Mythopoetic Farewell: Strategies of Dramatic Performance in Okinba Launko's Nigerian Poetry
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53103/cjlls.v5i6.234Keywords:
African Poetry, Farewell, Dramatic Performance, Mythopoetic, Okinba LaunkoAbstract
This paper examines the strategies of dramatic performance in Okinba Launko's (the pseudonym of Femi Osofisan) poem, "Ire, A Valedictory Rite for Ogun." Employing Ivan Strenski's (2024) performative theory of myth as a framework, the study interrogates how mythopoetic and dramatic elements are utilised to explore the theme of farewell in African poetry. The analysis reveals that the poem transcends conventional verse, transforming into an embodied, ritualistic performative space. By innovatively fusing dramatic poetry with African oral performance traditions, Launko creates a powerful medium for grappling with contemporary human experiences. The study concludes that this use of mythopoetic and dramatic elements not only enriches the African poetic form but also deepens the audience's engagement with fundamental human conflicts and cultural narratives within African society.
References
Abram, C. (2011). Myths of the pagan north: The gods of the norsemen. Sydney: Bloomsbury.
Abrams, M. & Harpham, G. (2012). A glossary of literary terms. Boston: Centage,
Afolayan. K., & Inyang, U. (2022). Of divination tray and the search for utopia: A postcolonial reading of Okinba Launko's selected poems. Kente: Cape Coast Journal of Literature and the Arts Vol. 3,1,59-74 https://doi.org/10.47963/jla.v3i1.222. 1
Akinyemi, T., & Falola, T. (Eds). (2009). Emerging perspectives on Femi Osofisan. Austin: Africa World Press
Anyidoho, K. (1984). A harvest of our dreams. Accra: Woeli.
Anyidoho, K. (1991). Poetry as dramatic performance: The Ghana experience. Research in African Literatures 22, 2, 41-55.
Armstrong, K. (2005). A short history of Myths. London: Cannongate.
Asante, M., & Mazama, A. (Eds.) (2009). Ogun. In M. K. Asante, M. And A. Mazama (Eds.), Encyclopedia of African religion (pp. 481-482). Sage Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412964623.n302
Austin, J. (1965). How to do things with words. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Babalola, A. (1966). The content and form of Yoruba Ijala. Clarendon Press.
Barthes R. (2000). Mythologies. London: Vintage.
Bodunde, C. (2001). Myth and aesthetic mediation: IFA divination poetry and Okinba Launko's poetry. In Oral traditions and aesthetic transfer: Creativity and Social Vision in Contemporary Black Poetry (pp.27-35). Bayreuth: Bayreuth African Studies.
Brunel, P. (1993). Companion to literary myths: Heroes and archetypes. London: Routledge
Chapple, F. & Kattenbelt, C. (Eds.), (2006). Intermobility in theatre and performance. Amsterdam: Rodopi.
Donne, J. (2015). A valediction: Forbidding mourning. In T. Redpath (Ed.), songs and sonnets of John Donne (pp.260-266). London: Cambridge university press.
Fasan, R. and Sesan, A. (2017). The word as a divining medium in Okinba Launko's Dream Seeker on Divining Chain.Ife Studies in English Language. 13, 1. 114-130.
Jeyifo, B. (2004). Wole Soyinka: Politics, poetics and postcolonialism, Cambridge: Cambridge.
Launko, O. (1987). Minted coins. Ibadan. Heinemann Educational Books
Launko, O. (1993). Dream-Seeker on divining chain. Ibadan: Kraft Books.
Launko, O. (2000). Pain remembers: Love rekindles. Ibadan. Opon Ifa Publishers
Launko, O. (2020). Mingled coins. Launko, O. (2007). Commemorations. Ibadan: Mosuro.
Launko, O. (2013). Seven stations up the tray's way. Ibadan: Mosuro.
Launko, O. (2023). Remember Tenderness. Ibadan: Kraft.
Launko, O. (2023). The Jeweller of Night. Ibadan: Kraft.
Laver, J. (1975). Communicative functions of phatic communion. In A. Kendon, R. M. Harris, & M. R. Key (Eds.), Organisation of behaviour in face-to-face Interaction (pp. 215-238). Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110907643.215
Levi-Strauss, C. (1969). The elementary structures of kinship. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
Malinowski, B. (1936). Myth in primitive psychology. New York: Norton.
Malinowski, B. (1944). A scientific theory of culture and other essays. New York: Oxford university press.
Ogede, O. S. (1995). Resisting repression in Nigeria: The lyric poetry of Femi Osofisan. Third World Quarterly, 16,2, 329–339. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3993313
Ogundipe, S. (2010). Comparative orality in Okinba Launko’s commemorations and Ezenwa-Ohaeto's The chants of a minstrel. M.A. thesis, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria
Osofisan, F. (2011). Wole Soyinka and a living dramatist: A playwright's encounter with Soyinka's drama. Insidious treasons: Drama in a postcolonial state. Ibadan: Opon Ifa.
Osofisan, F. (2001). The nostalgic drum: Essays on literature, drama and culture. Trenton: Africa World Press.
Tadi, Y.N. (2010). Poetry and power: Okinba Launko's aesthetics of liberation in Minted Coins and Pain Remembers. GOPANLI: Gombe Papers on Nigerian Literature, 1, 2.1-17.
Tylor, E. (2012). Primitive culture. London: John Murray.
Turner, V. (1969). The Ritual process: Structure and anti-structure. Chicago: Aldine Publishing.
Okpewho, I. (1983). Myth in Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sartre, J. 1967. What is literature? Translated by Bernard Frenchtman. London: Methuen.
Strenski, I. (2024). How to do things with myths. Sheffield: Equinox Publishing.
Soyinka, W. (1976). Myth, literature and the African world, Cambridge: Cambridge UP
Soyinka, S. (1986). Idanre and other poems. London: Methuen.
Soyinka, W. (1976). Death and the king's horseman.
Soyinka, W. (2010). The bacchae of Euripides: A communion rite. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Stephen Ogundipe
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
All articles published by CJLLS are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. This license permits third parties to copy, redistribute, remix, transform and build upon the original work provided that the original work and source is appropriately cited.
