Ken Saro-Wiwa (1941–1995)

> Sozaboy (Pétit Minitaire), de Ken SARO-WIWA (Traduit de l’anglais par Samuel Millogo et Amadou Bissiri, Actes Sud, 312 p., 148 francs.) ;
Le Dieu des petits riens by Arundhati ROY (Traduit de l’anglais par Claude Demanuelli, Gallimard, 386 p., 130 francs.)
Se reporter au compte rendu de Jean-Pierre NAUGRETTE
In: Revue des Deux Mondes, (Septembre 1998), pp. 154-159… ; (en ligne),
URL : https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Lgbql1DhgEbkg9_xq6Ci5_GKR79qAlDW/view?usp=shari...… (más)

Another read from my Human Rights literature class, except not a very enjoyable one. Our main protagonist is Mene, a young and naïve man who wants to enlist in the army to protect his woman (Agnes), stand up for his hometown, Dukana, along with many other reasons. Mene is tempted by the glory of war, but doesn't really understand how it functions, and how brutal it really is.

In Sozaboy, we aren't given a lot of background information as readers so it's confusing to how some characters get to be the way they are. We also don't get too much explanation of locations and war sides, the word "enemy" seems to be used interchangeably. Perhaps this is on purpose? And the main character chooses to omit things that he doesn't understand or think is significant which also adds to the confusion.

I had a hard time reading this. One of the reasons was the use of "rotten English"/vernacular that used in the book (even though it provides the glossary in the back). I have read many books with a vernacular/dialect, but none were as difficult as this! It was definitely a challenge. I also didn't connect with the book very well because the text prevents the reader from placing themselves in the story.
… (más)

Nuova edizione del primo titolo apparso in italiano (l’altro è “Sozaboy”, Baldini Castoldi Dalai, oltre al suo diario-testamento, “Un mese e un giorno”, Dalai) dello scrittore e autore televisivo nigeriano impiccato nel novembre del 1995 con altri militanti ogoni. Saro-Wiwa organizzò in maniera nonviolenta la sua gente del Delta del Niger, vittima del disastro ambientale provocato dalle compagnie petrolifere, in particolare la Shell.
La sua opera letteraria ha comunque un valore intrinseco, anche a prescindere dalle sue battaglie. Qui leggiamo una ventina di racconti dai quali emerge tanto il suo gusto per la vita quanto un’efficace satira sociale. «Voleva assumere lavoratori dal Ghana. Li chiamò ghananiani. I ghananiani erano tutti molto preparati e affamati. Un pasto al giorno sarebbe bastato a soddisfarli»…… (más)

I jumped at this book when I saw the author. I recognised his name from Amnesty International articles I read years ago. Ken Saro Wiwa was a tireless environmental campaigner in Nigeria. He advocated for non violent protest against the Nigerian government and petroleum company Shell, who had polluted the land of the Ogoni people and refused to compensate or clean up the mess. He was arrested for some laughable crime, and hanged in 1995 at the hands of the military government. It was an international outrage and prompted a wave of support for local regions fighting against military-backed multi-nationals who were pillaging the land and moving on.

So, the book.

Lemona is a beautiful Nigerian woman, she is in jail, sentenced to death for the murder of a married couple. She has served over 20 years so far for another murder, never to speak of her crime or to receive visitors. So when someone visits her on her last day, it creates a stir for both her and the prison staff. The person is able to extract from her her life story, and the book is the tale that was told.

I forgave the book its basic language as was able to read it as if it was being spoken by Lemona to her visitor. She was jaded after so long imprisoned, abandoned and grief-stricken from the events leading up to her incarceration. Her account was believable and very sad, even if it wasnt fleshed out by pages of descriptive wadding. Lemona seems to have been a victim of her beauty, sought after by many, but always unsure for what reasons. Her life is interesting and plausible, and her story terribly foreboding of the authors fate.… (más)