Criticism > Contemporary Literary Criticism > Soyinka, Wole (Akinwande Oluwole Soyinka) - Martin Esslin

1. Printable Version
2. Download PDF
3. Cite this Page
4. Tweet This

MARTIN ESSLIN

[Drama] deals with the basic human emotions and predicaments in a social context, both in the interaction of several characters on the stage, and in the even more important interaction between the stage and the audience. The basic human emotions are still involved, but they are expressed through social conventions which may be totally different from one society to another. (p. 33)

This is not to say that universal, or almost universal, drama is wholly impossible. There may, after all, be social conventions that are shared by very large sections of humanity, if not by all mankind…. It is only occasionally that the very strangeness of the social context is a factor in favour of an imported play which allows it to cash in on its exoticisms. But, alas, experience shows that delight in exoticism almost invariably fastens on superficial, external factors (like the bare bosoms of African dance companies) and therefore tends to favour...

Join eNotes

The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:

eNotes Pass

1. Introduction
2. Alan Brien
3. Martin Esslin
4. John F. Povey
5. Margaret Laurence
6. John Updike
7. Copyright

1. Wole Soyinka