Theatre and testimony: Bearing witness to trauma and violence in Ahmed Yerima's Hendu

Abstract

Through the perpetual herdsmen-farmers conflicts of Nigeria, there has been cumulative trauma and violence, displacement affecting the communities, and ethnic tensions, but literary representation is under-explored as one of the avenues of bearing witness and reconciling. The research problem presented through the study is how theatre can be used to testify and humanize the experiences of people who are affected, especially the Fulani nomads, in a society of misconceptions and failed policies. It is hoped that in the analysis of Ahmed Yerima’s play Hendu (2019) it may be possible to consider a dramatic testimony which may serve as a witness to the trauma and violence of these conflicts, and refer to such themes as displacement, culpability and conciliation. The theoretical framework relates to the triadic conflict resolution theory developed by Johan Galtung that focuses on attitude, behavior, and contradiction in the peacebuilding process and trauma theory by Cathy Caruth, to discuss the process in which narrative reenactment addresses unresolvable pain. The study is methodologically based on qualitative literary analysis, close reading of texts, thematic deconstruction and social-pragmatic analysis of conversations by relying on ethnography of communication (S-P-E-A-K-I-N-G model) to contextualize the cultural discourses. The anticipated outcomes are the findings about the role of theatre in the reframe of insurgencies, development of empathy across boundaries, and non-violent solutions, which will eventually become a component of the potential of insurgent of the Nigerian drama in terms of social healing and political discussion.