ABSTRACT
Drama originated from the Greek word
"dran" (to do). It is the imitation of action in performance. In
Africa, Nigerian dramatic enactment started from ritual worshipping; which is a
theory of the origin of drama.
Ritual is a traditional doctrine that
has to do with the validation of myths or historical events which has been
passed from one generation to another. This
is a ceremonial or customary act in every tribe in different forms, the process
of which contains songs, incantations, recitations, dance, wrestling and music. The flow of human life is re-enacted by
speech and actions involved. It is then
necessary to carry out this research to examine how Africa especially Nigerian
writers reflect this theoretical origin of ritual impulse in their writings
with a particular case study of Wole Soyinka's Death and the king's horseman
and Ola Rotimi's "Kunrunmi". This Research projects is arranged to
throw more light into traditional concepts in some writings of " Wole
Soyinka" death and the Kings Horseman and Ola Rotimi's
"Kunrunmi".
It is therefore necessary to carryout
this research to highlight the importance of ritual and dance activities to
include traditional influence on writers.
It would also focus on related
literature review that could consult in form of journals, novels and
unpublished dissertations.
TABLE OF CONTENT
Title Page i
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgement iv
Abstract v
Table of Contents vi
CHAPTER ONE:
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Writers in View Profiles 6
1.3 Traditonal lnfluence On Writers 9
CHAPTER TWO :
2. 1 The Effectiveness of Ritual, Music and Song, Dance in Soyinka's
"
death and
The Kings Horseman 19
CHAPTER THREE:
3.1 The Effectiveness of Ritual, Music / Song and Dance in
Ola
Rotiml's "Kunrunmi"
30
CHAPTER FOUR:
4.1 Conclusion 51
REFERENCE 56
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION:
1.1 AN OVERVIEW OF
THE CONCEPT OF RITUAL, MUSIC/SONG, DANCE IN NIGERIAN DRAMA
RITUALS:
The word ritual is commonly used as
ceremonies or customary acts which are often repeated in the same form. Rituals can be re-enactments of Myths or
historical events that have been passed down from generations to generations.
The process of which contains songs, incantations,
recitations, fights, dance and music.
Ritual has two other forms known as
'rite' and 'passage'. Rite concerns
itself on
religion. Yoruba traditional life is religion oriented. Eldred D. Jones believes that
some knowledge of Yoruba culture is
necessary for any study of plays based upon Yoruba ideals. 'Kunrunmi' together with 'Death And The Kings
Horseman' have elements of Yoruba religious beliefs and cosmology. Cosmology
refers to the creation of nature and existence of supreme beings, for which
these rites are circle of the 'Old plantain' and opening up a new lease of life
both for himself and his society? This is exemplified by Elesin himself when he
tells his new bride:
"Our
spirits shall fall in step
Along
the great passage" ----[pg2]
"Rites of passage" in
tradition terms can be the naming ceremony of a new born child, circumcision,
marriage, coronations.
DANCE:
The idea over the years has varied in
African literary circle. There is this
confusion between western identification/definition of dance and African
traditional dance in plays. Dance in
western terms means adjustment of bodily movements to music. The movements can exist independently of
dramatic coherence in the play. For instance a play where there is a court
scene and dance is evident; would seem highly inappropriate in relation to the
seriousness of a law court. But if expressions are done by words of mouth, in
form of a song there would be some measure of seriousness passed across to the
audience. In most African plays the dance is an integral of the voiced action.
African dance according to 'Demas
Nwoko' is an artistic language which the people already speak when the
movements are stylized, structured, acrobatic, carried out. The Yoruba are
surrounded by spirits with whom the lives of mortals interact. A rough estimate
was given by Soyinka to be a thousand and one.
In these plays, we have the likes of
Obatala, Oya, Ogun, Sango, and Sopona etc. as supreme beings; who are invoked
and consulted to take charge of their lives. 'Elesin' refers to Ogun when he
remarks:
"No,
not even Ogun ---of---the farm toiling
Dawn
till dusk on his tuber patch-----
Not
even Ogun with the finest hoe ever
Forged
at the anvil"---[pg1]
The poetic language of 'Elesin' in
the play gives credence, to the high esteem with which these demi-gods are
held. 'Kunrunmi' and 'Elesin Oba',
conjure the help of their ancestors to enable them accomplish their tasks.
Kunrunmi as an upholder of his tradition and Elesin on the other hand, serves
as a cleansing medium for the spiritual ills of his society, once he dies with
the Oba.
There is also ritual as 'passage';
which is a ceremony marking a new stage in one's life. The new stage of life
that Elesin's society expected was that once he carries out the ritual, the end
would be suicide. This would serve as a sacrifice and companion for the dead
Alaafin to the world beyond; thereby completing the gymnastic, and structured
into music or mime. The importance of dance is presented in Soyinka's 'Death
and the Kings Horseman' .In the market scene that marks Elesin's last public
appearance, the praise singer sings for Elesin. He falls into a trance. The
dance movement of Elesin implies his
attachment to his tradition and bears out the importance of his impending
suicide. We as readers identify with his impending act, because we feel how
important or how deep this aspect of custom is to Elesin's people. The dance
motive in this play is extensive as exemplified by Elesin's animated movements
in the midst of women, to the praise singer's songs and drumbeats. The dance
done by the women in celebration, while dressing Elesin up in the first scene;
the tango of Pilking and Jane or the descriptions of the ballroom scene.
MUSIC
AND SONG:
Music has a definition that refers to
the arrangement of sounds in patterns to produce a pleasing effect. This effect
only comes about as a result of reception by our auditory sense or sense of
feeling. But in textual context which we are concerned with, our senses come "to ply and the written
songs or recitations, produce a degree of pleasing effect; hence we can
identify them.
John Mbiti, a professor in Makerere
University from his lecture on "Oral traditions" during Festac 1977
summarizes music under African traditional poetical item. He further states
that these include -songs, lullabies,
ballads, recitations etc. He points out that African poetry is expressed in
form of songs and these are very common. There are songs of love, songs of
praise to leaders, warriors, friends, animals and events. There are songs used
while people are working together in fields, at home, rowing boats, parties,
hunting expeditions and satirize. For instance in 'Kunrumi'; Fanyaka and the
warriors express publicly their annoyance in Kurunmi's tyranny as they render
these sarcastic lines.
Fayanka:
land
property
Warriors:
Kurunmi
Fayanka:
The
air we breathe
Warriors:
kurunmi
Fayanka:
The
gods of our fathers
Warriors:
kunrunmi
Kurunmi
Kurunmi
Abah!
[pg4]
Elesin's dedication to the bird in
Death and the Kings Horseman depicts dedication to animals as Mbiti points out
above. The dirge rendered by the women for Elesin Oba is a song done for the
passing on of an important person.
B.W Andrzezewski and J.M. Lewis [oxford
2001] in Somali poetry, point out that African life is empty without songs and
music. A person is constantly confronted with songs from birth to death. Songs
sound in the air to celebrate the birth of a child, song mark his initiation
rites, marriage, bridal greetings, death and burial.
1.2
A
CONCISE BACKGROUND OF WOLE SOYINKA AND OLA
ROTIMI
WOLE SOYINKA:
He was born in Abeokuta of Ijegba parentage in 1934. He attended the
University College Ibadan and the University of Leeds; where he obtained a
Bachelor's degree in English.
From 1954 to 1959, Soyinka was
involved in the production and writing of plays and presenting radio programs
in England. His first major plays are "Swamp Dwellers" and "The
Lion and The Jewel" produced in England. He returned to Nigeria in 1959,
took up a lecturing job in Ibadan and formed the 1960 "Mask Drama Company.
Between 1960 and 1980, he wrote and
produced a number of his other plays in England, America and Nigeria.
"Trials of Brother Jero" was first produced at the Greenwich new
theatre U.S.A.; "Kongi's Harvest", "Camwoodon the Leaves"-
March 1965 and "Detainee"
-September 1965
The whiting drama prize was presented
to him in 1967. The same year he was detained by the Federal Military
Government of Nigeria, following his attempts to a peaceful resolution to the
Nigerian Civil War.
Between 1969 and 1973, he wrote some
of his novels and poems; while as a visiting professor in Yale, some of his
plays were published in 1973 and 1980.Among which is "Death and the Kings
Horseman" in 1975. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in
October 1986. He became the first Nigerian and
African literary artist to receive
this award.
OLAROTIMI:
Emmanuel
Gladstone Olawale Rotimi was born in Sapele in present day Delta State, to a
Yoruba father and Ijo mother. He attended Methodist Boys high School Lagos from
1952 to 1957. He went to the United States of America where he did his
undergraduate studies in drama, at Boston University from 1959 to 1963. During
which he took a three year course and ended up with a master's degree in Fine
Arts at Yale University. He returned to Nigeria in 1966. He was a research
fellow from 1966 to 1969, at the institute of African Studies within this time;
he wrote and published two major articles: "The Drama in African
Ritual" and ''Traditional Nigerian Drama". His play "The Gods
Are Not To Blame" is a sensitive adaptation of the "Oedipus Rex"
by Sophocles in the Nigerian conception of basic drama.
Over the years, Ola Rotimi has gained
the reputation of being a director, playwright, and actor. He is also a
competent theatre critic, scholar, and teacher. He has written other plays like
"Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again", "Ovieranmwen Nogbaise"
and "Kurunmi".
If going by the description of
Soyinka's and Rotimi's plays as being an overall design of a festival, then the
efficiency of ritual, music/song, and dance can be understood as their plays
are essentially an imitation of life. An imitation of Yoruba traditional life
is what these men have taken a deep scholarly interest in. This has endowed
them with a range of ideas mingled with a wide experience outside their culture.
And this has contributed in no small measure to the subject matter of their
plays.
1.3 TRADITIONAL
INFLUENCES ON THESE
WRITERS
The
basic tennets of farming [clearing, hoeing, sowing, reaping of harvest]. This
is evident in Soyinka's plays. He uses harvest as an aspect that dictates the
larger pattern of Yoruba life style. When harvest is bountiful, it is believed
that the positive forces of life are in motion; while a bad harvest suggests
negation of life. There are also crops and trees which are traditional Yoruba
crops -yams, kola, oil palm, pepper. These crops are used during festivals and
most of the time; they are part of the items used as libations d ring rites.
Palm wine which is a product of the palm is a very important influence especially
for Soyinka who Alain Ricardo pays tribute to, in "Salutations to the W ne
Lover", an article in Dapo Adenugba's edited dedication "Before Our
Very Eyes”.
Dapo Adenugba in his article
"Dramatists In Search Of a Language" points The Nigerian dramatist is
not far from the above mentioned influences as these are all part of their
traditional African heritage that is merged with western ideals in their
dramatic creations. These influences to mention a few, ranges from out that
Nigerian dramatists like Soyinka and Rotimi tried to create a new theatre
language which borrows effectively from indigenous oral traditions; sensitively
used within the scope of modern drama.
The Yoruba culture which is a major influence in the
artistic lives of Soyinka and Rotimi, is rich in ceremonies especially festival
and a range of simple ceremonies of regular worship of deities, through family
ceremonies like naming, marriages, death etc. Oyin Ogungba comments further
that "by far the most significant traditional elements in these plays
"Kogi Harvest, Kurunmi, Death and the Kings Horseman, The Gods Are Not To
Blame" are the overall design of a festival. The prevailing mood is that
of a preparation for an event, which produces so much excitement or tension in
the whole populace that everyone thinks of no other thing but that events and
the resources of the whole society is geared towards that event. Take the
preparation of Elesin oba for the world beyond, the whole society is involved,
in such a way that no one dares refuse.
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