Indigenous Talking Tattoos in Scripted Drama: Zulu Sofola’s Old Wines are Tasty and Tess Onwueme’s A Hen too Soon as examples


Published in AKSUJEL - May, 2025

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Abstract

Indigenous African languages serveas modes of codification of its variegated cultural traditions, and are deeply enmeshed in its oral traditions and epistemic systems. Within the framework of cultural studies approach, this study examines how proverb, a salient tool in the culture of the people is deployed and arrayed to give and aid meaning, aestheticism and the realization of creative ingenuity and thematic thrust in scripted dramas of Zulu Sofola and Tess Onwueme respectively. The paper interrogates the utility of proverbs not just as an oral tool for beautification (indigenous tattoo) but also as a speech enhancer, as well as a compendium of the African identities markers with distinctiveness (talking tattoo). In situating, interpreting and buttressing the glowing cultural artifact as expressed in dramatic works, an exploration and analysis of two samples of scripted drama within the framework of cultural studies was done. This was done with a view to establishing the degree of relevance, importance and appropriateness of talking tattoo in depicting African cultural values, nuances and orientations in the shaping of its ideological heritages. The study concludes that the interpretation and understanding of the indigenous talking tattoos becomes the cutting expression of remarks in saving the indigenous languages and culture from going into extinction. The oral tool remains the lubricant to indigenous language and traditions in the face of corrosive post-modernity.

Keywords: Culture Language Aesthetics Scripted Drama Indigenous Talking Tattoos

Cataloging & Classification: Bi-annually , Vol.6(1) pp. 113-123

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