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123748

Narrative Strategies in Femi Osofisan’s Once Upon Four Robbers and Salah Abdel-Sabur’s Ba’d an Yamut al-Malik

Article

Last updated: 04 Jan 2025

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Abstract

In the postmodern era, the boundaries of drama have become rather flexible due to the manipulation of oral tradition, storytelling, monologues and narration as integral parts of the dramatic fabric. In his seminal work “Voice and Narration", Brian Richardson rightly contends that “Narration has long been a basic feature of the twentieth-century stage, and one that ought to be more fully appreciated and extensively theorized". The fusion of narrative techniques into the dramatic action adds to the idea of experimentation and self-reflexivity on stage. This study proposes to analyze and compare the elements of narration and storytelling in African and Arab drama. The selected texts are Femi Osofisan's Once Upon Four Robbers that deals with the moral and legal definitions of armed robbery and the inability of the government to solve this problem; and Salah Abdul-Sabur's Ba'd an Yamut al-Malik (Now the King is Dead) that deals with political oppression and spiritual deprivation. The choice of these works is based on the fact that both dramatists make extensive use of a rich oral tradition and storytelling in an attempt to weave oral tradition and drama. Much emphasis is placed upon narrative techniques as a means of dramatizing societal issues, offering an indirect political commentary on modern Nigerian and Egyptian history and involving audience as well.

DOI

10.21608/ttaip.2019.123748

Keywords

Postmodern Drama, Folktales, narration, Femi Osofisan, Salah Abdul-Sabur

Authors

First Name

Amal

Last Name

Ibrahim Kamel

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Department of English, Faculty of Arts, Fayoum University, Egypt

Email

aik00@fayoum.edu.eg

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Orcid

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Volume

1

Article Issue

1

Related Issue

18555

Issue Date

2019-12-01

Receive Date

2018-05-01

Publish Date

2019-12-01

Page Start

161

Page End

179

Print ISSN

2636-4069

Online ISSN

2735-3451

Link

https://ttaip.journals.ekb.eg/article_123748.html

Detail API

https://ttaip.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=123748

Order

9

Type

Original Article

Type Code

1,357

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Textual Turnings: An International Peer-Reviewed Journal in English Studies

Publication Link

https://ttaip.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Narrative Strategies in Femi Osofisan’s Once Upon Four Robbers and Salah Abdel-Sabur’s Ba’d an Yamut al-Malik

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Article

Created At

23 Jan 2023