The Burden of Memory, the Muse of Forgiveness

by Wole Soyinka

Book Overview

Nobel Laureate in Literature Wole Soyinka considers all of Africa--indeed, all the world--as he poses this question: once repression stops, is reconciliation between oppressor and victim possible? In the face of centuries-long devastation wrought on the African continent and her Diaspora by slavery, colonialism, Apartheid, and the manifold faces of racism, what form of recompense could possibly suffice? In a voice as eloquent and humane as it is forceful,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195134281
• ISBN13: 9780195134285
• Release Date: February 2000
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 4.7" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Wole Soyinka The Giant

You read Wole Soyinka's work and you become a man, period. Please don't try reviewing work you don't understand. A quotation from Henry David Thoreau on "READING" will help those struggling with understading and of course in categorising reviewers: A man, any man, will go considerably out of his way to pick up a silver dollar, but here are golden words, which the wisest men of antiquity have uttered, and whose worth the wise of every succeeding age have assured us of;-and yet we learn to read only as far as Easy Reading... a very low level, worthy only of pigmies and manikins. That was WALDEN (1854) but still relevant today.

Soyinka is more than "The Burden of Memory..."

Wole Soyinka's mastery of the English language, as I have had occasion to say on another forum, borders on the supernatural. And perhaps therein lies the man's flaw--but that is a matter I will get to in a minute."The Burden of Memory, the Muse of Forgiveness," you must understand, is "in the obligatory [Soyinka] fashion," a compilation of oral lectures the learned professor gave at Harvard. You must understand too, that the writing is basically academic, and suited more to an oral lecture. And because we speak of Soyinka, the writing is characteristically difficult.So then, his lectures-turn-books (including, of course, "The Burden of Memory, the Muse of Forgiveness") are not the best of works with which to appraise Soyinka's genius. For a true appreciation of Soyinka's literary prowess, you must read his plays and novels.The flaw, of which I spoke earlier, is captured in the question a friend once posed to me (not Soyinka): "Is not the purpose of language to communicate?" Without a full-fledged dictionary, and the will to re-read whole paragraphs, one would struggle to keep up with Soyinka's writing.In all, whether one likes it or not, the man is a literary giant, period!

Excellent

I was extremely impressed with Professor Soyinka's argument for reparations not only for Africa, but for all victims of enslavement, colonialism, and oppression. His style may be difficult, but for the able reader it is an excellent introduction to the conditions, both past and present, contributing to the current state of affairs throughout the African continent. It provides much food for thought on the question of just what is justice. Bob Marley's song "War" was constantly in my mind. It would be an honor to shake Professor Soyinka's hand.

Necessary writing from Wole Soyinka on important matters!

Wole Soyinka does indeed have a point/points to make. They are important points for the world-wide Black community and make them he does! This book, and particularly his essay Reparations, Truth, and Reconciliation will necessarily have detractors as they would clearly want to be distracters and not have the subject given the measure of insightful and pragmatic consideration that Soyinka provides. In fact, he rights/writes in the introduction; as prelude to our reading the essays: "The Truth shall set you free? Maybe. But first the Truth must be set free."