The central theme of Wole Soyinka's Myth, Literature and the African World is that the most important myths and literature in Africa are those which allow Africans to understand and appreciate their lives and history without comparing it in some way to the European experience. Soyinka writes that his book
eliciting from history, mythology and literature, for the benefit of both genuine aliens and alienated Africans, a continuing process of self-apprehension whose temporary dislocation appears to have persuaded many of its non-existence or its irrelevance . . . in contemporary world reality (xi).
In other words, Africans have let the European world convince them that their culture was somehow inferior to that of Europe. Only in the last few decades have Africans started to wake up to this lie and to discover that they have a reality which is completely separate from European reality. It is not surprising to find that "some of the literature discussed in these lectures has a note of stridency" (xi). There is much anger in this literature, but this anger is necessary if Africans are going to re-claim their culture and re-define it in African terms rather than European terms.
Another important theme, however, is the universal element which underlies African myth and literature. Soyinka is not saying that African society, culture, politics, etc., are so completely different that they cannot be compared to other cultures. He is saying that Africans must re-discover their own culture for themselves, separate from European culture. And he is also saying that there are things which are common to every culture. Africans do not have to "negate" all other cultures in order to understand their own culture:
The African world, like any other "world," is unique. It possesses, however, in common with other cultures, the virtues of complementarity. To ignore this simple route to a common humanity and pursue the alternative route of neg...