Dramatizing Subaltern Speakability: Nationalism and Economic Identity in Ola Rotimi’s <i>Akassa Youmi</i>

Abstract

This paper classifies the condition of subalternism as a major productive location for nationalism and identity politics in the post-colonial world. It is predicated on the subaltern theory which underscores the perspective of the ‘‘other’’ as having no voice because of class, gender, and religion. It draws attention to the question of subaltern speakability in the construction of the drama of the Niger Delta by focusing on Ola Rotimi’s Akassa Youmi, a drama of the region which has come to be appreciated as drama of nationalism and identity politics. Special attention is drawn to the fact that the play is founded concretely on minority, oppressed and marginalised voices in the postcolonial universe of the Niger Delta. Thus the creation of this drama is galvanized by the dramatists desire to give voice to the marginalised and oppressed people of Nembe. The study further holds the subaltern premise that subordinated people do not experience their circumstances passively but negotiate their position in society thus becoming agents in the making of their own history.