Wole Soyinka is a Nigerian poet who was the first African to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. His poem "Telephone Conversation" satirizes racism through a phone call between a Black prospective tenant and a White landlady. During the call, the landlady seems interested until she discovers the caller is Black, at which point she asks offensive questions about his skin color and abruptly ends the call, highlighting her racial prejudice. The poem uses this interaction to depict how destructive racism can be and point out the absurdity of judging someone based on their race rather than character.

1. ‘Telephone Conversation’
&
‘Dedication’ by Soyinka
Nirali Rathod
Roll no:22
M.A Sem-4
Dept. Of English MKBU

2. About the Poet
•Wole Soyinka , a Nigerian poet
was born in 1934.
•He was awarded Nobel Prize in
Literature in 1986.
•He was the first African to be
awarded in that category.
• He was described as one "who
in a wide cultural perspective
and with poetic overtones
fashions the drama of existence

3. Telephone conversation
Telephone Conversation" is a 1963
poem by the Nigerian writer Wole
Soyinka that satires racism.
The poem describes a phone call
between a landlady and the speaker,
who is black, about renting an
apartment.

4. The poem is a poetic satire on racism.
 It is a telephone conversation between a
White landlady and a prospective Black
tenant.
 Racial bias and colour prejudice of the
landlady and controlled anger of the tenant
has been highlighted.
 The caller was happy with the location of
the house and the rent, however he had to
disclose that he was a black man so that he
would not waste a journey.
 The poem satirizes the hypocrisy of the
white woman who is dumbstruck when she
comes to know.

5. The landlady seems foolish when she
asks him to describe the colour of his skin.
The caller feels insulted and being a victim
of racial prejudice hits back by giving
details of his skin. But the lady is unaware
of the irony hangs up the phone.

6. Racism
The idea behind the poem Telephone
Conversation is to depict how brutal and
devastating it can be for a man who is
subjected to racial discrimination.
 The poem reflects the conflict between
the black and the white landlady. The
poem points at the absurdity of racism.
The practice of judging someone on the
basis of his colour/race/caste/social
status instead of his inner capabilities
presents the highly corrupt image of the
society where individuality is at stake.