Scholarly Works

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://repository.ui.edu.ng/handle/123456789/327

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African proverbial sayings: a paremilogical reading of Achebe's arrow of God
(Ife Centre for Psychological Studies, 2012-09) Aguoru, D.
Africans are a culturally deep and psychologically peculiar people. Proverbs constitute a major form of collective consciousness through which Africans communicate ideas and opinions. Several studies reveal that thought patterns, attitudes and psyche of peoples are comprehensible through paremiology, the study of proverbs. Nigeria's Chinua Achebe has carved out a niche for himself as an African Proverbialist. This article examines the psycho-cultural value of proverbial sayings in his work. The application of this linguistic form as a dominant tool in the narrative technique and in the portraiture of the themes and characters is the focus of this study which takes as reference, Arrow of God, a work that concretizes the African psycho- cultural crisis. It examines the psychological, philosophical and cultural values embedded in the African proverbial folio.
Autobiography and national experience: a study of Wole Soyinka’s selected writings
(Department of English, Olabisi Onabanjo University,Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, 2004) Aguoru, D.
Autobiography through the exile paradigm: the Olaudah Equiano story
(African Cultural Institute, Lagos, 2004) Aguoru, D.
This paper examines the relevance of biographical works in literary studies. Using Oluadah Equiano’s story, the essay treats thematic issues with regard to the slave trade and its consequences on Africans. It posits that what led to the success of the story as a historical document is its effectiveness as a tool in the anti-slavery campaign.
Bridging the gap between the sciences and the humanities in Nigeria; the Wale Okediran example
(Faculty of Arts, Lagos State University, Lagos, 2008-09) Aguoru, D.
Contemporary studies in humanistic traditions have revealed that there are certain negative attitudes to humanistic studies in third world countries. The relevance of the humanities, especially literature, to the socio - political and economic challenges of the 21st century remain controversial. The assumption is that literature and indeed other disciplines in the humanities should be classified as ‘recreational studies’. This article examines the place of the humanities, especially literature, within the humanistic tradition. The works of Wale Okediran, a physician, politician and novelist are selected for this study. Okediran’s writings are exemplary in that they are marked with a distinct quality of having been produced by a completely humanized mind.
A comparative analysis of Japanese and Nigerian operatic theatre
(Department of English, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria, 2012) Aguoru, D.
Several studies in Nigeria and in Japanese theatrical traditions have centred on various elements of either of the two dramatic and theatrical traditions. None so far has comparatively examined the two traditions with the intent of establishing distinct national identities, which are concealed in the theatres of peoples, neither has there been an attempt to comparatively institute universality, conformity or unorthodoxy or lack of it in both theatrical traditions. The interest and explorations, by critics of other far more developed national literatures into Japanese dramatic and theatrical tradition, is an indication that this research effort is pertinent. Most transnational and transcontinental comparative studies on Japanese literary have also not yet ventured beyond the Western world. This pretermits, in the usual manner, the depth and value of African and indeed Nigerian theatrical traditions which are arguably and inextricably rich in comparatives such as trends and forms, elements which have also been globally acclaimed in the international communities. This paper is a comparative examination of Alarinjo and Noh, the operatic theatres of Nigeria and Japan. This analogy is carried out by contrasts; distinguishing the specific features of the forms by comparing differences and is essentially written in counterpoint. This study of the oldest documented professional forms of theatre in Nigeria and Japan seeks to fill some yawing gaps of scholarship in comparative literature, and engage the age long theory of comparative literature as a suitable hypothesis and approach for establishing taxonomies in carrying out this study and other similar studies. It examines how national theatres reflect social, cultural and political issues and also explore the ancient operatic forms to highlight the value of evolving from cultural platforms that are supported by practices that preserve cultural and national identity. This comparatistic inquiry examines movements and trends, motif-types and themes and genre and forms in the operatic theatre of Nigeria and Japan.
Features of contemporary African gynotexts: an archetypal reading of Ifeoma Okoye, Fafa Nutsukpo and Florence Attamah’s writings
(Department of English, Olabisi Onabanjo University,Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, 2006) Aguoru, D.
Japanese earthquakes, tsunamis, and storms as archetypal symbols: an explication of Kamo no Chomei’s the earthquake, the tale of heike, Rai Sanyo’s hearing of the earthquake in Kyoto and the great East Japan earthquake
(2013) Aguoru, D.
Writings on natural disasters reflect tragic experiences of peoples and the nostalgic cravings after it. This study examines the portrayal of earthquakes, storms and tsunamis as a national concern in Japanese literature. The portrayal of the theme, which has remained a topical issue, is psychological, and sociological. The portrait of personal and communal loss is a reflection of the perspectives and survival strategies that emerge after such disasters occur. This study examines two narrative accounts and a poetry piece written to capture the magnitude and effect of the earthquakes at different periods in Japan. The study examines these writings vis-a-vis media accounts of the recent 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, and the Fukushima Daichi nuclear disaster.
Reviving an english language that is comatose
(Faculty of Arts, Olabisi Onabanjo University, 2007-06) Aguoru, D.
Theatre and national identity: the case of kwag-hir of Tivland
(Department of English, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, 2013) Aguoru, D.
A number of studies in national theatrical discourse have focused on die elements and forms of theatre and its performance as well as comparative discussion of differences in similar and dissimilar theatrical traditions across cultures and nations. Several of these investigations centre on other national and theatrical concerns without addressing the roles these forms play in reinforcing national identity and without necessarily focusing on the substantial potentials inherent in die forms in identifying a people’s identity and promoting and preserving the same. There were four objectives that necessitated die inquisition into this study. The first was to bring to the fore the exemplary manner in which die Tiv nation of Nigeria sustained its identity as an ethnic group among several other colonially created slates. The second was to establish dial die Tiv were able to achieve this through the celebration., sustenance and preservation of Kwag-hir, one of the surviving and indigenous theatrical puppetry traditions in Nigeria. The third was to establish dial fostering a strong national identity enhances a nation, not only in the political sense but culturally, validating the value systems which arc inherent in the traditions of peoples, promoting relations; cross-national, cross-cultural and international which will enhance the unity of Nigeria irrespective of the number of ethnic groups it is made up of. The fourth was to examine how Kwag-hir binds together Tiv identity; the structure and organisation which encapsulate Tiv cosmology, driving belief, behaviour, to the upholding of Tiv ideals. The study engaged concepts on identity in a descriptive and explicative analysis of die Tiv theatre, centring on puppetry (Kwag-hir), a principal and a core cultural theme which in several ways reveal the underlying 'driving belief, behaviour and consistent political and cultural posture of die Tiv. Findings reveal that die informed consciousness that enhanced die resistance of die Tiv to political and religious manoeuvring? remains die underlying tenets of Kwag-hir theartre. This impenetrable posture dial signifies Tiv identity marks them out among several oilier ethnic groups.
Two plays: refugees of the great lakes and stolen seeds
(Kraft Books Limited, Ibadan, 2018) Aguoru, D.
Ulli beier, Obotunde Ijimere and Theopaneia in the imprisonment of Obatala
(Department of English, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria, 2016) Aguoru, D.
Ulli Beier's attachment to the arts and the peoples of Nigeria is in itself unique. His choices, in association, research and artistic efforts portray this in an unequivocal manner. Obotunde Ijimere, another of Beier's creations, is the author of The Imprisonment of Obatala. This study examines the posture and the context in which Beier perceives the Yoruba, his involvement with the people's theopanic visions and the significance of the experiences to his work in Nigeria.
A voyage around WS: the poetry
(Ibadan University Press, Ibadan, 2014) Aguoru, D.