Visions of Myth in Nigerian Drama: Femi Osofisan versus Wole Soyinka by Tess Akaeke Onwueme
The article named Visions of Myth in Nigerian Drama: Femi Osofisan versus Wole Soyinka
written by Tess Akaeke Onwueme which was published by the Canadian Journal of
African Studies in 1991, in which we can trace the revolutionary visions of
Femi Osofisan and the mythopoeic visions of Wole Soyinka. Osofisan’s plays
argue that social reconstruction is achievable through the rejection and change
of existing history, myth and oppressive ruler ship, and the reinterpretation
of traditional values.
Wole Soyinka’s The Strong Breed
portrays the role of rituals and traditional practices in the society. And here
the myth and history determines the human condition and becomes the tool of
oppression. But in the case of Femi Osofisan’s play attempts to convey: “that
history and society are always changing and that not only do social conditions
determine human consciousness, but the human being also determines those
conditions” (61). Eman becomes the victim of suppression by sacrificing his
life according to the ritual. “ He(Wole Soyinka) sustains this tragic vision in
The Strong Breed (1969) by emasculating the revolutionary potential in Eman,
who in Osofisan's view, should have challenged and denounced his fate as a
carrier doomed to be sacrificed for society”(63).
Nagamandala by Girish Karnad
When we are analyzing the role of
rituals and practices in a society, it is necessary to evaluate the treatment
of myth and history in the Indian theatre. Girish Karnad is one of the most
prominent Indian playwrights, who blend the history and mythology in his plays.
His Nagamandala
depicts the conditions of women in a society and Rani represents whole women in
the male dominated society. And he ironically depicts that how traditional
values and practices determines the human life, in which we can find the cultural ordeals which have been carried by the preceding generations, the
village eldres were asking Rani to prove her fidelity by holding the cobra.
“EldrerIII says : the traditional test
in our village court has been to take the oath while holding a red- hot iron in
the hand. Occasionally, the accused has chosen to plunge the hand in boiling
oil. But you insist on swearing by the King Cobra” (36).
This subversive kind of practice should
determine the individual life.
Ritual killing, 419, and fast wealth: inequality and the popular imagination in southeastern Nigeria by Dniel Jordan Smith
The
practices of ritual in a society enable the elite people to accumulate wealth,
in an article named Ritual killing, 419,
and fast wealth: inequality and the popular imagination in southeastern Nigeria
was written by Dniel Jordan Smith published by American
Anthropological Association in 2001, in which author referred some real
incidents in Owerri, the capital of Imo
State in southeastern Nigeria. A man was arrested by the police for he was
holding a fresh severed head of a child. This is the result of satanic way of
ritual practice in Owerri. In order to fight against this there burned out a
riot,
“the rioters believed that many of Owerri's young elite had achieved
their wealth through satanic rituals. Collective anger was vented not only at
the nouveaux riches suspected of ritual murder, but also at the police, politicians,
and religious leaders who were believed to have encouraged, protected, legitimized,
and consorted with these evildoers” (804).
See the response to this kind of ritual
prctice from th political institution, one
of the most striking conversations that author had in the aftermath of the
Owerri riots was with a 55-year-old Presbyterian minister who was the dean at a
local theological seminary. He said to the author,
“We Africans have a long tradition of sacrificing human life to seek
power or wealth. But in the past, one always had to kill a kinsman, you couldn't
just kill any stranger. This imposed limits and costs to taking a human life.
It is not so easy to kill your relation. But now these people kill anybody to
satisfy their greed. We are in trouble” (820).
Nadugadhika by K.J Baby
The practices of rituals and
customs among the tribes are very decisive in their culture. When we look at
the Keralite culture, the Vayanadu tribes are very rigid in conducting the
rituals. Adiyas and Paniyas are two major tribes in Vayanadu. They have a ritual
called Naadugahika, who is a person, belonged to a particular tribal community;
exorcise all the evil spirits from every house. And he collects money and other
stuff like rice and coconuts. This is beautifully depicted in K J Baby’s (a
well known Malayalam modern playwright) play called Naadugadhika.