Acknowledged as one of the foremost living playwrights of the world, Wole Soyinka is the first African Nobel laureate who was awarded the covetous Nobel Prize for literature in 1986. As a playwright, Wole Soyinka has basically operated within two categories – the tragic and the satiric.Although the dramatic form itself and the Western generic categories are Western import, Soyinka has injected fresh energies into every genre by the incorporation of traditional Yoruba elements. Soyinka’s dramas are informed by both indigenous and European forms and elements. Soyinka observed inherent theatrical qualities in many rituals, festivals and ceremonies of West Africa which might be stretched in the direction of theatre.Yoruba worldview, Yoruba myths,
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The same deity may be male in one village and female in another. The pantheon of deities is called the Orisha. Olorun/Olodumare is the supreme deity who is “regarded as the creator of everything – he created all the other gods, and the earth was created on his initiative, though not by him personally” (Larsen 21). Olorun breathes life into creation.Obatala is the god of creation and at the command of Olorun he created the earth. Entrusted on Obatala isthe responsibility of shaping human bodies. It is believed that “all the other divinities (“orisha’) originated from Obatala” (Larsen 23). Orunmila, regarded as Olorun’s deputy, is the “Yoruba god of divination and oracles” (25).Ogun, Soyinka’s favourite god, is the god of war, poetry and hunters. He is the patron deity of all who use metal in their work. Eshu is the messengerand trickster god who is feared for his potential for causing harm. Oko is the god of agriculture. “Shango is the god of thunder and lightning” (Larsen 27). Yoruba people also worship numerous forest deities like Oro, Aroni, and Erinle.Not only these gods but festivals also are an integral part of Yoruba life. The Yoruba New Year takes place in March, when the villagers and town dwellers participate in communal purification rites, helping each other to confess their sins and starting the New Year afresh together. Soyinka’s dramaA Dance of the Forests, which was conceived on the …show more content…
Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horsemanintroduces us to a traditional custom of Oyo society which demands that after the death of the Alafin (king), his Horseman would escort him in his perilous journey through the transitional abyss to the world of the ancestors, by committing willing suicide in a ritualistic manner. According to the traditional beliefs, contingent upon the proper performance of this ritual suicide by the king’s horseman Elesin Oba is the maintenance of the cosmic harmony and survival of the Yoruba world. However, for both lack of willpower and colonial intervention, the Elesin fails to commit ritual suicide. The consequence is disastrous: “The world is set adrift and its inhabitants are lost” (Soyinka, DKH 69).The intended as well as interrupted ritual suicide, around which Soyinka’s plot revolves, has its metaphysical mooring in traditional Yoruba worldview which views death not as the cessation of existence but as a passage to another mode of existence in the world of the ancestors. Cognizant of the king’s death and anticipating his father’s imminent death, Elesin’s son Olunde returns to his land from England for the prospective burial ceremony of his father. Tremendously shocked at his father’s betrayal of the trust of the community, Olunde sacrifices himself as his father’s substitute
The same deity may be male in one village and female in another. The pantheon of deities is called the Orisha. Olorun/Olodumare is the supreme deity who is “regarded as the creator of everything – he created all the other gods, and the earth was created on his initiative, though not by him personally” (Larsen 21). Olorun breathes life into creation.Obatala is the god of creation and at the command of Olorun he created the earth. Entrusted on Obatala isthe responsibility of shaping human bodies. It is believed that “all the other divinities (“orisha’) originated from Obatala” (Larsen 23). Orunmila, regarded as Olorun’s deputy, is the “Yoruba god of divination and oracles” (25).Ogun, Soyinka’s favourite god, is the god of war, poetry and hunters. He is the patron deity of all who use metal in their work. Eshu is the messengerand trickster god who is feared for his potential for causing harm. Oko is the god of agriculture. “Shango is the god of thunder and lightning” (Larsen 27). Yoruba people also worship numerous forest deities like Oro, Aroni, and Erinle.Not only these gods but festivals also are an integral part of Yoruba life. The Yoruba New Year takes place in March, when the villagers and town dwellers participate in communal purification rites, helping each other to confess their sins and starting the New Year afresh together. Soyinka’s dramaA Dance of the Forests, which was conceived on the …show more content…
Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horsemanintroduces us to a traditional custom of Oyo society which demands that after the death of the Alafin (king), his Horseman would escort him in his perilous journey through the transitional abyss to the world of the ancestors, by committing willing suicide in a ritualistic manner. According to the traditional beliefs, contingent upon the proper performance of this ritual suicide by the king’s horseman Elesin Oba is the maintenance of the cosmic harmony and survival of the Yoruba world. However, for both lack of willpower and colonial intervention, the Elesin fails to commit ritual suicide. The consequence is disastrous: “The world is set adrift and its inhabitants are lost” (Soyinka, DKH 69).The intended as well as interrupted ritual suicide, around which Soyinka’s plot revolves, has its metaphysical mooring in traditional Yoruba worldview which views death not as the cessation of existence but as a passage to another mode of existence in the world of the ancestors. Cognizant of the king’s death and anticipating his father’s imminent death, Elesin’s son Olunde returns to his land from England for the prospective burial ceremony of his father. Tremendously shocked at his father’s betrayal of the trust of the community, Olunde sacrifices himself as his father’s substitute