Olayiwola & Folajimi / Legon Journal of the Humanities (2017) 79-89 DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ljh.v28i1.7 The Poetics of Demythologisation in Kunle Afolayan’s The Figurine Abiodun Olayiwola Senior Lecturer, Department of Dramatic Arts, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria
[email protected] Pelumi Folajimi Doctoral Student, Department of African Cultural Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA
[email protected] Submitted: September 22, 2016 /Accepted: February 14, 2017/ Published: May 31, 2017 Abstract The paper examines the concept of demythologisation as it is expressed in Kunle Afolayan’s film, The figurine (subtitled Araromire). The paper argues that, though some influences of supernatural forces appear potent in the early parts of the film (Araromire Village around 1908), natural coincidence and human action (human orchestration) are more convincingly projected in the latter part of the film (which is set in Lagos around 2001). Examining how Femi Osofisan’s drama demystifies and demythologises sacred matters, the paper argues that Afolayan adopts the same technique of demythologisation in his film, The figurine (Araromire) the same way Osofisan does in most of his plays. However, deriving its premises from certain revelations in the film, the study concludes that Kunle Afolayan’s attempt at demythologisation is a partial success, as certain occurrences in the film are difficult to completely detach from supernatural influence despite their denotation as coincidences. Keywords: film, demythologisation, Figurine, Nigerian drama, Kunle Afolayan Introduction As noted by Murfin and Supryia (1998), myths are ‘stories chronicling the adventures of gods and other supernatural forces, especially stories about their various feuds and encounters with mortals, are also common fare, as are tales about the fictional humans who must interact with them’ (p.