Public Intellectualism in Iraqi and African Stagecraft: A Comparative Study

Abstract

The study is a critical survey that analyzes the theatrical interventions of Yousif Al-Ani and Wole Soyinka in terms of the public intellectuals in The Key- المفتاح (1968) and A Play of Giants (1984), respectively, which has looked at each author separately but hardly in relation to one another, by applying a qualitative comparative textual reflection grounded in Edward Said's “intellectual” as one who confronts dogma and incites public reasoning. The satirical language by Soyinka and mythopoeic critique by Al-Ani supports the analysis, which considers language, symbolism, structure, and performance. Though Al-Ani uses reflective realism and moral dialogue to expose cultural exhaustion, he also works grotesque exaggeration to dissipate the potency of the authoritarian spectacle–as does Soyinka. Both ask their audience not to let the systems of oppression continue. The   stage is  like a place of moral struggle, where the audience is hoped to be alert and socially reborn.