Abstract
Ìfægbôntáayé«e has a temporal dimension: it is knowledge as progress and by definition, does not have an end point. It is constantly assimilative and constantly shifting to fit the current societal needs. While it is moving toward ‘progress,’ the points to which Ìfọgbọ́ntáayéṣe leads are not firmly codified. Notions of temporality are clearly at stake in Ifá divination, spoken proverbs, itàn repetition, the political discourses of Yakubu Gowon and Sani Abacha, and Ola Rotimi’s history plays. As with ideas of authority and identity, the traditional Yorùbá notion of time contains a tension between fluidity and stability.
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Endnotes
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© 2015 Glenn Odom
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Odom, G. (2015). No Victor, No Vanquished, No Past: Ola Rotimi, Yakubu Gowon, Sani Abacha, and ‘The End of Nigerian History’. In: Yorùbá Performance, Theatre and Politics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137492791_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137492791_4
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