Generation of Plays

Karin Barber is Professor of African Cultural Anthropology at the Centre of West African Studies, University of Birmingham.

"During the decade of huge oil revenues (c.1975–85), scores of Yorùbá (Yoruba) troupes produced popular theater throughout southwestern Nigeria. As one element of a more general cultural efflorescence, performances entertained people in genres and language of their own choosing. Plays addressed such issues as far-reaching transformations unleashed by cash-crop farming, urbanization, [and] wage labor derived from increasing globalization, yet through popular theater, these same issues could be understood for their deeply local impacts. Barber has been an innovative leader in studies of African popular culture, and here she joins a small cadre of scholars (notably led by Johannes Fabian) in investigating culturally and historically particular expressive forms as examples of dramatic genres increasingly found throughout the continent. Using an engaging narrative style, Barber tracks the career of Oyin Adéjobí (Adejobi) , an actor, producer, and fascinating character in his own right. She details how actors were selected and trained, how plays were developed, how shows were gotten on the road, and who their audiences were. Barber is at her best in situating popular theater in contemporary culture, as Yorùbá (Yoruba) seek to understand the complex and competing demands of their evolving circumstances. Graduate students and faculty.November 2001"—A. F. Roberts, University of California, Los Angeles

• Preliminary Table of Contents: AcknowledgmentsA Note on Orthography1. Introduction2. The History of a Founder, a Genre, and a Public3. The Actors4. Getting a Show on the Road5. The Generation of Plays6. The Filling Out a Play7. Audiences8. Television, Film, and Video9. The World of the Work: Place, Gender, and Politics10. Literacy, "Enlightenment," and "Tradition"11. Work, Destiny, and Self-making12. Language and the Moral Public13. Conclusion: The Lessons of ExampleAppendix 1: SynopsesAppendix 2: Yorùbá Text of a Sene from Taking Care of KúnléNotesBibliographyIndex