LITERARY CRITICISM
What a work! A literary tour de force. This book
encompasses robust intellectual eclectic criticism of major African writers
over the decades.
No writer is spared, no matter their achievements
or corpus of awesome works (only perhaps Wole Soyinka). The peerless Chinua
Achebe does not come out too well, though the critic is only too aware of his
global reputation.
Pearce inter
alia writes: "But this is hardly surprising when one considers the
paucity of his (Achebe's) understanding of the contemporary society he
portrayed...". The great T M Aluko, and many others are criticised in this
vein too.
The towering Ngugi wa Thiong'o? He "...has at
least applied with characteristic thoroughness in his more recent work, with
disastrous results"... and of course Okara's celebrated work, The Voice, is a "disaster "
too. As for Ekwensi's Jagua Nana's
Daughter, which many of us felt was vivid and thrilling, the critic assures
us it is an "unmitigated disaster".
We wince when the exalted critic continually
refers to the "inept prose/writing" or "appalling
style/prose" of Africa's best writers, then he proceeds to quote such
examples from their work. Alas, for we mere mortals such quotes often look
superb and well written!
One would have thought that our critic would laud
Ben Okri, who at barely 20 years old had already published two world class
novels, Flowers and Shadows; and The
landscapes Within. But though Pearce acknowledges the achievement of this
(now) all time great writer, he still does not believe that the works are a
"success", including Okri's The Famished Road, which won the
prestigious Booker Award!
The impression one would finally get probably is
that the critic here expects the very highest of literary standards and enjoys
evaluating the best of African writing even if they always somewhat fall short
as far as he is concerned!
- R. Mokoena
Criticism of the highest order, no doubt...but as a bibliophile friend of mine would say, Do we want to scare both writers and readers from literature?? lol
ReplyDeleteAnd does the great critic 'approve' of African female writers?
ReplyDeleteAt least by focusing his heightened critical lenses on the writers, it is a tribute of a kind !
ReplyDeleteNo wonder many dismiss 'critics' as 'failed writers'...
ReplyDeleteIt has never ceased to amaze me how the critics can suddenly declare that one work has ‘failed’ or ‘succeeded’ , ‘is a disaster’, ‘lacks so and so’…especially since other eminent critics might state the very opposite, laud a book which another critic has pulled down! Or let us look at it simply, critics are supposed to be writers themselves… how can a critic who has never produced any memorable work of fiction attack a novelist like Achebe whose works have sold millions around the world, the books loved in virtually every country in the world with countless translations into other languages being brought out? If the critic is so good, why can’t he/she produce such a work too? After all, it is much easier to destroy than to build. I have no grouse with Adewale Maja Pearce, he is a man of great intellect; however the first
ReplyDeletetime I really took notice of him was when Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka angrily took aim at him (Pearce) and dismissed him in wholesale fashion. I think most writers would feel like this about a critic too quick to pull down all they’ve built art-wise, when such a critic has never come close to bringing out anything as good as what he or she is condemning. Anyway, does a critic have to focus on needless negativity?
I guess most writers are scared of critics anyway! One should just view them as complements to Literature, and they often draw attention to a work, and their views can even be used for record/scholarly purposes
ReplyDeleteActually I love books which focus on literary interpretation, evaluation etc...obviously such works should ideally not be too negative or 'provocative'
ReplyDeleteInteresting views. It does on the surface looks disrespectful for Africa's top writers to be given short shrift, or condemned. Shouldn't we be encouraging them?
ReplyDelete