The Telephonic Conversation by Wole Soyinka

1. Topic: Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka Paper: 14 Paper Name: The African Literature Prepared by: Drashti Mehta Roll No:7 PG Enrollment No:PG13101021 Sem:4 Gmail id: [email protected] Submitted to: Smt. S.B. Gardi, Department of English, Maharaja Krishnakumarsinghji Bhavnagar University Bhavnagar University Bhavnagar(Gujarat-India)

2. ‘ Are You Dark? Or Very Light?’ deals with the Racial Problem explain with the reference to the poem ‘Telephonic Conversation’ by Wole Soyinka. First Person Narrative’s point of view Born July 13, 1934 Nigerian playwright, poet Denounce the slogan of Negritude as a tool of autocracy Awarded the Nobel prize in Literature.

3. Poetic Satire against the widely – spread racism in the Modern Western Society. The poem is about the way people– fail to communicate clearly about matters of race First Person Narrative’s Point of view

4. Ridiculous question HOW DARK ARE YOU? DARK OR VERY LIGHT?

5. Seems to be tired of his life conditioned by racist prejudices. Judging by the raw emotions that this poem subtly convey… …those of anger, rage, shame, humility and an acute sense of disgust at the apathy and inhumanity of humans who won’t judge a book by its cover but would turn down a man for the color of his skin. Soyinka’s personal experience

6. Two characters The Narrator The speaker Witty Intelligent Use of high diction and quick wit The Land lady Shallowly stubborn racist Lack of intellect Verbal irony, positive terms Seems to be undereducated Instead of discussing price, location, amenities, and other information significant to the apartment, she is interested to discuss more about speaker’s skin colour

7. Nationality as a persona Seeking to rent a home- in England Identity as a Black African Landlady completely changes her attitude

8. C olour Raven Black P eroxide Blond Brunette It seems as if his crime is….his colour His remorse is solutionless To modern western thinkers, it seems almost comical that anyone should be so submissive when he has no wrongdoing

9. Telephone Booth & Silence Means for conversation Silence powerful issues that need to be voiced, and the so called civilized world, has these… Silence- the consequence of Land lady’s sophisticated upbringing silence echoes An instrument that primarily transmits voices, A Medium for silence

10. A Universal Message Prejudice- ridiculous ideas The superstitious narrow- mindedness of caste and colour Timeless message

11. Contemporary time In Today’s world, racism might be a dying concern; but that does not mean that discrimination against other minorities has been completely eradicated. Despite the progressing times, people continue to harbor prejudices and illogical suspicions about things they do not understand: May it be other ideals, religions or traditions and customs

12. Red Red pillar box “Red booth”, Anger is hidden with seemingly polite language Repeated use of word “Red” “ Red double-tiered/ Omnibus” Sense of anger huge bus squelching the black tar

13. Language

14. Irony and Racism

15. Limited choice of words Simple object of comparison Affluent economic status, linguistically impoverished character “You mean- like plain or milk chocolate?” ? ? ? !! !

16. Language; imagery 1 )“Voice, when it came/ Lipstick coated, long gold –rolled/ cigarette- holder pipped.” Poet’s imagination , higher social class. 2)Witticism and Ingenious sense of Humor “The Price seemed reasonable, location indifferent”

17. His reply, “West African Sepia…Down in my passport”, which was then responded with the landlady’s “silence for spectroscopic /Flight of fancy”, Double alliteration of “s” and “f” produce a special sound effect, makes the atmosphere fearfully spooky, landlady - dumbfounded. Alliteration Alliteration

18. Repetition

19. Confusion “Facially, I am brunette, but, madam, you should see The rest of me. Palm of my hand, soles of my feet Are a peroxide blond.” When Landlady asks for clarification Juxtaposes European hair colours together

20. Self-confession “Madam,” I warned, “I hate the wasted journey- I am African”.

21. Conclusion In closing, he asks the then empty telephone line, “Wouldn’t you rather/ See for yourself?” Speaker’s ignorance Readers know that the speaker offers to show his backside to the racist landlady. It sounds as though he is asking whether the landlady would like to meet him in person to judge his skin color for herself