Wole Soyinka is a man of many opinions, but so is the average Nigerian. If the recent talk concerning AFCON and Nigeria's fate in it is not enough proof, the everyday battle of wits on the streets, in the pubs, churches, market places, etcetera, should seal the deal. However, is it a cultural thing? It might as well be, as culture is a way of life or the essential whole consisting of beliefs, ideologies, traditions, customs, rules, regulations, modes of dressing, food, language etc which make up the man in his interaction with society.
Culture can be expressed in several different ways, and a theory that provides the avenue to analyse the portrayal of culture in a literary text is the Cultural Literary Theory. This theory examines how culture is represented, or appears in a particular literary text, and how it affects the overall development of characters or interests in the text.
This theory, in line with Contemporary Criticism, has been applied to Wole Soyinka's Aké: The Years of Childhood, in order to discover how culture is portrayed in the text.
The major concept that would be applied in this criticism is that of Signifying Practices. The signifying practices examined here include dressing, religion and spirituality, food, song, and political structure.
We can see how culture is portrayed in the attire of the characters at different occasions and roles in their lives. The dressing of the characters in the novel consists of different set of wears. We see how Wole and Osiki wear dansiki but Wole does not wear shoes, even to special occasions. At school, they put on a shirt with shorts, still without shoes. When the Soyinka family go to the village for New Year celebrations, they meet the women in buba, wrappers and shawls of varying shades of indigo. They also see headgears. The women in Isara also have the practice of tattooing their bodies with dye, as well as having incisions on their faces.
Also, in Wole Soyinka’s early days in the novel, two kinds of religion were prevalent and they are Ogun worship and Christianity. His mother, Eniola Soyinka, nicknamed ‘Wild Christian’, is an ardent Christian affiliated with the Catholic denomination, while Essay, Wole's father, is a traditionalist and although his family is encouraged to practice Christianity, Wole even joining the choir, they practice traditional means of treatment and when they visit the village, Essay works closely with the King with regards to tradition and culture. Essay also engages in many debates about Christianity with the Bookseller and Daodu, despite his wife's beliefs in the religion.
Besides, we can see the religious beliefs of the people, in line with their culture, portrayed in their recognition of spirits such as the abiku, the Oro, or the emi esu, among others. Some of these spirits are believed to stay in the forests or live in trees, especially the Baobab tree.
There is also the belief of the Abiku, a child that falls ill and dies only to come back again in the form of another child, and keep on going and coming as it pleases. In the memoir, the daughter of the Bookseller and his wife, Mrs. B, is abiku. Her name is Bukola and Soyinka describes her as a “supernatural being who died, was reborn, died again and kept going and coming as she pleased.” The abiku is an entity in the Yoruba culture and ideology. It is called ogbanje in the Igbo culture. They often have attacks of epilepsy that have to be cured with special potions and traditional rites. In the novel, Bukola is ‘earthed’ with amulets, bangles, tiny rattles and dark copper-twist rings on her ankles, fingers, wrists, and waist. She is given incisions on her face and is not scolded too long or earnestly. She is also granted her desires so that she would not leave to be with her friends on the other side.
More so, the culture of the people is heavily portrayed in their food prepared by either members of the family, sold in the markets or prepared during the festival. Within the family, we see the influence of Western culture in meals such as bread, omelette and tea, however other meals such as akara, ogi (homemade), ekuru, yam, fufu, egusi soul, moin moin, rice and stew and other delicacies portray the indigenous Yoruba culture.
The moin-moin is primarily a Yoruba delicacy made from steamed bean pudding while akara is made from bean paste fried in hot oil, with chopped green and red peppers within it. The leki, made from crushed black-eyed beans and melon seed oil, is a well-loved delicacy which is shared mincingly within the family. We see also how the preparation of ogi is happily carried out within the family, and every family prepares their own ogi. Other delicacies that come along with the culture are jogi, farina cakes called Kasada, tinko, the hard-fried lean meat, ogiri, roast corn, gbegiri, or a specially prepared crayfish stew with yam and rice.
Another aspect of culture to be considered is the orature, how music and dance are used to accompany celebrations, mourning and even corrections. Some of these songs are composed to explain a reoccurrence or express a concept. Several songs are sung in the novel and some of them have been quoted below.
Song by children in school:
B’ina njo ma je’ko
B’ole nja, ma je’ko
Eni ebi npa, omo wi ti're
Translation:
'If the house is on fire, I must eat
If the house is being robbed, I must eat
The child who is hungry, let him speak.
Song for Osiki because of his love for pounded yam
Osiki oko oniyan
A ti nwa e, a ko ri e
Translation:
‘Osiki, lord of the pounded-yam seller
we have sought you everywhere but failed to find you.
Finally, the political system of the Yoruba people in line with the culture consists of, traditionally, an oba, the Ogboni society, kingmakers and heads such as the Balogun. However, with the advent of colonialism, a number of Obas where dethroned and with the practice of indirect rule, leaders who would dance to the tunes of the colonial masters were placed. In the novel, the head of Ake is the Alake, who is also a distant relative of Wole's Mother. He oversees the affairs in the town, although he is controlled by the District Commissioner. When the women are maltreated for tax, he claims to be responsible to a council for making decisions, therefore taking a stand that does not guarantee the liberation of the women under him. The Ogboni society are also involved in the politics of the community as they are a council of elders who are involved in the juridical matters and advised the king.
All of these aspects portray the signifying practices that indicate the dynamics of culture, particularly the Yoruba culture, in the memoir, helping him shape Wole Soyinka's identity, beliefs and personality into the determined thinker and speaker who he is.
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