Postcolonial Re-reading of Wole Soyinka’s The Lion and the Jewel

Sobola, Oluwaseun Tobi

doi:10.21608/misj.2025.427160.1074

Postcolonial Re-reading of Wole Soyinka’s The Lion and the Jewel

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Oluwaseun Tobi Sobola

Department of English and Counselling Services, Kansas State University, Manhattan, United States of America.

10.21608/misj.2025.427160.1074

Abstract

This study provides a postcolonial re-reading of Wole Soyinka’s The Lion and the Jewel, emphasizing the ideological tensions between traditional African values and imposed Western modernity. Using a library-based methodology, the research critically analyzed the primary text through the lens of postcolonial theory, with emphasis on concepts such as hybridity, cultural identity, subalternity, and resistance. Set in the Yoruba village of Ilujinle, the play stages a symbolic conflict between Baroka, who embodies traditional African leadership, and Lakunle, a Western-educated teacher who rejects indigenous customs as primitive. Sidi, the titular “jewel,” becomes a contested figure, representing the struggle of postcolonial subjects, particularly women, for autonomy and identity within a culture disrupted by colonialism. Soyinka uses satire, indigenous performance elements, and cultural symbolism to critique the uncritical adoption of Western ideals and to valorize African traditions. The analysis showed how the rejection of bride price, the conflict over railway construction, and the characters’ differing views on gender roles illustrate broader postcolonial concerns about cultural displacement, power dynamics, and identity formation. The study found that neither culture should dominate; rather, a nuanced integration of both is necessary, a position aligned with Homi Bhabha’s theory of hybridity. Soyinka’s portrayal of cultural conflict, resistance to imperialism, and the search for identity reinforced the role of African literature in challenging colonial narratives and reconstructing authentic voices. It was concluded that The Lion and the Jewel is not merely a satire of modernity but a profound commentary on the complexities of cultural negotiation in postcolonial Africa.

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Seun Sobola is a master’s student in the Department of English and Counseling Services at Kansas State University, United States. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Nigeria, where he graduated as a first first-class in the department’s history. He has the Award of Excellence (2024) by Professor Daniel Olukoya to his name. His research interests include oral literature, aesthetics, postcolonial literature, magical realism, and modern African literature. This publication marks his first scholarly contribution in the field.

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