The Novels of Wilton Sankawulo: A Critical Study

By Robert Brown

In the first chapter of this monograph, Dr. Robert H. Brown tries to lay the groundwork by discussing some of the problems of writing in Liberia and prospects for Liberian writers. Then he lists in chronological order some of the works published by Liberian writers as evidential proof that there is a paucity of creative fiction in Liberia. In three subsequent chapters, he undertakes a critical study of Wilton Sankawulos The Rain and the Night, Sundown at Dawn: A Liberian Odyssey, and Birds Are Singing. The chapters situate Wilton Sankawulos creative fiction in its proper context, revealing the currents of indigenous Liberian thought that run through it and tracing the connections that link the novels to a new development in his thinking. Indeed, however dissimilar in titles, The Rain and the Night, Sundown at Dawn: A Liberian Odyssey, and Birds Are Singing, to some extent, share tone, setting, and ambience that characterize the current moment of Liberias history as a turning point. Despite their minor grammatical infelicities and stylistic ineptitude, the three novels are set to become classics in the canon of African literature.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Oct 8, 2014
• ISBN: 9781496990822

Robert Brown

Robert Brown is a Canadian ship modeler and warship enthusiast. His previous contributions to the ShipCraft series were the models sections of No 22 German Battlecruisers and the historical chapters of No 23 Rodney & Nelson.

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© 2014 Robert Brown. All rights reserved.

Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 09/03/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4969-9080-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-9081-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-9082-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014915855

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Preface

1   Some Problems of Writing in Liberia and Prospects for Liberian Writers

Introduction

Some Problems of Writing in Liberia

Novels and Novellas

Short Stories

Prospects for Liberian Writers

Conclusion

Endnotes

2   The Rain and the Night

Introduction

Plot Synopsis

Critique

Point of View, Language Characterization and Theme

Conclusion

Endnotes

3   Sundown at Dawn: A Liberian Odyssey

Introduction

Plot Synopsis

Critique

Point of View, Language, Characterization & Theme

Conclusion

4   Birds are Singing

Introduction

Plot Synopsis

Critique

Point of View, Language, Characterization and Theme

Conclusion

Endnotes

Appendix A: Interview With Wilton Sankawulo Sr. June 2005 65

Appendix B: Liberia’s Most Prominent Writer: A Tribute to Professor Wilton Sankawulo, Sr.

Bibliography

About the Author

About the Book

In Memory of Wilton Sankawulo

Acknowledgements

The urgent need to write a monograph that would help readers understand and appreciate Wilton Sankawulo’s novels and the traditional values depicted in them, originated in 2004 when he thanked me in a letter for my "brilliant review of The Rain and the Night," his first novel, published in the Liberian Studies Journal (Volume XXI, Number 1, 1996, pages 72-85). The project gained momentum in June, 2005 with the publication of his second novel, Sundown at Dawn: A Liberian Odyssey. Wilton Sankawulo also informed me in a letter that he was at work on his third novel, Birds Are Singing, which was published posthumously by Cotton Tree Press in Washington, D. C., in 2010.

In view of this, I decided to conduct an interview with him. Therefore, in the forefront of my acknowledgements I record my indebtedness to the late Wilton Sankawulo himself to whose moral support and encouragement this monograph owes whatever merit it may possess. To the editors of the Liberian Studies Journal, I owe a debt of gratitude for permission to reprint my critical reviews of The Rain and the Night and Sundown at Dawn which appeared in the pages of the journal in the United States.

Sankawulo’s contribution to my literary career has, I admit, far outweighed mine to his. He taught me to believe that the arts could and would flourish in our homeland if we, the writers and artists, took the initiatives to publish, promote, perform, and exhibit our own works ourselves. His encouragement, moral support, publications, and charismatic leadership gave impetus to what I write and publish today. He worked diligently to encourage my early efforts and literary endeavours by taking the initiative himself to publish and promote his own works. For nearly four decades he was an author, a patron of the arts, and of all those who endeavoured in the arts in our homeland.

The soul of our homeland changed when some Liberians embarked on a systematic programme of self-destruction. But the soul of the world of the writer and the artist remains remarkably unchanged, a backdrop in front of which they can caper to their hearts’ contents while at the same time producing literary works of lasting value and merit. It was a privilege to have been his former colleague at the University of Liberia.

An interview I had with Wilton Sankawulo in June 2005 titled An Interview with Wilton Sankawulo, Sr, By Dr Robert H. Brown, Sr, appears in Appendix A and my tribute, Liberia’s Most Prominent Writer: A Tribute to Professor Wilton Sankawulo, Sr by Dr Robert H. Brown Sr," is placed in Appendix B.

I would also like to express my grateful acknowledgement to Dr Wingrove Dwamina, a former chairman of the Department of English & Literature, University of Liberia. He was a source of inspiration and ideas to me at the University of Liberia where I taught as an assistant professor of English for many years.

Finally, I owe a profound debt of gratitude to generations of students at the University of Liberia. Their patient response to my teaching African literature in English and their lively participation in seminars exposed my critical short-sightedness and helped me to formulate my views about African literature in general and Liberian literature in particular. Their critical perceptions proved to be sharper than mine. My debts to other sources are acknowledged as fully as possible in footnotes and bibliography.

Preface

The most prominent writer that Liberia has ever produced was Wilton Sankawulo. He had a mastery of Liberian idiom and standard, educated English. Wilton Sankawulo was a very good writer as well as an open sesame to Liberian cultural heritage. In a speech he delivered at the United States Information Service in Monrovia in 1982, he articulated his philosophy of writing in the following excerpt:

I consider it a great privilege to address you tonight on a subject of utmost significance not only to me personally, but also to the people of this nation, and, perhaps, to the rest of humanity: the development of Liberian literature. In delivering this address, I am somewhat violating a code of conduct established by Ernest Hemingway––a code which I have tried to observe with fidelity––and it is this: if a writer has anything to say, he should not speak it; he should write it. Hemingway is right. Writing is communication, and once the communication process is accomplished verbally, there is little reason to repeat it in writing. The writer may thus become a very good public speaker, but then the question is: Where are the books?

Sankawulo adhered to this code to the letter. He was a prolific writer of artistic and utilitarian prose, and the following list of his works is eloquent testimony to this:

1)   The Rain and the Night

2)   Sundown at Dawn

3)   Birds Are Singing

4)   The Marriage of Wisdom and Other Tales from Liberia

5)   Why Nobody Knows When He Will Die & Other Tales from Liberia

6)   Great Tales of Liberia

7)   Tolbert of Liberia

8)   Myths and Legends of Liberia

9)   One Hundred Questions About Liberia

10)   What My Country Needs Today

11)   In the Cause of the People

12)   Liberia and African Unity

Indeed, the untimely demise of Wilton Sankawulo on Saturday, February 21, 2009, is