Westernism and the sacred in African drama: An analysis of Tsegaye Gabre Medhin’s <i>Oda Oak Oracle</i> and Kalu Uka’s <i>Ikhamma</i>

Abstract

The sacred has always been a unifying force in the history of the theatre especially during the classical and medieval theatres and beyond. Within the African region, the sacred is also a stabilizing force in the traditional societies and their theatres before its bastardization in modern and contemporary African societies. However, from pre-historic times to the apex of the Hellenic age, through to the Roman Hegemony to the Middle-Ages, up to the Renaissance, down to the modern and post-modern era; religion, conceptualized in the sacredness and sanctity of some objects and personalities, like gods, God, deities, spirits, ghosts and priests remain a constant in the modus operandi of these societies producing intermittently, possibilities and negativities that condition human activities. Hence, rather than foster peace continually, which is what all religions profess, religion has played negative roles at various times and in different regions of the world. The thrust of this paper, therefore, is to find solution to religious absolutism in Africa. The paper purports to prove that Africa will be rid of her numerous religious based conflicts; if she begins to question imposition of foreign religions and find ways of co-existing with each other in the face of the facetious religions of the West that cause vilification of one another and the use of force as a sacred arm of evangelism. Tsegaye Gabre Medhin’s Oda Oak Oracle and Kalu Uka’s Ikhamma are selected as case studies for analyzing the problem, using content analysis approach of the qualitative research method.