Original classification rating: PG.
This clip chosen to be PG
Clip description
Soyinka tells Andrea Stretton that, for him, society’s biggest traitors are those who abuse language: tyrants like Hitler that use their great oratorical and persuasive skills to mock human progress.
Curator’s notes
This is a very moving interview between the great African Nobel laureate and the arts journalist and presenter Andrea Stretton. Wole Soyinka explains that even during his darkest times in jail, where he was kept in solitary confinement, he found a way to be creative. He wrote his book Madmen and Specialists (1970) on any scraps of paper that came his way. This bleak work appeared soon after his release. These days he tries to be more positive, because he wants to reflect the fact that so much of humanity simply refuses to lie down and die before the tyrants who rule them.
He is often criticised for being 'too Western’ but describes these critics as 'neo-Tarzanists’ who want Africans to return to wearing grass skirts and beating the tom-tom drum. He tries to offer moral ambiguity rather than certainty in his work, and writes with a love of satire.
Thanks to the generosity of the rights holders, we are able to offer Abuse of language from the television program Masterpiece Special – Wole Soyinka as a high quality video download.
To play the downloadable video, you need QuickTime 7.0, VLC, or similar.
You must read and agree to the following terms and conditions before downloading the clip:
australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.
All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.
When you access australianscreen you agree that:
- You may retrieve materials for information only.
- You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
- You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
- The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.
All other rights reserved.
ANY UNAUTHORISED USE OF MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY RESULT IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY.
This clip is available in the following configurations:
| File name | Size | Quality | Suitability |
|
mastwole2_pr.mp4
|
Large: 18.2MB |
High |
Optimised for full-screen display on a fast computer. |
|
mastwole2_bb.mp4
|
Medium: 8.6MB |
Medium |
Can be displayed full screen. Also suitable for video iPods. |
Right-click on the links above to download video files to your computer.
Thanks to the generosity of the rights holders, we are able to offer this clip in an embeddable format for personal or non-commercial educational use in full form on your own website or your own blog.
You must read and agree to the following terms and conditions before embedding the clip:
australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.
All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.
When you access australianscreen you agree that:
- You may retrieve materials for information only.
- You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
- You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
- The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.
All other rights reserved.
ANY UNAUTHORISED USE OF MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY RESULT IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY.
Copy and paste the following code into your own web page to embed this clip:
Share
