Literature in the Service of State: A Panacea for Political Conflict

Abstract

Literature emanates from society and is about society. It is about people and their interaction, both at the intra- and the inter-levels. It is a record or reflection of the actions and/or inactions and thoughts of humans. To this effect, the problems and general situations of man are given life outside of the human body, that encasement that gives tangibility to the life force. Politics, on the other hand, has to do with the art of governance and/or the methods and techniques of ascendancy onto the seat of power. Over the generations and most especially in recent times, politics has downgraded man. Man has degenerated on the altar of politics and the art of governance. The implication of this is that crises have engulfed the world. The most frequently heard news and information these days are about war, terrorism, crises, corruption, banditry, kidnapping, and so on. Often, these come as a result of people or groups striving to occupy some positions of authority/governance. The implication of this is that the road to the seat of governance is littered with limbs, heads and body parts, as well as rivers of blood. This paper argues that literature, which is about man and his society, could be employed in fostering the positives in the body polity and the politics in the State, both in the microcosm and macrocosm. This could be done by identifying the vices and values, and then decrying the vices while espousing the positive values. Often, politics tries to bring about the desired harmony, but unfortunately, the generator cannot be the solution, hence a different medium (literature) is sought as an instrument for the ultimate elimination of the crisis. The Chronological Approach is employed for this study, which employs a folklorist play, The Placenta of Death by Sam Ukala as the text for analysis. The focus of this paper is the quest for the solution to the problem posed by the search for political relevance, which since politics cannot proffer we have to seek in literature.