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Work #1115 · Mid

Myth, Literature and the African World

Wole Soyinka
1976 · English
Critical-philosophical lectures · African literary-philosophical criticism / Yoruba metaphysics

Soyinka's 1976 Cambridge lectures — Yoruba metaphysics and the proper critical reading of African literature

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute Myth, Literature and the African World (Mid)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Non-Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Bi-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Multiple
Observer · Space Instance Multiple
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Active
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Personal
Observer · Moral Authority Tradition
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Reversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

Myth, Literature and the African World

The 1973 Cambridge lectures and the broader Yoruba metaphysical-historical inheritance.

Space

Myth, Literature and the African World

The Yoruba cosmic spaces (living, dead, unborn) and the African-literary world.

Matter

Myth, Literature and the African World

The embodied African literary-philosophical inheritance and its critical address.

Observer

Myth, Literature and the African World

The proper African-critical reader as participant in the metaphysical tradition.

Energy

Myth, Literature and the African World

The tragic-Ogunian energies of African artistic creation.

Information

Myth, Literature and the African World

The Yoruba-metaphysical and African-literary content of the lectures.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

Myth, Literature and the African World

Soyinka's Yoruba-centred framework has been variously assessed — defenders see proper African-philosophical recovery, critics (some negritudinist, some pan-African) contest its Yoruba specificity.