Abstract Khaleelul Rahman KP Nature as Culture; The Afro-
Centric Paradigm in Wole Soyinka’s
... more Abstract Khaleelul Rahman KP Nature as Culture; The Afro- Centric Paradigm in Wole Soyinka’s
The Lion and the Jewel
Nature is the aboriginal beliefs, customs and tradition of a particular ethnic group. Whereas culture is the external forces that try to alter the nature of a particular community. Nature of a society is its most valuable social possession. Literature protects cultures. A good number of literary works embodies the passions and trends of the land from which it sprouted. The trend of a post colonial society is naturally to retrieve its pantheon of traditional norms lost by the colonial invasions. Wole Soyinka and all other major literati of the African continent try to restore the richness of their heritage through their works. This dissertation is meant at reading of Soyinka’s plays especially The Lion and the Jewel from an Afro-Centric paradigm in an Introduction followed by three chapters and a Conclusion. Introduction : Soyinka can be regarded as the best writer of Africanness. He explores the cultural ruptures in the Yoruba society affected by various colonial conquests. His themes are mainly the pathetic condition of African society. Though as Chinua Achebe, Soyinka does not counter the ‘culture’ directly, he works as a prophet of Africa. He preaches the affluence of African mythology and culture deliberately. His works are not a mere attacks but they are retaliations against the cultural lose of his native country.
Chapter I : Yoruba is the society where all the plays of Soyinka are set in. He portrays the Yoruba and its people as it is the prototype of Africa. It embraces typical features of a traditional African village. Yoruba people are mostly inhabited in the village of Ilunjile. Ogun and Oyo are the chief deities of the villagers. They depend gods now and then. In the play he brings out many of the regional and clannish terminologies and events prevalent in the village. Chapter II : The Lion and the Jewel is a cultural work of art. It emphasises on the central character, Sidi. She chooses everything African and nothing western. Soyinka employs a chance for an analogy between the self of Africa and the colonial self. Lakunle, a primary school teacher of the village, Ilunjile, represents the western culture. Sidi and the Bale Baroka are obviously the epitome of Africanness. The two sides fetch instability in the life a common man. Chapter III: The Lion and the Jewel is a discussion of the bifurcated selves of the natives of Africa. Other plays are also expressions of African trends and culture. The Trail of Brother Jero tells the religious and social tension of an African hamlet. Death and the Kings’s Horseman involves the African tribal superstitions that clash with the modern notions of an officer. A Dance of the Forest is an attempt to rework
the Euripides’s play Alcestis , in which Soyinka equates the significance of the Greek god Dionysus with Yoruba god Ogun. Again in The Swamp Dwellers and in The Road Soyinka tells of the post colonial trauma and African folk tradition respectively. Conclusion: Soyinka is a committed post colonial writer against the Euro-centric hysteria in the post colonial countries especially Africa. He exhorts each African to rescue their nature from the pollution of the West.
Abstract Khaleelul Rahman KP Nature as Culture; The Afro-
Centric Paradigm in Wole Soyinka’s
... more Abstract Khaleelul Rahman KP Nature as Culture; The Afro- Centric Paradigm in Wole Soyinka’s
The Lion and the Jewel
Nature is the aboriginal beliefs, customs and tradition of a particular ethnic group. Whereas culture is the external forces that try to alter the nature of a particular community. Nature of a society is its most valuable social possession. Literature protects cultures. A good number of literary works embodies the passions and trends of the land from which it sprouted. The trend of a post colonial society is naturally to retrieve its pantheon of traditional norms lost by the colonial invasions. Wole Soyinka and all other major literati of the African continent try to restore the richness of their heritage through their works. This dissertation is meant at reading of Soyinka’s plays especially The Lion and the Jewel from an Afro-Centric paradigm in an Introduction followed by three chapters and a Conclusion. Introduction : Soyinka can be regarded as the best writer of Africanness. He explores the cultural ruptures in the Yoruba society affected by various colonial conquests. His themes are mainly the pathetic condition of African society. Though as Chinua Achebe, Soyinka does not counter the ‘culture’ directly, he works as a prophet of Africa. He preaches the affluence of African mythology and culture deliberately. His works are not a mere attacks but they are retaliations against the cultural lose of his native country.
Chapter I : Yoruba is the society where all the plays of Soyinka are set in. He portrays the Yoruba and its people as it is the prototype of Africa. It embraces typical features of a traditional African village. Yoruba people are mostly inhabited in the village of Ilunjile. Ogun and Oyo are the chief deities of the villagers. They depend gods now and then. In the play he brings out many of the regional and clannish terminologies and events prevalent in the village. Chapter II : The Lion and the Jewel is a cultural work of art. It emphasises on the central character, Sidi. She chooses everything African and nothing western. Soyinka employs a chance for an analogy between the self of Africa and the colonial self. Lakunle, a primary school teacher of the village, Ilunjile, represents the western culture. Sidi and the Bale Baroka are obviously the epitome of Africanness. The two sides fetch instability in the life a common man. Chapter III: The Lion and the Jewel is a discussion of the bifurcated selves of the natives of Africa. Other plays are also expressions of African trends and culture. The Trail of Brother Jero tells the religious and social tension of an African hamlet. Death and the Kings’s Horseman involves the African tribal superstitions that clash with the modern notions of an officer. A Dance of the Forest is an attempt to rework
the Euripides’s play Alcestis , in which Soyinka equates the significance of the Greek god Dionysus with Yoruba god Ogun. Again in The Swamp Dwellers and in The Road Soyinka tells of the post colonial trauma and African folk tradition respectively. Conclusion: Soyinka is a committed post colonial writer against the Euro-centric hysteria in the post colonial countries especially Africa. He exhorts each African to rescue their nature from the pollution of the West.
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Papers by Khaleel Rahman
Centric Paradigm in Wole Soyinka’s
The Lion and the Jewel
Nature is the aboriginal beliefs, customs and tradition of a particular ethnic group. Whereas culture is the external forces that try to alter the nature of a particular community. Nature of a society is its most valuable social possession. Literature protects cultures. A good number of literary works embodies the passions and trends of the land from which it sprouted. The trend of a post colonial society is naturally to retrieve its pantheon of traditional norms lost by the colonial invasions. Wole Soyinka and all other major literati of the African continent try to restore the richness of their heritage through their works. This dissertation is meant
at reading of Soyinka’s plays especially
The Lion and the Jewel
from an Afro-Centric paradigm in an Introduction followed by three chapters and a Conclusion. Introduction : Soyinka can be regarded as the best writer of Africanness. He explores the cultural ruptures in the Yoruba society affected by various colonial conquests. His themes are mainly the pathetic condition of African society. Though as Chinua Achebe, Soyinka
does not counter the ‘culture’ directly, he works as a prophet of
Africa. He preaches the affluence of African mythology and culture deliberately. His works are not a mere attacks but they are retaliations against the cultural lose of his native country.
Chapter I : Yoruba is the society where all the plays of Soyinka are set in. He portrays the Yoruba and its people as it is the prototype of Africa. It embraces typical features of a traditional African village. Yoruba people are mostly inhabited in the village of Ilunjile. Ogun and Oyo are the chief deities of the villagers. They depend gods now and then. In the play he brings out many of the regional and clannish terminologies and events prevalent in the village. Chapter II :
The Lion and the Jewel
is a cultural work of art. It emphasises on the central character, Sidi. She chooses everything African and nothing western. Soyinka employs a chance for an analogy between the self of Africa and the colonial self. Lakunle, a primary school teacher of the village, Ilunjile, represents the western culture. Sidi and the Bale Baroka are obviously the epitome of Africanness. The two sides fetch instability in the life a common man. Chapter III:
The Lion and the Jewel
is a discussion of the bifurcated selves of the natives of Africa. Other plays are also expressions of African trends and culture.
The Trail of Brother Jero
tells the religious and social tension of an African hamlet.
Death and the Kings’s Horseman
involves the African tribal superstitions that clash with the modern notions of an officer.
A Dance of the Forest
is an attempt to rework
the Euripides’s play
Alcestis
, in which Soyinka equates the significance of the Greek god Dionysus with Yoruba god Ogun. Again in
The Swamp Dwellers
and in
The Road
Soyinka tells of the post colonial trauma and African folk tradition respectively. Conclusion: Soyinka is a committed post colonial writer against the Euro-centric hysteria in the post colonial countries especially Africa. He exhorts each African to rescue their nature from the pollution of the West.
Centric Paradigm in Wole Soyinka’s
The Lion and the Jewel
Nature is the aboriginal beliefs, customs and tradition of a particular ethnic group. Whereas culture is the external forces that try to alter the nature of a particular community. Nature of a society is its most valuable social possession. Literature protects cultures. A good number of literary works embodies the passions and trends of the land from which it sprouted. The trend of a post colonial society is naturally to retrieve its pantheon of traditional norms lost by the colonial invasions. Wole Soyinka and all other major literati of the African continent try to restore the richness of their heritage through their works. This dissertation is meant
at reading of Soyinka’s plays especially
The Lion and the Jewel
from an Afro-Centric paradigm in an Introduction followed by three chapters and a Conclusion. Introduction : Soyinka can be regarded as the best writer of Africanness. He explores the cultural ruptures in the Yoruba society affected by various colonial conquests. His themes are mainly the pathetic condition of African society. Though as Chinua Achebe, Soyinka
does not counter the ‘culture’ directly, he works as a prophet of
Africa. He preaches the affluence of African mythology and culture deliberately. His works are not a mere attacks but they are retaliations against the cultural lose of his native country.
Chapter I : Yoruba is the society where all the plays of Soyinka are set in. He portrays the Yoruba and its people as it is the prototype of Africa. It embraces typical features of a traditional African village. Yoruba people are mostly inhabited in the village of Ilunjile. Ogun and Oyo are the chief deities of the villagers. They depend gods now and then. In the play he brings out many of the regional and clannish terminologies and events prevalent in the village. Chapter II :
The Lion and the Jewel
is a cultural work of art. It emphasises on the central character, Sidi. She chooses everything African and nothing western. Soyinka employs a chance for an analogy between the self of Africa and the colonial self. Lakunle, a primary school teacher of the village, Ilunjile, represents the western culture. Sidi and the Bale Baroka are obviously the epitome of Africanness. The two sides fetch instability in the life a common man. Chapter III:
The Lion and the Jewel
is a discussion of the bifurcated selves of the natives of Africa. Other plays are also expressions of African trends and culture.
The Trail of Brother Jero
tells the religious and social tension of an African hamlet.
Death and the Kings’s Horseman
involves the African tribal superstitions that clash with the modern notions of an officer.
A Dance of the Forest
is an attempt to rework
the Euripides’s play
Alcestis
, in which Soyinka equates the significance of the Greek god Dionysus with Yoruba god Ogun. Again in
The Swamp Dwellers
and in
The Road
Soyinka tells of the post colonial trauma and African folk tradition respectively. Conclusion: Soyinka is a committed post colonial writer against the Euro-centric hysteria in the post colonial countries especially Africa. He exhorts each African to rescue their nature from the pollution of the West.