Post-Colonial Dilemma of Criminality of Africans– The Post-colonial African nation deals with the issues of criminality in the present and contemporary. Many Africans still faces the issue of being labelled as criminals today which has become a stereotyping in the post-colonial world for Africa. Soyinka traces back to the pre-colonial times where Africa as a nation has an inglorious past. The story of Mata Kharibu and the Soldier (Dead Man) gives insight into the issue of African criminality which existed even before the colonial era. Soyinka is trying to remind the fellow Africans regarding their issues of past which is pessimistic for the present as the criminals really existed within the society and Mata Kharibu is among them as well as Madame Tortoise (Rola at present). They represent criminals from the past before the colonial era where Kharibu castrated the poor Soldier and even sold him as a slave. These issues still continues even today at the post-colonial Africa and Soyinka has tried to establish the criminality regarding the fellow Africans which arises out of their inglorious past and the issues still exist today in the post-colonial Africa.
Political and Social Issues of Past– The political and social issues of the Africans in the post-colonial world faces corruption and ethnic rivalry. Soyinka traces back the political issues of corruption since the pre-colonial times of Mata Kharibu where corruption exists in morality and it is still prevalent in the present where Adenebi who is engaged with corruption who do bribery and is responsible for the mass killing of the people who were traveling in a lorry. His action reflects the same overall corruption of politics from the past till the present. The ethnic rivalry is also the most common issue of post-colonial Africa. Soyinka projects that the ethnic rivalry exists among the kingdoms and it is seen subtly where Madame Tortoise was kidnapped by Mata Kharibu from another kingdom and decides to wage a war against their own kingdom reflecting the ethnic rivalry. Soyinka’s post-colonial stance is evident where he institutes ethnic rivalry as something that had existed pre-colonial times including slavery. Slavery has also been subtly experienced in the play where the coloniser is Mara Kharibu colonised his own military named Dead Man subjugating his subaltern position , castrates him and sold him as a slave. This narrative is pessimistic in a sense that it is ironical since the depiction merely arrives not out of European colonial regime but of the native’s own colonial regime. Soyinka could be hinting at the idea that internal colonialism existed in Africa since the pre-colonial times and he wants the fellow Africans to understand the internalised form of colonial mindset they have absorbed in their mindsets.
Inbetween Space– Homi Bhabha talks about the Third World Space or the inbetween space of the colonised experiences. The play “A Dance of the Forest” by Soyinka does indeed contain elements of inbetweeness, which is a common theme in postcolonial literature. The play explores the complex and often conflicting identities of the characters who find themselves caught between tradition and modernity, past and present, and colonial influences and indigenous cultures. This inbetweeness reflects the struggle for cultural and national identity in the wake of colonialism.The spirits of the Dead Man and Dead Woman in “A Dance of the Forest” do exist in an in-between space. They are not fully in the physical world nor in the spiritual world. Their presence hovers between these realms, symbolizing the liminality and ambiguity that often accompanies the exploration of life, death, and the supernatural. This in-betweenness adds a layer of mystery and depth to the play, allowing for a nuanced exploration of the human experience and the complexities of existence.
Ambivalent – Ambivalent is a post-colonial experience and many concepts and terms of the theory is based on the colonized experiences. Though the experiences in the play does not arise out of colonial power yet the perspective of postcolonial experience aligns itself with the term post-colonial or used interchangeably. The play also projects a sense of ambivalent relationship which is evident among the characters. Demoke shows an ambivalent relationship with his own traditional culture. He is torn between embracing modernity and the acceptance of his own culture. with his own culture or the society as a whole. However, when Obaneji states that “people refuse to acknowledge them”shows Soyinka’s development of ambivalent about the Africans who have failed to accept their own cultural roots in the post-colonial world. Rola and Adenebi at present as well detach away from their traditional roots while engaging in corruption as well as immoral behaviour that contradicts the Yoruba values and tradition. These characters embrace modernity rather than their own roots failing to accept at present.
Hybridity – Hybridity is another essence of the post-colonial aspect. The play shows the hybridity of Western literature and also shows the influences of Greek Chorus as reflected in the Chorus of the Half-Child. Soyinka might have been influenced by Shakespeare’s The Tempest which is also known for postcolonial elements and uses deus ex machina which occurs at the end of the play where Prospero gives resolution to all human dilemmas. It is similitude to Aroni’s giving resolution to all three human characters at the end of the play. The element of play within a play is also a western influence of Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy where Soyinka inputs play within a play to show the social and political issues of Africans. Critically, the element of Western influence is used to show the experiences of Africans about their inglorious past. The another instance of hybridity is the similar archetypal experience that the play may have taken from Homer’s “The Iliad”. His epic focuses on the Trojan war where the war is waged between Greeks and people of Troy after the abduction of Queen Helen. Similarly, one can observe in the play where Rola is abducted by Mata Kharibu from another tribe and he decides to wage a war against the another tribe. This scene clearly depicts the Greek famous Trojan War where Rola represents Queen of Helen and the war is being waged because of her. Soyinka inputs it as a similar flow of archetype in his play to justify the ethnic rivalry that exist among the tribe in the African society as well as institute the hybrid space in his theatrical writing.
Soyinka Death and the King’s Horseman as a Tragedy
