International Journal of Language & Literature

Myth, History and the Marxist Polemics in Femi Osofisan’s Morountodun
C.O. Ajidahun

Abstract
The paper is a critical appraisal of Femi Osofisan’s artistic fusion of the Yoruba myth of Moremi, a legendary figure in the history of Ile Ife, Nigeria and the history of Agbekoya uprising to depict his Marxist ideology. The paper is also an archetypalhistorical critique of Femi Osofisan’s Morountodun. The paper notes and discusses the playwright’s reliance on and employment of the archetypal heroism of Moremi and the archetypal revolution, valour and courage demonstrated by the leader of the Agbekoya uprising to protest against oppression and economic exploitation of the poor and the downtrodden in the society. There is an obvious juxtaposition of the capitalist ideology of the survival of the richest in the society with the Marxist advocacy for the equitable distribution of the resources of the land. The paper finally locates the play as a socio-economic satire on the alienation of the masses, class stratification and the gross oppression and dehumanization of the poor in the society.

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