African Notes Vol. 38 No. 2 2014, pp. 71-77

Africa and the Literature of Unfreedom

Sola Olorunyomi , Ibadan,

Introduction forebears found allies in other genres for When I grow up I’d like to be a dog... creative expressivity. For instance, by playing (A little girl in a Warsaw Ghetto) the codifier, through speech surrogacy, music became a viable nest for treasured information, The muse as'endangeredspecie and hidden critique. The early jester, In their book, Extreme Situations. ■.. David Craig “remembrancer” and court poet all comingled, and Michael Egan write, detailing the behaviour yet finding a little space to get at the Genre. of literature in the interwar years: “In the ghetto Even great minds in history will eventually in Warsaw in 1914, Ludwik Hirszfeld asked a want the poet banned from the Republic; and little girl, ‘What would you like to be.’ She over the period, they did get banned, even answered, ‘A dog, because the sentries like harmed in ways too shameful to recount to dogs’.” contemporary civilsation. And it was not a Literature continues to recount and habit contained by the diversity of our transform experience, such as has been geographies ... just wherever power relations described above. No doubt, literature has over felt threatened sufficiently enough. And the the ages b^emg^onstantly affronted, largely infamous apartheid system of South Africa was because it stokes the imagination. Imagination yet one such case in point. continues to serve as a cypher for a universal A bit of the anti-apartheid literature got language; and, in a way, it is'not particularly smuggled out and the rest of the continent held suprising that workers of the imaginative its breath, reading lines written in blood, enterprise UNIVERSITY have hlso had to contend, OF IBADANdescribing sanguine LIBRARY tales of horror, in lonely, simultaneously, with a universal.language of lonsome cells - homes of the extra-judicial applause and censorship. killings of that era, etc. And. then, Chinua Long before the age of writing, our Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, will occasionally 72 Sola Dlorunyomi

cross the wall of the divide, and bring down Regional Cultural Forms the prison’walls for the Madiba, Nelson Braude Mandela. Tell Freedom, Mine Boy, Children of Soweto, also from the South, fired the The major player in organising writers now is imagination of the African youth across the the Congress of South African Writers continent. And it became clear, suppress as you (COSAW), which has regional groups may, the imagination has ultimate triumph. I throughout the country and. is organised thought we could go through all this and nationally. Then you have an affiliate publishing capture this rare era in the literary history, as house called The COSAW Publishing which well as the conceptual-theoretical impulse of actively looks for contemporary and primarily Africa’s response. An initial draft with writers black writers. They come out probably with m exile from apartheid, especially after the about five titles a year and that includes all the Soweto uprising of 1976, could no longer be genres. They also run essay and short story found, so I itemised five broad thematic areas competitions. * and went on field in 1994, to assist in the reconstruction of our history, albeit literary and Lupenga existential, and projections on the future of was a pioneer in the establishment of literature,on the continent and South Africa a forum for writers. They started the Malawi particularly. One after the other from .their Writers Group in 1961, which then became a different venues of presentation, I got the model for several others in the region and writers to respond to those similar themes the Africa. The pioneer members were made up Association (ALA) of Malawian writers and many other writers conference of the same year, held in Accra, from different parts of Africa such as Sudan j Ghana. The areas of emphases were regional and Nigeria. cultural forms, exile, repression and writing, I had-the honour of being part of that effort.. publishing and national literature and post­ This organisation had functioned very well, but apartheid literature; and the writers were because of the very oppressive regime of Mmbulelo Mzamane (South African), Lupenga Banda, it had to adopt specific tactics of Mphande (Malawian), Claudia Braude (South survival. This specific contexts therefore bore African), Lokangaka Losambe (Zairean) and on the form of the poetry, short stories and Odia Ofeimun (Nigerian). I am indebted to drama that emerged; it 'is indeed a credit to their sharing of their time, this rare archival that form that we survived till date. A lot of us experience and insight which, hopefully, will got into trouble of imprisonment and banning; be of benefit to the researcher on literature some had to leave - including Frank Chipasula under repression,UNIVERSITY and the capacity ofOF the IBADANwho left immediately LIBRARY he was released. I and hu^man.agency. Jack [Mapanje] stayed on for a while until he Africa and the Literature of Unfreedom 73

was picked and locked* up for'four years; a Exile, Repression and Writing similar fate I suffered. Losamba , These are symbols or resistance which I ( 9 think are very commendable for the writer in It has been a problem in Zaire, arid that problem has not been solved. Gradually, people are now Africa. These writers owe a lot to the writers’ able to criticise in journal articles and some group; this is the forum through which they, expressed themselves when Banda deliberately other media, unlike in the mid-seventies. » , Emasculated opinions are reemerging due to a trampled on them.

* certain kind of liberalisation that has been forced by democratic movements. Even in Mzamane Malawi, this shift is evident. We must remember that the South African I am at the moment putting up a collection, regime has been hostile to the movement of which I have not yet found a title for. It’s a progressive forces in and out of South Africa, long epic poem on the Zairean history, so there has not been a possibility at all by the recording the history from pre-colonial times simple experience of refusing people passport to the present. I am also collaborating on a of moving and interacting regionally. Therefore, project on African writings and the discourse of you may not, owing to this fact, have a regional Other; tracing all the shades of that discourse in association as such. But there are regional African literamre right from its inception. associations at anothor level economically speaking, one of which is the South African Mzamane , Development Coordinating Commission t 9 (SADCC). It has been a very viable I am not sure it is very easy to describe how configuration of various countries as well. In the exile situation has affected intellectual other words, there is something on the ground, output because, for me, it is like asking one if already of a regional nature. Now that South they burnt more effectively inside an oven or Africa is poised to join and become part and on top of the stove. For me, burning is burning. parcel of that region, it stands to gain and and The responses in these situations are contribute very significantly to that process. contiguous with survival and you don’t have One can assume definitely that what you are much time for anything else but that. I have going to see at other levels: economic, political, had to work in most parts of the African cultural and academic will also rub on the continent. I never had the luxury to be in any writers themselves. The most recent issue of one place in a rooted sort of way: I was not the Staffrider, which has been most just an exile, I was also an expatriate.-My representativeUNIVERSITY of writers in South Africa, isOF in IBADANchildren too had toLIBRARY take that particular impact fact a Southern African issue with writers from so that my youngest daughter by the time she Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Angola, Zambia - had spent nine years in school, had been to as the entire South being very, prominently many as nine different schools. represented there. I am not saying all has been negative; people 74 Sola Olorunyomi

have raised the negative sides of exile. W hen I have been made by Banda, so we are going to' think of it now, I obviously garnered a great have elections in May. deal of experience, and I use that word as an But having said that, the situation for the all-encompassing sort of theme. My, eyes were writer hasn’t changed very much, even if it is opened to many situations which otherwise true that the room for self expression has may not have been the case. I think from the widened. There are newspapers now, unlike in perspective of the writer I can only think, of the past when there was only one newspaper Pasheley’s metaphor about how when you which belonged to Banda. The danger that the really want to see a tree you move back a little Malawian writer faces goes beyond Banda. The and then you can take in the whole tree, but writer still faces harsh conditions largely that may also mean that you cannot touch it, because of the imposition of the Structural you cannot smell it; then you move closer and Adjustment Programme (SAP) by the • then you are able to exercise those senses. It International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the has been both processes, I think I have been World Bank. This has really sapped the energy able to cultivate an objective perspective, but of the Malawian writer because it is very simultaneously I’ve lost that kind of intimacy.' difficult to find newsprint; it is therefore difficult to buy books. The university has the Lupenga ■ only bookshop, but because the prices of books Malawi has over the years produced some very are so high, people couldn’t afford them; hence„ outstanding writers like David Rubadiri, Jack the bookshop was closed down. School fees Mapanje and so on. The problem has always are very high while salaries are very low. All been the political atmosphere. Don’t forget, these have implications for the writer. Banda is still alive, even if not hale and hearty. Publishing and National Literature He collapsed recently and the rumour mill had it that he had died, but no, after*three weeks he ■ Mzamane I think on the one hand one can talk of a came back having been rushed to i Johannesburg. Perhaps people would have to recession which generally even in international wait for a while on that. He once said he will circles has made publishers wary of taking out never die, that he is poised to live forever. The more books than they can sell. So there is reality of this situation has condemned some something related there, it has to do with the of us into exile. international monetary context in which we.are The situation has been changing gradually all operating. though, largelyUNIVERSITY because of the struggle within OF IBADANIn the context LIBRARYof South Africa one is the country. These struggles have in the main' talking of a transition, and a transition by been championed by the university students, definition is a time of reassessment, a time of the Catholic Bishop, the workers and the relative inactivity and so, there might appear international community which is also fed up to be a kind of calm in the process itself. But I with Banda. As a result of all this, concessions think it would be deceptive not to See this as a

i Africa and the Literature of Unfreedom 75 wav of getting ready for the next great leap. government level this is an acknowledgement Pherc is a great reorganisation of civil of the need to be promoting indigenous spurts in South Africa, that is best exemplified literatures. I feel that it might be a process that hv the manner m which the Congress of South would be clearer than people might like A fin m Writers (COSAW) has reorganised I do not know of any projects to translate. it- elf In the past, it was working hand-in-glove I know however that in my publishing house, ■ ith the liberation movement. Recently, they we’ve been talking about translating Athol h ts c realised that the liberation movement of Fugard from English to Xosa, for example. > '.tudas ts pmsed t'o be the government of Even though I talk of an active literary scene, tod.iv, Fherefore. as artists, they see their I must also acknowledge the recession. This autonomy, they see their independence as simply implies that it is difficult to publish as p iitictil trly important, and therefore they are often as people would like, but at the same time, re (x wit k hi ing t hemselves. stuff is being published. There are,some And similarly, new publishing houses that interesting projects, one of which rriight interest arc < (JSAW-sponsored are on the count and the discussion is a Comic Project put together definitely making great in-roads into the by a story-teller group in Johannesburg. They publishing arena, and there are new publishing are involved in adult literacy projects and have ventures which are-a combination of been reducing materials to easy-reading for commerce, a combination of companies set adults. Of late they have produced a hook of up hv the liberation movements, a combination graphic short stories, w ith short stories by Can of Nt iOs as well that are in the offing. I think Themba and Bessie Head, all South African the future for us is indeed very, very bright in writers, in graphic form, and it is very some aspects. sophisticated, visually interesting, and easy to read.. They have black super heroes, but B ra u de •, generally they are very realistic and historical A I a . ’I publishing going on is primarily at this in approach. point in I nglish. but there is a very strong m • -gmtion ofthe need to nurture and promote Post-Apartheid Literature indigenous literatures. So, for example, the B rau de government has recognised eleven official That is what everyone has been asking and I languages in .the country, unlike in the past think a lot has to he defined. It is quite unclear when Imlv I nglish and Afrikaan were the only at the moment. Will literature witness a strong official languages. movement away from anti-apartheid protest I lie idea UNIVERSITYbehind that is thatthese languages OF IBADAN LIBRARY literature and theatre? I see people writing more h,n c been timlet promoted in the past such that on the psychological impact of apartheid, it is now necessary to be putting resources into history, language, women, exile and the promoting these literatures. On a national environment. It is so uncertain.

2* 76 Sola Olorunydmi .

i* ' , Losambe as truth and beauty. I do not agree at all. Literature in Southern Africa is really becoming Resistance culture is there to stay in one form very, very vibrant. It also has a radical edge to or the other. this development. New writers are emerging, Secondly, people who have made these and there is a magazine called Staffrider which claims have been using the European models, is published by COSAW, in order to encourage citing Spain, Poland. Soviet Union and so on. new writings. It is increasingly assisting more But what has happened in Eastern Europe is writings, even in the local languages. At the too recent to be used as a model. In other words, moment, Mzamane’s work is being translated the best model for South Africa may be Africa into Xosa. Zaire does not Jiave a long tradition itself. Within the South African context itself, of creative writing partly owing to the nature, there is a very organic cultural pro,cess, then of the repression. Others like Mudimbe, Ngao within the Southern African region, the and some young writers are however emerging: continent and finally the black diasapora, you and their tradition is different from the can find parallels. People should not miss this missionary educated writers of old. and jump to models in Eastern Europe. I think post-apartheid literature will now If you take the example of (the shift its focus. There is bound to be a re- MauMau, and Algeria, the FLN), it becomes allignment of the class equation with middle very interesting to see what happens, after* class blacks now moving into areas hitherto independence. The resistance culture did not reserved for whites. This would obviously die with independence; it reformulated itself, become an issue in the emerging literature. It and in very different ways. In the case of, could in fact follow the pattern of Nigerian Kenya, it moved towards radical left. So you literature and those of other post-independence have Ngugi wa Thiong'o concentrating on what African countries, which after decolonisation is happening in culture within the Kenyan had to reorientate its criticism towards the new political scene. But in Algeria, its reformulation elite. I can already see that satirical tinge that was in a diametrically opposed pattern- from would emerge. what happened in Kenya. What you got was Islamic fundamentalism. So the resistance Lupenga * would still be there, right wing, left wing or A lot of people have asked me that question whatever. Here, the resistance process has about what would happen to South African arisen organically from the social and political literature after the elections in April. I think a context of that country. lot of people are very mistaken about what’s Sharigaan music is in a way the gqing to happen.UNIVERSITY I have heard people say OF reformulatedIBADAN genre LIBRARYof South African music, because South African literature has been which affirms indigenous modes. Don’t forget largely resistance literature, therefore post­ also that the forces of oppression won’t cease apartheid literature would be irrelevant and after liberation and some sections of society V people would go back to abstract notions such would feel oppressed. Africa and the Literature of Unfreedom 77

Ofeimun he argues that in this interregnum there arises • a great diversity of morbid symptoms. That It will be a literature of disillusionment for some classes of South Africans, no matter how almost suggests the pains of giving birth. The process is painful, the process is agonising, the well the post-apartheid state works; some people who had advantages before and may process is uncertain, so what you are likely to see then is multipledayered. I want to propose now have to lose them are bound to,respond in certain ways. that we are going to'have to contend with the But there is another side to it; there would transition itself. The psychology of transition be tthose literatures which may be initially ' such as people like Chekov deal with when the celebratory until they discover that building Russians were freed from Serfdom, there are problems that come with it. When the African does require more than celebration. Perhaps slaves were freed in America, there are because of the violence that would announce problems that come with it. So, you are likely the new state, it may not be possible for to have transitional themes of that kind. Some literature to be as celebratory as it should be. That function of literature to help simply themes from the past that people vocalise now since they have always wanted to do so; in galvanise people may become something of a other words, apartheid themes are also likely different nature ih the sense that literature may to endure. This is what happened in Kenya enter this very period already divided. That is, when even after independence people returned instead of having a common conception of to themes on the Mau Mau experience. But citizenship, it may begin by recognising those differences that need to be bridged. also as people come back home, they bring various experiences. So you are also likely to A parallel can be drawn with the Nigerian experience, even though many people may not witness the exile «novel, the exile poem being retold now for the consumption of our people. see it that way. Remove the issue of pigmenta­ tion and all the problems are also in Nigeria.1 You are also bound to have writings dealing with everyday experience; I think what is going This similarity has not come to the fore because in the bid to defeat apartheid, many Nigerians . to be exciting about the era we are entering is would not emphasise our own internal that thank God, we can now whisper sweet nothings into the ears of our sweet hearts. And problems in order not to give comfort to I think that is something to look forward to. apartheid. But other people would be wrestling with . ' t the nature of the new regime itself as watch­ Mzamane dogs, which is one task of the writer in a As I have been arguing of late, the way to context; while others would be searching for characterise UNIVERSITYthe present conjuncture in South OF IBADANsolutions ofa far reaching LIBRARY nature ais well. I think Africa is to think in terms of what Gramsci we are entering a stage of normalcy known says, I am quoting very loosely: that the old is elsewhere ih the former colonised world. dying and the new has not yet been born. And