Untitled - Memorial University of Newfoundland

More documents

Recommendations

Info

gen erally reduced to mechanical and meaningless ritual, He con trasts this dull , useless ritual with the vibrant. meaningful dance of antici pated freedom initiated by the Slave Leade r in cooperation with the Bacchantes and Slaves. The stage directions read : Music . It bas the strange quality - the nearest familiar example is the theme-song of 'Zo rba me Greek ' - with its strange mixture of nostalgia. violence and deaIh . The scene which follows needs the following quality: extracting the emotional colour and temperature of a European pop scene without degenerating into that tawdry commercial manipulation of teenage mindlessness. The lines are chan ted not sung , to the musical acco mpanim ent .••. His [the SLA VE LEADER's] style is based on the lilt and energy of the black ho t gospellers who them selves are often the first to become physically possessed (18). Th e them e-song of ' Zorba the Greek' starts off with slow single beats which grad uall y increase in both intensity and speed .33 The fully negroid Slave Leaderwho bas experienced prolonged restraint and oppression knows how to freely express his emotions physicall y and spiritually. The Slave Leader. breaks loose from the res traints of the other slaves and shouts "W elcome the new god! 'Thrice welcome the new order! " and with his hands cupped to his mouth , yodels "Bvobe-e-e-e, Eveh -e-e-el" (7) . Soyinka duplicates the sound in the Greek word for the Ba:cchic cry mentioned in Euripides' original (1034) .34 Soyinka specifically recommends that lhe Slav e Leader be fully negroi d becauseof the ' hollering ' style of his solo in the play. His vocal resonance will be extremely effective on stage, particularly as it intermingles with the sound/musi c of Dion ysos. Acco rding to the stage directions , the Slave Leader 's sound is "taken up by echoes from the hills . It roves round and round and envelops the scene .. .. the sound 143
continues. transformed beyond the plain echo (Q an eerie response from vast distances - (7) . These arc the sounds that build up and swell. culminating in the music of the black hot gospellers . the African-Americans whose music became a source of comfort and hope durin g their yean of slavery and oppression. The Slave Leader sees that same hope for freedom and liberation as revealed in his words to the other slaves who are frightened because they danced with Dionysos and the vestals: SLA VB LEAD ER: You hesitant fools! Don' t you unders tand? Don't you bloW? We are' no longer alone - Slaves. helots , the near and distant dispossessed! This master race, this much vaunted dragon spa wn Have met their match. Nature hasjoined forces with us. Let them reckon now. not with mere men, not with The scapegoat bogeyof a slave uprising But with a new remorseless order. forces Unpredictable as molten fire in mountain wombs . To doubt, to hesitate is to prove undeserving (7-8). The Slave Leader assures all the slaves and helots both near and far that their redemption is at hand. It is the dawning of a new day when the suppressed will be freed. By saying that the master race have met their match because nature hasjoined forces with the servile race, Soyinka would seem by extension to be alluding to all the Europeancolonialists who considered themselves to be the master race . The Slave Leader's words are like a call to arms for the ex-colonized to join forces and attack eurocen tred ideologies and discrimination of every kind. Furthermore. Sc yinka, by being commissioned to write a play. takes the opportuni ty to expo se the tyranny of slavery and colonizati on and authenticate Africa' s pre-cclceial history to a 144
Page 5:
51. 101m'S RImlINKING GREEK TRAGEDY
Page 8:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to th
Page 11:
and Caribbean descen t, remain ed a
Page 14 and 15:
CHAPTER 1 • INTRODUCTION Postc ol
Page 16 and 17:
Postcolonial theory comprises the d
Page 18:
colonial process . 3 The use of the
Page 21 and 22:
Even mough postcolonial theory inte
Page 23 and 24:
wickedness, that the very idea of i
Page 26 and 27:
linguistic groups . The people who
Page 28 and 29:
that is our nig1'i1utU •...• Fo
Page 32 and 33:
Africans in Ivory Coast have beenqu
Page 34:
how me West dealt with the Orien t
Page 39 and 40:
presence show s. aim relentlessly t
Page 41 and 42:
women by the natives. In "Caliban A
Page 43:
privileged the aite above those wit
Page 50:
CHAPfERl 11re Gods An Nol To BI4mr.
Page 53:
hindered communication with the dif
Page 57 and 58:
Banhamcites the production notes an
Page 59 and 60:
he founded the on Olokun theatre gr
Page 61:
In the legend, against the advice o
Page 64:
also happens to be the household se
Page 67:
human features and interact with me
Page 71:
From the moment a child is conceive
Page 76:
Having heard about their predicamen
Page 79:
older brother rightfull y occupies
Page 82:
two daughters are introduced on sta
Page 85 and 86:
from whi ch the noun is derived is
Page 87 and 88:
tragic flaw, his sin of hubris . br
Page 89 and 90:
occur does leave room for the possi
Page 91 and 92:
accepting it; the gods themselves c
Page 93 and 94:
doing : you bl ed down andreceive i
Page 95:
of the Townspeople: [The] old. and
Page 98 and 99:
De-lfe to inquire of the gods the r
Page 100 and 101:
his household. Rotimi has a dual pu
Page 102 and 103:
the place where three footpaths mee
Page 105 and 106: off against the old myths, the supe
Page 107 and 108: on Odewale that he should kill his
Page 109: in the first place••..(foreign
Page 115: communication is limited to only th
Page 121: entity under the colonial system. I
Page 126 and 127: the illusion that all would be well
Page 128 and 129: Letterario Internarionale Mondello
Page 133 and 134: imaginatively recreates the plot an
Page 135 and 136: in his thigh and sewed it up so tha
Page 137: In the prologue of Euripides ' lJac
Page 141 and 142: trim not only lhe bi- sexual nature
Page 143 and 144: forged fro m the ore of mountain-wo
Page 148: I find myself very much preoccupied
Page 153 and 154: of the old household slave who is t
Page 155: conflict betweenthe oppressed and t
Page 160 and 161: into the realm of communal ritual .
Page 162 and 163: and drinks from the wine that spurt
Page 164 and 165: From orgas mic moans the surrogate
Page 166 and 167: "those gods . who yearly mus t be r
Page 168 and 169: By making the audience or a membero
Page 170: minute of his speech, he utters the
Page 174 and 175: which he turned water in to wine at
Page 176: itual . As Tiresias says, Dionysos
Page 185: 172 44. Herodotus . History o/the G
Page 188 and 189: African mythological worldview on t
Page 192: Booth, James. "Human Sacrifice in L
show all

Untitled - Memorial University of Newfoundland

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?