Hi Ebrima,
I have been very busy for the past few days, hence no mail from my end as
per the Soyinka/Mazrui saga. It is apparent that you do know some of the
root causes of the fracas between the two scholars. Do you still need the
articles they have been circulating on the net about their stands on
issues pertaining to the Skip Gate documentary? I mistakenly deleted them,
but as promised, I should be able to lay hands on them should the need
arise. Please let me know.
Best regards,
Madiba.
PS: I am busy preparing for a conference, hence the silence.
On Wed, 23 Feb 2000, ebrima ceesay wrote:
> Gambia L,
>
> If you could recall, I did say, the other day, that Wole Soyinka is a devout
> Christian and Ali Mazrui a devout Muslim, but my good brother Latjorr Ndow
> held a different view.
>
> Well, a short while ago, I decided to contact Professor Karin Barber, who is
> now the Director of the Centre of West African Studies, University of
> Birmingham, and asked her whether or not, it was fair to refer to Wole
> Soyinka as a "devout Christian" as I already did.
>
> But before giving you her answer to my enquiries, I'll introduce Karin
> briefly, so that people would know that she is a competent person to talk
> about Wole Soyinka and the Yorubas.
>
> For your information, professor Karin Barber's research interests are the
> sociology of literature and popular culture, with special reference to the
> Yoruba-speaking area of Nigeria.
>
> She researched and taught for many at the University of Ife, now Obafemi
> University, and has undertaken extensive fieldwork on Yoruba oral
> literature, religious ideas and practices, and popular travelling theatre.
> She is recognised as a leading scholar in these fields, has supervised
> research students on a wide range of topics relating to them.
>
> So this was how my conversation with her went a short while ago: "Karin,
> Ebrima here..... Tell me, was I right or wrong in calling Wole Soyinka a
> devout Christian," I had asked her.
>
> And she replied: "Well, Wole Soyinka is surely from a very strong Christian
> background; in fact, I know his family in Nigeria well, and I do know, for a
> fact, that they are very good practising Christians. Wole himself was also
> brought up as a Christian; but I understand he now uses an African religion
> (Yoruba) as well, and in fact he feels very strongly about it"...
>
> Asked further whether I was right or wrong in accusing him of having a
> pro-Yoruba agenda/bias, but because I am not sure whether her answer was off
> the record or on the record, I have decided to withhold it. But it was
> certainly an interesting anwswer anyway!!
>
> Actually, the conservation between Karin and myself was longer than this,
> but some of it, unfortunately, was off the record.
>
> I also contacted - this morning - a veteran professor of African studies who
> is keenly following the Soyinka/Ali Mazrui debate, but he however wishes to
> remain anonymous. All the same, he said, in his view too, religious
> differences were certainly PART of the root cause of the animosity between
> these two "great" African scholars.
>
> He said while Wole Soyinka's works hardly conveys his religious beliefs, he,
> nonetheless, strongly believes and defends his religion at all times. He has
> always accused Ali Mazrui of marginalising the African traditional religions
> and christianity as well, the professor added.
>
> Equally, Ali Mazrui is a very strong believer and defender of Islam. So it
> is very fair to say, according to this veteran professor, that differences
> in religion or beliefs have indeed been ONE of the MAJOR root causes of the
> hostility between the two scholars.
>
> "But now there is more to it than just religion", the veteran professor
> declared.
>
> I hope this clarification would help some of us, and surely this would
> certainly be my last piece on this sensitive subject!! We have far more
> important issues to address than this one.
>
> Ebrima Ceesay
>
>
>
> >From: latjor ndow <[log in to unmask]>
> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
> ><[log in to unmask]>
> >To: [log in to unmask]
> >Subject: Re: The Root Cause of the animosity between Mazrui & Soyinka
> >Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 10:13:20 PST
> >
> >I am not sure if the fight between Soyinka and Mazrui can be neatly bottled
> >into a christian vs. muslim paradigm as Ebrima seems to suggest. If one
> >wishes to understand fully the debate, I would think that the works of
> >these
> >writers must be an integral part to one's analysis of the situation or as
> >Mr. Ceesay puts it, one's "interpretative journalism"!
> >Just wondering if Mr. Ceesay has read Soyinka's works? If so what is
> >christian about Soyinka's works? Does Soyinka's works not utilize a
> >traditional African religious (i.e. Yoruba) backdrop more so than a
> >christian one?
> >
> >Latjor
> >______________________________________________________
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