SOYINKA'S TELEPHONE CONVERSATION : A COMMENTARY ON INTER-RACIAL RELATIONSHIP

Introduction 
             Racism is a very dreadful concept that hampers the relationship between groups and societies. The concept is however universal for it could be seen in our various homes and societies. Religious tolerance has become a difficult task to maintain among ourselves. Racial segregation is one of the themes African writers have been writing about since the inception of African literature. The fact of knowing the content of a book by its volume is logically nonsensical, the same applies to differentiating the mentality of people with the colour of their skin.
             The third world countries' relationship with the western world has always been hampered by race. The fact of our colour being black and their's being white suggests to them that they are in every way superior to us and therefore they must own cars and we be their drivers, they must be managers and we be their cleaners, we must not live together,for our black sense could affect them etc. One of the first racist texts to be recognized in African literature is "Heart of Darkness", where African people are described as animals because of the authors illiteracy on the culture of the people. In response to "Heart of Darkness", Chinua Achebe evidently supports and elevates the African culture over European's in Things Fall Apart. This paper carefully examine how Wole Soyinka's "Telephone Conversation" could be regarded as a commentary on inter-racial relationship.

TELEPHONE CONVERSATION AS COMMENTARY ON INTER-RACIAL RELATIONSHIP

              Soyinka's "Telephone Conversation" is a poem depicting the relationship between two different races -the whites and the blacks. We know the conversation is between two people of different races when in line 5 of the poem, the poet persona declared "I hate a wasted journey -I am African" and in line 8-9, the poet persona describes the receiver as a white woman, "lipstick coated, long gold-rolled /cigaratte holder pipped...". The poet persona is an African and the receiver seems to be somewhere in the metropolis of the western world. In the first stanza of the poem, the poet persona seems to have negotiated with a landlady on a place he could stay when he moves to a new society. He tells us there is nothing to ask about the house again but to confess his identity. "Nothing remained/But self confession ". At this point, there is the need to ask the question, If all about the houses has been negotiated  and it all "seemed reasonable", why does he needs to confess his identity. This suggest a kind of poor relationship one may have with another person where one knows that the benefactor may denies one favour if he knows where one belongs. This suggests the poet persona from Africa is restricted in securing accommodation in the place where the receiver belongs. When the poet persona tells the receiver to be considerate of his being an African, there is a long silence. The receiver becomes silent to show she is undecided. It becomes pressure on the landlady when the poet persona confesses that he is an African-which he knows the landlady will not be willing to accommodate Africans. "Silenced transmission/of pressurise good breeding"(line 6-7). As is expected of the receiver to cancel the offer immediately,the poet persona "was caught foully"(line 9) when he heard her asks "HOW DARK?This shows the landlady is conscious to know how African is the poet persona if she could still accept him. The landlady emphasizes the question again, "ARE YOU LIGHT/OR VERY DARK? "(line 10-11) to know how African he is. The poet persona goes on satirising the place of the receiver who wants to know how African he is. He describes the place as "full of rancid breath of public hide-and-speak". The land lady is ashamed when the poet persona refuses to answer her, "shamed/By ill-mannered silence"(line 14-15). The receiver asks him question again to make it more simplified, "ARE YOU DARK? OR VERY LIGHT? Now,"Her assent was clinical"(line 20), she speaks as fast as she could to show her superiority over the poet persona. But the poet persona waves her rapidly and tells her colour he knows she might not have heard of. "Rapidly, wavelength adjusted/I chose. West African Sepia"(line21-22). Sepia is a colour that could be seen in the hairs of some women in the  western world. The poet persona deliberately use "West Africa" as an adjective to the "Sepia" mainly to tell the receiver that they are the same and cannot be segregated by the colour of their skin. On the other hand, he uses the colour - West African Sepia - to mock the white woman that she do not know colours.
              Late in the last stanza of the poem, the poet persona speaks against the foolishness of racists who distinguish between black and white people. He explains that African are not altogether black. "Facially,  I am brunette, but madam, you should see/ the rest of me. Palm of my hand, soles of my feet/ Are a peroxide blonde. Friction caused / by sitting down has turned/My bottom raven black".(line 28-32)
              Through the poem, "Telephone Conversation", Soyinka is able to correct the foolishness of racists in separating groups of people because of their particular race, religion, which among others. Stylistically, the poet equalizes the blacks and the whites with the use of "sepia" and offering explanation that he is not totally black. As a matter of fact, the whites' palms and soles of their feet are exactly the same colour as his. He there more argues against the sick relationship between peoples of different races.