Framing Female Leadership on Stage and Screen in Yorubaland: Efunsetan Aniwura Revisited
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Date
2018-10
Authors
Adeboye, O.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Gender & History
Abstract
This paper revisits the representation of Efunsetan Aniwura in Isola’s historical
play and two successor films, both titled Efunsetan Aniwura, a 1981 version directed by
Bankole Bello and a 2005 version directed by Tunde Kelani. The goal is not to evaluate
whether representations of Efunsetan Aniwura on stage and screen are accurate, but
rather to interrogate the political and cultural ideologies that frame and modify the
representations of female leadership over time. What factors in 1960s Yoruba politics
and culture informed playwright Isola’s historical portrayal of an 1860s female leader?
How does the portrayal of Efunsetan change in the subsequent films from 1981 and
2005, and what do these changes reveal about how female leadership and power is
perceived in Yoruba culture? I argue that the prevailing gender ideologies and politics
differently informing the play and films over time are consistent in one regard: they
function to villainise Efunsetan and erode viewer sympathy for her
Description
Scholarly article
Keywords
Efunsetan Aniwura , Political and cultural ideologies , Female leadership , Politics , Research Subject Categories::HUMANITIES and RELIGION::History and philosophy subjects
Citation
Adeboye, O. "Framing Female Leadership on Stage and Screen in Yorubaland: Efunsetan Aniwura Revisited", Gender & History, Vol. 30, No.3, (October 2018). 666 -681