A Study of the Art of Abuse in Ola Rotimi's Drama

Abstract

The study explored the art of abuse in Ola Rotimi’s drama. It identified the art of abuse in his drama. It analysed and discussed the artistic, cultural and sociological import of abuse inthe playwright’s dramaturgy. This was with a view to discussing how the art of abuse projected the comic form, thematic preoccupation, characterisation, conflicts and settings in four selected plays by the playwright. The study employed both primary and secondary sources of data. The primary source comprised four purposively selected plays of Ola Rotimi: Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again; Man Talk, Woman Talk; When Criminals Turn Judges and Who is a Patriot? These plays were selected because they manifested ample deployment of the art of abuse. The secondary source included books, journal articles, and the Internet. The data were analysed using the principles of superiority, incongruity and release theory of humour as espoused by Thomas Hobbes and Henri Bergson. The results showed that the employment of abuse in the drama of Ola Rotimi had its foundation in the African performance traditions such as ‘Kami suotoi’ among the Ijaws or Izons of Nigeria and as ‘Halo’ among the Anlo Ewes of Ghana. The study further discovered that through the use of abuse, Rotimi exposed vices and foibles in individuals, groups and institutions while he also offered the audience emotional release through laughter. The study identified various devices of abuse employed among the characters, which include taunt, mimicry, name-calling, imprecation/vituperation and scurrility among others. The study concluded that abuse as a feature of human interactions occupies a significant place in Ola Rotimi’s drama, projecting the comic form, thematic preoccupation, characterisation, conflicts and settings in his plays.