Femi Osofisan

thumb|Femi Osofisan Babafemi Adeyemi Osofisan (born June 16, 1946), known as Femi Osofisan or F.O., is a Nigerian writer noted for his critique of societal problems and his use of African traditional performances and surrealism in some of his plays. Quotes Women of Owu (2006) "All your shrines drenched in the blood Of your worshippers/All your sacred symbols wiped out by fire!" Page 6 Nowadays, when the strong fight the weak, it's called a Liberation War to free the weak from oppression. Page 8 Nowadays, in the new world, it is suicide to be weak. Page 8. I ask you- without a shrine, without worshippers, what is a god? Page 9 "When fate decided to strike you down, what amount of crying can help?" Erelu Page 10 "It's us, not the gods, who created war. It's us, we human beings, who can kill it." Chorus Leader Page 15 "The gods are out to punish human beings who she claims ‘learn only from suffering and pain." Page 21. Some words are such that when we hear them, all the light inside us dies at once, and our smiling daylight turns into the bleakness of night. Orisaye Page 27. I lit the torch so I will not have to grope my way to the camp where I shall be married to my enemy, that handsome butcher of our people. Pages 27-8. "Insanity is the drug of misery." Chorus Page 28 The gods! Which gods! Do you still trust any of them after this? Or have you quickly forgotten what they told us about Anlugbua just now? No, women, there is no shelter anywhere but in ourselves! Each of us has become our own god. Page 33. Happiness is a fake. The gods employ it as a mask to trick us each time they are about to plunge us into grief. Page 37 Don't speak like that, my child. Death is sweet, we think. But it is easier to talk of it, than to welcome it. We do not know what is on the other side, whether it is better or worse than here. Whereas even at its most bitter, life offers hope at least, which death does not. Erelu Pages 41-2, Even in misfortune, which levels everyone, the potions are unequal: we dare not tell you what we believe will becoming to us. [ Chorus Leader Page 42, My daughter, you won't like to hear this but my advice is- do like the reed in the bush. Stand and strut in good weather. But when it storms, learn also to bend. Erelu, Page 42. "When you have lost a war, you have lost, and there's nothing you can do about it but accept the consequences." Gesinde Page 44 It was my son your wife bewitched and led us to this calamity Page 47. Anger and desire are twin sisters in this drama we call love, two kernels in the same nut! Page 48. Anyone can kill. But it is not everybody who can forgive, or who can be just, as I know you are. page 51. An artist has only his dreams. He has no power. Maye, Page 52. "When Mother Goat nods at the sonorous sound of the drum, she is not dancing! It is because each time it sounds, she recognizes the wailing of the leather!" Iyunloye Page 55 The skin that graces the king's shoulders, the leopard knows who supplied it. When mother Goat nods at the sonorous sound of the drum, she is not dancing! It is because, each time it sounds, she recognizes the wailing of the leather! Page 55. It is the fate of the conquered to toil for the strong! That is the logic of war, the logic of defeat! Erelu Page 55 Beauty makes all women vulnerable to the greed of men Page 57. War never ends, but only moves to another place? Page 58. "How can you claim to be strong, when your minds are so feeble." Erelu Page 59 Let no one count herself lucky till she finds herself on her death bed. Page 60 Home is where every traveller returns after a journey, however long. When night falls, the visitor must take his leave of his hosts. Page 65. No swimmer, however good, can swim beyond the rim of the world. Page 65 A father can only chew for a child; he cannot swallow for her. Erelu when possessed by the spirit of Anlugbua Page 66. "It is the rulers who write story - It is the hunters who compose the story of the hunt - It is the revellers, not the slaughtered cows, who record the fable of the feast." Cheer Leader 2 and 1 Page 66 "Then the deer must train themselves to seize the gun from their hunters! The cows to take over the narration of their own story." Erelu when possessed by the spirit of Anlugbua Page 66 "The fault is not just with the rulers, the fault is with all of us anyway." Interview on literature, leadership and the responsibility of the masses "The goal is not just to free the masses but it is to create an equitable society where everybody is happy." Speaking on the purpose of his writing "Your freedom as an artist is somewhat curtailed. Curtailed, I said, however not compromised, for I will not allow that. Never." Interview on artistic freedom "I think theatre is always about political struggle and reconciliation." Speaking on theatre and politics "We need to break the circles of colonialism. But at the same time, that was a man of genius. I think it's possible to teach Shakespeare without necessarily becoming subservient to the colonial." Speaking on Shakespeare, colonialism and education "My aim has always been to get to the national audience, not a narrow audience." On writing for a national audience "I started writing seriously in the 1970s." Reflecting on the beginning of his writing career "I wanted to do something about that. The kind of women I knew would feature in the plays." Speaking on the portrayal of women in his plays "I like to subvert the proscenium wherever I go." On audience participation in theatre "I don't think Shakespeare needs to be rescued." On adapting Shakespeare Actually, to confess, most of the incidents in Cordelia were true stories that I either witnessed or were told to me by the people directly involved. An insight into the historical and real-world inspirations behind the play and film 'Cordelia'. Once I give you permission to work on any script of mine, then I leave you free to carry out your work the way you think best. Just as I was looking for him to make my films, so was he too looking for me to work on my plays. And, except on the financial side, the relationship has been very rewarding. On his involvement in the adaptation process for the film 'Cordelia' and relationship with Tunde Kelani. I already know from previous other works, particularly abroad, that the film context can never fully satisfactorily present any work of fiction. It's not possible. The film has to get its effects through images, through pictures, and within a limited time frame. Thus all the subtlety which the novel achieves through prolonged introspection, meditative sequences, and so on, have to be cut out on the screen. On film challenge. Neither fiction nor the stage play can match the tactile sensuality that film provides. Which is why it's gradually becoming the dominant agency of popular entertainment, the area that pays the most financial profit to practitioners, and hence the area that the bulk of our students want to study and specialize in. Recognizing what film offers. Courses that require reading and reflection and introspection in literature, theory and criticism, history and philosophy are becoming very thinly subscribed. All over the world, not only in Nigeria. It's a crisis of contemporary culture. Obviously we need to do something about it, but I honestly don't know what at the moment. On the widespread decline in enrollment for humanities courses like literature and philosophy, characterized as a global cultural crisis. This, unfortunately, is where most of our films usually fail; that is, in insufficient research about the context of the story and the lazy assumption sometimes that a device used successfully in one film will naturally work in another, regardless of the setting. Unlike in Europe, for instance, the documents you need are often not there. You have to travel, go to the villages, consult with elders, dig into the archives of memory, and so on, to present credible characters and credible locations. On the core challenge of research when it comes to adapting Nigerian stories with their complex historical, political, and cultural contexts. How many of the celebrated works of Soyinka, Achebe, Clark, Amadi, Imam, Sofola, Ezeigbo, Obafemi have you seen on the screen? This is one of the factors that distinguishes the work of Kelani in fact-this aspect that he prefers to work with writers and published texts. On whether the Nigerian filmmakers are doing enough with literary materials. Writing is what makes a writer. What changes, however, is the subject matter or the mode and the tools of writing. Speaking on the role of writers. It always depends on what audience you're addressing, if it's predominantly Yoruba-speaking, or mixed, or the elite class, or even physically challenged. So it's not the story that chooses the language; stories can be told in all languages. It's the context of the telling that decides. His preferred language choice whether to write in English or Yoruba. I am one of those worried about the future of AI. Already, reading the essays of my students and engaging them in conversation afterwards, you can't but notice the disparity, the discordance between their knowledge and the essay that is AI-assisted. I become more and more frightened that these machines could very soon make the human person redundant and replace us. His deep concern that AI poses a threat to writers. All good art is art devoted to beauty, yes, but beauty is what enhances our humanity, our capacity for love and empathy, for kindness and compassion for our fellow beings regardless of color or tribe or religion. Definition of beauty from his perspective. I was very happy that an African was winning it for the first time. On how he felt becoming the first African to win the coveted Thalia prize. There are things I write that demand prose or drama. Poetry for me has always been a personal experience. So when I want to express things that hurt me deeply or those I am passionate about I write that in poetry, but when I’m dealing with social political issues and want to reach as many people as possible it comes in form of a journal. Also, because we live in a country where there is crisis all the time, I am more open to drama. On how he manages being a poet, playwright, and a novelist. With drama it’s usually the political crisis and social issues that are going on and also for prose. There is this misconception that if people are not in politics they are not important and it’s not right. There are people who are doctors and engineers, who are inventing things to help society develop, yet we don’t give them prominence. On what usually informs his themes. It is important to find ways of encouraging literacy and it occurred to me at one point that books are being written and people are not reading, yet readership of newspapers was spreading and many people are reading magazines. So I thought if people will not go to literature, can literature not go to them? Why not use the media that people like and put our stories? So that’s why I developed the series in the newspapers which I called ‘Tales that the country told me.' About the series in the newspapers, 'Tales That the Country told Me' The thing about prose is that you can pick it up and read it by yourself. With the play, you only get half of the experience when you read it and miss a lot. Obviously the prose has the advantage because it was written to be read while a play has to be performed. So a judge has to find a balance. Why prize wins are always prose and not plays. The only way to write is by writing. If you want to write, read well and write well. By reading, you learn from those who are good-you learn style, you learn use of language, which is even the major thing. Whatever language you are using, you must master that language. It is very important. Advice for budding writers. External Links Category:Playwrights from Nigeria Category:Yoruba people Category:Academics from Nigeria Category:1946 births Category:Living people