Contextualising Death in Selected Plays of Yerima: An Archetypal Reading

Abstract

The mystifying nature of death has been one of the inexplicable phenomena in the world. Nevertheless, there have been attempts at interpretations of death in the contexts of cultural beliefs, scientific postulations, and religious perspectives. Various literary works have also examined death in various degrees as seen in the works of Shakespeare, Soyinka and others. Yet, the mystifying nature remains inexplicable. Therefore, this paper aims to examine how Ahmed Yerima describes death in his literary texts; Haze (2020), Akudaaya (2022), and Ajidewe (2022). To achieve this, the paper adopts the archetypal critical theory. The analysis reaffirms the universal belief in the certainty of death, however, Yerima questions the tone of finality humans attribute to death. In addition, the peculiarities that surround death are informed by the different human beliefs about it as presented in the texts. Yerima, in the plays, also personifies death by imbuing it with human qualities and attributes, thereby demystifying the mystery associated with dying and death. This paper thus reaffirms the power of literature in examining social issues and proffering workable explanations.