Who Is Afraid Of Efunsetan Aniwura? Performing Power in Yoruba Masculinist Oligarchy

The iconic Yoruba female personage of Efunsetan Aniwura has, in several studies, been vilified; and at a first glance, it would seem that Akinwunmi Isola's eponymous protagonist and heroine of that play reinforces the image of a villainous, wicked and self-centred woman. Contextualized within t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of international women's studies 2020-01, Vol.21 (1), p.79-88
Main Authors: Ladele, Omolola a, Oyinlola, Abimbola O
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Albee, Edward (1928-2016)
American literature
Beliefs, opinions and attitudes
Councils
Cultural factors
Decentralization
Dramatists
Efunsetan Aniwura
Feminism
Gender relations
Grain
Heroism & heroes
History
Language
Masculinity
Narratives
Nigerian literature
Oligarchy
Political activity
Political aspects
Politics
Power
Prescriptivism
Social aspects
Sociocultural factors
Sociopolitical factors
Translations
Tribal leaders
Women
Women in public life
Woolf, Virginia (1882-1941)
Writers
Yoruba culture
Yoruba language
Yoruba people
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Summary:The iconic Yoruba female personage of Efunsetan Aniwura has, in several studies, been vilified; and at a first glance, it would seem that Akinwunmi Isola's eponymous protagonist and heroine of that play reinforces the image of a villainous, wicked and self-centred woman. Contextualized within the Yoruba socio-political and economic national narratives of the late18 (th) and early 19 (th) centuries, this image appears both problematic and complexly contradictory. It is therefore useful to appropriately recuperate and verify the status of Efunsetan Aniwura within the backdrop of Yoruba cultural context. This is illustrated through a feminist re-reading of Efunsetan's actions and character against the grain of the Yoruba masculinist cultural backcloth and the uneven devolution of powers of her time. In this essay, we make the argument that Isola's heroine astutely resists and rejects the cultural prescriptivism and master narratives of the powerful masculinist oligarchy of that period. We therefore suggest that in spite of Isola's seeming pejorative representation of Efunsetan, the chieftain adumbrates possibilities for more equitable gender relations in her time.
ISSN:1539-8706
1539-8706