Osofisan and the paradox of a literary style

Abstract

In order to understand trends and developments on the Nigerian stage, the literary dramatist is considered a determinant of its future advancement. Theatre as a composite art possesses the ability to relate to other cultures, traditions and fields of learning, reaching out and unifying them dynamically. This paper examines select works of Femi Osofisan as a paradigm for measuring foreign influences on Nigerian drama and
theatre, which ideally should maintain a close link with its traditional heritage. It is the submission of this paper that, although Osofisan’s theatre is rooted in the social culture of Nigeria, it is however subsumed in Euro-American aesthetics, values, ideologies, philosophies and attitudes. Osofisan, like many other Nigerian playwrights, is thus considered as a product of a paradox. He is inspired by religion, education, his numerous contacts with the West, philosophies and aesthetic traditions of other nations and cultures; a product of the colonial accident and a nostalgic longing for the ancient past. This creates in his writings an identity crisis,
which leads to a literature of activism that is committed to fighting
for one form of freedom or the other while being enslaved within
the same bonds from which the playwright is seeking a release.
It is the submission of this paper that, Nigerian literary drama
therefore requires a new form that is akin to its cultural heritage.
The formal theatres and the arts theatre syndrome is inhibiting to
the vibrant traditional Nigerian theatre culture.