TY - JOUR
T1 - A serious television trickster
T2 - Ken Saro-Wiwa’s political and artistic legacy in Basi and Company
AU - Hodapp, James
PY - 2018/7/4
Y1 - 2018/7/4
N2 - Ken Saro-Wiwa has attracted both popular and scholarly recognition as a significant Nigerian writer and activist. Despite this interest, the television programme Basi and Company that he wrote and directed from 1985 to 1990 has received scant attention, often being dismissed as a frivolous side project unworthy of inclusion in Saro-Wiwa’s oeuvre. This article challenges such neglect, arguing that the show is an essential part of the work of one of the 20th century’s most important public intellectuals. Basi and Company represents a complex re-imagining of the traditional West African trickster figures, such as Kuru the tortoise and the Yoruba mythological deity of Eshu, as a means of engaging with contemporary life under a brutal regime in the post-oil boom period in Nigeria. Its 150 episodes, watched routinely by over 30 million Nigerians, subtly critiqued modern Nigeria and its government, and it deserves a place alongside Saro-Wiwa’s other politically engaged works.
AB - Ken Saro-Wiwa has attracted both popular and scholarly recognition as a significant Nigerian writer and activist. Despite this interest, the television programme Basi and Company that he wrote and directed from 1985 to 1990 has received scant attention, often being dismissed as a frivolous side project unworthy of inclusion in Saro-Wiwa’s oeuvre. This article challenges such neglect, arguing that the show is an essential part of the work of one of the 20th century’s most important public intellectuals. Basi and Company represents a complex re-imagining of the traditional West African trickster figures, such as Kuru the tortoise and the Yoruba mythological deity of Eshu, as a means of engaging with contemporary life under a brutal regime in the post-oil boom period in Nigeria. Its 150 episodes, watched routinely by over 30 million Nigerians, subtly critiqued modern Nigeria and its government, and it deserves a place alongside Saro-Wiwa’s other politically engaged works.
KW - Africa
KW - Basi and Company
KW - Ken Saro-Wiwa
KW - Nigeria
KW - folk tale
KW - television
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85041125898&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85041125898&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/17449855.2017.1410852
DO - 10.1080/17449855.2017.1410852
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85041125898
VL - 54
SP - 504
EP - 514
JO - World Literature Written in English
JF - World Literature Written in English
SN - 1744-9855
IS - 4
ER -