Poetics of mnemonic strategy : the art of adaptation and the spirituality of being & things in Tunde Kelani’s Saworoide and The Narrow Path

Abstract

This essay utilises two different but related concepts: “poetics and politics of literary memory” by Lars Eckstein and “adaptation” by Linda Hutcheon, to examine Yoruba narrative convention, characterisation and the “spirituality of Being and object(s)” in two films, Saworoide (1999) and The Narrow Path (2006), by the Nigerian filmmaker, Tunde Kelani, who has distinguished himself as one of the leading contemporary Nigerian and African cinema icons and storytellers. The essay argues that as one of the most significant voices in Nollywood, the history of film and cinema in Nigeria and beyond, Kelani has not only turned the adaptation of materials from page to screen into an art and a veritable source of history, he has also shown ways in which the process functions as the recollection of the fading glorious past of his race. In order to achieve its aim, the essay is divided into two parts: the first part examines the cultural and political considerations of memory and the aesthetics of adaptation in relation to Kelani’s body of works, and the second part discusses the two films by drawing from arguments that are developed in the first part.

Narrative of governance crisis in Nigeria: Allegory of resource curse and “Emergence” in Tunde Kelani’s Saworoide and Agogo-Èèwò

“…Casting the language of the play in standard Yoruba language with cutting-edge English subtitles, Kelani reached into the political attitude arguably prevalent in Nigeria and generally found to be encountering fundamental political condescending (Adebanwi, 2017;Joseph, 1999;Obadare & Adebanwi, 2010), and approaching state failure (Collier, 2008;Maier, 2000;Soyinka, 1996). The movies genially and firmly storied a political conversation with a larger audience than any other works of its time (Haynes, 2007 as cited in Balogun, 2018, p. 54) using proverbial devices (Ayodabo, 2016); adaptation of poetic devices to unravel memory (Balogun, 2018); "agenda of transformation" and emergence from a crisis (Onikoyi, 2016, p. 242). The movies are a blend of traditional Yoruba folklore with modern political sensibilities in a scorching allegory of how natural resources could disorient and thwart governance towards autocracy, neo-patrimonialism, and corrupt practices in the highest places.…”

Narrative of Governance Crisis in Nigeria: Allegories of Resource Curse and ‘Emergence’ from Tunde Kelani’s Saworoide and Agogo-Èèwọ

“…Casting the language of the play in standard Yoruba language with cutting-edge English subtitles, Kelani reached into the political attitude arguably prevalent in Nigeria and generally found to be encountering fundamental political condescending (Joseph, 1999;Obadare & Adebanwi, 2010;Adebanwi, 2017), and approaching state failure (Soyinka, 1996;Maier, 2000;Collier, 2008). The movies genially and firmly storied a political conversation with a larger audience than any other works of its time (Haynes, 2007quoted in Balogun, 2018 using proverbial devices (Ayodabo, 2016); adaptation of poetic devices to unravel memory (Balogun, 2018); "agenda of transformation" and emergence from crisis (Onikoyi, 2016:242). The movies are a blend of traditional Yoruba folklore with modern political sensibilities in a scorching allegory of how natural resources could disorient and thwart governance towards autocracy, neo-patrimonialism and corrupt practices in the highest places.…”