Forging Ogun's Presence in a Plastic Society. A Look at Wole Soyinka's 'The Interpreters'

Scientific Essay from the year 2016 in the subject Literature - Africa, University of Botswana, language: English, abstract: The aim of this article is two-fold. It will analyse how Ogun principles in The Interpreters have been compromised and discarded by individuals transformed by an alien culture. The article will also describe and evaluate the ways in which the Ogun presence manifests itself in a society that is reluctant to look at the past in order to forge a path of self-discovery. In the postmodern age, the concept of identity and purpose calls for a psychological weaning from imported cultures with their hegemonic footprints. The absorption of an alien culture is at times not selectively done by members of these African societies. In effect, they find themselves technologically propelled into an environment that transforms them from the inside and spreads like a cancer.

Wazha Lopang is a lecturer in the Department of English at the University of Botswana. His area of interest is oral literature and the gender politics within. He has written articles arguing that the African trickster is androgynous and not male as some storytellers and listeners believe. He is co-editor and contributor of AMANTLE! , a book that focuses on Botswana Literature. Currently he is working on how the dislocation of minorities affects rituals that involve species alien to their new environment.. He has published a short story for The Caine Prize Workshop (2013), The Strange Dance of The Calabash. He was the winner of the 2015 Poetavango short story competition for his story, The Small Matter of the Jelly. He was second runner up in the 2012 Bessie Head Competition. His novel, The Guardian of the Spirit Stone was published online by Just Fiction.