Imagery and nomenclature determine how an original work of art or its translation is to be categorised, appreciated and analysed. The language of expression plays a major role in the transmission of a message, and the interpretation of meaning of a work of art. Key Words: resistance – Yoruba religion –semiotics – pitfalls of national consciousness – utopia – dystopia - satire - drama of disillusion
The plays in question are a sarcastic reading of total disillusionment of post-independence Nigeria. Wole Soyinka’s The Trials of Brother Jero (1963) and Jero's Metamorphosis (1973) have been selected since they are relevant to the topic of this study that examines the pitfalls of national consciousness -as Frantz Fanon terms it- that has led to the political turmoil witnessed after independence especially after the Biafran Civil War in Nigeria (1967 – 1970). Semiotics is a multifaceted and heterogeneous tool to approach theatrical performance clefs. To foreground dramatic features, the study attempts to make use of semiotics. That is, the shocking reversal between high utopian expectations and deep disillusionment has been central to the tense vacillation of the utopian-dystopian axis. The aim is to depict the relationship between dystopian fiction and dark satire as a counterpoint to the vision of utopia. Dystopia –as a genre- is the core of this study to expose the betrayed ideals of the Nigerian nationalism. The present study has been triggered by the disparity between the politicians' claimed ideals and the actualities of the present disenchantment with the ruling class.
Abstract Post-Independence Nigerian Dystopia in Soyinka’s The Trials of Brother Jero (1963) and Jero's Metamorphosis (1973): A Semiotic Study This current paper attempts to study post-independence Nigerian dramatic specimen of the pitfalls of national consciousness to expose post-independence government and its self-aggrandizing performance.
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