Francis Abiola Irele (commonly Abiola Irele, 22 May 1936 – 2 July 2017) was a Nigerian academic best known as the doyen of Africanist literary scholars worldwide. He was Provost at

Kwara State University Kwara State University (KWASU), is a public university, public state-owned, state research university located in Malete, Kwara State, Nigeria. It is the 77th university to be registered by the Nigerian Universities Commission, NUC, and the 95th ...

, founded in 2009 in

Ilorin Ilorin is the capital city of Kwara State located in the Western region of Nigeria. The city is a major hub for transportation and commerce in the region. . Retrieved 18 February 2007 Although Ilorin is classified under the North-Central g ...

, Nigeria. Before moving back to Nigeria, Irele was visiting professor of African and African American Studies and of Romance Languages and Literatures at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

.Reviews of his essays, OUP website

Early life

Abiola Irele was born in

Igbo-Ora Igbo-Ora is a town and the headquarters of Ibarapa Central, Oyo State, south-western Nigeria, situated north of Lagos. In 2006 the population of the town was approximately 72,207 people. In 2017 the population is estimated to be around 278,514 ...

, Nigeria, and moved to

Enugu Enugu () verbally pronounced as "Enụgwụ" by the Igbo indigenes is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by the states of Benue and Kogi, Ebonyi State to the east and southeast, Abia State to the so ...

very early in his life. His father is from

Uokha Uokha lies on the latitude 7 07’N and longitude 6 04’E in a deciduous derived rainforest zone of Edo State. The climate is sub humid tropical with an average annual rainfall of about 1967mm. Uokha is a town in Owan East, a local government a ...

while his mother is from Ora both in Owan area of Edo State. The first language he learned was

Igbo Igbo may refer to: * Igbo people, an ethnic group of Nigeria * Igbo language, their language * anything related to Igboland, a cultural region in Nigeria See also * Ibo (disambiguation) * Igbo mythology * Igbo music * Igbo art * * Igbo-Ukwu, a t ...

, which he learned from the servants who worked for his father and took care of him growing up. After moving to

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

in 1940, he began to speak Yoruba. In 1943, after a fight between his parents, Irele returned with his mother to Ora, where he picked up and developed a fluency in the Ora language over the course of a year. However, after returning to Lagos in 1944 to live with his father, he began predominantly to speak Yoruba and maintained it as his ethnic identification. Irele's first encounter with literature was through folk tales and the oral poets who recounted "raras" in the streets. During the years of his formal education, he began to read more English literature.

Education and career

Irele graduated from

Ibadan University The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public university located in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Initially founded as the University College Ibadan in 1948, it maintained its affiliation with the University of London. In 1962, it became an independe ...

in 1960. Immediately after graduation, he went to Paris to learn French and completed a Ph.D. in French at the University of Paris, Sorbonne, in 1966. On his return to Nigeria, he was employed on the Languages Faculty at the

University of Lagos The University of Lagos (UNILAG) is a Public university, public research university located in Lagos, Nigeria, which was founded in 1962. UNILAG is one of the education in Nigeria#First generation universities, first generation universities in ...

, and then at the

University of Ghana The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It is the oldest public university in the country. The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the British colony of the Gold Coast ...

Legon Legon , a suburb of the Ghanaian city Accra, is situated about north-east of the city center in the Ayawaso West Municipal District, a district in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Legon is home to the main campus of the University of Ghana. ...

.Nwakanma, Obi
"Tribute: Francis Abiola Irele (1936 – 2017)"
''Vanguard'', 16 July 2017. He was editor of ''

Black Orpheus ''Black Orpheus'' ( Portuguese: ''Orfeu Negro'' ) is a 1959 romantic tragedy film directed by French filmmaker Marcel Camus and starring Marpessa Dawn and Breno Mello. It is based on the play '' Orfeu da Conceição'' by Vinicius de Moraes, ...

'' magazine, from 1968 until 1975. He also held teaching positions at the

University of Ife Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) is a federal university in Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1961 and classes commenced in October 1962 as the University of Ife by the regional government of Western Nigeria, which w ...

(now Obafemi Awolowo University), and in 1975 at the

University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public university located in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Initially founded as the University College Ibadan in 1948, it maintained its affiliation with the University of London. In 1962, it became an independe ...

, where he was Chair of Languages. In 1989, he moved to

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

in the U.S. as Professor of African, French and Comparative Literature. He was Provost at

, founded in 2009, in

, Nigeria. Before moving back to Nigeria, Irele was visiting professor of African and African American Studies and of Romance Languages and Literatures at

Négritude

Irele helped to expound upon the understanding of

Négritude ''Négritude'' (from French "nègre" and "-itude" to denote a condition that can be translated as "Blackness") is a framework of critique and literary theory, mainly developed by francophone intellectuals, writers, and politicians in the Africa ...

first theorized by

Aimé Césaire Aimé Fernand David Césaire (; ; 26 June 1913 – 17 April 2008) was a French poet, author, and politician from Martinique. He was "one of the founders of the Négritude movement in Francophone literature" and coined the word in French. He ...

in the magazine ''

L'Étudiant noir , subtitled (roughly translated as "The Black Student, Monthly Journal of the Association of Martinique Students in France"), is a journal created by the Martinican Aimé Césaire in 1935 in Paris. The Guyanese Léon-Gontran Damas published h ...

'' and then in his groundbreaking book ''

Cahier d'un retour au pays natal ''Cahier d'un retour au pays natal'' (first published in 1939, with two revised editions in 1947 and a final edition in 1956), variously translated as ''Notebook of a Return to My Native Land'', ''Return to My Native Land'', or ''Journal of a Home ...

'' (1939), in various articles, such as "A Defence of Negritude" in '' Transition'' (1964) or in the article "What is Negritude?" (1977). In his article, Irele defines Négritude as "the literary and ideological movement of French-speaking black intellectuals, which took form as a distinctive and significant aspect of the comprehensive reaction of the black man to the colonial situation...". In his collection of essays ''Négritude et condition africaine'', Irele explores the question of African thought. He begins by rejecting the notion of ideological difference between anglophone and francophone Africa. He aims to root African progress in the present and not in a romanticized past.

Death

Irele died at the age of 81 on 2 July 2017 in a US hospital. Tributes to him included a poem by

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 ...

Selected publications

* ''The African Imagination: Literature in Africa and the Black Diaspora'', Oxford University Press (paperback 2001), * ''The African Experience in Literature and Ideology'', Indiana University Press (reprint 1990), * Joint editor with

Simon Gikandi Simon E. Gikandi (born 30 September 1960) is a Kenyan Literature Professor and Postcolonial scholar. He is the Class of 1943 University Professor of English and Chair, Department of English at Princeton University. He is perhaps best known for h ...

of ''The Cambridge History of African and Caribbean Literature'', Cambridge University Press (2004), * "Négritude: Literature and ideology" in ''The African Philosophy Reader'',

References

External links

Photographs of Abiola Irele from the EBR African American Cultural Life digital collection, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
* Obi Nwakanma
"Tribute: Francis Abiola Irele (1936 – 2017)"
''Vanguard'', 16 July 2017. {{DEFAULTSORT:Irele, F. Abiola 1936 births 2017 deaths Academic staff of Kwara State University Academic staff of Obafemi Awolowo University Academic staff of the University of Ghana Academic staff of the University of Ibadan Academic staff of the University of Lagos American people of Yoruba descent Harvard University staff Nigerian emigrants to the United States Nigerian literary critics Ohio State University faculty University of Ibadan alumni University of Paris alumni Yoruba academics