Title: Interrogating History Through Drama: A New Historicist Reading Of African Drama
Authors: Oseni Adijat Tunrayo
Volume: 10
Issue: 4
Pages: 136-140
Publication Date: 2026/04/28
Abstract:
This paper explores the intricate relationship between history and literature in African drama, emphasizing how dramatic texts serve as sites for negotiating historical memory and social consciousness. Using the New Historicist theoretical framework, the study examines African plays as both products and critiques of their socio-political contexts, demonstrating how they reflect, contest, and reinterpret historical narratives. Employing a critical and textual reading approach, the paper analyzes selected African dramas to uncover the interplay between historical events, cultural practices, and literary expression. The central argument posits that African drama not only mirrors the historical realities of colonization, postcolonial governance, and socio-cultural struggles but also actively participates in shaping public understanding of these histories. Findings indicate that dramatists utilize narrative strategies, characterization, and symbolism to challenge hegemonic historical discourses, assert indigenous perspectives, and foreground marginalized voices. The analysis further reveals that African drama functions as a dynamic archive of collective memory, offering both historical insight and socio-political critique. The study recommends that scholars, educators, and policymakers integrate African dramatic texts into historical and cultural curricula to enhance awareness of the continent's complex past and to foster critical engagement with its contemporary social realities. By reading African drama through a New Historicist lens, this paper underscores the potential of literature to interrogate history, facilitate epistemic justice, and contribute to a more nuanced understanding of Africa's historical and cultural landscape.