National Identity as a Postcolonial Theme in Wole Soyinka 's Death and the King 's Horseman
Mona A. M. Ahamed
The purpose of the present paper is to investigate Wole Soyinka 's attempt to establish an identity for his postcolonial Nigeria as explored in his play Death and the King 's Horseman. In fact, on studying this play, most of the researchers have focused on hybridity or the hybrid protagonist, mimicry or the mimic man as well as the structure of the play. Bernard Ayo Oniwe, for instance, has examined the hybrid protagonist in the play (1992). Olakunle George has focused on mimicry or the mimic man (1999). Craig McLuckie has discussed the structural coherence of the play (2004). However, national identity which is going to be examined in this study has been ignored. This paper deals with the endeavour of Soyinka as a postcolonial writer to emphasize the importance of reconstructing the history of his nation which has been savagely distorted by the colonizers. Soyinka investigates the past of his country in order to probe the customs, mores and myths adopted by his people. The play under study exhibits the traditions embraced by the Nigerians as a means of constituting their national identity. After years of cultural colonialism and controlling people 's thoughts and minds by the colonizers, postcolonial writers have struggled to achieve their cultural independence and
Medieval Europe had a code for love know as, The Rules of Courtly Love. These rules were exemplified in characters seen in a book written about that era, The Once and Future King. One of the main characters, Lancelot, follows these rules. Lancelot follows the Rules of Courtly Love because he follows the rules that, the easy attainment of love makes it of little value: the difficulty of attainment makes it prized, he whom the thought of love vexes eats and sleeps very little, a slight presumption causes a lover to suspect his beloved, and that a true lover does not desire to embrace in love anyone except his beloved. Lancelot follows the Rules of Courtly Love because he follows the rule that, the easy attainment of love makes it of little value:
Throughout the book of The Once and Future King T.H. White explores political theories and various leadership qualities. Merlyn changes Wart into different animals to show different political philosophies. Merlyn is non-human and the Wart’s teacher. T.H. White makes Wart learn about different political theories whilst being an animal by including how they operate and what they do regarding leadership.
Book Journal Four Prompt: How was the novel's resolution? If you were the author would you change or add anything to the ending? Why or why not? How would a change affect the storyline and the reader?
The novel, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, defines an important literary example of the historical conflict of European colonialism in Nigeria during the
Illusion Versus Reality Illusions tend to drift an individual away from their sanity, causing them to negligently live their lives according to false, misleading and fantasized beliefs. Reality, on the other hand, is the state of the world in which it exists. The theme of reality versus illusion, and how one copes with conflict, is excessively depicted in Margaret Laurence “Horses of the night,” through the protagonist, Chris. He experiences several external and internal conflicts associating with his grandfather and chris’ environment. In relation with external conflicts, Chris encounters internal and external conflicts between society and himself, his need to obtain a rich life to uphold his reputation in society takes over his mind, and the reality becomes a blur of colors which he does not seem to see.
How does Hill create a powerfully dramatic sense of fear and tension in this extract? In Susan Hill 's book "I 'm the King of the Castle", some of the main themes are tension and fear. Hill uses many literary techniques to create a heinous and dramatic atmosphere (following the theme of gothic literature), while still keeping a sense of dark excitement. Kingshaw 's fears and feelings are conveyed using a selection of linguistic techniques, letting the reader see deep into his thoughts.
The article “The Death of Horatio Alger” By Paul Krugman Dives into the cruel story of america not being the land of opportunity we once knew and loved. The article goes straight into it by starting with our nation's history of inequality going all the way back to the 1940s. Krugman then goes from there going into times when economic mobility was easiest to when it was hardest to now. To sum up what he says is the now our class mobility is at a all time low and if that was not bad enough apparently our politicians are “doing everything they can to fortify class inequality, while denouncing anyone who complains”(Krugman) the article covers what a politician with this goal would do as in what policy they would work to implement and more.
Despite the belief that one can live forever, death is certain. Edgar Allen Poe wrote his short story, “The Masque of the Red Death” with a greater meaning than simply the Red Death, or plague. He wrote this story, symbolizing the stages of life. In “The Masque of the Red Death”, Poe uses the symbols of the hallway, the rooms, and the braziers, to enhance the allegory, and to show how death is inevitable and one can not spend their life worrying about it.
The tripartite novel “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, published in 1958 focuses on the changes taking place in Nigeria, as a result of colonization during the 20th century. Chinua Achebe’s pragmatics when writing the novel focused on changing the perspective of Western readers with regard to African society. He mainly wanted to falsify the assertions in books such as “Heart of Darkness” which he claimed gave people of African descent a dull personality. Social status is one of the novels’ main themes. Chinua Achebe successfully incorporates the importance of social status, giving readers the impression that for the Ibo society, social structure consists mainly of a hierarchy of both skill and strength.
Specifically, allowing for the writer to demonstrate a sense of cultural identity through their writing. For African writers David Don Mattera and David Diop, the use of literary devices is essential in conveying the message of their texts. When analyzing Mattera’s “Afrika Road” and Diop’s
Why is post colonialism relevant in understanding the phenomena of the Stolen Generation? Post colonialism is a relatively new concept of international relations. It appeared in the 1990s after that of theories of feminism which will be competitively analysed in this case study of the Stolen Generation phenomenon. Post colonialism theory has long played a significant role in literary studies, cultural and anthropological studies but its recent introduction into international relations shows an important theoretical shift.
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the positive and negative impacts of colonialism. Key words: - Colonialism, Religion, Culture, Civilization, Conflict INTRODUCTION Things Fall Apart was published in 1958 just two years before Nigeria’s independence from the British’s rule in 1960. Achebe, who was born in 1930, had experienced colonialism in his country. The novel depicts the pre-colonial and early colonial Nigerian society.
This novel is centred in these aspects of violence in which the narrator tries to outline them in different stages of life in the postcolonial society. In this essay I will discuss the connection between these forms of violence and link them to the characters and their encounters in the novel. Coercive violence. In this living time Nigeria is in a state of extreme violence and the illegal taking over of the “Big Men”.
Recurrent racism, its social impacts, is a central theme of immigrant writing that creates many landscapes in contemporary literature. The immigrant writer takes an opportunity to attack and tackle racism and its consequence from different angles – religious, cultural and historical. The writer does not randomly preoccupy with and write about her/his intricate experience in the new land, but explicitly unfold his/her race/gender experience with its ups and downs. This type of writing has created a new understanding of theories such as racism/gender/ethnic/counter-narrative and post colonial studies among many others. This alternative genre is maneuvered by political, psychological, social and cultural processes of power that is influential to its construction.
Wole Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horsemen (1975), makes colonial setting. Soyinka plays an important voice in African fiction and poetry. He writes for Nigerian audience and his writings well receive by them. His works get appreciation and explore region’s culture and politics.