Proverbs in Wole Soyrinka's Construction of Paradox in "The Lion and The Jewel and Death and The King's Horseman

Abstract

Paradox, which is one means through which conflict is resolved in Soyinka's works, also accounts for the difficulty in interpreting his works. Proverbs play a significant role as a creative tool in the playwright's construction of paradox for the representation of the reality of his society and envisioning a better one. The article focuses on how proverbs have been strategically infused into the plays to lend a paradoxical edge to characterisation and the ironic resolution of conflict in the plays. A critical study of the proverbial idioms employed in the plays (these idioms are critically related to some salient Yoruba proverbs outside the texts) show that the charge of obscurity that is often levelled against Soyinka is attributable to his deployment of the tool of paradox to achieve aesthetic and philosophical significance. The study is informed by an agential approach to literary criticism which makes possible the establishment of connections between authorial intention and the agency of the text.

Opsomming
Paradoks, een wyse waarop konflik in Soyinka se werke opgelos word, verklaar ook waarom sy werke so moeilik is om te interpreteer. Spreekwoorde speel 'n belangrike rol as 'n kreatiewe werktuig in die toneelskrywer se konstruksie van paradoks vir die voorstelling van die realiteit van sy samelewing en om 'n beter samelewing te visualiseer. Die artkel fokus op hoe spreekwoorde strategies in toneelstukke ge'integreer is om 'n paradoksale kant aan karakterisering en die ironiese oplossing van konflik in die toneelstukke te gee. 'n Kritiese studie van die spreekwoordelike idiome wat in die toneelstukke aangewend word (hierdie idiome staan in 'n kritiese verwantskap met sommige treffende Joroeba-spreekwoorde buite die tekste) sal aantoon dat die obskuriteit waarvan Soyinka dikwels beskuldig word, toe te skryf is aan sy aanwending van die paradokswerktuig om estetiese en filosofiese betekenis te verwerf. In die studie word 'n agentgerigte benadering tot literere kritiek gevolg, wat die bewerkstelliging van aansluitings tussen die skrywer se bedoeling en die teks as agent moontlik maak.