Cultural Conflict in Wole Soyinka’s Play The Lion and the….Image.Marked.pdf

Cultural Conflict in Wole Soyinka’s Play The Lion and the Jewel Dr. P. Sreenivasulu Reddy =================================================================== Language in India ISSN 1930-2940 Vol. 13:9 September 2013 =================================================================== Abstract Wole Soyinka is Africas most distinguished playwright, winning the Nobel Prize for literature in 1986. Nigerian literature was born in earnest with the award of Nobel Prize in literature to Wole Soyinka. Soyinka, often referred to as the Bringer of Light to African Literatures, has put Nigerian literature on the world map, and since 1986, hundreds of Nigerians have proudly taken to studying Nigerian literature, as departments of Nigerian literature are being created in all the universities across the country. Writers of different genres have been published. Some have won prizes, while some are finalists in national and international contests, adding their voices to the identity, authenticity, aesthetics and glory of Nigerian literature. Written by Wole Soyinka the play The Lion And The Jewel has its setting in the village of Ilunjunle in Yoruba West Africa. It was published in 1963 by Oxford University Press. This article is a modest attempt to bring out how his play The Lion And The Jewel is characterized by culture conflict, ribald comedy and love, where the old culture represented by the uneducated people in Ilunjunle, led by Baroka, Sidi and the rest, clashes with the new culture led by Lakunle, who is educated, school teacher by profession is influenced by the western ways. Introduction Wole Soyinka is Africas most distinguished playwright, winning t