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Odún
Discourses, Strategies, and Power in the Yorùbá Play of Transformation
Series: - Cross/Cultures, Volume: 111
Author:
A poetic âvoiceâ scans the rhythm of academic research, telling of the encounter with odún; then the voice falls silent. What is then raised is the dust of a forgotten academic debate on the nature of theatre and drama, and the following divergent standpoints of critical discourses bent on empowering their own vision, and defining themselves, rather, as counterdiscourses. This, the first part of the book: a metacritical discourse, on the geopolitics (the inherent power imbalances) of academic writing and its effects on odún, the performances dedicated to the gods, ancestors, and heroes of Yorùbá history.
But odún: where is it? and what is it? And the âvoiceâ? The many critical discourses have not really answered these questions. In effect, odún is many things. To enable the reader to see these, the study proceeds with an âintermezzoâ: a frame of reference that sets odún, the festival, in its own historico-cultural ecoenvironment, identifying the strategies that inform the performance and constitute its aesthetic. It is a âclassicalâ yet, for odún, an innovative procedure. This interdisciplinary background equips the reader with the knowledge necessary to watch the performance, to witness its beauty, and to understand the âhalf wordsâ odún utters.
And now the performance can begin. The âvoiceâ emerges one last time, to introduce the second section, which presents two case studies. The reader is led, day by day, through the celebrations âodún edì, Morèmiâs story, and its realization in performance; then confrontation by the masks of the ancestors duing odún egúngún (particularly as held in Ibadan). The meaning of odún becomes clearer and clearer.
Odún is poetry, dances, masks, food, prayer. It is play (eré) and belief (ìgbà gbó). It is interaction between the players (both performers and spectators). It is also politics and power. It contains secrets and sacrifices. It is a reality with its own dimension and, above all, as the quintessential site of knowledge, it possesses the power to transform. In short, it is a challenge â a challenge that the present book and its voices take up.
But odún: where is it? and what is it? And the âvoiceâ? The many critical discourses have not really answered these questions. In effect, odún is many things. To enable the reader to see these, the study proceeds with an âintermezzoâ: a frame of reference that sets odún, the festival, in its own historico-cultural ecoenvironment, identifying the strategies that inform the performance and constitute its aesthetic. It is a âclassicalâ yet, for odún, an innovative procedure. This interdisciplinary background equips the reader with the knowledge necessary to watch the performance, to witness its beauty, and to understand the âhalf wordsâ odún utters.
And now the performance can begin. The âvoiceâ emerges one last time, to introduce the second section, which presents two case studies. The reader is led, day by day, through the celebrations âodún edì, Morèmiâs story, and its realization in performance; then confrontation by the masks of the ancestors duing odún egúngún (particularly as held in Ibadan). The meaning of odún becomes clearer and clearer.
Odún is poetry, dances, masks, food, prayer. It is play (eré) and belief (ìgbà gbó). It is interaction between the players (both performers and spectators). It is also politics and power. It contains secrets and sacrifices. It is a reality with its own dimension and, above all, as the quintessential site of knowledge, it possesses the power to transform. In short, it is a challenge â a challenge that the present book and its voices take up.
Cristina Boscolo graduated in modern languages at the University of Venice (with a pioneering study on the English language in Nigeria) Her passion for Nigerian literature, and Yoruba in particular, led her into African studies at the University of Mainz, Germany. She is currently a free-lance lecturer.
Acknowledgements
Note on Orthography
Mo bà Odún pà dé â Encounter with Odún
Introduction
Part I: Discourses
BÃi báun ko I
1 Yorùbá Theatre: An Introductory Outline
2 Nigerian Theatre Criticism: âDominantâ Issues
3 Critical Discourses and Their Power
Intermezzo
BÃi báun ko II
4 Coordinates of an Interpretation
Part II: Odún
BÃi báun ko III
5 Odún Edì
6 Egúngún: The Power of the Ancestors
7 Ãà bò Ãrò⦠The Yorùbá Play of Transformation
Glossary
Bibliography
Note on Orthography
Mo bà Odún pà dé â Encounter with Odún
Introduction
Part I: Discourses
BÃi báun ko I
1 Yorùbá Theatre: An Introductory Outline
2 Nigerian Theatre Criticism: âDominantâ Issues
3 Critical Discourses and Their Power
Intermezzo
BÃi báun ko II
4 Coordinates of an Interpretation
Part II: Odún
BÃi báun ko III
5 Odún Edì
6 Egúngún: The Power of the Ancestors
7 Ãà bò Ãrò⦠The Yorùbá Play of Transformation
Glossary
Bibliography