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Transculturation and Cultural Correspondences in Contemporary Nigerian Drama

Ademola O. Dasylva, Phd, Department of English, University of Ibadan, Nigeria

Transcultural influences occasioned by different historical factors abound in contemporary Nigerian literature, particularly the Nigerian drama. And like its other major generic forms, poetry and prose fiction, the influences are largely responsible for the apparent hybridity of form, as well as engender intertextuality. Thus, the seemingly shared ideological boundaries have made possible the domestication, adaptation and/or adoption of theories and concepts that were originally non-native to Africa. Besides determining, locating and/or situating sources that foreground transculturation and cultural correspondences, the present paper examines the degree of cultural influences of non-African, especially Western dramatic traditions on the contemporary Nigerian drama. Further still, there is a conscious effort at establishing very striking cultural correspondences between contemporary Nigerian drama, on the one hand, and dramatic traditions of non-African societies, on the other hand. The study succeeds in delineating intercultural influences from cultural correspondences, and concludes that the overwhelming local and international audience-reception often accorded contemporary Nigerian drama is traceable to the Nigerian playwright's artistic vision, especially the recognition of the possibility of advancing an obvious xenofilous spirit to a pedestal of a global dramatic culture, as well as the penchant for accommodating and integrating the tradition of the Other.