Abstract: From Sophocles’ Teiresias to Ola Rotimi’s Baba Fakunle to J. P. Clark’s Bou-Karakarabiri to Barclays Ayakoroma’s Native Doctor who calls his god Okirigudagu, the role and position of the native doctor has not received much attention from dramatic critics and theatre theorists especially from the African continent. The place of native medicine in African worldview cannot be overemphasized in the life of the African people. Despite the coming of Christianity and Islam, indigenous religious practices are still very profound amongst African people. The ‘Babalawo thing’ as it is mostly called in Nigeria, is viewed as a realm of the ‘gifted’ ones who are metaphysical in operation. As advanced as the world and indeed Africa is scientifically and technologically, African people still accord great regard to native doctors who are either consulted for benevolent or malevolent reasons. A Chance to Survive offers a good dimension to the analysis of the role of native doctors in African drama. It is imperative to ask the following fundamental questions: who is a native doctor? What are some of the dynamics of their operation and enterprise? Is native medicine real or a mere speculation? How better playwrights from Africa can position these magic artists in the course of pitching their works? How can governments standardize the practice of native doctors in order to corroborate orthodox and modern medicine? This paper intends to deploy the archetypal/myth critical theoretical framework to analyze and also investigate the role and position of native doctors in African drama. It is expected that there will be an improvement in the portrayal of these crucial characters in African theatre. The paper has suggested ways by which native doctors will not be used for malevolent reasons which should be portrayed by dramatists.
Keywords: Native doctor, African Drama, Metaphysics.
Title: THE NATIVE DOCTOR IN AFRICAN DRAMA: A CASE STUDY OF BARCLAYS AYAKOROMA’S A CHANCE TO SURVIVE
Author: Solomon Obidah Yamma
International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research
ISSN 2348-3164 (online), ISSN 2348-3156 (Print)
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