The Pulse of Africanness in African Drama: A Study of Selected Plays of Wole Soyinka and Tewfik Al-Hakim

Abstract

Most African drama is built on the religion, myths and oral culture of the African people, depicting their traditional ways of life passed down through generations. African drama, like other forms of African art, reflects the unique cultural, social and political identity of the African continent and people. This serves as a vehicle to convey the experiences, struggles and triumphs of the African people. Various playwrights have emerged from the African continent and each of these playwrights highlight the uniqueness of Africa through different perspectives in their plays. This paper explores the striking features that define African consciousness in African drama. Hence, it examines the pulse of Africanness in African drama using textual illustrations from Wole Soyinka and Tewfik AlHakim’s plays as well as highlighting the similarities and differences in their methods of storytelling from the African perspective. Keywords: Africa, Culture, Oral Traditions, Socio-political identity, Drama