Ọdún : discourses, strategies, and power in the Yorùbá play of transformation / Cristina Boscolo.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Boscolo, Cristina.

Series:

Cross/Cultures 111.

Cross cultures ; 111

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Yoruba drama--History and criticism.

Yoruba drama.

Mythology, Yoruba, in literature.

Yoruba (African people)--Rites and ceremonies.

Nigeria--Drama--History.

Nigeria.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xxx, 337 pages) : illustrations.

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam ; New York : Rodopi, 2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

A poetic ‘voice’ scans the rhythm of academic research, telling of the encounter with odún ; then the voice falls silent. What is then raised is the dust of a forgotten academic debate on the nature of theatre and drama, and the following divergent standpoints of critical discourses bent on empowering their own vision, and defining themselves, rather, as counterdiscourses. This, the first part of the book: a metacritical discourse, on the geopolitics (the inherent power imbalances) of academic writing and its effects on odún , the performances dedicated to the gods, ancestors, and heroes of Yorùbá history. But odún : where is it? and what is it? And the ‘voice’? The many critical discourses have not really answered these questions. In effect, odún is many things. To enable the reader to see these, the study proceeds with an ‘intermezzo’: a frame of reference that sets odún , the festival, in its own historico-cultural ecoenvironment, identifying the strategies that inform the performance and constitute its aesthetic. It is a ‘classical’ yet, for odún , an innovative procedure. This interdisciplinary background equips the reader with the knowledge necessary to watch the performance, to witness its beauty, and to understand the ‘half words’ odún utters. And now the performance can begin. The ‘voice’ emerges one last time, to introduce the second section, which presents two case studies. The reader is led, day by day, through the celebrations – odún edì , Morèmi’s story, and its realization in performance; then confrontation by the masks of the ancestors duing odún egúngún (particularly as held in Ibadan). The meaning of odún becomes clearer and clearer. Odún is poetry, dances, masks, food, prayer. It is play ( eré ) and belief ( ìgbàgbó ). It is interaction between the players (both performers and spectators). It is also politics and power. It contains secrets and sacrifices. It is a reality with its own dimension and, above all, as the quintessential site of knowledge, it possesses the power to transform. In short, it is a challenge – a challenge that the present book and its voices take up.

Contents:

Preliminary Material

Bíi báun kợ I

Yorùbá Theatre: An Introductory Outline

Nigerian Theatre Criticism: ‘Dominant’ Issues

Critical Discourses and Their Power

Bíi báun kợ II

Coordinates of an Interpretation

Bíi báun kợ III

Ọdún Edì

Egúngún: The Power of the Ancestors

Ààbó Óró… The Yorùbá Play of Transformation

Glossary

Bibliography.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 317-337).

ISBN:

90-420-2681-2

OCLC:

559075763

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9789042026810 DOI