by CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Theatre has always existed in one form or another in Africa societies. They both have their foundations in “festivals and religious rituals.” There is no doubt regarding the existence of a robust theatrical tradition in many African societies. Performance of this theatrical tradition, predating colonialism is often executed by actors who regal in masquerade costumes. Masquerade theatre in Nigeria predates colonialism. Until 1914, there was no Nigerian nation, although around 1900, virtually all the regions or ethnic nationalities of what later metamorphosed into Nigeria had come under British domination. Lagos, the Northern and Southern Protectorates were amalgamated and administered as one country, Nigeria, in 1914.
The theatre of these individual regions or ethnic nationalities consisted of a different formation before the advent of colonialism. With which of these different theatres did the Nigerian theatre practice begin? In order to make an educated guess, one must examine the formation of the Nigerian state and the development of theatre in the different regions that later make up Nigeria. Lagos was the first part of Nigeria to come under colonial domination. Its ports were annexed in 1861 due to the restriction on trade in slaves by the British and the de
Ahmed Yerima is more of a scholar of gender studies than a womanist or a liberal feminist. African artists are very much interest in the preservation of African culture. The African family must be preserved from the current torrent of westernisation sweeping through it today. It is not surprising that Ahmed Yerima, as an ambassador of African art (being the General Manager of National Theatre and the Director, National Troupe of Nigeria) is concerned with family life, because the African family is the nucleus of African communal life. He is one of the few African writers who devote their art to urge for an evolutionary change in filial relations especially as regards man and wife. Many of his works explore the cultural oppression of women, especially widows and the less privileged women in the society. It is hoped that he will soon join in reconstructing and projecting acceptable women of learning; high society women who are rooted in African culture, who have succeeded in indigenising western education. In a paper “The Emergence of Liberated Igbo Women in Igbo Literature” which the researcher presented at a conference on “Igbo Studies since 1900” organised by the Igbo Studies Association, she argues that the emergence of women like Dora Akunyili, the Director General of NAFDAC, Ngozi Okonjo Iwuala the then Finance Minister and now Manager of World Bank and other similar women functioning actively in both private and public life can be traced from the writings of Igbo literary artists. From the research, it is discovered that the modern liberated Igbo woman is that woman Who has succeeded in harmonising the traditional roles of women with the positive gains of western education. In them, the morality, gentleness and care of traditional Igbo women are blended with the economic self reliance, knowledge/wisdom assertiveness and courage of western education into a force that is both captivating and irresistible. (Ezenwanebe 145). Nigerian drama and theatre can leave such a legacy. Nigerian novelists are already reconstructing the image of African women that can usher in changes in traditional African family living as a force to withstand the demands of modern society. For the interest of human development, African drama should desist from the farcical depiction of women issues and see it as a serious subject matter for theatre, recreated in line with womanist principles in order to recreate economically empowered women whom the audience can identify with.
Language is a societal bound (Adekunle, 2017). It is a reflection of the cultural realities of society language is first and foremost a means of human communication in sociocultural and psychological contexts and that this fact must determine our view of how language should be modelled. “A language is a useful tool in the hands of human beings and because of its versatility, it lends to many different functions in the society. One of these is its facility for interpersonal and interactional purposes”. This is why he says that a language and society are so closely related that we cannot discuss one and neglect the other). He further affirms that language is a useful tool for the integration and maintenance of society.
Adeyanju (2011) believes that the inevitability of language in all fields of human endeavour is incontrovertible and no meaningful task could be accomplished without the instrumentality of language. On day-to-day interaction, “although the linguistic performance of most of the native speakers of a language is suitable for everyday social interaction”. Apte practically showcases that language is a product of its society. On this note, Stubbs believes that is concerned with language in use in social contexts in particular with interaction or dialogue speakers.
According to Fowler (2016), language is the choice of the instrument of socialization, which is the process by which a person is, willy-nilly, moulded into conformity with the established systems of beliefs of the society into which s/he happens to be born. Stubbs opines that language is the best medium of social interaction in different communities. On gender’s parlance, it is a medium in which women voice in one accord, to unanimously create a self-discourse identity, a counseling mode, that fosters their relationship with their female counterparts. “gender characterizes the use of language and how particular characteristics of women’s language may be linked to the gender relations of a given society.” Wodak (1997: 2) affirms that feminists criticized those traits employed in justifying the unequal and unjust treatment of women. In the same vein, gender is concerned with the psychological, social and cultural differences between males and females. gender dynamics deals with more than mere surface differences in women’s and men’s speech; they are about power constructions of gender.” On this note, women’s language has been said to reflect their conservatism, prestige consciousness, upward mobility, insecurity, deference, nurturance, emotional expressivity, connectedness, sensitivity to others, solidarity. And men’s language is heard as evincing their toughness, lack of effect, competitiveness, independence, competence, hierarchy, controlAlso, there are circumstances when women speakers, drawing on stereotypes of femininity to guide their behavior will appear to be acting in a more polite way than men, there are many circumstances where women will act just as impolitely as men.
Bondage persists only when the enslaved is not aware of his or her predicament; or being aware, lacks the potentials for freedom. Critical appraisal of women in modern society shows they are oppressed, marginalised and subdued to an ignoble position visa-avis the men. The quest for freedom which informs the women liberation movements in the West in early 1960s is codified as Feminism in literary circles. It is an ideology in art and life which exposes the oppression of women and articulates ways for their freedom.
Yerima’s play is about the battle with bitter truth and painful reality. It unravels the vanity and deceit that characterize the lives of the high in the society and stresses also, the transiency of political power and social status. The death of the president provides the sisters the occasion to come to terms with the realities and to re-examine their lives after all the disappointments and misfortunes they have been through. “The Sisters” is one long tortuous movement of shocking revelations that demonstrate the fact that all humanity is flawed and that we know very little about ourselves and the world.
Statement of the Problem
The cause of women in the Nigerian society has been Yerima’s thematic focus in his dramaturgy, but he has approached the cause in different ways for different purposes at different periods. For example, in The Sisters, Yerima (2001) told the pathetic story of Funmi and her three sisters, Taiwo, Toun, and Nana. These women were maltreated by men (their fathers and husbands). For example, the father of the four sisters had an extramarital relationship with a woman that produced Nana. Funmi’s husband, died and five different women called her and brought forth his five children out of wedlock. Toun’s husband, whom she married because he was handsome, was a wife beater. Taiwo was not cared for and is on wheelchair after an accident, as there are no funds to perform surgery.
