ABSTRACT
However simple it may sound linguistically and/or literarily, “Iya” (mother) is a complex being within Yoruba political and socio-cultural context from where it is drawn. I argue that the complexity of motherhood, (in various transformations and/or transfigurations), gives contents to narrative forms and/or cultural representations in Nigerian literature, such as drama. Hence, this chapter examines the essence and/or effectiveness of the concept of “Iya” in representing the themes of love and hatred, trust and distrust, friendship and enemy in marriage or family and community as represented in Bosede Ademilua-Afolayan's Look Back in Gratitude and Once upon an Elephant. In doing that, ideas are drawn from relevant literature works of Yoruba culture, philosophy and history in developing a theoretical background. Thus, the article argues that the plays stand out among other contemporary Nigerian women writings for it portrays women as the builder and/or the destroyer of human society.
The average Nigerian girl-child is trained in an environment where she is made to internalise the ethos and culture of her people. A crucial part of the cultural transfer is the fact that one day she must leave her parents' house to become someone's wife. She goes through her adolescent life fantasising on an affectionate, enduring marital union. When she eventually arrives at the port of matrimony, the vicissitudes of marital life that she may have to go through may make her whole life come crashing on her if not well-managed. Sometimes, instead of love she is given hatred, in the place of moral, social and psychological support, she receives naked cruelty. She encourages herself to endure all the marital pains and heart aches with equanimity because she has been programmed to not allow a third party to pry into her marriage. Eventually, her silent ordeals may lead to a physical or psychological implosion, sometimes with fatal consequences. As seers and public opinion enhancers, the playwrights, Zainabu Jallo and Tosin Tume, employ their creativity to interrogate the status quo in which women appear to be eternally marooned in Onions Make Us Cry and Not That Woman, respectively. This chapter, therefore, takes an exploratory excursion into the claims of both authors, isolate patriarchy as a precursor of domestic violence against women and concludes that beyond the evil of the conspiracy of silence and alienation that women suffer as a result of these bestialities, there is a growing trend of contempt for men by the female gender.
