Noo Saro-Wiwa: in Search of Africa

Abstract

The turn of the 20th–21st centuries was marked by the flourishing of African and especially Nigerian literature. Among those who became famous in the 21st century are Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Teju Cole, Chigozie Obioma, etc. Noo Saro-Wiwa, a British writer of Nigerian origin, author of the best-selling books “Looking for Transwonderland: Travels in Nigeria” (2012) and “Black Ghosts: A Journey into the Lives of Africans in China” (2023), can be considered the Queen of contemporary travel writing. The special appeal of her works lies in the masterly combination of travel literature and memoirs. A detailed description of events’ chronicle, travel impressions, air and nature, people and conversations with them turns her books into a real testimony of the era and tends to be documentary prose. She gives preference to it due to the fact that “truth is more important than fiction”. The daughter of the famous Nigerian poet and publicist, political activist and environmentalist Ken Saro-Wiwa (1941–1995), the writer focused the readers’ attention on many of the most pressing political, economic, social, environmental, and demographic problems. These include colonialism and decolonization, racism and gender inequality, emigration and the history of Diaspora. The writer is of particular interest in the amazing mobility of the Chinese, internal and external migration, their activities in Africa. She admires the nature, ancient and medieval culture of China and at the same time records manifestations of racial hostility of the Chinese towards Africans, considering them unacceptable. She compares Chinese and Africans, identifying similarities and differences. And if addressing Nigeria’s past and present is her Mission, China is an option, one of many. Currently, she is one of the most engaged authors and most famous African women, winner of a number of prestigious literary awards.