MARXIST CRAFTSMANSHIP IN NIGERIAN DRAMA: AN EXAMINATION OF FEMI OSOFISAN'S THE CHATTERING AND THE SONG AND OLA ROTIMI'S HOPES OF THE LIVING DEAD

Abstract

The most cursory look at Nigerian dramatic literature reveals that the Marxist ideology provides a broad field for a good number of Nigerian playwrights. One possible explanation for this is that the writers, products of a society which had witnessed and continues to witness different socio-political injustices, find in it a potent weapon with which to wrestle with the new problems of their people. The writers of these plays consider their literature as a potent weapon in their people's struggle against the oppressive ruling class. In this paper, our intention is to expose the Marxist craftsmanship in Femi Osofisan's The Chattering and The Song and Ola Rotimi's Hopes of The Living Dead. We consider these two plays as being among the best examples of Nigeria's Marxist-oriented plays.


(Humanities Review: 2001 1(2): 54-59)