No abstract
Ofo na Ogu are Igbo cultural concepts that symbolize righteousness and uprightness. They are used in Igbo Sociocultural and religious discourse to stake claims of innocence hence the aim of this work is to examine the appropriation of these cultural motifs in Igbo literary drama and theatre. How can a creative use of these motifs serve as a unifying force for a nation at the throes of disintegration? Can the invocation of these symbolic objects help in the attempt to ensure high moral standards, especially in public offices? These and some others will be the issues which this paper will be attempting to address.
The human desire to live together as a community or a nation is predicated on the conditions of equity, justice and fairness to all. However, the urge to dominate others has entrenched social injustice in society. This nature of human living breeds different kinds of human reactions which philosophers have identified. In his phenomenological ontology, Jean-Paul Sartre developed some concepts he believed to define our relationships with the world around us and how that world responds to our desires: Being-in-itself, Being-for-Itself, Facticity, Bad Faith and Authenticity are some concepts explored in this study. Sartre argues that because humans are ongoing projects with future possibilities, attaining our full potential as human beings only become valued through the ways we respond to these ideals. In the application of the above concepts using Sam Ukala’s The Placenta of Death, this study, through a content analysis of the qualitative research method, interrogated human attitudes in an oppressive and unjust world seeking justification or otherwise for human actions that would provide us with what human society should be like for our experience of it to be what it ought to be. Our findings, among others, revealed that oppression and injustice in society breed political and material denials which lead to resentment and the consequent desire for political struggles. It also discovered that those who resign to bad faith (self-deceptive and compromised persons) are afraid to take responsibility for their past and present actions and thereby closing future possibilities for themselves and others. The study concluded that in a society of entrenched oppression and injustice, it is obligated and justified that one takes a political stand: one against oppression and injustice, but in favour of political emancipation and freedom.
The art of minstrelsy is very prevalent in traditional African society. Minstrels abound in these societies and they are mostly regarded as singers, musicians or reciters of poems. They are notable for their itinerant nature which makes them familiar with the goings on in their immediate societies. Even with the transition of most African societies from oral to written culture as a result of colonialism which introduced the Western system of education in Africa, the activities of these minstrels have not ebbed. Instead, it has found renewed expression on the pages of the collection(s) of poetry of contemporary Nigerian and by extension, African poets. This paper studied two collections of poetry of the poets under study; Akachi-Adimora-Ezeigbo’s Heart Songs and Waiting for Dawn and Ezenwa- Ohaeto’s The Voice of the Night Masquerade and The Chants of a Minstrel. It employed Formalism (New Criticism) theory in the analysis of these works. This paper showed that Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo writes from the angle of a wandering minstrel which affords her the opportunity to permeate different segments of her society. Ezenwa-Ohaeto on the other hand employed, not only the masquerade minstrel personae in his collection of poetry, The Voice of the Night Masquerade but equally structured the work on the circular movement associated with the entrance and exit of the Night masquerade. Also, he equally writes The Chants of a Minstrel from the angle of the mad man and itinerant minstrel persona. The research concludes on the note that these contemporary Nigerian poets studied have succeeded in continuing the art of minstrelsy prevalent in their cultural milieu even as they incorporate their wandering/itinerant nature in their works.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.