CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Literary criticism
startedwiththeGreeks.Aristotle'spoeticsismostlydevotedto
drama.Thinkingofliteraturefromastandpointofanartisticorrealisticdepiction
ofreality,thenliterarycriticism andliterarytheoryisthestudyofhow we
interpretliteraryrepresentationsofreality.Beitfiction and poetry,literary
criticism isthestudyoftherepresentationofdifferentworlds.Mosttimes,
medievalandclassicalcriticism hadfocusedonreligioustexts,andthediverse
longreligioustraditionsofhermeneuticsandtextualexegesishavehadadeeprootedinfluenceonthestudyofseculartexts(“wikipedia.com 16,April2019”).
Literarycriticism fallsinto theFormalist/New criticism approach,Historical
approach,philosophicalapproach,Feministapproach,Mythologicalapproach
amongstothers.Literarycriticismsinhistoryhasintroducedawayformodern
criticstoinvestigateintowrittenworksandexplorehow theyrelatetosocial,
political,economicandmanyotherissuesthatcanbelookedinto.
Literarycriticism hasopeneduppredominantlyoverthelastcenturywiththe
introduction ofFeminism,Marxism,Psychoanalysis,GenderStudies,Ecocriticism,andPost-colonialism.Literarytheoryhashelpedinterprettextsthrough
integrationofotherdisciplines.Otherareasinacademiahavealsoadopted
literarytheories.Inotherwords,literarycriticism isnolongeracloseddiscipline.
Ithasopenedupandcontainedwithlotsofotherdisciplines:philosophy,
psychology,history,sociology,andeconomics.
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AsnotedbyGbilekaa:
A good literary theory is supposed to question the
assumptions,beliefsandfeelingsofreaders,explainingwhy
theyrespondtotextsinacertainway.(30)
From Gbilekaa’sperception,aliterarytheoryhelpsreaderstobetterapprehend
howatextisanduncoverselementsinvolvedintermsofcharacterizationinthe
text.Thisalsomeansthatvariousreadersderivemeaningofthetextfrom
differentstandpoints.Therefore,literarytheoryplanstheconnectionbetween
authorandwork.Literarytheoryhelpsdevelopthemagnitudeofclass,gender,
andraceforliterarystudy,bothfrom thestandpointoftheplaywright,poetor
novelistandananalysisoftheirthematicpreoccupationwithintexts.Literary
theorysuggestsdifferentideologyforapprehendingtheplaceofhistorical
contextintheinterpretationandtheusefulnessoflanguageandtheunconscious
factorsofthetext.
Aboveall,literarycriticism doesnotrequirethatweallagreeaboutwhatawork
ofliteraturemeans,howitworks,orwhetherit'seffective.Wedon'tevenhaveto
agreewithanyexpert'sjudgment.Rather,wehaveonlytwoobligationsascritics.
Firstly,weareobligatedtoexplainasclearlyaspossiblethereasonsbehindour
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ideasandbackthem upwithevidencefrom theactualtextwearediscussing.
Secondly,weareobligatedtolistenrespectfullytocritic'sideainthehopethat
wecanlearnfrom howothersrespondtoworksofliterature.Thisbetterreveals
whyGbilekaaexplainedthat“inaway,weareallliterarytheoristsbecauseeach
timeweencounteraworkasliterature,wecomewithcertainexpectations
determinedbyourexperienceswhichfromthebackdropofthemind-setwehave
developedandtheseexperiencesandexpectationskeepshifting;itisnever
static:Areaderbringstothetexthis/herpastexperienceandpresentpersonality”
(7).Abovethisclaim,wemaysurmisethateveryreaderalwaysaguewithin
himselforherselfandtrytoachievewhatheorshehaswitnessedinthepast
whileinterpretingatext.
1.1 BackgroundtotheStudy
Overtimeintheworldofliterature,psychoanalyticalapproachhasgonebeyonda
gradualprocess.Ithasalwaysbeenanessentialtoolforinterpretingand
understandingaliterarytext.Theliterarytextinthisstudywillbeanalysedbased
onSigmundFreud'sPsychoanalysistheory(PsychoanalyticCriticism).
Theunconsciouswillbediscussedasthedifferentapproachofdream that
installs a mentalpicture and symbolic in ourminds when the mind is
unconscious.TheUnconsciousisseenaswheremostoftheworkofourmind
getsdone;itistherepositoryofautomaticskills,thesourceofourintuitionand
dreams,andanengineofinformationprocessing(Freud,24).
Yerima(2018)inaninterviewexplainsthattheinnermindtakesamanfrom the
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consciousnessleveltotheunconsciouslevel,whichinvolvesdreamsthathelps
tointerpret.Healsobelievesthatthemindisalwaysinaturmoilespeciallyfor
theprotagonistandalsowhenthereisalmostareversaloffortune.Hebelieves
thatintheYorubacosmology,theunconsciousisalwaysinconflictwiththe
consciousmind.Andasaloverofmasqueradesintellinghisstory,heasserts
thatamasqueradeplaysanimportantroleasthevehiclethatpassesthroughthe
unconscioustotheconscious.HealsoassertsthattheYorubaconceptofthe
unconsciousisinthemindanddestiny.
SigmundFreudexplainsthatsuchunconsciousactionsmaytroubleaperson's
wayofactingeventhoughsuchpersoncannotgiveanaccountonthem.Freud
andhiscontemporariesthoughtthatdreamsandslipsofthetonguewerereally
concealedexamplesofunconsciouscontenttoothreateningtobeconfronted
directly(Tyron,2).
InouranalysisofYerima'sMojagbe,despotism shallbediscussedinthisstudy,
presentinghowthegovernmentbyasingularauthorityeitherasasingleperson
orgroupthatruleswithabsolutepowerespeciallyinacruel,oppressiveand
tyrannicalway.However,“despotism”doesnotdirectlyrelatetopsychoanalysis
oftheplayMojagbe,butwillbetreatedasatraitoftheprotagonistObaMojagbe
throughtheconceptoftheunconscious.
Despotism canbeseenintheplayMojagbe,asObaMojagbeispresentedasa
powerfulhumanwhoalsoportraysarudeandheartlesskingwhotrickilyascends
tothethrone.
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Ritualsacrifice in the playis seen as a wayofbecoming powerfuland
supernatural,involvingkillingofinnocentpeople,andofferingthem tothegods.
Thisterm willbeanalysedasathematicpreoccupationofthetextandhowthe
playwrighthascreatedthecharacterObaMojagbe.
However,thisresearchworkfocusesonYerima'sMojagbe.Hence,ouremphasis
willbeondespotism,ritualsacrificeandtheunconsciousintheplay.
1.2 StatementoftheProblem
Oftentimecriticsfailtolookintoissuespertainingtothepsychologicalanalysis
ofcharacterinliterature,becausethisaspectofcriticismhasbecomeoneofthe
mostchallengingareasofliteraryandculturalstudiestoday.Lookingathow
charactersarebeingdevelopedbytheplaywright,thisresearchworkfocuseson
despotism,ritualsacrificeandunconsciousasportrayedinAhmedYerima's
Mojagbe.The extremism ofpowerhas become very worrisome in our
contemporarysociety.Man'segoisbeclouded,andbecauseitisbeclouded,
man'sreasoningpsychicisblurred.Therefore,todoapropercheckofhowman
behaveswhenhegetsintopower,thisstudyshallcriticallydoananalysis
throughdespotism.Despotism isseenamongstmenbecauseoftheirselfish
interestsofbecomingpowerfulandtakingfullcontroloftheworldaroundthem.
Yerimaopensoureyestotheworldweliveinduringthepre-colonialera,how
manacquirespowerforcefullyandhowpsychologicalelementsaffectsthemind
ofaman.Thisbringsustotheissueswithintheplayandhowtheplaywright
presentsthem.
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1.3 Aim/ObjectivesoftheStudy
Theaim ofthisworkistodiscusshow despotism,ritualsacrificeandthe
unconscious(nightmare)areportrayedintheplay.
Otherobjectivesofthisstudyareasfollows:
1.Toexplainthestateofbeingunconsciousinrelationtotheplaywright's
conceptoftheunconscious.
2.ToprobefurthertheconceptofPsychoanalyticCriticism.
3.To examine and explain the thematic conceptofritualsacrifice and
despotism as a traitofthe protagonistthrough the conceptofthe
unconsciousintheplay.
4.AnalyseManasanembodimentofgoodnessandevilfrom thestandpointof
thecharacterObaMojagbe.
5.Tocriticallyrelatetheplaytoourcontemporarysociety.
1.4 SignificanceoftheStudy
Thisresearchissignificantbecauseitthrowsalotofmeaning,insightintothe
play.
Thebenefitsthatwillaccrueattheendofthisstudyarestatedthus;
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I. Thestudywouldcontributetotheexistingbodyofliteratureand
criticism onYerima’splays.Thisstudyalsodrawsattentionof
scholarstothecontributionsofAhmedYerimaintheNigerianand
Africantheatrepractice.
II. Itcould be used as a reference materialforcritics,theatre
practitioners,directorswhowouldwanttodirecttheplay.
III. ItshallexposetherelevanceofdramaaddressingtheNigeria
politicalsystem.
IV. Itwillserveasaguidetoresearcherswhoareresearchingonthe
fieldofPsychoanalyticalCriticism.
V. Theresearchalsohopestomobilizethemassesformoresensitive
politicalparticipationthroughdrama.
1.5 ScopeoftheStudy
TheexplorationofpsychoanalytictheoryinAhmedYerima'sMojagbeisthe
centralfocusofthisresearch.Theintentionofthisresearchworkistoascertain
andcriticallyrevealtotheextenttowhichtheunconsciouselementsdrivesthe
traitsoftheprotagonistintheplay.Thisstudydoesnotserveasayardstickfor
thestudyandanalysisofallYerima’sandindeedotherliteraryworksbutitcould
beusedasabasisforgeneralizationoftherolepsychologyplaysindrama.
1.6 Methodology
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Themethodusedinthisresearchworkisqualitative.Thisentailedcriticaland
textualanalysisinbothcontentandform oftheplayMojagbe.Thefirstmethod
ofdatagatheringisintensivelibraryresearch.ThisentailedtheStudyofbooks,
journals,andotherrelevantpublications.Retrievalofmaterialsfrom theinternet,
onlinelibraryalsoprovidesthebulkofmaterialforthisstudy.
ThesecondmethodologyisinterviewwithAhmedYerima,andalsorelatedworks
fromotherscholars
Faithful, W (2020). Despotism, Ritual Sacrifice and the Unconscious. Afribary.com: Retrieved March 08, 2021, from https://afribary.com/works/despotism-ritualsacrifice-and-the-unconcious
Williams, Faithful. "Despotism, Ritual Sacrifice and the Unconscious" Afribary.com. Afribary.com, 29 Jan. 2020, https://afribary.com/works/despotism-ritualsacrifice-and-the-unconcious . Accessed 08 Mar. 2021.
Williams, Faithful. "Despotism, Ritual Sacrifice and the Unconscious". Afribary.com, Afribary.com, 29 Jan. 2020. Web. 08 Mar. 2021. < https://afribary.com/works/despotism-ritualsacrifice-and-the-unconcious >.
Williams, Faithful. "Despotism, Ritual Sacrifice and the Unconscious" Afribary.com (2020). Accessed March 08, 2021. https://afribary.com/works/despotism-ritualsacrifice-and-the-unconcious