 1988 to 1991 and then at Emory University, where in 1996 he was appointed Robert W. Woodruff Professor of the Arts. Soyinka has been a Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and has served as scholar-in-residence at New York University's Institute of African American Affairs and at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California. He has also taught at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard and Yale, and was also a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Duke University in 2008.
In December 2017, Soyinka was awarded the Europe Theatre Prize in the "Special Prize" category, awarded to someone who has "contributed to the realization of cultural events that promote understanding and the exchange of knowledge between peoples".
Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka, known as Wole Soyinka, is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature for his "wide cultural perspective and... poetic overtones fashioning the drama of existence", the first sub-Saharan African to be honoured in that category.
Soyinka was born into a Yoruba family in Abeokuta. In 1954, he attended Government College in Ibadan, and subsequently University College Ibadan and the University of Leeds in England. After studying in Nigeria and the UK, he worked with the Royal Court Theatre in London. He went on to write plays that were produced in both countries, in theatres and on radio. He took an active role in Nigeria's political history and its campaign for independence from British colonial rule. In 1965, he seized the Western Nigeria Broadcasting Service studio and broadcast a demand for the cancellation of the Western Nigeria Regional Elections. In 1967, during the Nigerian Civil War, he was arrested by the federal government of General Yakubu Gowon and put in solitary confinement for two years, for volunteering to be a non-government mediating actor.
Soyinka has been a strong critic of successive Nigerian (and African at large) governments, especially the country's many military dictators, as well as other political tyrannies, including the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe. Much of his writing has been concerned with "the oppressive boot and the irrelevance of the colour of the foot that wears it". During the regime of General Sani Abacha (1993–98), Soyinka escaped from Nigeria on a motorcycle via the "NADECO Route". Abacha later proclaimed a death sentence against him "in absentia". With civilian rule restored to Nigeria in 1999, Soyinka returned to his nation.
In Nigeria, Soyinka was a Professor of Comparative literature (1975 to 1999) at the Obafemi Awolowo University, then called the University of Ifẹ̀. With civilian rule restored to Nigeria in 1999, he was made professor emeritus. While in the United States, he first taught at Cornell University as Goldwin Smith professor for African Studies and Theatre Arts from 1988 to 1991 and then at Emory University, where in 1996 he was appointed Robert W. Woodruff Professor of the Arts. Soyinka has been a Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and has served as scholar-in-residence at New York University's Institute of African American Affairs and at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California. He has also taught at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard and Yale, and was also a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Duke University in 2008.
In December 2017, Soyinka was awarded the Europe Theatre Prize in the "Special Prize" category, awarded to someone who has "contributed to the realization of cultural events that promote understanding and the exchange of knowledge between peoples".
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 170 reviews
March 25, 2020
مسرحية للأديب النيجيري وولي سوينكا نُشرت عام 1963
والأدب النيجيري بعد الاستقلال يتناول الصراع الثقافي بين تيار التحديث والتقليد
بين أفكار التغيير والتقدم وبين الواقع الذي تحكمه العادات والتقاليد وأيضا الخرافات
في المسرحية يحاول سوينكا الجمع بين مزايا القديم والجديد
ويؤيد التغيير الواعي البعيد عن التعالي والشعارات
والأدب النيجيري بعد الاستقلال يتناول الصراع الثقافي بين تيار التحديث والتقليد
بين أفكار التغيير والتقدم وبين الواقع الذي تحكمه العادات والتقاليد وأيضا الخرافات
في المسرحية يحاول سوينكا الجمع بين مزايا القديم والجديد
ويؤيد التغيير الواعي البعيد عن التعالي والشعارات
August 24, 2016
A thought-provoking play by the first African author to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. The play deals with the conflict between traditional ways and modernization; for example, should a man pay a bride price in order to marry? The young schoolmaster, a believer in Western culture, wants to marry 'the jewel' Sidi but doesn't want to pay her bride price claiming it is old-fashioned (though the reader/viewer is also left with the impression that he can't afford it!). The headman of the village, 'the lion', is in his 60s and has several wives and concubines already but can pay. The village is still traditional in its daily life but one senses that it is on the verge of change. As a Westerner myself, I started out with the preconceived notion that modernization would be a beneficial change but by the end of the play, I was not so sure. Whether that is good or bad is unclear to me but interesting to think about...
December 5, 2018
Loved it! Even though the plot was on the predictable side, the dialogue, cultural exposition, characters were all gorgeously executed. The humor and the emotional journey were strong enough.
December 13, 2015
The Lion and the Jewel is a quick read that is witty and fun to read. Its overall size is good for anyone who wants a small play with a lot of content. It takes place around the 1950s, right before the Nigerian Independence movement. It takes place in a small village, with very diverse characters. Sidi, a young maiden must choose between the village chief and also the Westernized school teacher. The themes and characters are so representative of different cultures and although there is a story, this play really conveys more than just the average small novel. Feminism results from women who “advocate for women’s right seeking to remove restrictions that discriminate against women” (1). For example, Sidi the main character is representative of so much, feminism, the Nigerian people and women in general. She represents the Nigerian people and the ignorance they find themselves in when they give up the past and go for the future full heartedly without knowing exactly what is happening within the village. Sidi must choose a husband which represents the women all over the world. She must please the village because she is the “jewel” and therefore must chose a husband that will fit her. Women in Africa face this problem every day, they must chose a husband and being their lives together at such a young age. If feminists in Westernized culture were to pick up this play I would say this is not for them. The only reason for this is because Sidi goes against everything they believe in and goes for the older man, Baroka, in order to please the village and her own culture. She conformed to the traditional way of a man’s world and it would be unappealing to feminists. Lakunle, a young school teacher, represents the modern way of thinking that rebels against and fights the traditional way of thinking which is represented by Baroka. Within the novel, the power struggle between the two men shows how new culture attempts to change Africa but traditional values will always stay strong. This part of the novel is very interesting because they both love Sidi in a different way, and the same as both ideals of thinking want the center of the culture to be theirs. Lakunle loves her at the deeper emotional level while Baroka loves her at a superficial level because he believes he deserves every woman since he is the chief who has many wives. This book really shows the inner workings of an African culture at work and how much women are treated as property. Even “In childhood a women should be under her father’s control, in youth under her husband’s and when her husband is dead, under her sons, she should not have independence” (1). This statement goes against all things feminism and throughout this play, this idea is very prominent throughout. Although Lakunle believes he would treat her as an equal, he contradicts himself so often that it just shows how much the social revolution is tough for even people fighting for it in Africa. The culture portrayed in this book is so vastly different from the Western culture that I am used to, it really takes you on a journey through the minds of the people living in this culture every day. It shows how much a culture difference can change the differing opinions. For example, if I were in Sidi’s position I would have chosen Lakunle because I would not have been his property and I would have been able to be more my own than with Baroka. The culture barrier is so large that it is hard to relate in this novel, but also not hard at all. It is hard because I would never make the decisions that Sidi did, but not hard because not too long ago in our own Western culture did men rule women. Men had every right over women and then we put an end to it. The cultural barrier is so interesting to think about and to see during “postcolonial” literature. I would recommend this book to college professors in order to teach a tolerance and to show that, the battle we were fighting only a few decades ago, is still a battle that may not have even begun in other parts of the world. I would also recommend this book to anyone who is interested in challenging Western society, because this play shows all of the ideals that Western society goes against.
March 13, 2017
African Nobel Laureate in literature, Soyinka, wrote this book when he was still a very young man, and the work showcased what a literary genius he already was. The ingredients that would make the playwright one of the most acclaimed in the world is present here, as well as the dazzling, rich language that taps into African lores so well. There are themes of mortality in this play, and the cunning of the king; contrasted with the impudence, naivety allied to arrogance of the youth. Soyinka explores these, and others here as (western) modernity is encroaching on a rural setting which however still has massive echoes of the past. This is a brilliant work that one can read again and again
April 18, 2019
The writing is out of this world. This play is my new all time fave.
March 15, 2015
Another piece that illustriates -in a comical and ridicule manner- the quest of the British Colonialism towards turning a whole nation upside down. This play however focuses more on dipicting the thoughts and beliefs of the two opposite sides; on the one hand we have Lakunle who represents the contaminated flock (and I intentionally use the word flock) and on the other hand, we have Baroka: the clan's Bale (the Lion) who represents loyal folks, those sticking to their traditions and practices, those who are resisting the white man's invasion. Another conflict that took place throughout the play is between Sidi (the Jewel); the clan's Beauty and Lakunle; the westernized man. but still the main conflict is between the Lion and the Jewel. A good read it was...
November 16, 2017
I'm completely new to Soyinka, but I'm a fan. I like that he gives you stories of African traditions and colonialism, without making these the focus of his plays. Very enjoyable.
June 9, 2018
Why Sidi ? I didn't expect her final choice i was kind of rooting for the the other option. I really want to see a performance of this play, all the singing and the dancing got to be just spectacular. A must read for play lovers.
September 21, 2016
In classic Shakespearean style, this play takes place in a single day and focuses on relationship drama. The main question is: who will get the girl?
The drama behind the drama is the question of modernity. What will win out: the new ways of Western culture, or the traditional ways? Westernized Lakunle claims "Within a year or two, I swear, / this town shall see a transformation ... a motor road will pass this spot / and bring the city ways to us. ... We'll burn the forest, cut the trees..."
The traditional ways are represented by the leader Baroka. He has already stopped a train line from coming through the village through his own resourcefulness. Baroka reminds us that "the skin of progress / Masks, unknown, the spotted wolf of sameness... / Does sameness not revolt your being?"
Unfortunately, the two main women in this play almost become pawns in this game (seemingly played by the men). Sidi has only the two choices. She does voice her own opinion at the end, but it's unclear whether that was what she would have chosen all along, or whether the action of the two men has trapped (forced, cajoled, pressured) her to make this choice. Sadiku, meanwhile, is merely an extension of Baruka's will.
Fascinating play. I would love to see it staged.
The drama behind the drama is the question of modernity. What will win out: the new ways of Western culture, or the traditional ways? Westernized Lakunle claims "Within a year or two, I swear, / this town shall see a transformation ... a motor road will pass this spot / and bring the city ways to us. ... We'll burn the forest, cut the trees..."
The traditional ways are represented by the leader Baroka. He has already stopped a train line from coming through the village through his own resourcefulness. Baroka reminds us that "the skin of progress / Masks, unknown, the spotted wolf of sameness... / Does sameness not revolt your being?"
Unfortunately, the two main women in this play almost become pawns in this game (seemingly played by the men). Sidi has only the two choices. She does voice her own opinion at the end, but it's unclear whether that was what she would have chosen all along, or whether the action of the two men has trapped (forced, cajoled, pressured) her to make this choice. Sadiku, meanwhile, is merely an extension of Baruka's will.
Fascinating play. I would love to see it staged.
June 9, 2012
I think though the book was written in English, its setting was purely african. on the other hand the titles seems to imitate Beauty and the Beast which is more european.
I can also say the lion goes with the jewel in the sense could be ruby a precious stone which signifies great strength. Irizi ya Simba, but also the jewel taking the place of the african woman could mean power given by the woman.In the african context having an influence on men. I am not sure how could a teacher actually take hold of a jewel in the race with such a noble as King infact! there could be no great challenge because of the kings capacity.
The novel is a hard on to understand but a general conclusion. The writer wanted to present a pure picture of a desired african woman for all who adored her elegance.
I can also say the lion goes with the jewel in the sense could be ruby a precious stone which signifies great strength. Irizi ya Simba, but also the jewel taking the place of the african woman could mean power given by the woman.In the african context having an influence on men. I am not sure how could a teacher actually take hold of a jewel in the race with such a noble as King infact! there could be no great challenge because of the kings capacity.
The novel is a hard on to understand but a general conclusion. The writer wanted to present a pure picture of a desired african woman for all who adored her elegance.
August 5, 2021
I learned about this author through The Empire Writes Back: Theory and Practice in Post-Colonial Literatures which I am reading right now!
I haven't read much by African authors but it is the path I have started going down and this was a really wonderful reading. Although I must admit it is really what must be watched rather than read because it is very visual and the stage descriptions play a fundamental role in figuring out what is going on.
There are four major characters in the play: an educator who wants the village to progress, Christianize, drop its superstition and modernize. His vision antagonizes the Bale whose lust and power are moving the village and determining the path it will take; the girl they both love and the Bale's senior wife who is entrenched into the Bale's power. The play unfolds in a day, morning, noon and night. The structure is pretty unique with wonderful flashbacks that are just wonderful to imagine. This play makes me want to read more by Soyinka. Much suggested!
I haven't read much by African authors but it is the path I have started going down and this was a really wonderful reading. Although I must admit it is really what must be watched rather than read because it is very visual and the stage descriptions play a fundamental role in figuring out what is going on.
There are four major characters in the play: an educator who wants the village to progress, Christianize, drop its superstition and modernize. His vision antagonizes the Bale whose lust and power are moving the village and determining the path it will take; the girl they both love and the Bale's senior wife who is entrenched into the Bale's power. The play unfolds in a day, morning, noon and night. The structure is pretty unique with wonderful flashbacks that are just wonderful to imagine. This play makes me want to read more by Soyinka. Much suggested!
September 24, 2025
Gender in a clash of cities, educated elites, westernization vs villages, local chiefs, traditional customs. Don’t miss the violence amid the comedy and spectacle.
August 9, 2019
First published in 1963, the Lion and the Jewel by Wole Soyinka, is a play, with comedy plot. It centers on three main characters. Baroka, the “Bale” (village chief) of Ilujinle, is the “Lion” in the play. He is a sly, sixty-two years old man, who feigns impotence to seduce Sidi, the village belle. Sidi, a conceited young girl, is the “jewel” in the play. She is courted by Lakunle, a teacher, who strongly believes in western culture and ideas.
To seduce Sidi, Baroka flatters her, extols her beauty, and befuddles her with romantic words, profuse riddles and proverbs.
The victory of Baroka over Lakunle who should have married Sidi, but fails to do so because he does not want to pay the bride price, can be regarded as the triumph of Yoruba traditional values over western influence and ideas. Some people can also regard it as the victory of old age experience over youth.
Here are my two favorite quotes from the book:
Yesterday’s wine alone is strong and blooded, child
And though the Christian’s holy book denies
The truth is this, old wine thrives best
Within a new bottle. The coarseness
Is mellowed down, and the rugged wine
Acquires a full and rounded body
Those who know little of Baroka think
His life one pleasure-loving course.
But the monkey sweat, my child,
The monkey sweats,
It is only the hair upon his back
Which still deceives the world
To seduce Sidi, Baroka flatters her, extols her beauty, and befuddles her with romantic words, profuse riddles and proverbs.
The victory of Baroka over Lakunle who should have married Sidi, but fails to do so because he does not want to pay the bride price, can be regarded as the triumph of Yoruba traditional values over western influence and ideas. Some people can also regard it as the victory of old age experience over youth.
Here are my two favorite quotes from the book:
Yesterday’s wine alone is strong and blooded, child
And though the Christian’s holy book denies
The truth is this, old wine thrives best
Within a new bottle. The coarseness
Is mellowed down, and the rugged wine
Acquires a full and rounded body
Those who know little of Baroka think
His life one pleasure-loving course.
But the monkey sweat, my child,
The monkey sweats,
It is only the hair upon his back
Which still deceives the world
November 22, 2017
The beginning of the play started out as interesting, but by the end, I was left baffled and my first engagement with it wasn't that fulfilling.
The play is set in the village of Ilunjinle, of the Yoruba tribes of Africa, on the brink of modernisation and juxtaposes modernity and traditions through the pivotal male characters of a young, Westernised school teacher and the old village headman, both vying for the hand of the village belle, the 'Jewel' Sidi.
Due to the context, the play again is political, in its themes as well as the form, which I realised way after reading it. XD But essentially, it is a tussle between the two men, to question the necessity of the western concept of progress and modernity and the value of traditional ways of life. In the end, it was actually shocking for me to see the protagonist choose to marry the old, polygamous, village headman after what he did to her instead of the schoolmaster, who I admit, was a little comical. After much thought, I have realised the reason, but I still cannot say I was happy with it.
Soyinka is the first Nobel prize winner from Africa, and that makes him a huge deal, so I'm still interested in reading other works by him, but I'd advise you that if you are going to pick this author up, do not start with this work.
The play is set in the village of Ilunjinle, of the Yoruba tribes of Africa, on the brink of modernisation and juxtaposes modernity and traditions through the pivotal male characters of a young, Westernised school teacher and the old village headman, both vying for the hand of the village belle, the 'Jewel' Sidi.
Due to the context, the play again is political, in its themes as well as the form, which I realised way after reading it. XD But essentially, it is a tussle between the two men, to question the necessity of the western concept of progress and modernity and the value of traditional ways of life. In the end, it was actually shocking for me to see the protagonist choose to marry the old, polygamous, village headman after what he did to her instead of the schoolmaster, who I admit, was a little comical. After much thought, I have realised the reason, but I still cannot say I was happy with it.
Soyinka is the first Nobel prize winner from Africa, and that makes him a huge deal, so I'm still interested in reading other works by him, but I'd advise you that if you are going to pick this author up, do not start with this work.
August 25, 2017
This drama is one of the best African literary pieces. I had to read this for one of my courses. It the beginning I enjoyed the drama,specially Sidi and Lakunle's conversation. Then gradually the drama went out of the range of my liking. The theme and the plot is great but I felt like it's written more for the critics than a casual reader.
Well,not reading it again after my exam tomorrow.
Well,not reading it again after my exam tomorrow.
July 28, 2020
Very witty.
May 22, 2024
God should free women from the clutches of men shaaaa
January 31, 2018
This was a really unusual read. I am not quite sure what to make of it.
Once again, I think the reading experience was never going to match the visual and audio experience of seeing this as a play on stage. There are some interesting parts where characters reenact events in the tribe's history, and where characters do some tribal dancing etc. Those scenes will never be conveyed in print. I also liked how the settings changed from one to the next and would be very curious to see how that is interpretted on the stage.
But visuals aside, (as I only going on imagination here), the plot and the characters kept me very interested in what was happening. I enjoyed the contradictions in speech, particularly with the young teacher, Lakunle. I enjoyed seeing the conflict between tradition and modernity. The idea of modernity is not completely discarded, but it does illustrate how it could damage the land. Yet, saying that, it was the temptation of a modern 'thing' that tempts Sidi, the young female, the jewel, in the play.
The ending threw me, though. I am not sure what Soyinka was trying to say. From my modernised point of view, he only managed to underline a brutish, barbaric act done by the character that symbolised the traditional way. And I am not sure if that is what he intended to do. Maybe I am missing a LOT here.
Once again, I think the reading experience was never going to match the visual and audio experience of seeing this as a play on stage. There are some interesting parts where characters reenact events in the tribe's history, and where characters do some tribal dancing etc. Those scenes will never be conveyed in print. I also liked how the settings changed from one to the next and would be very curious to see how that is interpretted on the stage.
But visuals aside, (as I only going on imagination here), the plot and the characters kept me very interested in what was happening. I enjoyed the contradictions in speech, particularly with the young teacher, Lakunle. I enjoyed seeing the conflict between tradition and modernity. The idea of modernity is not completely discarded, but it does illustrate how it could damage the land. Yet, saying that, it was the temptation of a modern 'thing' that tempts Sidi, the young female, the jewel, in the play.
The ending threw me, though. I am not sure what Soyinka was trying to say. From my modernised point of view, he only managed to underline a brutish, barbaric act done by the character that symbolised the traditional way. And I am not sure if that is what he intended to do. Maybe I am missing a LOT here.
October 10, 2014
One of my favourite plays in the good old days; high school. It was on the schools syllabus, so I was kinda forced to read it, but I don't regret it because it was a good read.
The best written African drama. It's Been long I read it, all I can remember is that LAKUNLE was outstanding in the play. And he will make you laugh out loud lol.
The best written African drama. It's Been long I read it, all I can remember is that LAKUNLE was outstanding in the play. And he will make you laugh out loud lol.
July 24, 2012
Soyinka's The Lion and the Jewel is one humorous story with layers of complexity. It's interesting.
Click on the link for my review on my blog
http://freduagyeman.blogspot.com/2010...
thanks
Click on the link for my review on my blog
http://freduagyeman.blogspot.com/2010...
thanks
February 15, 2015
The book is a drama about Africa.It concerned about a teacher named Lakunle who wants to change the way of the locals but don't know how to go about it.Finally, he loses his betrothed to Baroka,a traditional Chief.It is very interesting play...
June 7, 2008
i loved this play beyond words! i can't seem to come up with a fair review
Read
January 3, 2009I don't know how to feel about this book. I should read more books by African authors ... a sadly under-represented category in my bookshelf
December 23, 2011
Sad ending, very funny though!
April 2, 2016
لم أشعر بأي شعور تجاهها..ربما الملل فقط..والرغبة في الانتهاء منها أيضا ..
April 14, 2018
Very funny.
Oh Sidi.
Sassy Sidi
You'll be surprised at the end trust me.
Oh Sidi.
Sassy Sidi
You'll be surprised at the end trust me.
June 22, 2021
Soyinka is unique. I don't say this alot when I review anything. The reason I say she is unique is because she shows a variety of transitions a colonized mind goes through after the colonial enterprise has left the shores. Amitav Ghosh closer to home has done the same with his work on shadow lines. But soyinka adds the human nature to the cocktail. The man and the woman play modernity vs tradition respectively. They play it by convince and just that. The post colonial landscape gives the colonial mind space to explore. The man takes it as long as it serves his prospects of finding a wife. But he is deeply traditional much to his disbelief. Over and above as the becon of modernity the man of the story becomes the colonial master by trying to "civilize" ingratiate and self agrandise.
The most ignored aspect of post colonial writing is the fact that the post colonial mind is not far from neo colonializing for the want of stature and prospects.
The most ignored aspect of post colonial writing is the fact that the post colonial mind is not far from neo colonializing for the want of stature and prospects.
March 5, 2024
I read this for English and I thought it was an interesting read. The play itself is an exploration of a multitude of themes including gender roles, traditionalism, marginalization, and colonialism. The amount of content that’s just able to be analyzed is so fascinating and as one of the most popular plays from Africa, it shows a life of African culture through an authentic African lens as we see their perception of modernistic views and western culture. Sometimes the plot would be confusing to follow but I still enjoyed the main characters of the story. Some of the side characters added little to the story and could perhaps be interesting to learn of their own perspective on the story.
(Yeah this is something I read in class but idc)
(Yeah this is something I read in class but idc)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 170 reviews