What question did this study set out to answer?

This research aims to explore Olu Obafemi's approach as a playwright and how his work facilitates socio-political change.

June 18, 2026

Playwright as a Communicator - An Artistâ€™s Intervention in a Socio-Politically Dysfunctional State

Key Points

This research aims to explore Olu Obafemi's approach as a playwright and how his work facilitates socio-political change.
Analytical and critical methods to assess Olu Obafemi’s play Scapegoats and Sacred Cows.
Application of George Lukacs’ Marxist Sociological Theory to evaluate the playwright’s themes.
Focus on the interplay of history, culture, and social issues in Nigerian society.
Olu Obafemi's work displays a strong ideological basis rooted in social realism.
The playwright's innovative style effectively communicates messages on socio-political conditions.
He emphasizes the role of artists in advocating for justice within dysfunctional societies.

Abstract

Abstract The focus of this study is to examine Olu Obafemi as a playwright with the specific choice of Scapegoats and Sacred Cows as paradigmatic enunciations of his inteventional motif in a dysfuctioning state for socio-political change. The objective is to show the extent of the playwright’s revolutionary aesthetics in the materialist perception in style, language and content. A combination of analytical and critical methods is adopted to examine the primary source and George Lukacs’ Marxist Sociological Theory is used to interrogate Olu Obafemi’s revolutionary aesthetics in the play. The root of the dramatist oeuvre of Olu Obafemi is purely ideological which imbues his understanding of the nature and life of his society. The playwright’s ideology amplifies social realism with its root in revolutionary aesthetics. The import of this is that man is at the epicentre. It is evident from this study that the playwright relies on history, culture, socio-political and economic situations of his society, Nigeria, in espousing and communicating his ideas and dramaturgy. Creative writers, especially playwrights, should strive to intervene in socio-political and economic situations of their milieu for a just society. Key Words: Playwright, Intervention, Social Realism, Revolutionary Aesthetics, Socio-Political Dysfunction. _______________ *Dr. Yemi Atanda, Ph. D. , is the Head of Department, Department of Performing Arts, Kwara State University, Malete, Kwara State, Nigeria. JCMRJournal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 8, No. 1, Sp. 1, May 2016, 172 – 184

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