You seem to ascribe the dearth of literary tradition in Ghana to the absence of "Essay Contests". Far from the truth.
Once upon a time the literary tradition was alive and thriving in Ghana. The teacher training colleges u ... read full comment
You seem to ascribe the dearth of literary tradition in Ghana to the absence of "Essay Contests". Far from the truth.
Once upon a time the literary tradition was alive and thriving in Ghana. The teacher training colleges used to produce annual anthology of short stories, poems and essays. Locally produced newspapers could be found in major regional capitals. Most secondary schools produced campus magazines, edited by the students.
During same time the national newspapers and magazines were of high quality content.
Nigeria was always ahead of the game with news and magazine production. Their quality output have survived to date. Almost all their magazines like "Challenge', "Boom", "Spear", and others like Flamingo were popular in Ghana.
The quality Ghanaian education then had something to do with the prodigious literary output at that time.
All the current useless political rags centered in the capital have just one agenda- the sale of political gossip, massaging of innuendoes and shameless political hucksterism, albeit badly written.
The decline in the educational standards and teacher training have not helped matters as well.
You don't have to go far to bemoan the shameless writing standard of our highly educated folks. Ghanaweb has lots of exhibits.
Besides the downright pernicious social and political forces that have affected the literary tradition, the quick profit motive can also be blamed.
The literary tradition is art for art's sake and seeks no profit behind it's aesthetics and information. Watching the badly produced Ghanaian television programs will lay bare the sad state of affairs of our current literary tradition. One encounters outright missteps and goofy presentation of content, style, language and visuals. Every presentation lacks artistic quality.
Also the typical Ghanaian academician is a lazy bum who hates reading and writing. Most publishers in Ghana only deal in documents, textbooks and announcement flyers, which generates lots of profits. No publisher will deal in novels, artistic magazines or periodicals.
If we can get the educational curriculum to include book reading and reports at every grade level and enforce library patronization, we'll be halfway there as a nation. As for doling out literary prizes, it's all good but not a holistic solution.
Media Mogul 10 years ago
I think Felix identified an important reason but he didn't point out the fact that it was only one of the reasons (and not even a holistic one as you rightly said) and that there may be others even more important.
PKM, yo ... read full comment
I think Felix identified an important reason but he didn't point out the fact that it was only one of the reasons (and not even a holistic one as you rightly said) and that there may be others even more important.
PKM, you are right in saying that Nigeria has always been ahead in the game, of not only news and magazine production, but also of literary production as a whole (creative work). It cannot be explained away by a bigger population. In the past they didn't have many literary competitions/prizes either. This thing of so many literary prizes is a recent phenomenon.
You're right, PKM, in saying the literary tradition is art for art's sake ('l'art pour l'art', 'ars gratia artis') but you cannot, these days, completely dismiss the strong pecuniary motive for producing creative works. That is another sore point for us in Ghana.
Another modern trend that is missing in Ghana is outright courses in creative writing in our universities that enrolls only people who display some talent in the area. This is a very important thing. Such courses must be taught by people who know what the whole thing is about and who are also active producers of creative content. And that is our Achilles hill. Such persons are lacking in Ghana, because, yes, we don't have them which is the problem that we are talking about in the first place. These days there are writing workshops in Ghana but how many qualified people do we have to run these workshops?
The Nigerians will continue to increase the gap between us and them. They have the people - lots of them, not only Chimamanda (who runs writing workshops in the summer in Nigeria) and Teju Cole.
Your solution in the last paragraph is relevant. As a matter of fact, it will even solve other problems for us that are not strictly the production of creative material. So it all comes to education, education, education. Then the prizes can come later on.
Meanwhile we are all waiting with bated breath for the announcement of the winner of this year's Nobel Prize in Literature which will be made today, 10th October. At exactly 12 hours GMT, the Standing Secretary of the Swedish Academy, Peter Englund, will open the huge gates of the Academy's offices and before a huge crop of world reporters, announce this year's winner.
Who will it be?
Media Mogul 10 years ago
Well, they gave it to Alice Munro who becomes the first Canadian to win it. She has been around for a long time and may have been on the list also for a long time. She is 81 and I am sure almost has given up.
Oh, I though ... read full comment
Well, they gave it to Alice Munro who becomes the first Canadian to win it. She has been around for a long time and may have been on the list also for a long time. She is 81 and I am sure almost has given up.
Oh, I thought Okoampa would have won it.... he he heeee
Kojo T 10 years ago
The literary tradition is art for art's sake and seeks no profit behind it's aesthetics and information. Watching the badly produced Ghanaian television programs will lay bare the sad state of affairs of our current literary ... read full comment
The literary tradition is art for art's sake and seeks no profit behind it's aesthetics and information. Watching the badly produced Ghanaian television programs will lay bare the sad state of affairs of our current literary tradition. One encounters outright missteps and goofy presentation of content, style, language and visuals. Every presentation lacks artistic quality.
This says it all . But then what do we write about when some section only wants to portray their side and pooh anything else
You seem to ascribe the dearth of literary tradition in Ghana to the absence of "Essay Contests". Far from the truth.
Once upon a time the literary tradition was alive and thriving in Ghana. The teacher training colleges u ...
read full comment
I think Felix identified an important reason but he didn't point out the fact that it was only one of the reasons (and not even a holistic one as you rightly said) and that there may be others even more important.
PKM, yo ...
read full comment
Well, they gave it to Alice Munro who becomes the first Canadian to win it. She has been around for a long time and may have been on the list also for a long time. She is 81 and I am sure almost has given up.
Oh, I though ...
read full comment
The literary tradition is art for art's sake and seeks no profit behind it's aesthetics and information. Watching the badly produced Ghanaian television programs will lay bare the sad state of affairs of our current literary ...
read full comment