7 - Igilango Geesi in the Public Sphere: Soyinka’s Intervention in Nigerian Political Discourse
Corresponding Author(s) : Dipo Irele
Africa Development,
Vol. 40 No. 4 (2015): Africa Development
Abstract
The Nigerian writer, Wole Soyinka, is well known as a social critic and public intellectual. In his writings, which cover all genres, he has criticized all forms of misuse of power in Africa generally and his country, Nigeria, specifically. In his work, which he entitles Interventions, Soyinka returns again to the criticism of the misuse of power in Africa and Nigeria. What inspired these writings was the annulment of the elections of 12 June 1993 in Nigeria. Abiola. These writings cover many themes, but what come out in all these texts are Soyinka’s critical views of misuse of power in all its ramifications. This article takes a critical view of Soyinka’s position. It is pointed out that Soyinka does not objectively come to grips with the Nigerian political situation. There is what we can call slippage and also surplus of meaning due to his Igilango Geesi. Besides this, Soyinka does not come to grips with the ideological and power configurations of the Nigerian political landscape. These flaws notwithstanding, Soyinka’s writings have added a new dimension to the public sphere of Nigerian political discourse.
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- Allen, G., 2000, Intertextuality, London: Routledge.
- Appiah, K.A., 1992, In My Father’s House: Africa in the philosophy of Culture, New York: Oxford University Press.
- Austin, J. L., 1975, How to Do Things with Words, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Bakhtin, M., 1981, The Dialogic Imagination, Austin: University of Texas Press.
- Bloom, H., 1973, The Anxiety of Influence, Chicago: University of Chicago.
- Calhoun, Craig, ed., 1992, Habermas and the Public Sphere Boston: Beacon Press.
- Curran, J., 1991, ‘Rethinking the Media and the Public Sphere’, in P. Dahlgren and Sparks, eds, Communication and Citizenship, London and New York: Routledge.
- Derrida, O.J., 1976, Of Grammatology. Translated by G. Spivak, Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
- Diepeeveen, L., 2003, The Difficulties of Modernism, London: Routledge.
- Downing, John, 1990, ‘Introductory Perspectives, in John Downing, Ali Mohammadi and Annabelle Srebemy, eds, Questioning the Media: A Critical Introduction, Newbury Park: California and London: Sage Publications.
- Eagleton, Terry, 1978, The Function of Criticism, London: Verso Books.
- Foucault, M., 1972, Archaeology of Knowledge. Translated by A.M. Sheridan Smith, London: Tavistock.
- Foucault, M., 1973, The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences, New York: Pantheon.
- Foucault, M., 1980, ‘Truth and Power’, in C. Gorden, ed., Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews & Other Writings 1972–1977 by Michael Foucault, London: Penguin.
- Foucault, M, 1980, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Translated by R. Hurley, New York: Pantheon.
- Foucault, M, 1984, ‘Nietzsche, Geneology, History’, in P. Rabinow, ed., The Foucault Reader, New York: Pantheon.
- Frazer, N. 1989, ‘Rethinking the Public Sphere’, in C. Calhoun, ed., Habermas and the Public Sphere, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
- Frazer, N., 1995, ‘Politics, Culture and the Public Sphere: Towards a PostModern Conception’, in L. Nicholson and S. Seidman, eds, Social PostModernism, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Gouldner, Alvin, 1976, The Dialectic of Ideology and Technology: The Origins, Grammar and Future of Ideology, London: Macmillan Press.
- Habermas, Jurgen, 1989, The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society, Cambridge: Polity Press.
- Howarth, David, 2000, Discourse, Buckingham (UK): Open University Press.
- Irele, Abiola, 1981, African Experience in Literature and Ideology, London: Heinemann.
- Jacoby, R., 1987, The Last Intellectuals, New York: Basic Press.
- Jeyifo, Biodun, 2004a, ‘Oguntoyinbo: Wole Soyinka and Igilango Geesi’, unpublished paper.
- Jeyifo, Biodun, 2004b, Wole Soyinka: Politics, Poetics and Postcolonialism, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Kanterian, E., 2007, Wittgenstein, London: Reaktion Books.
- Kaviraj, Sudipta, 1997, ‘On the Structure of Nationalist Discourse’, in T.V. Sathyamurthy, ed., State and Nation in the Context of Social Change, Delhi: Oxford University Press.
- Laclau, E., 1993, ‘Discourse’, in R.E. Goodin and P. Pettit, eds, A Companion to Contemporary Political Philosophy, Oxford: Blackwell.
- Laclau, E. and C. Mouffe, 2001, Hegemony and Socialist Strategy: Towards a Radical Democratic Politics, 2nd edition, London: Verso.
- Rorty, R., 1989, Contingency, Irony and Solidarity, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Said, Edward, 1980, Literature and Society, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
- Said, Edward, 1994, Representations of the Intellectual, London: Vintage.
- Saussure, F. de, 1959, Course in General Linguistics. Translated by C. Bailey and A. Sechehaye, New York: McGraw–Hill.
- Soyinka, W., 1967, ‘The writer in a modern African state’, Transition 31 (7).
- Soyinka W., 1971a, Madmen and Specialists, London: Methuen.
- Soyinka, W., 1971b, A Shuttle in the Crypt, London: Collins/Methuen.
- Soyinka, W., 1972, The Man Died, London: Rex Collins.
- Soyinka W., 1973, Season of Anomy, London: Collins.
- Soyinka, W., 1984, A Play of Giants, London: Methuen.
- Soyinka, W., 1995, The Open Sore of a Continent, New York: Oxford University Press.
- Soyinka, W., 1996, ‘The National Question in Africa’, in Cynthia Havitt de Alcantara, ed., Social Futures/Global Visions, Oxford: Blackwell and UNRISD.
- Soyinka, W., 2005a, Interventions I, Ibadan: Bookcraft Ltd.
- Soyinka, W., 2005b, Interventions II, We The People, Ibadan: Bookcraft Ltd.
- Soyinka, W., 2005c, Interventions III, Cults: A People in Denial, Ibadan: Bookcraft Ltd. Soyinka, W., 2005d, Interventions IV: In a Lighter Vein, Ibadan: Bookcraft Ltd.
- Soyinka, W., 2005e, Interventions V: Of Power, Ibadan: Bookcraft Ltd.
- Taylor, Charles, 2000, ‘Modernity and Difference’, in P. Gilroy, L. Grossberg and A. McRobbie, eds, Without Guarantees, London: Verso.
- Volosinov, Valentin, 1973, Marxism and the Philosophy of Language, New York: Saminen Press.
References
Allen, G., 2000, Intertextuality, London: Routledge.
Appiah, K.A., 1992, In My Father’s House: Africa in the philosophy of Culture, New York: Oxford University Press.
Austin, J. L., 1975, How to Do Things with Words, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Bakhtin, M., 1981, The Dialogic Imagination, Austin: University of Texas Press.
Bloom, H., 1973, The Anxiety of Influence, Chicago: University of Chicago.
Calhoun, Craig, ed., 1992, Habermas and the Public Sphere Boston: Beacon Press.
Curran, J., 1991, ‘Rethinking the Media and the Public Sphere’, in P. Dahlgren and Sparks, eds, Communication and Citizenship, London and New York: Routledge.
Derrida, O.J., 1976, Of Grammatology. Translated by G. Spivak, Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Diepeeveen, L., 2003, The Difficulties of Modernism, London: Routledge.
Downing, John, 1990, ‘Introductory Perspectives, in John Downing, Ali Mohammadi and Annabelle Srebemy, eds, Questioning the Media: A Critical Introduction, Newbury Park: California and London: Sage Publications.
Eagleton, Terry, 1978, The Function of Criticism, London: Verso Books.
Foucault, M., 1972, Archaeology of Knowledge. Translated by A.M. Sheridan Smith, London: Tavistock.
Foucault, M., 1973, The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences, New York: Pantheon.
Foucault, M., 1980, ‘Truth and Power’, in C. Gorden, ed., Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews & Other Writings 1972–1977 by Michael Foucault, London: Penguin.
Foucault, M, 1980, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Translated by R. Hurley, New York: Pantheon.
Foucault, M, 1984, ‘Nietzsche, Geneology, History’, in P. Rabinow, ed., The Foucault Reader, New York: Pantheon.
Frazer, N. 1989, ‘Rethinking the Public Sphere’, in C. Calhoun, ed., Habermas and the Public Sphere, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Frazer, N., 1995, ‘Politics, Culture and the Public Sphere: Towards a PostModern Conception’, in L. Nicholson and S. Seidman, eds, Social PostModernism, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gouldner, Alvin, 1976, The Dialectic of Ideology and Technology: The Origins, Grammar and Future of Ideology, London: Macmillan Press.
Habermas, Jurgen, 1989, The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society, Cambridge: Polity Press.
Howarth, David, 2000, Discourse, Buckingham (UK): Open University Press.
Irele, Abiola, 1981, African Experience in Literature and Ideology, London: Heinemann.
Jacoby, R., 1987, The Last Intellectuals, New York: Basic Press.
Jeyifo, Biodun, 2004a, ‘Oguntoyinbo: Wole Soyinka and Igilango Geesi’, unpublished paper.
Jeyifo, Biodun, 2004b, Wole Soyinka: Politics, Poetics and Postcolonialism, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kanterian, E., 2007, Wittgenstein, London: Reaktion Books.
Kaviraj, Sudipta, 1997, ‘On the Structure of Nationalist Discourse’, in T.V. Sathyamurthy, ed., State and Nation in the Context of Social Change, Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Laclau, E., 1993, ‘Discourse’, in R.E. Goodin and P. Pettit, eds, A Companion to Contemporary Political Philosophy, Oxford: Blackwell.
Laclau, E. and C. Mouffe, 2001, Hegemony and Socialist Strategy: Towards a Radical Democratic Politics, 2nd edition, London: Verso.
Rorty, R., 1989, Contingency, Irony and Solidarity, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Said, Edward, 1980, Literature and Society, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Said, Edward, 1994, Representations of the Intellectual, London: Vintage.
Saussure, F. de, 1959, Course in General Linguistics. Translated by C. Bailey and A. Sechehaye, New York: McGraw–Hill.
Soyinka, W., 1967, ‘The writer in a modern African state’, Transition 31 (7).
Soyinka W., 1971a, Madmen and Specialists, London: Methuen.
Soyinka, W., 1971b, A Shuttle in the Crypt, London: Collins/Methuen.
Soyinka, W., 1972, The Man Died, London: Rex Collins.
Soyinka W., 1973, Season of Anomy, London: Collins.
Soyinka, W., 1984, A Play of Giants, London: Methuen.
Soyinka, W., 1995, The Open Sore of a Continent, New York: Oxford University Press.
Soyinka, W., 1996, ‘The National Question in Africa’, in Cynthia Havitt de Alcantara, ed., Social Futures/Global Visions, Oxford: Blackwell and UNRISD.
Soyinka, W., 2005a, Interventions I, Ibadan: Bookcraft Ltd.
Soyinka, W., 2005b, Interventions II, We The People, Ibadan: Bookcraft Ltd.
Soyinka, W., 2005c, Interventions III, Cults: A People in Denial, Ibadan: Bookcraft Ltd. Soyinka, W., 2005d, Interventions IV: In a Lighter Vein, Ibadan: Bookcraft Ltd.
Soyinka, W., 2005e, Interventions V: Of Power, Ibadan: Bookcraft Ltd.
Taylor, Charles, 2000, ‘Modernity and Difference’, in P. Gilroy, L. Grossberg and A. McRobbie, eds, Without Guarantees, London: Verso.
Volosinov, Valentin, 1973, Marxism and the Philosophy of Language, New York: Saminen Press.