Cultural Tension and Artistic Mediation in Uwemedimo Atakpo’s Return to the Sun-god.

Abstract

This paper examines cultural tension as pervasive thematic thrust in Uwemedimo Atakpo’s Return to the Sun-god and also extrapolates the playwright’s creative tool for conciliation of the socio-cultural crisis that pervades the sphere of this enactment. The paper notes that religious and other socio-political upheaval are inevitable in almost every society that witnesses cross-cultural influences. This usually arises when there is a deliberate intention to downplay an extant culture of a particular community in preference for the cultural values of a predatory power, thereby causing fundamental modifications of natural condition that lends a valid identity to a particular community. This development, most times, impinges on the socio-political and religious wellbeing of the people whose culture is being suppressed. It is against this backdrop that this paper examines some threads of cultural tension in the play under examination. Through the analysis of the text, this paper does not only isolate instances of cultural tension in the text, but also explores some possible avenues through which the playwright diffuses the unwarranted consequences of the inter-cultural contact. The paper concludes that change and other social eruptions are natural imperatives of man and should not be viewed as destructive but should rather be harnessed towards meeting the myriad challenges of life. Keywords: Culture, Tension, Playwright, Change, Mediation.