SOURCE: Boyle, Elizabeth Heger. “Gesture without Motion? Poetry and Politics in Africa.” Human Rights Review 2, no. 1 (October-December 2000): 134-39.

In the following review of The Burden of Memory, the Muse of Forgiveness, Boyle investigates the importance of symbolism in Soyinka's work, Soyinka's perception of the relationship between different African groups, and Soyinka's attitude toward South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Can symbolic gestures organized around notions of human rights have any real impact on power relations in the global system? Specifically, did the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (the “Truth Commission”) serve any useful function or did it simply placate the “have nots” in South African society? These are some of the core issues in Wole Soyinka's most recent book, The Burden of Memory, the Muse of Forgiveness. Soyinka suggests that memory can foster a shared future for divergent cultures and bring globally dispersed black races together. But...