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Work #1151 · Late

You Must Set Forth at Dawn

Wole Soyinka
2006 · English
Political memoir / Autobiography · African political-philosophical memoir / Postcolonial autobiography

Soyinka's 2006 political memoir — half a century of Nigerian political-cultural engagement

Attribute Fingerprint

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

Attribute You Must Set Forth at Dawn (Late)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Finite
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 Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Active
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Personal
Observer · Moral Authority Experience
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
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

You Must Set Forth at Dawn

The 1960-2006 half-century of Nigerian political life that Soyinka narrates.

Space

You Must Set Forth at Dawn

Nigeria, Britain, the US, the continent — Soyinka's global political-cultural geography.

Matter

You Must Set Forth at Dawn

The embodied political community — Nigerians, Africans — at the heart of the memoir.

Observer

You Must Set Forth at Dawn

Soyinka the writer-citizen as participant-observer of half a century.

Energy

You Must Set Forth at Dawn

The political-cultural energies of post-Independence African life.

Information

You Must Set Forth at Dawn

The memoir-narrative content of the political-personal account.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

You Must Set Forth at Dawn

The memoir has been widely praised as major late-Soyinka political-philosophical work; Soyinka's political-philosophical positions remain variously assessed across the diverse African political landscape.