récolte de Kongi

by Wole Soyinka

Drama / Anthology

Genres: Plays, Drama, Africa, African Literature, Nigeria, School

86 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1965

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka, known as Wole Soyinka, is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature for his "wide cultural perspective and... poetic overtones fashioning the drama of existence", the first sub-Saharan African to be honoured in that category.
Soyinka was born into a Yoruba family in Abeokuta. In 1954, he attended Government College in Ibadan, and subsequently University College Ibadan and the University of Leeds in England. After studying in Nigeria and the UK, he worked with the Royal Court Theatre in London. He went on to write plays that were produced in both countries, in theatres and on radio. He took an active role in Nigeria's political history and its campaign for independence from British colonial rule. In 1965, he seized the Western Nigeria Broadcasting Service studio and broadcast a demand for the cancellation of the Western Nigeria Regional Elections. In 1967, during the Nigerian Civil War, he was arrested by the federal government of General Yakubu Gowon and put in solitary confinement for two years, for volunteering to be a non-government mediating actor.
Soyinka has been a strong critic of successive Nigerian (and African at large) governments, especially the country's many military dictators, as well as other political tyrannies, including the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe. Much of his writing has been concerned with "the oppressive boot and the irrelevance of the colour of the foot that wears it". During the regime of General Sani Abacha (1993–98), Soyinka escaped from Nigeria on a motorcycle via the "NADECO Route". Abacha later proclaimed a death sentence against him "in absentia". With civilian rule restored to Nigeria in 1999, Soyinka returned to his nation.
In Nigeria, Soyinka was a Professor of Comparative literature (1975 to 1999) at the Obafemi Awolowo University, then called the University of Ifẹ̀. With civilian rule restored to Nigeria in 1999, he was made professor emeritus. While in the United States, he first taught at Cornell University as Goldwin Smith professor for African Studies and Theatre Arts from 1988 to 1991 and then at Emory University, where in 1996 he was appointed Robert W. Woodruff Professor of the Arts. Soyinka has been a Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and has served as scholar-in-residence at New York University's Institute of African American Affairs and at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California. He has also taught at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard and Yale, and was also a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Duke University in 2008.
In December 2017, Soyinka was awarded the Europe Theatre Prize in the "Special Prize" category, awarded to someone who has "contributed to the realization of cultural events that promote understanding and the exchange of knowledge between peoples".

Reviews

[Madolyn Chukwu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting lady, Segi in this play. A very important woman, close to those at the top, and owner of a pulsating club where people gather to relax. A very hardworking and intelligent woman, and see how she startles the ruler near the end by putting decapitated head in his "plate"! Segi is very confident as well as alluring, not afraid to take the lead with the men in her life, inviting them to her bed in such poetic language. A memorable creation indeed

[Samir Rawas Sarayji · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soyinka’s themes of corruption, traditional (tribal) vs. modern governance, power struggle, and the occult are all featured here in the subtlest, most nuanced of manners. In fact, so much so, that I think unless a reader is familiar with West African tribal cultures or lived for some time in such a country, some layers may be missed when reading the text.
The magic of this play is that it never feels dense or trying, despite everything going on, which is really a testament to Soyinka’s playwright skills! Even the few short, humorous scenes, that help refocus a reader’s concentration, are layered with meanings and implications.
There is much to like in the craftsmanship of this play and in the cultural expositions around the themes. The main characters are all well-rounded and stand out from one another.

[Nana Fredua-Agyeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wole Soyinka's writings are like the palm kernel: difficult to penetrate but once inside it is all sweetness; however, even when the reading seem simple, the meaning is far hidden within a hard epicarp. The Nobelist is always on a different plane with his works and do not make things easy for the reader. The fun is for the reader to discover his or her own understanding or interpretation, just like any work of art. Yet, it is difficult for one to say 'Eureka' when it comes to Soyinka's works and I definitely am far from shouting famous Greek phrase. His Madmen and Specialists still keeps me thinking, more than a year later.

Kongi's Harvest (EPP Book Services, FP: 1965; 90) is no different. It is a complete Soyinka in words and spirit. Interspersed with humour, as most plays are, the story portrays the clash between traditional rule, represented by the Oba Danlola, and the modern system of governance, represented by Kongi. The dramatist extraordinaire, as usual mocks the political system - that elitist establishment draped in a facade of citizenry representation, especially the supposed modern system that is expected or projected to turn things around with one wave of the wand but which has become the route to accumulating wealth and power.

continue here http://freduagyeman.blogspot.com/2013...

[Illiterate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Postcolonial African politics, with its dictators, corruption, & violence, doesn’t augur well for fertility & prosperity.

[shruti · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and insightful play. Loved the narration and the songs. It was beautiful and I loved it. A play worth reading.

[Ojeifo Ohis · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting piece of literary work. Wole Soyinka shows the struggle between the new world and the old world, the disrespect of the elders.

[Chanda Fanuel]

Kongi's harvest is a book which makes people lough and have fun
i enjoyed the book and loved the characters in the book, for it is a book with a very strong conflict between the traditional leardership and modern leardership.
its a book full of addiction and inspiration at the same time.

[Jakob Myers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shows its age as an early work of Soyinka, less refined both politically and artistically than The Lion and the Jewel or Death and the King's Horseman. The characters, however, are engagingly drawn caricatures; there are a few good lines here and there.

[Craig Werner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shakespearean in structure--think Richard II or one of the Henry IV plays--Kongi's Harvest explores the clash of traditional African cultural practices with post-independence political rituals. Unsparing, funny, and almost certainly better on stage than on the page.

[Kate Moyo · Rating 5 out of 5]

its a very educative book

[Rebecca Nkhoma]

Yes

[John Kaluiji · Rating 4 out of 5]

good book.

[Mwelwa Kay Malunga · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just struggled with reading this book. I just couldn't grasp the story properly.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this as much as the Lion and the Jewel. I think it requires some more background knowledge. In research after reading, I discovered the New Yam Festival is real. Information and details that would have helpful in understanding and enjoying the play.

[Jerome Kuseh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice play.

[Onyekachi Obie]

its cool

[Beverley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay. Not great.

[Juan Degay]

GREAT!!!

[ACHULO EMMANUEL]

characterisation in kongis harvest