Soyinka's Bacchae : reading tragedy in postcolonial modernity
This thesis focuses on The Bacchae of Euripides: A Communion Rite, a reception of the ancient Greek tragedy Euripidesâ Bacchae by the Nobel Prize winning Nigerian playwright, poet and social critic Wole Soyinka. It will argue that Soyinkaâs Bacchae sits at the intersection of Western and African intellectual traditions; the text brings Soyinkaâs Nigerian and black African identity into a dialogue with the European intellectual tradition of engagement with ancient Greek tragedy. The tragic texts of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides have been, and remain, central to the literary canon of Graeco-Roman antiquity. These tragedies have been put to very different uses throughout their rich reception history: in the colonial context they functioned as part of a European narrative of cultural hegemony, while postcolonial authors have used them as weapons of resistance to destabilize those very same narratives and to form new identities beyond the shadow of colonialism. Both the circumstances of its genesis and the intellectual influences that Soyinka incorporates into the play make his Bacchae a paradigmatic example of how these historical processes can overlap. Firstly, Soyinka was commissioned to write his
Lecznar, A. E.
Soyinka's Bacchae : reading tragedy in postcolonial modernity. This thesis focuses on The Bacchae of Euripides: A Communion Rite, a reception of the ancient Greek tragedy Euripidesâ Bacchae by the Nobel Prize winning Nigerian playwright, poet and social critic Wole Soyinka. It will argue that Soyinkaâs Bacchae sits at the intersection of Western and African intellectual traditions; the text brings Soyinkaâs Nigerian and black African identity into a dialogue with the European intellectual tradition of engagement with ancient Greek tragedy. The tragic texts of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides have been, and remain, central to the literary canon of Graeco-Roman antiquity. These tragedies have been put to very different uses throughout their rich reception history: in the colonial context they functioned as part of a European narrative of cultural hegemony, while postcolonial authors have used them as weapons of resistance to destabilize those very same narratives and to form new identities beyond the shadow of colonialism. Both the circumstances of its genesis and the intellectual influences that Soyinka incorporates into the play make his Bacchae a paradigmatic example of how these historical processes can overlap. Firstly, Soyinka was commissioned to write his
reading tragedy postcolonial modernity focus communion rite reception ancient_greek tragedy prize win nigerian poet social critic argue sit intersection western african intellectual_tradition text bring nigerian black african identity dialogue european_intellectual tradition engagement ancient_greek tragedy tragic text aeschylus sophocles remain central literary canon graeco_roman antiquity tragedy put different throughout rich reception history colonial_context function part european narrative cultural hegemony postcolonial author use weapon resistance narrative form new identity beyond shadow colonialism circumstance genesis intellectual influence incorporate play make paradigmatic example historical_process overlap firstly commission write