Drama as imaginative hypnotic impulse: a postulate rooted in the African dramatic experience

Abstract

There are still doubts in the mind of Africans even in the Diaspora, regarding the appropriateness and validity of interpreting the African dramatic experience under the same yardstick and parameters as the west, especially using the Aristotelian model of the mimetic form as an entrenching factor to underscore the totality of the dramatic worldview. On this account, quite a number of researchers have begun surveys into the vast unattended mass of information on African theatre and drama, to rediscover the African form for assigning meaning and value, for interpreting indigenous experiences, and constructing knowledge. Using the literary and analytical methodologies, this article reviews scholarly positions on the subject and attempts a formulation of a theory that is rooted in the African dramatic experience. It posits that the imaginative hypnotic impulse which transcends mere entertainment, herein called hypnosis, can be a reliable basis for examining African drama and theatre. This is ostensibly because hypnosis can be regarded as a primal force around which the African cosmic perception of life and dramatic experiences revolve.

Keywords: African drama and theatre, Imaginative hypnotic impulse, African cosmic perception of life