Mythology and Modern Nigerian Drama (A Case Study of Ozidi by
J.P.Clark Bekederemo.)
Orhero Mathais Iroro.
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Introduction/Background of Study:
By modern Nigerian drama, we mean the reenactment of a serious action
which leads to a catharsis and which has been documented for the purpose of
aesthetics, preservation and delight. Modern Nigerian drama as a form of modern
Nigerian literature started in 1956 by the publication of a work by James Ene
Henshaw titled This is our Chance and ever since then it has evolved into several
forms and it is still evolving in contemporary times. It is by no means false that
modern Nigerian drama evolved from oral traditions. Oral traditions are contained
within the very fabric of the Nigerian life and these traditions include but not
limited to festivals, ritual dramas, incantations, singing, chanting, drumming,
dancing, storytelling, etc. J.P Clark Bekederemo in his essay “Aspects of Nigerian
Drama” categorized Nigerian drama into; traditional and modern drama. But one
can see that these two categories maintain a causal relationship and traditional
drama gives rise to modern drama which in itself is contained largely of traditional
elements.
Williams Abraham, an African philosopher, stated that African scientists are
concerned with African science, African historians are concerned with African
history and African political scientists are concerned with African politics. He also
added that African writers should be concerned with African traditions. This
argument brings us to the next phase of this discourse. That is, the relationship
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between mythology, which is an aspect of oral traditions, and modern Nigerian
drama.
Mythology as defined by Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, is the study of
myths or a collection of myths. A myth can be defined as a sacred narrative
explaining how the world came to be in its present form or broadly referring to any
story originating within traditions. The main characters in a myth are usually gods,
supernatural heroes and humans. As sacred stories, myths are often endorsed by
rulers and priests and are closely linked to religion, spirituality and traditions. In a
society which a myth is told, it is usually regarded as a true account of a remote
past or as a revelation to guide the people. In fact, many societies have two
categories of myths; true stories, otherwise known as ‘myths’, and false stories,
otherwise known as ‘fables’. Closely related to myths are legends and folktales and
the distinction must be made clear. Unlike myths, folktales can be set in any time
and any place and they are not considered as sacred by the societies that tell them.
Like myths, legends are stories that are traditionally considered true but are set in a
more recent time when the world was much more as it is today and it focuses on
human characters. e.g. The Legend of Moremi.
From F.B.O. Akporobaro’s ideology, a myth is a kind of story or
rudimentary narrative sequence, normally traditional and anonymous, through
which a given culture ratifies its social customs or accounts for the origins of
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human and natural phenomena, usually in a supernatural or boldly imaginative
terms. The term has a wide range of meanings, which can be divided roughly into
‘rationalist’ and ‘romantic’ versions. In the first, a myth is a false or unreliable
story or belief while in the second, a myth is a superior intuitive mode of cosmic
understanding. In most literary contents like J.P. Clark’s Ozidi, the second type
prevails. Some myths are regarded as fictional stories containing deeper truths,
expressing collective attitudes to fundamental matters of life, death, divinity and
existence. Mythology is then a body of related myths shared by a group of people
as in the case of the Ijaw Ozidi.
Mythology has been woven into the very fabric of Nigerian drama and in
this light; J.P. Clark has successfully pioneered it. He has translated the famous
Ijaw myth of Ozidi which is a proud heritage of his people into the English
language. This Ozidi myth was traditionally enacted for seven days and in this first
translation of the myth, Clark titled it The Ozidi Saga, he has been able to
successfully render this myth to the world over in its original form. However, he
went a step further by rendering this myth into a dramatic epic which he titled
Ozidi. The Ozidi myth is a conglomeration of all the major forms of oral literature
and traditions fused as one whole by the aesthetics of Ijaw imagination.
Believed to be rendered by the gods to the high priest of Orua at the feet of
the great god of Tarakiri clan in western Ijaw, the Ozidi myth, was revealed from a
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trance in the shrine while the high priest was worshipping. The high priest never
quite came out of it, for upon waking, he knew no rest until he reenacted this
drama to his people. But the priest did not stop there, he moved from settlement to
settlement, from clan to clan, through the innumerable creeks of his people to
reenact this revealed drama. But as with all gift of the gods, there was a curse with
this revelation. He had to travel home to Orua every time to say the final line or die
abroad in the act. This cue is well remembered by narrators of this myth whether
they are from Orua, the place generally taken to be the seat of this story, or from
other settlements outside Tarakiri. The myth itself is told in seven nights to dance,
music, mime and ritual. It begins with the treachery and treason of warlords in
Orua against the duo of Temugedege, who is king, and Ozidi, the leading general
of the state. The rest of the myth tells of the posthumous birth of the general’s son,
the extraordinary manner of his growing up under the magic wings of his
grandmother Oreame, and of numerous battles the hero does with all manner of
men and monsters to regain for his family, its lost lineal glory. In this process, he
oversteps the natural bounds set to his quest, and it is not until he has received
divine visitation from the small pox king that he emerges purged and is received
back into the society of men. Ozidi becomes the mythic hero of the Ijaw
community due to his metaphysical method of conquest which he uses to conquer
men and gods alike. This is because all the higher gods and even Tamara the
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almighty are with him due to his filial piety, his devotion to the duty typical of
many mythical heroes. He is in fact, an instrument of justice, and wielding him all
the time is his grandmother Oreame of the supernatural powers, who is his fate as
well as the conscience driving him on. When Ozidi later forgets his true role and
overreaches himself in a series of excesses, he is visited with divine punishment,
and this time not even the supreme with, his grandmother, can save him.
Based on the traditional plot, Clark has successfully woven the traditional
myth with modern Nigerian drama. However, Clark ruptured the original myth to
suit his creative interests but largely keeping the plot of his epic play in line with
the traditional rendition. The myth of Ozidi as rendered by Clark has developed
modern Nigerian drama with its experimental and perhaps unrealizable stage
potential, its overwhelming sense of atmosphere and spectacle, its insistence on
space beyond the means of the conventional stage, its dependence on stunts, eye-
flash transformations and other visual, essentially cinematic effects sometimes
make the reader feel a sense of irremediable incongruity between message and
medium, means and mode. The Ozidi corpus has left an indelible mark on Nigerian
drama as Clark has been able to show that mythology, with all its supernatural
efficacies, can and should be incorporated into the largely experimental Nigerian
dramatic scene.
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Statement of the problem
This research addresses the problem of how mythology is parallel to modern
Nigerian drama and how it has influenced modern Nigerian drama. How
mythology has helped to preserve our traditions and to elucidate on more ways in
which myths can be infused into modern Nigerian drama. To address questions
like; what is the semblance between traditional mythology and dramatic
mythology? How can the experimental tradition of supernatural elements be
infused in Nigerian drama and how far J.P. Clark has kept up with this tradition.
Aims and Objectives
This discourse is aimed at studying the use and relevance of mythology as
showcased in J.P. Clark’s Ozidi. It will also look into the various forms of
mythology that J.P. Clark has authentically handled in his work and also to
engender and stimulate writers to start incorporating these forms of mythology in
their creative endeavors. This research will also trace the socio-historical
background of the Ijaw myth of Ozidi and its importance in the modern society as
J.P. Clark has done. Another objective of this research is to propagate the
experimental form of drama which J.P. Clark has authentically handled by infusing
supernatural feats to the modern Nigerian dramatic scene.
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Justification of the Study
It has become imperative that mythology as a form of modern Nigerian
drama should be examined as a discourse area. This is so because a lot of scholars
spend an exaggerated amount of time on studying African oral traditions and its
relevance to modern Nigerian drama and neglect another paramount aspect of
modern Nigerian drama and that is the infusion of mythology as a part and parcel
of it and with the aid of J.P. Clark’s Ozidi, it becomes necessary to examine this
semblance aforementioned. This study is important because the experimental
tradition that Clark started must be elucidated for continuity and for the stimulation
of intellects within the confines of mythology as it relates to modern Nigerian
drama.
Scope and Limitation
As already stated from the topic itself, this research will examine mythology
in a parallel mode with modern Nigerian drama and the textual reference to backup
this argument will be J.P. Clark’s Ozidi.
However, due to limited time constraint, only relevant issues will be
addressed here. Another limiting factor is the literature(s) needed to aid this
research as many writers focus more on oral traditions and neglect the mythic
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factor in Ozidi. Be that as it may, I shall make wholesome efforts to treat the
related issues within the confines of mythology and modern Nigerian drama.
Literature Review
Substantial literature that ‘hit the nail on the head’ on this issue is not readily
available. However, the few literature(s) available shall be wholly discussed based
on their relevance to the subject matter. Ola Rotimi in Bruce King(ed) Introduction
to Nigerian Literature, attempted to define and classify Nigerian drama. He
classified it into; traditional drama, ritual drama, folk opera and modern drama. In
his discourse, he opined that traditional drama is hard to classify as opposed to the
other categories. He defined ritual drama as that evolving from ‘rituals’ which are
common to a particular people. He went further to define folk opera in which he
said that the term was coined by Ulli Beier to classify a type of Nigerian drama
that evolved without historical antecedent which was spearheaded by Duro Ladipo,
Herbert Ogunde and Kola Ogunmola and was popularized by the famous
‘Alarinjo’ Yoruba travelling theatre. He finally elucidated modern drama as the
conventional written drama which itself is meant to be enacted on stage.
J.P. Clark Bekederemo also wrote on Nigerian Drama in his famous essay
titled ‘Aspects of Nigerian Drama.’ He opined that drama is reenactment which
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comprises rituals, songs, festivals, mime, incantations and all other aspects of oral
traditions. He further classifies Nigerian drama into; traditional drama and modern
drama. As for the traditional drama, he subjugated all aspects of verbal traditions
under this category and within the aegis of the modern drama, he subjugated all
documented works meant for to be enacted in a theatre.
Clark also wrote The Ozidi Saga in which he wrote an introductory essay on
the mythic factor of Ozidi. He explains in his work, the factual origin of the Ozidi
myth and also how he has been able to record and translate this myth for the
general audience. He explained the importance of a narrator as relevant to the work
and also commented on the dramatic facet of the whole work.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, also attempted to define mythology as the
study of myths and went further to define myths as sacred narratives usually
involving gods, supernatural beings or humans. It also classified myths into two;
those involving factual incidences and those which are largely imaginary.
Methodology
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I shall make use of both primary and secondary sources for this research
work. My primary source here is the epic play by J.P Clark himself titled Ozidi. I
will examine the plot of the play and its factual antecedence with a mindset of
relevance between the latter and modern Nigerian drama. For the secondary
sources, I shall depend largely on textbooks, journals and internet sources
according to their relevance within the scope and limitation of my work.
The theoretical approach I shall use for my study is the socio-historical,
interpretative and literary perspectives. As these approaches will enable me trace
the relevance of mythology and modern Nigerian drama and give a critical reading
of Ozidi according to its relevance.
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