Soyinka discusses diversity, religion

Wole Soyinka, the first African Nobel laureate, discussedthe pillars of human spirituality and diversity in religion in a lecture Tuesday.

Soyinka was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1986. His work often tells stories of democracy, government, religion and tensions around tradition and progress.

English professor Simon Gikandi, introduced Soyinka as the “creator of African library” as well as the one who represents a symbol of a towering tree with an invaluable reference.

Gikandi also noted how Soyinka was an activist and a writer who “intervened in the most troubled areas of Africa in the late 20th century” as well as represented “its desire and more importantly voiced its frustration.”

Soyinka explained to the audiences the meaning behind the titles of his lectures. Soyinka connected his work to the four hundred notation of Shakespeare and said that it was most gratifying for him to prepare this type of contribution.

He noted that the “sweet uses of diversity” that he acknowledges in his work can be found rooted in Shakespeare’s quote “sweet are the uses of adversity.”

“The seizure of the human condition is now moving towards its uplifting desire,” he said.

He added that nothing has produced as much diversity as the phenomenon of religion, which he called the “schism of schism.”

“Religion is the work of imagination,” Soyinka said. He noted the spiritual constructs that spiritual diversity have imposed on the world as he argued that diversity is the lesson of the millennia and the product of schisms.

The talk highlighted these entities and themes of “correlative freedom,” which Soyinka described as “enhanced, adorned and rendered.”

Soyinka noted the power of choice as well as the profound emphasis on the internal dynamics of humanity.

“There is no escaping imperative of choice,” Soyinka said. Soyinka argued that not acknowledging this entity of choice is to deny one’s self of their existential will. He described this as an exercise that mandates on our behalf.

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Soyinka noted the powers of internal freedom and the freedom of the individual. According to Soyinka, the underlining and threading of humanity is what has shaped the human condition. He explained that this is a constant phenomenon of life.

When asked what his books were about during a question and answer session after the lecture, Soyinka said, “My books are about the very phenomenon of life… They are about you.”

The lecture, “Sweet are the Uses of Diversity,” is the second part of his three-part lecture series, “Commencement Rites at the Tree of Creativity," which Soyinka is delivering as part of the annual Toni Morrison Lecture Series. The lecture was hosted by Department of African American Studies and took place at 5:30 in McCosh 10.