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THE OPEN SORE OF A CONTINENT
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THE OPEN SORE OF A CONTINENT Hardcover - 1996

by Soyinka, Wole

  • Used
  • Fine
  • Hardcover
  • Signed
  • first

Nobel Prize-winning writer Wole Soyinka explores the history and future of Nigeria in a compelling jeremiad that is as intense as it is provocative, learned, and wide-ranging. Soyinka deftly explains the shifting dramatis personae of Nigerian history and politics to westerners unfamiliar with the players and the process, tracing the growth of Nigeria as a world economy through various political regimes.

Description

NY: Oxford University Press, 1996. First edition, first prnt. Signed by Soyinka on the front free endpage. Dustjacket with lower front flap corner price-clip; otherwise, an unread copy in Fine condition in a Fine dustjacket with an archival cover. Hardcovers.
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Details

  • Title THE OPEN SORE OF A CONTINENT
  • Author Soyinka, Wole
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Edition First Edition
  • Condition Used - Fine
  • Pages 176
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Oxford University Press, NY
  • Date 1996
  • Features Index
  • Bookseller's Inventory # 100373
  • ISBN 9780195105575 / 0195105575
  • Weight 0.88 lbs (0.40 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.74 in (21.59 x 13.97 x 1.88 cm)
  • Themes
    • Chronological Period: 20th Century
    • Cultural Region: African
  • Library of Congress subjects Nigeria - Politics and government - 1960-, Authors, Nigerian - 20th century - Biography
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 96008757
  • Dewey Decimal Code B

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From the rear cover

In The Open Sore of a Continent, Soyinka, whose own Nigerian passport was confiscated by General Abacha in 1994, explores the history and future of Nigeria in a compelling jeremiad that is as intense as it is provocative, learned, and wide-ranging. He deftly explains the shifting dramatic personae of Nigerian history and politics to Westerners unfamiliar with the players and the process, tracing the growth of Nigeria as a player in the world economy, through the corrupt regime of Babangida, the civil war occasioned by the secession of Biafra under the leadership of Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu, the lame-duck reign of Ernest Sonekan, and the coup led by General Sani Abacha, arguing that "a glance at the mildewed tapestry of the stubbornly unfinished nation edifice is necessary" to explain where Nigeria can go next. And, in the process of elucidating the Nigerian crisis, Soyinka opens readers to broader questions of nationhood, identity, and the general state of African culture and politics at the end of the twentieth century. Here are a range of issues that investigate the interaction of peoples who have been shaped by the clash of cultures: nationalism, power, corruption, violence, and the enduring legacy of colonialism. In a world tormented by devastation from Bosnia to Rwanda, how do we define a nation: is it simply a condition of the collective mind, a passive, unquestioned habit of cohabitation? Or is what we think of as a nation a rigorous conclusion that derives from history? Is it geography, or is it a bond that transcends accidents of mountain, river, and valley? How do these varying definitions of nationhood impact the people who live under them? Soyinka concludes with a resoundingcall for international attention to this question: the global community must address the issue of nationhood to prevent further religious mandates and calls for ethnic purity of the sort that have turned Algeria, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Sri Lanka into killing fields.

Categories

Media reviews

Citations

  • Booklist, 11/01/1996, Page 475
  • Kirkus Reviews, 05/01/1996, Page 677
  • Library Journal, 07/01/1996, Page 139
  • New York Times, 08/11/1996, Page 9
  • NY Times Notable Bks of Year, 01/01/1996, Page 90
  • Publishers Weekly, 06/03/1996, Page 67

About the author

About the Author:
Wole Soyinka, an internationally acclaimed playwright, essayist, and memoirist, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986. In exile from his Nigerian homeland, Soyinka divides his time between London and Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is the author of Collected Plays, Dance of the Forests, The Lion and the Jewel, The Road, Kongi's Harvest, and Three Short Plays (all OUP

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