Leeds Thesis Template
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
The Use of Masks in Indian and Nigerian Theatre: A Comparative Study of Girish Karnad and Wole Soyinka Amara Khan Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds School of English November, 2015 - ii - The candidate confirms that the work submitted is her own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. The right of Amara Khan to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. © 2015 The University of Leeds and Amara Khan - iii - Acknowledgements I am eternally grateful to Allah for guiding and helping me to complete this research despite all the obstacles I encountered. I am deeply indebted to my supervisor, Professor Jane Plastow, without whose support, compassion and understanding and her constructive suggestions and patient advice this study would not be possible. Her analytical and critical exactness taught me to think and challenge myself in new ways and her constant encouragement and humour helped shape this project. I am also grateful to Drs Jan Wozniak and Jane Taylor for allowing me to sit in their seminars that enriched my understanding of the subjects that proved so useful in my research. I am indebted to Emeritus Professor Martin Banham for providing me with his valuable books. The School of English provided a supportive learning atmosphere and the Leeds Humanities Research Institute offered very comfortable and sociable workspace. Friends and colleagues in the School of English and from other departments at University of Leeds have given me both academic and personal support. They made these years away from home and family less difficult and helped make Leeds feel like home. There are a few friends in Leeds I wish to thank in particular, Maria Jesus Castro Barbero, Carolin Schneider, Maria Georgoula, and Christiana Panayi, all of whom have given me many memorable moments in Leeds, sharing a lot of happy times and giving much needed emotional support at less happy times. I owe a debt of gratitude to my friend, Jen-Hsien (Lucas) Hsu, who took valuable time off from his busy schedule to help me with formatting. - iv - And it is a special pleasure, finally and most importantly, to acknowledge my family. None of my academic or personal ambitions could ever have been fulfilled without their love and support. My family has always stood by my choices with immense faith and given me strength and hope. It is their faith that taught me to believe in myself and pursue my dreams. My thanks should go to my parents whose prayers strengthened my heart in the moments of despair and to my brother who came to Leeds twice and supported me emotionally. To my parents, Wazir Khan and Zahida Wazir, who found my years away from home the hardest, and to my little nephew, Abdul Rahman, whom it was among the most difficult for me to be away from, I dedicate this thesis, with much love and gratitude. - v - Abstract Girish Karnad, the Indian playwright, actor, and film director, and Wole Soyinka, the Nigerian playwright, poet, and novelist have produced artistic works that comment on human life, gender, socio-political and cultural issues. This study examines the importance of masks in Karnad’s Yayati, Naga-Mandala, and Hayavadana, and Soyinka’s A Dance of the Forests, Madmen and Specialists, and Death and the King’s Horseman. This research relied on the textual and visual records of their plays, articles, and scholarly reviews about their theatre in establishing the context of their dramaturgy, and their thematic considerations through various masking strategies. The first chapter gives an account of Karnad’s upbringing as an Indian child, his theatrical background, the factors responsible for his early interest in theatre and performance, cultural context of his plays, and major socio- political, literary, and theatrical movements in India. The second chapter explores the background to Karnad’s plays, synopses, production histories, cultural influences on Hayavadana, and salient features of traditional Indian theatre that Karnad utilises in his dramaturgy. The third chapter proceeds to present analyses of gender, society, and major themes in Karnad’s select plays through the use of masks. Chapter four is focused on Soyinka’s family background and Yoruba theatrical influences on his plays. Chapter five gives background and context to Soyinka’s plays, the influence of Yoruba cosmology and masking traditions in A Dance of the Forests, and synopses of his three plays. Chapter six is devoted to analyse how Soyinka depicts his - vi - exceptional individuals as sacrificial heroes and how this theme is explored through literal and non-literal masks. In the end of the chapter I discuss how Soyinka portrays women in his works. This last chapter is followed by a conclusion that compares the two playwrights and discusses the future possibilities of research in Indian and Nigerian drama. - vii - Table of Contents Acknowledgements .................................................................................... iii Abstract ........................................................................................................ v Table of Contents ...................................................................................... vii Preface ........................................................................................................ xi Chapter 1 Girish Karnad and his Theatrical Context ............................... 1 Indian Theatre under British Colonialism ....................................................... 1 Girish Karnad’s Cultural Context ................................................................... 4 Background to Post Independence Theatre in India ..................................... 4 Major Post Independence Theatre Movements in India ................................ 6 Theatre of Roots ........................................................................................... 6 A Critique of the Theatre of Roots ................................................................. 8 Other Theatre of Roots Activists ................................................................. 11 English-language Theatre ........................................................................... 14 Street Theatre ............................................................................................. 16 Girish Karnad: Background ......................................................................... 19 Girish Karnad’s Theatrical Background ....................................................... 20 Chapter 2 Background to Girish Karnad’s Plays: Hayavadana, Naga-Mandala, and Yayati ................................................................ 27 Hayavadana ................................................................................................ 27 Synopsis of Hayavadana ............................................................................. 31 Cultural Influences on Hayavadana ............................................................ 35 The Story of the Transposed Heads............................................................ 35 A Man with a Horse’s Head ......................................................................... 40 Salient Features of Traditional Indian Theatre as Used by Girish Karnad ... 43 Sutradhara or Bhagavata ............................................................................ 43 Dolls ............................................................................................................ 43 The Masks of Ganesha and Kali ................................................................. 44 Yakshagana ................................................................................................ 45 Naga-Mandala ............................................................................................. 51 Productions ................................................................................................. 52 Synopsis of Naga-Mandala ......................................................................... 54 Yayati .......................................................................................................... 56 - viii - Productions ................................................................................................. 58 Synopsis of Yayati ....................................................................................... 58 Chapter 3 Masks, Gender, and Indian Society ........................................ 61 Girish Karnad’s Hayavadana: A Study in Female Sexuality through Masks .................................................................................... 61 Padmini’s Family Background ..................................................................... 62 The Theme of Incompleteness .................................................................... 63 The Role of Gender, Culture, and Class ..................................................... 68 Padmini’s Desires........................................................................................ 69 Padmini as Sati ........................................................................................... 83 Hayavadana’s Mother: Another Bold Woman ............................................. 86 Subalternity and the Interweaving