Abstract

Power and gender dialectics have been underscored in this work as two important elements that the two playwrights employ in their respective dramatic texts to carve out a niche and negotiate a better socio-political space for the oppressed in both the Nigerian and Cameroonian societies. Drawing largely from the Lukacsian and Bretchian critical paradigms, this work is supported by illustrations from Osonye Tess Onwueme’s Then She Said It (a female playwright) and Lloney E. Monono’s Beyond the Promise (a male playwright). The major contention of this work is that the monopolisation of power by a particular class is the major cause of power dialectics and the contradictions that have overwhelmed most African nations. Finally, the work has also submitted that gender dialectics play a fundamental role in enhancing and advancing societal growth.

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Background to the Study

Every work of art is the product of an artist living in a particular place and time. Societal forces inescapably shape the work of art. It is for this reason that African Literature lends itself to the precision and vividness of everyday ordinary and contemporary realities with the most prominent being  the struggles between the privileged and the underprivileged, the haves and the have- nots, men and women in a bid to liberate themselves from their enclosed societal spaces. It is this power dialectics that has created strife, tension and identity crisis in most contemporary African societies. African literature for this reason is shaped by the appalling societal conditions with the intention of raising awareness in the masses as regards happenings surrounding their immediate society and other African societies because a writer must be socially committed in order to be globally engaged.

This umbilical link between literature and society cannot be over emphasized since literature is a product of the society and vice versa. This view is corroborated by Sule Egya in his article, titled: “Beyond Social Commitment, Meaning and Audience: Towards the Soyinkanisation of Nigerian Literature” wherein he states: “…writers take it as a gospel that the sources of what they write must be from their immediate societies and, more than that, must demonstrate their distaste and disapproval for their socio- political and economic shortcomings of the land” (77). Ngugi wa Thiong’o crowns it all in Homecoming when he says:

Literature does not grow or develop in a vacuum; it is given impetus, shape, direction and even area of concern by the social, political and economic forces in a particular society. The relationship between creative literature and other forces cannot be ignored especially in Africa, where modern literature has grown against the gory background of European imperialism and its changing manifestations: slavery, colonialism and neocolonialism.… (XV)

Therefore, an African writer is as much a product of his society as his art is a product of his societal experiences. Even the greatest artists are sometimes conscious, sometimes an unconscious exponent of their environments. For this reason, African literature is by its very nature a social art committed to human values. This act of commitment spurs the masses’ awareness as regards societal happenings. Thus, validating Richard Bjornson’s view in The African Quest for Freedom and Identity: Cameroonian Writing and the National Experience that states:

Writers should regard writing as a means of raising the general level of consciousness about the inequity of the system and emphasize the need to take the initiative of changing it…the people must participate in making the choices that shape their national destiny, for a destiny imposed on them from above by the government will inevitably imprison them in feelings of alienation and powerlessness. (349).

The above assertion reinforces the fact that creative works of art are imbued with societal issues and glimpses which offer responses to the pressing problems and challenges around the globe. By so doing, the writer is undertaking a kind of social responsibility. Above all, he or she is committed beyond his or her aesthetics to a statement of value. This statement is buttressed by Ezekiel Mphahlele in Writers and Commitment where he avers: “every writer is committed to something beyond his art, to a statement of value, not purely aesthetics, to a criticism of life” (viii). This assertion is further corroborated by Chinua Achebe in Morning Yet on Creation Day, when he says, “It is clear to me that an African creative writer who tries to avoid the big social and political issues of contemporary Africa will end up being completely irrelevant- like that absurd man in the proverb who leaves his burning house to pursue a rat fleeing from the flames”. (78)

Achebe and Mphahlele view art as a craft that is responsible to the African society, and as artists, they regard themselves accountable to their societies. Both writers hold the view that the African artist should play a vital role in depicting and criticizing the African society, which will lead to a growing desire to make African literature meaningful to the African community.  From this perspective, it is difficult for literature to transcend social, political and economic societal conditions- what Achebe calls the “burning issues of the day”.  Chinweizu et al in Toward the Decolonization of African literature are of the opinion that writers should take the minimum professional responsibility of making their works relevant and intelligent to their society. They may do so by treating themes germane to the community’s fundamental and long range interest (252-253). Thus, creative works of art should be void of a writer’s “privatism” because art is in the public domain. Writers, amidst other things, are obliged to write to the understanding of the readers in an accessible language in order to be a part of the collective effort in creating greater spaces for the masses.

African drama has witnessed a tremendous change from its oral antecedents to features of socio-political and economic visions in recent times. This drastic change stems from the inevitable response to the changing dynamics and contradictions in contemporary societal discourses both at the national and continental levels, which are the preceding effects of colonial, post-independent and neocolonial disillusionment. Scholars like Ulli Beiere, Oyun Ogunba, Ola Rotimi, J.P. Clark, Femi Osofan, Ruth Finnegan, and others have identified varied stages in the generic evolution of African drama. That is, from grove ritual features which consist of rituals, festival and other sacred religious occasions in African cosmology to what Nelson Fashina calls, “the proscenium stage” that relies on socio-political, economic and cultural societal influences in order to carve out societal liberations.

Writers in this category have imbued their dramatic arts with utilitarian values, as ideological weapons to carve out better societal spaces in societies. Because of this, Fashina Nelson Olabanji has categorised drama as the high priest of other genres of literature, especially because it is the most natural close to humanity (4).  The interface of drama and the African society is what Biodun Jeyifo in The Truthful Lies: Essays in a Sociology of Drama, calls “passionately engaged dramas” (46). This commitment is what defines African drama, and it is perceived as one of the channels used by African contemporary dramatists to carve out better societal spaces.  This quest for space is evident in Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s The Trial of Dedan Kimathi, Osonye Tess Onwueme’s Then She Said It, Bole Butake’s And Palm Wine Will Flow, Lloney E. Monono’s Beyond the Promise, Athol Fugard’s Sizwe Bansi is Dead, Ama Ata Aidoo’s The Dilemma of a Ghost, Tawfīq Al-Hakim’s Fate of a Cockroach,  just to name a few

Lloney E. Monono’s Beyond the Promise for instance, presents an appalling African situation whereby the conservativeness of leaders with regards to change and development, puts the society under a siege, and this leads to societal raids. The play is an enactment of the struggles for freedom and change in nations that are under the leadership of deceitful and tyrannical leaders. The play captures the deceitful nature of African leaders, who after raising the hopes of the masses with their promises, turn out not to be different from the imperialists, their predecessors, as they step into their shoes to continue with the very socio-political and economic crimes.

Monono in this play presents a crafty and tyrannical leader, President Symba, who ascends the presidential seat through a coup with the assistance of the masses. Before taking over, he has given the impression that the society, through him, will be void of societal injustices, as he promised social, political and economic reforms to the people. Surprisingly for the masses, he fails to live up to his promises; he engages in exploitation, marginalization, kleptomania, embezzlement, oppression and suppression.  He also subjects his people under a situation of unemployment. Consequently, Amandla, the female fighter, forms an alliance with the masses to overthrow President Symba, who has proven himself an untrustworthy leader in order to bring about social reforms.

Similarly, Onwueme’s Then She Said It, dramatizes the predicament of the populace, especially the female stereotype who are more oppressed than the male folk. Onwueme in this play presents a metaphoric state, Hungaria, in which the masses are under siege from the corruption of its political, civil, and traditional leadership who literally give the inhabitants away for one item: oil rights granted to the westerner called Atlantic. In a bid to free themselves from their entrapped spaces, the disgruntled populace takes the centre-stage to air its grievances and project its cause to the international community in an effort to subvert the international forces and the so-called leaders, who have deprived them of enjoying better societal benefits. They ask, how long can a people whose land produces the richest oil and gas resources, which control local, national and foreign interests, continue to exist in silence, abject poverty and hunger, fuel, water and electricity shortages? (vii)

Conflict and tension, coupled with an inexplicable adequate consciousness could be gleaned from the questions above. Such conflicting ideologies open avenues for a strong opposition against state defined ideologies that work at the expense of the masses livelihood. Thus, society can easily be purged through mind searching questions such as the ones asked above.

Statement of the Problem

The ousting of colonial powers and the promises made by African politicians during the period of independence raised hopes in the masses, as they foresaw socio- political, economic and cultural comforts with the creation of independent African states. However, these hopes were transformed into nightmares, as indicated in their present claustrophobic or enclosed spaces.  This is evident as they are still “socially isolated, politically marginalised and economically exploited” (Ngeh, 2014: 84) in spite of the attainment of independence. This brings to mind the fact that nationalism, whose appeal was on the camaraderie of the skin, was never an ideology. Consequently, the masses were misled by the vacuous rhetoric of African politicians. This deception and false hopes constitute the very foundation of power dialectics in the African contemporary society, which constitute the problematic of this study.

Research Questions

The above stated research problem can be broken down into the following research questions:

1. What is the link between power dialectics and socio-political space?
2. How do the masses in Onwueme’s Then She Said It and Monono’s Beyond the Promise perceive the society?
3. How does drama serve as a platform in negotiating societal space?
4. What is the role of gender dialectics in societal advancement?
5. What is the place of dialectics in drama of commitment?
6. What dramaturgical strategies are employed by the two playwrights?