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THE APPROPRIATION OF TRADITIONAL MUSICAL PRACTICES IN MODERN YORUBA DRAMA: A CASE STUDY OF WOLE SOYINKA’S DEATH AND THE KING’S HORSEMAN by Oyebade Ajibola Dosunmu BA, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, 2001 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Music University of Pittsburgh 2005 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This Thesis was presented by Oyebade Ajibola Dosunmu It was defended on April 6, 2005 and approved by Dr. Joseph K. Adjaye, PhD, Professor of Africana Studies Dr. Mary Lewis, PhD, Professor of Music Dr. Nathan Davis, PhD, Professor of Music Dr. Akin Euba, PhD, Professor of Music Thesis Advisor ii Copyright by Oyebade Dosunmu iii THE APPROPRIATION OF TRADITIONAL MUSICAL PRACTICES IN MODERN YORUBA DRAMA: A CASE STUDY OF WOLE SOYINKA’S DEATH AND THE KING’S HORSEMAN Oyebade Ajibola Dosunmu, MA University of Pittsburgh, 2005 While the earliest forms of Yoruba theater may very well be found in ritual plays such as egungun and adamu orisa, over time, noteworthy genres such as alarinjo popular theater, folk opera, and modern literary drama have developed. In a postcolonial society like Nigeria where Western culture has exerted considerable influence, there is ample room for speculation over the extent of European dramatic conventions in modern Yoruba drama. However, regarding the music which so characteristically features in such plays, there is no question about its traditional source. Moreover, modern Yoruba drama evidently draws on a broad cultural spectrum which includes myth, ritual, religion, custom and history, all constituents of a rich oral repository. In my thesis, I examine to what extent the appropriation of traditional musical practices in modern Yoruba drama reflects a cultural self-apprehension in the approach of the dramatist. As a case study, I investigate Wole Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman as a modern development of Yoruba theatrical traditions. Soyinka’s plays have been praised for their skilled combination of African dramatic traditions and themes with Western structural elements. In Death and the King’s Horseman the elements of music, dance, and miming which characterize traditional theatrical forms such as alarinjo, the traditional traveling theater of the Yoruba, are copiously used to enhance the iv dramatic scheme of the play. Further, the play which was published in 1975 is Soyinka’s adaptation of a historical encounter which took place in 1945 in the Yoruba city of Oyo. When Elesin, commander of the King’s stables, tried to commit ritual suicide in fulfillment of cultural expectations following the death of the King, the colonial authorities intervened, marring a ritual process which had important cosmological implications for the people of Oyo. In my thesis, I attempt to contextualize the events portrayed in Horseman within a historical setting relevant for the understanding of the events it portrays. Ultimately, I make comparisons between the techniques of dramatic development in traditional forms such as alarinjo and similar techniques evident in Soyinka’s play. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS........................................................................................................... ix 1. CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION..................................................................................... 1 1.1. STATEMENT OF RESEARCH..................................................................................... 1 1.2. STATE OF RESEARCH ................................................................................................ 3 1.3. SCOPE .......................................................................................................................... 10 1.4. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK................................................................................ 11 1.5. METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................... 12 2. CHAPTER TWO: THEATER AND THE YORUBA.......................................................... 15 2.1. THE YORUBA OF NIGERIA –A BRIEF HISTORICAL SURVEY ......................... 15 2.2. THE LANGUAGE OF THE YORUBA....................................................................... 17 2.2.1. Content: Linguistic Formulae ............................................................................... 21 2.2.2. Stylistic Registers.................................................................................................. 22 2.3. THE PLACE OF MUSIC IN TRADITIONAL YORUBA LIFE................................. 25 2.4. YORUBA COSMOLOGY: AN AESTHETIC PARADIGM FOR THE YORUBA CREATIVE ARTIST................................................................................................................ 34 2.5. YORUBA THEATER: A HISTORICAL SURVEY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF YORUBA THEATRICAL FORMS......................................................................................... 43 2.5.1. 1500 – 1860: Traditional and Ritual Forms.......................................................... 47 2.5.2. 1860 – 1960: Popular Traveling Theater (Folk Opera) ........................................ 49 2.5.3. 1960 – Present: Literary Forms – Word Based and Music Based ........................ 52 3. DEATH AND THE KING’S HORSEMAN, A MUSICO-DRAMATIC ANALYSIS........ 59 3.1. BACKGROUNDS AND CONTEXTS......................................................................... 59 3.1.1. History................................................................................................................... 59 3.1.2. Dramatis Personae and Synopsis .......................................................................... 60 3.1.3. Tradition................................................................................................................ 64 3.2. ANALYSIS................................................................................................................... 65 3.2.1. Music and Plot ...................................................................................................... 65 3.2.2. Music and Characterization .................................................................................. 80 3.2.3. Music and Mood ................................................................................................... 90 3.2.4. Music and the Communal Aesthetic..................................................................... 95 4. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................. 104 BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................................................................................................... 107 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Chart analysis of a non-exhaustive list of Yoruba linguistic formulae: ......................... 22 Table 2. Chart analysis of a non-exhaustive list of Yoruba stylistic registers:............................. 24 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Map of Nigeria showing her neighboring African countries............................................ 13 Figure 2: Map of Nigeria showing the geographical location of the Yoruba and some other major ethnic groups (large characters)............................................................................................ 14 viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To family, friends, colleagues and acquaintances in this world and the other one: thank you for your support and encouragement. A special thank you to Dr. Joseph Adjaye and Dr. Nathan Davis, members of my committee, for your wonderful support. The knowledge you have shared is invaluable, your contributions to my work, priceless. Dr. Mary Lewis, since taking that historical musicology seminar, you have been a source of inspiration to me. I owe you my most profound respect. Dr. Akin Euba, teacher, mentor, father and friend: words cannot express my gratitude to you. I hold you in highest esteem and consider this opportunity to work with you one of the greatest privileges of my career. I must also mention my teachers at Obafemi Awolowo University, Professor Vidal, Dr. Adegbite, Dr. Olaniyan and Dr. Bateye; thank you for building the foundation upon which this degree rests. To the Adenekan’s, Olorunnisola’s, Aboderin’s, Amoye’s and Dosunmu’s, for the roles you have individually and collectively played in my life reaching this point, this one is for all of us. Finally, to my father ’Sanya Dosunmu, Omoluberin…you are the fountain of wisdom from which I have drawn throughout my life. I am glad to be able to glean from your experiences and build upon your achievements. May you remain long for us. ix 1. CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1. STATEMENT OF RESEARCH The innate theatricality of the musical practices of the Yoruba of Nigeria, and indeed many African cultures, has been asserted by several scholars. 1 However, the musicality of modern Yoruba drama, while apparent, has been touched on only marginally. My study attempts a musicological discourse of modern drama in a Yoruba setting. While the earliest forms of Yoruba theater may very well be found in ritual plays such as egungun and adamu orisa, over time, noteworthy genres such as alarinjo (traditional traveling theater),2 popular theater, folk opera, and modern literary drama have developed. In a postcolonial society like Nigeria where Western culture has exerted considerable influence, there is ample room for speculation over the extent of European dramatic conventions in modern Yoruba drama. However, regarding the music which
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