Paper short abstract:

The deployment of Ifa in drama, through personages and texts of Ifa, keys into debates around versions and subversions of the phenomenon. This paper examines symbolic and realistic presentations of Ifa in drama and whether or how these confer authenticity or reduce its cultural and aesthetic value.

Paper long abstract:

The issue of contestant versions of Ifa is complicated by the appropriation and incorporation of the paraphernalia of Ifa into secondary forms of expression such as secular drama and film. Ifa itself has been closely linked with ancient Yoruba drama, since the drama emerged from ritual and Ifa is a prominent component of the ritual. The deployment of Ifa for secular drama, through personages of Ifa such as Orunmila and associate gods, through various insignias of Ifa, and above all through texts of Ifa, is therefore irresistible. For example, as a symbol of wisdom and ethical conduct, Orunmila often serves as moral compass in drama. The deity’s teachings can be woven into the drama to convey moral or ethical principles and resolve related challenges. This paper explores models of integration of idioms of Ifa into Nigerian drama and film (Nollywood), and the relationship of convergence or divergence between principles of Ifa worship and elements of dramaturgy. Following models of text incorporation and text adaptation, the paper examines the versions of Ifa texts that dramatists are wont to employ for their dramas, and the degree of fidelity to, or modes of subversion of, these versions. The paper suggests that specific treatment of Ifa texts by specific dramatists/producers/directors will be determined largely by their perception of the continued potency of Ifa or impotency as a mere cultural relic. I examine symbolic and realistic realms of representation of Ifa and whether these confer authenticity or reduce the mythical, cultural and aesthetic value.