Wilton Sankawulo (1937–2009)

Wilton Sankawulo is another establishment-certified, "folklorist" from West Africa--someone offering a relatively gutless and cliche-dependent, new chief-centered, rural saga that could take place anywhere, were it not for a few culture-specific references. There is little to separate "The Rain and the Night" from similar novels that seem to be published mostly because they are the first literary texts from small nations which prefer oral tradition. (While I deeply enjoy much of the African Writers Series, I have no idea who published this novel, since my version was photocopied from an uncredited text and poorly bound for sale in Monrovia.)

In "The Rain and the Night" the chiefs, the wives, the enemies, the medicine men, the advisers and the warriors are so purpose-built that they don't really deserve to be called "characters" so much as "representatives." The story is so familiar, the lessons so over-taught, that I'm not sure whether or not it offers an accurate impression of a Liberian village and tribal conflict in the early 20th century. Though it must, at least, clarify the social hierarchy within Bong County, Liberia. Yes, Bong County. If my version was accurately transcribed from the original, it is fair to say that the language often deploys bombastic words at inappropriate times in an extremely self-conscious display of learning-in-progress. At least every two pages or so, the awkwardness of the author's phrases are distracting. If you are going to be a folklorist, your sacrificial chickens needn't be "overpowered with lassitude."… (més)