Expresssing culture through drama: a reading of Anowa and the marriage of Anansewa

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between literature and culture through
seminal effort exhibited in two plays; Anowa and The Marriage of Anansewa by Ama
Atta Aidoo and Efua Sutherland respectively. With various discourse in the plays,
we strive to analyse the link between literature and culture. The paper begins
with a discussion of some theories of culture and literature and, per what is
presented in the two plays, proceeds to establish the relationship between culture
and literature. We observe that these foremost female writers are using drama
to construct icons and symbols for women in particular and as a way of raising
the consciousness of society or mankind in general about certain practises that
affect women in particular in one way or another. Most importantly however,
among other things, we also discuss the use of literature as a means of teaching
acceptable cultural practices and also as a means of criticising unfavourable
aspects of a particular culture. In a nutshell, we contend that literature can be
used as a tool to sensitize a group of people and to teach and sustain essential
socio-cultural practises.

Journal of Language, Technology & Entrepreneurship in Africa Vol. 1 (2) 2009: pp. 175-186