RADICALISM AND VIOLENCE AS IMPERATIVES FOR SOCIAL CHANGE: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF HANGMEN ALSO DIE AS A METAPHOR FOR NIGERIA’S SITUATION

Abstract

The research explores the recurrent controversies surrounding radicalism and violence as imperatives for social change. Therefore, the problem of this study emanates from the preferred concept of social and revolutionary change: violent or peaceful processes to change. Since this concept is linked to leadership, the researcher critically examines the themes of leadership failure and the resultant radicalism and violence which stem from the lopsided relationship between the leaders and the led, the privileged and the less-privileged, as explored in Irobi’s Hangmen Also Die which is used as a paradigm to discuss radicalism and violence as inevitable reactions of the masses to insensitive leadership. The justification behind this research work is hinged on the fact that not much critical attention has been paid to the selected play from the standpoint of the failure of leadership giving rise to expressions of radical views by citizens who feel marginalized, oppressed and estranged by the system and the resultant violence in their determination to confront their oppressors and effect positive changes. Case study and content analysis approaches of the qualitative research method were adopted by the researcher for data collection and analysis. The primary source of data is Hangmen Also Die while the secondary sources are books, journals, magazines, and newspapers from the library and the internet. Marxist philosophy of a classless society provides the foothold for the thematic and ideological position of the playwright whose work has been used in this study since Marxism contends that the masses, otherwise referred to as the exploited class are inevitably locked in perpetual conflict with the bourgeoisie who own and control the means of production, thereby continuing the exploitation of the masses. Finally, the work recommends responsible leadership as a necessary antidote to radical agitations and violence by the masses. It also presents drama and theatre as tools for conscientization, reformation, transformation and national development.