‘…art and community in Africa are clearly linked...I believe that it is impossible to write anything in Africa without some kind of message, some kind of protest.’
I
have been consciously in the Arts for about 10 years now and Chinua, from the
grave, seemed to have whispered Africa to my heart and hearing.
After
having heard so much about him(and researching on his role as regards
Pan-African Human Rights promotion and preservation), I decided to look into
his work in August 2013. I also did get a download of Things Fall Apart.
I
studied Things Fall Apart and There Was A Country closely. I was driven,
however, and more attached to the latter than I was and am to the former.
Perhaps this was as result of the clarity of his expression which was richly
spread through-out his personal history of Biafra and the maturity and wisdom through he addressed the issue of the role of the African writer.
Before
now, I gave just a few African authors more than the attention my academic pursuits
demanded. I simply could not identify with their descriptions of the wars,
society, friendship, history, dates, names, beauty, love, betrayal, passion,
politics….
I
understood that the knowledge of Africa was -and still is- salient but they seemed somewhat
incomplete and burdensome to assimilate. As though to make matters worse, the
subjects Government and History were not on my O’Level scheme of work so I just
ran past it without much ado. Then again, with the gist of Chimamanda of Purple Hibiscus; Chibundu of
Spider King’s Daughter and Jude of Walking With Shadows, Africa suddenly leaped into light and became
alluring to me. Tinapa and the Carnival spiced it up a whole lot. Ebony Life TV
crowned it all.
Inspired
by all these, I was determined to know Africa. I now desperately needed to know her for myself.
My
art needed to know her. My life, love, ethics, academics and style yearned impulsively. Yet the African story to me was as bleak as ever until I read Chinua in August.
His
description and style of writing in his last book broke the ice for me. I do not pride myself in knowing the completely flawless
truth now. But I feel richly blessed to know this much.
I
am particularly thrilled by his articulation of the role of the African writer
in the multiracial world with multifaceted issues. Given some deep thought to
these lines, I become more convinced that never has this issue been addressed
this eloquently and honestly. I have to share this with you. These are excerpts
from his last book which has spun me in no little way. Especially the issue of
whether or not the African writer should participate in African politics:
‘There are some who believe that
the writer has no role in politics or the social upheavals of his or her
day.....I believe that the African writer who steps side….will become like the
contemporary intellectual of futility in
many other places asking questions like: “Who am I? What is the meaning of my
existence? Does this place belong to me or to someone else? Does my life belong
to me or to some other person?...The question of involvement in politics is really a matter of definition....”’
The truth be told, this is no little task-
African politics being all that it is today. I used to think that only spectators
are in the better position to describe or criticize the dance. Then again, no
one is the dance or knows the dance more than the dancers who dance the dance.
He further relayed the position as it was in
early post-colonial Africa where ‘freedom’ being a state too hard to define or
manage left everyone to his/her measure of uncertainty and hesitation,
especially the writers and intellectuals.
‘What then do we do as
writers? What was our role in our new country? How were we to think about the
use of our talents? I can say that when a number of us decided that we would be
writers, we had not thought through these questions very clearly. In fact, we
did not have a clue what we were up against….A major objective was to challenge
stereotypes, myths, and the image of ourselves and our continent, and to recast
them through stories-prose, poetry, essays, and books for our children. That
was my overall goal….I had no idea when I was writing Things Fall Apart whether
it would even be accepted or published…,A major concern of the time was the
absence of the African voice….Africa was bound sooner or later to respond….To
do this effectively her spokesmen-the writers, intellectuals, and some
politicians, including Azikiwe, Senghor, Nkrumah, Nyerere, Lumumba, and Mandela-
engaged Africa’ s past, stepping back into what can be referred to as the ‘era
of purity,’ before the coming of Europe….This was a special kind of
inspiration. Some of us decided to tackle the big subjects of the day-
imperialism, slavery, independence, gender, racism…. I borrowed proverbs from
our culture and history, colloquialisms and African Expressive language from
the ancient griots, the worldviews, perspectives, and customs from my Igbo
tradition and cosmology, and the sensibilities of everyday people….by ‘writing
back’ to the West we were attempting to reshape the dialogue between between
the colonized and the colonizer. Our efforts we hoped would, would broaden the
world’s understanding, appreciation, and conceptualization of what literature
meant when including the African voice and perspective…. This is amother way of
stating the fact of what I consider to be my mission in life.’
Learning about the Negritude –black
intellectual and political liberation struggles/ independence movements, I have
begun to appreciate the likes of Wole Soyinka; Steve Biko; Nnamdi Azikiwe;
Kwame Nkurumah; Jomo Kenyatta; Julius Nyerere; Partrice Lumumba; Nelson
Mandela; Walter Sisulu; Aime Cesaire, and Leone Gontran Damas. To understand my
place in my society as a writer, I appreciate that history is a wonderful place
to begin even as I consider the ‘Great Story’.
Chinua further writes that…
‘If one didn't realize the world was complex, vast, and diverse, one would write as if the world were one little county, and this would make us poor, and we would have impoverished the novel and our stories …we must hear all
stories. That would be the first thing. And by hearing all the stories we will
find points of contact and communication, and the world story, the Great Story
, will have a chance to develop....The reality of today, different as it is from the reality of my society one hundred years ago, is and can be important if we have the energy and the inclination to challenge it, to go out and engage with the peculiarities, with the things that we do not understand.’
Without this we just churn out great material
that serves no salient purpose. This is more so the case, I think, when certain
themes are over flogged to the utter detriment and disregard of others. Africa,
as it is in the 21st century, has so many great themes which we may
consider.
I would love, for instance to read a novel
about what the internet has done to Africa or the survival of our values and
African languages in moments soon after now. I would love to read about Osuofia and
the devasting culture shock he comes face to face with as he tours the world. I
would love to read native African thoughts on inter-racial romance. I would
love us to address adolescent relationships and sex education; the streaks of
social networks and technology as it drives our world faster in varied
directions; human rights campaigns….I would love this and much more. This is
not just because such would entice and 
parents understand this generation more. Also these are things
that the present age can identify with and propagate.
Today, I celebrate the contemporary Negritude
as includes Helon Habila; Chimamanda Adiche; Jude Dibia and several others who
have built new standards for the African literary picture. An Africa perhaps
with not as many polygamous homes, kolanuts or witch doctors. An Africa with
deeper themes, simpler diction and clearer thoughts. One which we should
develop as the days go by.
‘…nobody is asking the
new writer or intellectual to repeat stories, the literary agenda or struggles
of yesteryear, it is very important for them to be aware of what our literature
achieved, what it is has done for us, so that we can move forward.’
It is
a great thing that we have Book Festivals now and Literary Prizes. These are
quite commendable steps. However, long-term mentorships would go a very long
way in walking Africa to its literary future.
As an African writer I always should remember
that…
‘… it should be the
quality of the craft, not the audience that should be the greatest motivating
factor….’
and that
‘The triumph of the
written word is often attained when the writer achieves union and trust with
the reader, who then becomes ready to be drawn deep into unfamiliar territory,
walking in borrowed literary shoes so to speak, toward a deeper understanding
of self or society, or of foreign peoples, cultures, and situations.’
I
therefore ask that even as we script out the most exciting and sensational of
what Africa is, should and will be, let us never forget the values that bind
our art and the one voice whispering to us all, Africa.
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