A Deconstructive Reading of Wole Soyinka

African Literary elites have responded to the call by Africans to free the continent from all forms of colonial and slave mentality. While others have responded overtly, Soyinka does so covertly. As a result, over time, critical commentaries on his works have been on the mythical presentation of the Yoruba world as a microcosm of the entire African continent and the post colonial experience. While these commentaries cannot be totally erased, this research exposes the pitfalls, the blindspots, and the aporias that characterize most African writings. Consequently, this research discusses Soyinka's two plays; Death and the King's Horseman and The Road as Soyinka's unconscious hatred for the west. Clearly, African writers in an attempt to counter Western perception of Africa as being uncultured, unwittingly enter the same conceptual web. To foreground such instances, this research deploys the deconstructive method of reading.