Mythmaking as self-making and nation-building: a reading of Wole Soyinka’s “Idanre”

Authors

  • Sandile Ndaba Catholic Institute of Education

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.38140/aa.v35i2.795

Abstract

This paper investigates how Soyinka uses Yoruba mythology in his poem “Idanre”. It avers that Soyinka uses Ogun as his tutelary deity in an attempt at self-reclamation and nation-building. It shows how Soyinka transposes the nature and symbolism of Ogun in Yoruba mythology to an interpretation of the contemporary postcolonial socio-political situation in Africa. Furthermore, the paper argues that Soyinka borrows mythical symbols from Greek mythology and blends these with those from Yoruba myth in an attempt to forge a new, hybrid African identity.

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Published

2003-12-19

Issue

Section

Articles