In Death and the King's Horseman, there are plenty of good insults that angry characters throw at one another. Some of the harshest ones are also a bit comedic. For example, when Iyaloja calls Elesin a "self-vaunted stem of the plantain, how hollow it all proves," and when a market girl stung Amusa by calling her, "The eater of white left-overs." These insults are very creative and hurtful. What is interesting, is that their insults are not like the insults we hear today, which are usually thought of within seconds and sting because they are not politically correct. There are plenty of racial undertones in the play, but when one character is insulting another, their racial differences are usually left out. It was common language to call others "white one" or the n-word, but to compare someone to the stem of a plantain was an act full of hate. What the characters referred to each other as would be considered an insult today. However, what the characters used to insult each other would be considered so over the top that it is comedic today. Whether the author is insulting someone in the 1970s or 2016, Soyinka really knows how to slander someone through the use of his words.
Caleigh,
ReplyDeleteThis idea of insults never pondered my mind, and what you disccued here is quite intriguing. I agree with you that the insults you mentioned are very hateful. It's interesting to contemplate about the kind of speech that existed with the Yoruba people during the time of this play. These insults are definitely not insults we would use today, and they seem like they have a cultural undertone with them. This topic of discussion is something I might bring up during the Harkness discussion.