AFRICAN THEATRE AND THE POSTMODERN/POSTCOLONIAL AGENDA: THE EXAMPLE OF IGBO MASQUERADE

Abstract

The relationship of African studies to the postmodern and T postcolonial critical frameworks is ambiguous. This ambiguity reflects the inherent uncertainties and the different receptions of the frameworks holding in one breadth attraction for some, irritation for some, and indifference for others as well as the protean nature of African scholarship itself. A look at the global appraisal of these critical 'posts' betrays a demographic alignment. It seems that their reception depends on the national and geographical affiliation of the investigators; that is, on which side of the Atlantic they are, or come from. In the main, African scholars seem to be predominantly sceptical, while those in the global north, especially the United States and Canada, seem to be consumed with these posts. Many factors are attributed to this differential attitudes, most of which concern the nature of the discourse systems and their palpable western origin and inflection which, despite their claims to the contrary, do not seem to echo the concerns of marginalised subjects.