The 1986

Nobel Prize in Literature The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in ...

was awarded to the

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

n writer

Wole Soyinka Wole Soyinka , (born 13 July 1934) is a Nigerian author, best known as a playwright and poet. He has written three novels, ten collections of short stories, seven poetry collections, twenty five plays and five memoirs. He also wrote two transla ...

(born 1934) "who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence." He is the first African recipient of the prize.Wole Soyinka
britannica.com

Laureate

Wole Soyinka is most well known for his playwriting with '' The Lion and the Jewel'' (1959), '' A Dance of the Forests'' (1960), ''

Kongi's Harvest ''Kongi's Harvest'' is a 1965 play written by Wole Soyinka. It premiered in Dakar, Senegal, at the first Negro Arts Festival in April 1966.Berry, Poyd M. (1980). Kongi's Harvest (a review). Gibbs, James (ed.). In ''Critical Perspectives on Wole ...

'' (1964), and ''

Death and the King's Horseman ''Death and the King's Horseman'' is a play by Wole Soyinka based on a real incident that took place in Nigeria during the colonial era: the horseman of a Yoruba King was prevented from committing ritual suicide by the colonial authorities. In a ...

'' (1975) as among his best works. Along with his writing career, he has worked as an actor and in theaters in Nigeria and Great Britain. Poems, novels, and essays are also included in his body of work, among them '' The Interpreters'' (1965), '' Season of Anomy'' (1972), and '' Aké: The Years of Childhood'' (1981). Although Soyinka writes in English, the

Yoruba culture Distinctive cultural norms prevail in Yorubaland and among the Yoruba people.Kola Abimbola, Yoruba Culture: ''A Philosophical Account'', Iroko Academic Publishers, 2005. Religion (Ẹ̀sìn) The Yoruba people, Yoruba are said to be religious peop ...

of his home Nigeria and its myths, stories, and rituals are deeply ingrained in his writings. His writing also draws from Western traditions, from modernist play to classical tragedies.

Reactions

When Soyinka was awarded, he became the first African laureate. He was described as one "who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence". Reed Way Dasenbrock writes that the award of the Nobel Prize in Literature to Soyinka is "likely to prove quite controversial and thoroughly deserved". He also notes that "it is the first Nobel Prize awarded to an African writer or to any writer from the 'new literatures' in English that have emerged in the former colonies of the British Empire." Lars Olof Franzén, cultural editor of

Dagens Nyheter (, ), abbreviated ''DN'', is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Stockholm and aspires to full national and international coverage, and is widely considered Sweden's newspaper of record A newspaper of record is a major nationa ...

, said that it would have been difficult for the Swedish Academy to give the first African prize to a white South African author such as

Nadine Gordimer Nadine Gordimer (20 November 192313 July 2014) was a South African writer and political activist. She received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1991, recognised as a writer "who through her magnificent epic writing has ... been of very great ben ...

(awarded in

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

) or

André Brink André Philippus Brink (29 May 1935 – 6 February 2015) was a South African novelist, essayist and poet. He wrote in both Afrikaans and English and taught English at the University of Cape Town. In the 1960s Brink, Ingrid Jonker, Etienne Lerou ...

, who had frequently been mentioned as likely contenders for the prize. Soyinka himself expressed the belief that the award had not been bestowed on him but on Africa itself: "I don't for a minute consider that the prize is just for me," he said. "It's for what I represent. I'm a part of the whole literary tradition of Africa."

Nobel lecture

His Nobel lecture, ''This Past Must Address Its Present'', was devoted to the South African freedom-fighter

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

. Soyinka's speech was an outspoken criticism of

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

and the politics of racial segregation imposed on the majority by the

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

South African government.1986 Nobel Lecture – Wole Soyinka
nobelprize.org

Award ceremony

At the award ceremony in Stockholm on 10 December 1986,

Lars Gyllensten Lars Johan Wictor Gyllensten (12 November 1921 – 25 May 2006) was a Swedish author and physician, and a member of the Swedish Academy. Gyllensten was born and grew up in a middle-class family in Stockholm, son of Carl Gyllensten and Ingrid ...

of the

Swedish Academy The Swedish Academy (), founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. Its 18 members, who are elected for life, comprise the highest Swedish language authority. Outside Scandinavia, it is best known as the body t ...

spoke about Soyinka's work and pointed out that "it is chiefly the dramas that stand out as Wole Soyinka’s most significant achievement". He then addressed the laureate and said:

References

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

Nobel

Laureate

Reactions

Nobel lecture

Award ceremony

References

External links