A more personal Republic is here. Get notified when there’s something new to read!
Historian, author of What Britain Did to Nigeria and ‘The Wizard of Kirsten Hall’, Max Siollun, thinks that most people have the wrong perception of pre-colonial Africa: ‘Many people do not realize that many Africans were literate, educated, and lived in complex societies with democratic governments, and even had international diplomatic relations with each other and with European countries.’
First Draft is our interview column, featuring authors and other prominent figures on books, reading, and writing.
Our questions are italicized.
What books or kinds of books did you read growing up?
I had eclectic reading tastes as a child. I was a voracious reader and read things as varied as folk-tales, history, sci-fi, sportsbooks, and even comics!
If you could rewrite a classic book/text, which would it be and why?
Not one classic text. If I had my way, I would replace the plethora of one-sided biographies about the civil war by asking the authors to get together and collaborate on writing a new revised history of the war together. It would be great to get multiple perspectives from them in the same source.
If I had my way, I would replace the plethora of one sided biographies about the civil war by asking the authors to get together and collaborate on writing a new revised history of the war together.
What’s the last book/article you disagreed with, and why?
Not one publication per se. However, I am not a fan of the ‘Nigeria is doomed’ literature genre from some segments of the American and Nigerian writing community. Nigeria definitely has serious problems. However, the constant production of apocalyptic predictions about Nigeria places people on an emotional knife-edge and discourages people abroad (both Nigerians and foreigners) from visiting or investing in the country. By all means, we should highlight problem areas. However, the constant threat warnings about an impending Nigerian apocalypse sometimes appear like a self-fulfilling prophecy.
What’s a common misconception about African history?
There is a common misconception (even among Africans) that pre-colonial Africa was a backward and primitive place full of illiterate people until the Europeans arrived to colonize and civilize Africans. Many people do not realize that many Africans were literate, educated, and lived in complex societies with democratic governments, and even had international diplomatic relations with each other and with European countries. One of the largest universities in the world was located in West Africa and it had 25,000 students as far back as 500 years ago. Unfortunately, centuries of propaganda regarding African ‘primitiveness’ have so deeply ingrained into the African psyche, that Africans themselves contribute to the inferiority propaganda.
There is a common misconception (even among Africans) that pre-colonial Africa was a backward and primitive place full of illiterate people until the Europeans arrived to colonize and civilize Africans.
The Republic is a Nigerian media-tech company dedicated to explaining our time—through deeply reported journalism on power, culture and society.
Focused consumption without interruptions.
Years of reporting at your fingertips.
Long-form journalism that matters.
Create a free account to continue reading this month and access more of our work.
About the Author
is a historian and author who specializes in Nigeria's history. He has written some of the most acclaimed books on Nigeria's history. His most recent book is What Britain Did to Nigeria: A Short History of Conquest and Rule.
Nigerian novelist, poet and author of Graceland, Chris Abani, does not believe ‘Nigerian literature’ exists as a category: ‘It is a common misconception that there is a fixed category that can be read as essentially “Nigerian literature”. Nigeria has 500 nations, 500 languages and about 2,000 dialects. While culture and language can overlap, the level of diversity is such that Nigerian literature cannot be easily narrowed down.’
For the co-founder and publishing director, of Cassava Republic Press, which marks its 20th anniversary this year, Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, it is telling that African literature is often pronounced dead in recent years, when more women and queer voices are becoming more prominent: ‘The loudest obituary writers about African literature tend to be men. These elegies seem to come from a tacit sense of personal or generational displacement rather than from the actual state of the field.’
Nigerian poet, novelist and author of Madame Sosostris and the Festival for the Broken-Hearted, Ben Okri, argues that Nigerian literature doesn’t always have to be about Nigeria: ‘Nigerian literature limits itself to Nigeria and then limits even the ways in which the country can be written about. What we want is a vast literature, a great literature…that speaks to all humanity.’
Comments
Sign in to comment.