ABSTRACT
The title of the thesis is: “Written Igbo Drama: A Critical Analysis”. The study
examines the origin of written Igbo drama; traces the factors that facilitated its
growth and examines the prevalent motifs that helped to sustain its development to a
matured form of art. It further seeks to identify the various events and situations
that have informed the themes of written Igbo drama at three specific periods and
proves that to some extent, written Igbo drama has influenced people‟s actions and
reactions within the Igbo society as observed in the drama texts mapped out for
analysis. The drama texts used in this analysis are: Anaelechi Chukuezi‟s Udo Ka
Mma; Enyinna Akọma‟s Obidiya; Betram Osuagwu‟s (ed.) Egwuregwu Igbo Abụọ;
Walter Enore‟s Oji Isi Kote Ebu; and Reuben Okoye‟s Otu Ụbọchị. These five texts
are selected to cover the three main periods posited in the study title namely, the
early written Igbo drama (1968 – 1970), written Igbo drama after the civil war
(1970 -1979) and contemporary written Igbo drama (1980 – date). This will be
further explicated in section 1.6 where the scope and delimitations of the study
would be explained.
1.1 Background to the Study
The first written Igbo drama, Udo Ka Mma, was published in 1974 (Nwadike 1998:
108) and (Elemuo 2007: 18). That was forty-one years after the publication of the
first Igbo novel, Omenuko (1933). Not much is known to have caused the belated
emergence of written Igbo drama. However, it may not be unconnected with the
much publicized Igbo orthography problems. The Igbo orthography problems
andy, C (2021). Written Igbo Drama A Critical Analysis. Afribary. Retrieved from https://afribary.com/works/written-igbo-drama-a-critical-analysis
Andy, Chibuike "Written Igbo Drama A Critical Analysis" Afribary. Afribary, 02 May. 2021, https://afribary.com/works/written-igbo-drama-a-critical-analysis. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
Andy, Chibuike . "Written Igbo Drama A Critical Analysis". Afribary, Afribary, 02 May. 2021. Web. 21 Nov. 2024. < https://afribary.com/works/written-igbo-drama-a-critical-analysis >.
Andy, Chibuike . "Written Igbo Drama A Critical Analysis" Afribary (2021). Accessed November 21, 2024. https://afribary.com/works/written-igbo-drama-a-critical-analysis