Just a few days back, Reno Omokri set the social media ablaze when he placed Achebe’s works over Soyinka. It wasn’t funny, especially among the Yoruba folks who were Soyinka’s kinsmen. Reno’s post, despite how flattering it was for achebe’s enthusiasts, was uncalled for anyway.
There are facts however, that shouldn’t be dismissed in this discussion.
- Soyinka is an undisputed literary icon in the world, same goes for Achebe.
- Soyinka’s literary strength lies in poetic abstractions while Achebe’s literary strength lies in simplifying complexities.
- Soyinka is first a poet-playwright, while Achebe is firstly a novelist cum poet. They both have been recognized internationally in these subgenres.
- The Nobel Prize for literature is an outstandingly prestigious prize, while honorifics like “father of modern African literature” are based on global impact of ones work about Africa.
- No prize or honorific determines who is above who in literature.
- Soyinka conveyed African literature through Eurocentric appeals while Achebe conveyed African literature through Afrocentrism.
- Soyinka’s work has this persuasive charm while Achebe’s works was unapologetically assertive.
Summarily, Achebes works are more popular than Soyinka’s work because most nations on earth can relate to its themes of forced societal change through colonization, while Soyinka works aestheically compares Yoruba worldview to European worldview, no wonder Soyinka is a professor of comparative literature.
©Superlightening
