This module explores the poetic and dramatic works that have come out of the African region.  It briefly discusses the difference between Western and African drama.  The difference between these two types of drama emerge from the social and cultural orientations of the playwrights, performers and audience.  Soyinka (1999), expands on this dualism when he comments in Myth, Literature and the African World,

          The so called audience is itself an integral part of that arena of conflict; it contributes spiritual      strength to the protagonist through its choric reality which must first be conjured up and established, defining and investing the arena through offerings and incantations,  The drama would be non-existent except within and against this symbolic representation of earth and cosmos, except within this communal compact whose choric essence supplies the collective energy for the challenger of chthonic realms.  Overt participation when it comes is channelled through a formalized repertoire of gestures and liturgical responses.  The ‘spontaneous’ participant from within the audience does not permit himself to give vent to a bare impulse or a euphoria which might bring him out as a dissociated entity from within the choric mass… The interjector- whose balance of mind is regarded as being temporarily disturbed – is quietly led out and the appropriate (usually unobtrusive) spells are cast to counter the risks of the abnormal event… Like any other medium, it is one that is best defined through the process of interruption.  In theatrical terms, this interruption is effected principally by the human apparatus.  Sound, light, motion, even smell, can all be used just as validly to define space, and ritual theatre uses all these instruments of definition to control and render concrete, to parallel (this is perhaps the best description of the process) the experiences or intuitions of man in that far more disturbing environment which he defines variously as void, emptiness or infinity. (pp39-40)

In conclusion, Soyinka asserts that “Theatre then is one arena, one of the earliest that we know of, in which man has attempted to come to terms with the spatial phenomenon of his being.” (p. 40) Depending on the talent of a playwright, drama can be used to mirror real life struggles of man on earth.

Apart from drama, this course also examines various poems by different poets for their thematic and literary technique.  Published plays by different dramatists shall be studied and critiqued in so far as they reflect the historical, cultural, social realities of the African continent.

The nature of this course is inter-active.  Instruction will be carried out entirely on line.  In this first week of instruction, you will introduce yourself online and be familiar with the other participants in this forum. We will meet and interact on line at least 2 times a week.  You will post your contributions on line and solicit the reactions of the participants online.  The forum discussions will contribute to your final grade.