By Promise Adiele
The muse, that god of literary creativity, which benignly possesses those committed to the exigent vocation of critical thinking and evaluation, those committed to arts and literature, must be having a field day. The muse, in all its grandeur and sublimeness, thrives best when people are alone, in isolation, ensconced in total tranquillity, shut out from the world, free from noise and disturbances. The principles of the muse negate noise pollution or any kind of pollution for that matter. It is averse to intrusion. The muse needs no invitation. It only requires a fecund mind committed to the artistic business, a mind that naturally accommodates a template for imagination, recollection, and animation. The muse seeks a mind that has the capacity to create a mental picture of contemporary events or a picture of the interactive dynamics of nature or even the universe. The muse and all its angels must be having a party these days given that many creative minds are now in isolation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The creative impetus of every writer is now regenerated and reconfigured with the forced holidays. Writers must write. They have no choice in the matter. Literature must flourish because the gods of creativity are in town. While in bed, in the shower, in any part of the house, the writer’s mind, let loose, must imagine, consume, and create things. In some ways, one can say that it is not all doom and gloom for COVID-19. The forced holidays indeed provide a great opportunity for writers to be possessed by the muse. I foresee avalanche of works, poems, novels, plays, historical documents, and other creative pieces when COVID-19 is over.
There is a sense in which we can say that a good percentage of world literature, a negligible gamut of what constitutes literature is a product of isolation. Writers achieved more when they were isolated, either in prison or as a result of some ailment. At such moments, the muse comes calling, galvanizing and stimulating the dormant creative impetus. Little wonder William Wordsworth describes poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: It takes its origin from emotions recollected in tranquillity”. Certainly, tranquillity is the best haven for the muse. There is, therefore, an inviolable connection between the muse and tranquillity in which case, they combine to produce a determinate synthesis that constantly replicates the creative process. Tranquillity is never far apart from creativity. In that case, COVID-19 and its attendant lockdown provide a good opportunity for literary minds to thrive. For lack of space, I shall only highlight a few writers who have utilized a period of isolation to make a huge mark in their literary career. This is in tandem with a line in J P Clarks poem, “Casualties” that “the cell is a cruel place, sometimes a haven”. While the cell, a place of isolation could be cruel, it can also provide a haven of some sort when the muse comes calling.
Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka does not need any introduction. He is the only Nigeria to win the prestigious award due to his prodigious writings which cut across all the genres of literature. Soyinka’s award-winning prison memoir “The Man Died” is a product of isolation. He wrote the memoir when he was incarcerated by the Gowon regime during the Biafra/Nigeria civil war. Although it was a forced confinement, the muse broke all protocols and possessed him. Free from the vanities and mundane concerns of everyday engagements, Soyinka’s creative mind coalesced to capture in full details his experiences in gaol and also the situations that give rise to totalitarian powers. Beyond being a political tract, “The Man Died” captures the nexus which informs a morbid desire to control power and use it to full advantage. The memoir reveals the army, police, and other security apparatus as a ready, willing instrument of government for achieving vengeful, vindictive ends. Given the typical excruciating conditions of Nigerian prisons, it only borders on the spectacular how Soyinka was able to put his thoughts together to produce such a tract of great monument. Indeed, isolation is the writers’ best friend, a time when the muse feasts on the intellect without let or hindrance.
South Africa’s former President, the late Nelson Mandela wrote his prison memoir “Conversation with Myself” while in isolation in prison. The memoir recounts the story of Mandela in incarceration, combining bits of his diaries, prison notes, and letters. It is a moving tale of a man whose psychology refused to be bent or broken by the pangs of mistreatment associated with prison life. In the face of the worst kind of treatment from his white traducers, Mandela refused to give up his convictions about freedom. The solitary confinement afforded him the opportunity to tell his story. Today, the memoir is one of the most sought after books across the world. It is a product of isolation. If indeed isolation brings out the best in writers, it is therefore recommended as a veritable tool for those committed to reading and writing. Surely, there must be a spawning connection between isolation and creativity.
Oscar Wilde, an Irish playwright, and novelist in the 19th Century wrote “De Profundis” while serving a jail term in Reading United Kingdom. The piece is a gripping essay on faith and spirituality which he amorously dedicated to a certain lover Bosie, a nickname for Lord Alfred Douglas. Perhaps, Wilde’s amorous dealing with a person of the same sex was considered indecent which led to his arrest and detention. However, the second part of the essay recounts his spiritual development, a new dawn for him which led to his conversion to Christianity, recognizing the supreme authority of Jesus Christ.
In 1963, Martin Luther King Jnr. wrote “Letters from Birmingham” in jail. He was arrested and detained for organizing a peaceful protest in defiance of an existing order to the contrary. In the memoir, King maintains that people all over the world should learn to protest against unjust laws that threaten to stifle human freedom, both of expression and of self-actualization. It was in this work that King captured the now famous quote “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. The quote eventually became a rallying point, a galvanizing impetus for American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s and indeed a catalyst for freedom fighters around the world, most recently in Africa where citizens are also at war with misrule and dictatorship.
In 1948, the certified imagist, Ezra Pound wrote the “Pisan Cantos”, a long poem that dominated the poetic scenes in the 20th century. Pound wrote the collection of poems after he was interned by his fellow Americans in the Italian city of Pisa following his broadcast supporting the dictatorial tendencies of Benito Mussolini in fascist Italy. Although the Pisan Cantos was not completed, it won Pound the Bollingen Prize in 1949 by the Library of Congress.
There are many more writings that were motivated and inspired by isolation but for lack of space, the few above will suffice now. In our part of the world, isolation, as provided by the COVID-19 pandemic, should play a more fundamental role for writers, critics, and cultural activists. Isolation should become a cure for amnesia which happens to be one of the greatest challenges we face as a people. We tend to forget too quickly and move with the times. In this way, our cultural values, traditional spirituality, political misadventures, and all manner of historical dislocations tend to elude us so quickly. Yet, Nigeria’s doyen of literature, Chinua Achebe reminds us that “a man who does not know where the rain began to beat him will not know where he dried his body”. In this period of isolation, we must think, we must reflect and we must create. It offers us the opportunity to confront amnesia headlong in order to chart a new course for the future.
In isolation, let us revisit our folklore and discover how it can recreate a parallel with contemporary reality. In isolation, let the critics envision something new from the arches of our history, our festivals, our cultures, and our belief systems as a road map for socio-political development. In isolation, let us think, think and think again. The visit of the muse must count for something. Even without engaging in external issues outside ourselves, let us also look inwards and re-examine ourselves, our relationship with people around us and our relationship with the Almighty. COVID-19 and the attendant period of isolation provide a wonderful opportunity for cultural renaissance, spiritual rebirth, and new ways of doing things. As the muse visits, it obviously does not require any entertainment, rather it requires a commitment from the possessed to maximize its period of habituation in the company of the creatively initiated.
Dr Promise Adiele teaches in the Department of English, Mountain Top University promee01@yahoo.com
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