Wole Soyinka. The Invention & The Detainee

Wole Soyinka. The Invention & The Detainee

Edited by Zodwa Motsa

This is the first formal publication of two early plays by Soyinka, The Invention (1959) and The Detainee (1965). Widely regarded as Soyinka's first play, The Invention reflects the obsession with race that marked the apartheid regime, and prophetically depicts the beginnings of the crumbling of the apartheid system in the futuristic setting of Johannesburg in 1976. It expresses the concern of the African diapsora with apartheid, which was felt to be an affront to the entire race. The Detainee is a radioplay. The plot foreshadows the writer's own imprisonment and his now familiar concerns about the vagaries of African politics.

ISBN 9781868883295 | 100 pages | 229 x 152 mm | B/W Illustrations | 2005 | UNISA Press, South Africa | Paperback

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Reviews

'these plays are not by any means masterpieces but they are not to be disparaged for they take us back to the first manifestation of a creative genius that was soon to flourish...they not only afford us a more complex view of the Soyinka corpus but also enable us to grasp the thematic and expressive continuities within that corpus'.

Abiola Irele

About the Editor

Zodwa Motsa

Zodwa Motsa is a member of the Department of English Studies at the University of South Africa.

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