INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND INNOVATION IN SOCIAL SCIENCE (IJRISS)  
ISSN No. 2454-6186 | DOI: 10.47772/IJRISS | Volume IX Issue X October 2025  
Tensions of Cultural Hybridity in Africa’s Globalisation in Wole  
Soyinka’s the Lion and the Jewel  
Hameed Olutoba LAWAL (Ph.D.)., Oludare Rowland OGIDAN., Kehinde Michael ANJORIN  
Department of Dramatic Arts, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria  
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2025.910000849  
Received: 12 November 2025; Accepted: 21 November 2025; Published: 26 November 2025  
ABSTRACT  
This paper explores the tensions of cultural hybridity within African dramatic literature against the backdrop of  
globalisation, with a focused case study on Wole Soyinka’s The Lion and the Jewel. Through content analysis,  
it expounds how Soyinka enacts the conflict between tradition and modernity, indigenous identity and westen  
influence, using the microcosm of a Yoruba village Ilujinle as a site of cultural contestation. The central conflict  
in the play is charaterised in Baroka, the traditional village Chief “The Lion”, and Lukunle the westerneducated  
school teacher, to unravel the complexities of hybridity. Lakunle’s embrace of western ideals as typified in  
monogamy, modern education, and disdain for bride price clashes with Baroka’s rootedness in African tradition.  
Globalisation is aptly humanised in Lakunle’s rejection of traditional customs without understanding their social  
significance leads to his alienation from the community in contrast, Baroka, though an epitome of tradition,  
cleverly integrates aspects of modernisation as exemplified in proposed printing press to reflect a more adaptive  
hybridity. Tensions of Cultural Hybridity is heightened in the contestation of Baroka, custodian of culture and  
Lakunle embodiment of westernisation, for Sidi’s hand in marriage. This study argues that Soyinka’s work  
exemplifies the negotiation of hybridity, reflecting broader anxieties and creative potentials in African literature  
under globalising pressures.  
Keywords: Africa, Cultural hybridity, globalisation, tensions  
INTRODUCTION  
Wole Soyinka’s The Lion and the Jewel (1959) presents a dramatised microcosm of African society on the verge  
of change. Set in the Yoruba village of Ilujinle, the play juxtaposes indigenous African traditions with western  
modernity revealing the cultural tensions exacerbated by colonialism and accelerated by globalisation. This  
tension gives rise to cultural hybridity, a condition where identities are shaped by multiple, of conflicting,  
cultural influences.  
Cultural hybridity as theorised by Homi Bhabha, refers to the creation of new transcultural forms within the  
content zone of colonised and colonised. In The Lion and the Jewel, the character Lakunle epitomises a hybrid  
identity that is not yet fully formed. A western-educated schoolteacher, Lakunle rejects traditional customs such  
as brideprice and communal dance, branding them ‘barbaric’. Yet his understanding of modernity is shallow and  
mimetic. His English is florid and pedantic, lacking substance, reflecting colonial mimicry. Bhabha describes as  
“almost the same, but not quite” (Bhabha 86). Lakunle’s failure to win Sidi’s hand illustrates the inadequacy of  
imposed modern identities when they lack cultural rootedness.  
Baroka, the village Chief, represents tradition but not static. He is shrewd, adaptive, and understands the need to  
negotiate with modern focus, as seen in his plans to modernise his village on his own terms. Baroka’s calculated  
resistance to globalisation is neither a rejection nor an embrace but a strategic accommodation that ensures  
cultural survival. This illustrates what Kwame Anthony Appiah calls “cosmopolitan patriotism” where cultural  
negotiation is grounded in locality while open to global currents. This study examines how Soyinka uses the  
characters and structure of the play to critique both uncritical westernisation and rigid traditionalism, positioning  
hybridity as a fraught but unavoidable outcome of Africa’s global entanglement.  
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Soyinka and Cultural Hybridity  
Wole Soyinka’s The Lion and The Jewel (1963) has been central text in African postcolonial drama, interrogating  
the tension between tradition and modernity in postcolonial African societies. Scholarship on the play often  
centres on how Soyinka dramatises the contestation between indigenous cultural identity and encroaching forces  
of western modernity, a dynamic that directly speaks to the notion of cultural hybridity. Homi Bhabha’s (1994)  
theory of hybridity posits that colonial and postcolonial cultures are not simply in binary opposition but engage  
in a “third space” of negotiation and translation. In the context of The Lion and The Jewl, this hybridity manifests  
through character interactions and symbolic power struggles, particularly among Baroka, Sidi and Lakunle.  
Soyinka’s treatment of hybridity has been noted for its subtle resistance to western cultural imperialism. Scholars  
such BiodunJeyifo (1985) argue that Soyinka does not advocate for a wholesale rejection or acceptance of either  
tradition or modernity but crafts a dramaturgy that reveals their entanglement. Lakunle for example, represents  
an exaggerated version of the western educated African elite who mimics colonial attitudes without  
understanding the sociocultural nuances of the local community. His character functions as a parody of colonial  
mimicry (Bhabha 1994), exposing the superficiality of westernisation devoid of contextual grounding.  
Conversely, Baroka’s character is often analysed as a symbol of strategic cultural resilience. According to  
Ogunba (1978) Baroka embodies the adaptability of traditional authority in the face of modern challenges. His  
calculated embrace of certain aspects of modernity, such as his interest in the railway and press, signals a form  
of cultural negotiation that resists binary classifications. This underscores the idea that traditional African society  
is not static but capable of absorbing and redefining global influences on its own terms.  
The figure of Sidi, the village belle further complicates the discourse on hybridity and globalisation. Scholars  
such as Osundare (1992) and Oduyoye (2003) have explored how her body becomes a site of cultural  
contestation, commodified through camera lens of the foreign photographer. This external gaze redefines her  
identity, transforming her into a symbol of global desirability, thereby introducing theme of cultural  
commodification. Yet her eventual alignment with Baroka rather than Lakunle illustrates a recentering of  
indigenous agency in the face of globalisation’s seductive allure.  
Moreover, the language and performance aesthetics of the play, contribute to its engagement with cultural  
hybridity. Soyinka blends Yoruba oral traditions, such as chants, dances, and proverbs with English dialogue,  
creating hybrid theatrical form. As noted by Obafemi (2001), this fusion exemplifies an “aesthetic of  
negotiation” that challenges colonial hierarches of cultural value. Contemporary critiques however, caution  
against romanticizing traditional values represented by Baroka. Critics like Eze (2005) argue that Baroka’s  
manipulation and control especially Sidi should not be seen purely as cultural resistance but also as a  
reinforcement of patriarchal hegemony within indigenous structures. This perspective reframes the tensions in  
the play not just as cultural binary but as a layered interplay of power, gender and identity.  
Review of this existing literature underscores The Lion and The Jewel as rich site for exploring the tensions of  
cultural hybridity in a globalising Africa. Soyinka’s play resists simplistic dichotomies, instead dramatising how  
African societies mediate the complexities of post colonial modernity. Through its characters, language, and  
symbolic representations, the play offers nuanced exploration of how global and local identities collide, coalesce,  
and contest in the ongoing construction of postcolonial African subjectivity.  
Theoretical Framework: Cultural Hybridity and Globalisation  
The study of African dramatic literature is deeply enriched by postcolonial theoretical perspectives that  
interrogate the intersections of tradition, modernity, and global cultural flows. Central to this discourse is Homi  
Bhabha’s (1994) notion of cultural hybridity, articulated through his influential concept of the “Third Space.”  
According to Bhabha, hybridity emerges within cultural encounters, producing a liminal zone where new  
identities and meanings are negotiated beyond fixed binaries such as coloniser/colonised or modern/traditional.  
The Third Space destabilises rigid hierarchies of cultural power and creates a dynamic sphere of negotiation,  
contestation, and rearticulation. In this view, hybridity is not merely a passive blending of cultural elements, but  
rather a transformative process in which alternative identities and practices are generated.  
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Within African dramatic literature, hybridity surfaces vividly in the fusion of indigenous performance traditions  
with Western dramaturgical models. African playwrights, writing in the aftermath of colonialism, often deploy  
hybrid forms as a strategy to navigate between inherited cultural values and the encroaching pressures of Western  
modernity. On the one hand, such hybridity allows for cross-cultural dialogue, enabling African drama to  
resonate with both local and global audiences. On the other hand, it raises concerns about cultural dilution and  
homogenisation, where indigenous authenticity may be eroded in the pursuit of universality (Ashcroft, Griffiths,  
& Tiffin, 1989).  
Globalisation further intensifies this dynamic by accelerating cultural exchange and circulation. The global stage  
provides African dramatists with platforms for wider recognition and engagement, but it also subjects their works  
to the hegemonic demands of international audiences. As Mbembe (2001) observes, globalisation produces both  
opportunities for visibility and risks of marginalisation, as African cultural expressions are often reframed within  
Western expectations of exoticism or authenticity. The theatre thus becomes a site where questions of identity,  
representation, and cultural survival are negotiated.  
Wole Soyinka’s dramatic oeuvre exemplifies the productive tensions of hybridity and globalisation. Soyinka  
consistently blends Yoruba mythology, ritual, and folklore with Western literary and dramatic conventions,  
creating works that are at once rooted in indigenous cosmologies and accessible to international audiences. His  
dramaturgy resists cultural imperialism by affirming the vitality of Yoruba traditions, yet it simultaneously  
critiques uncritical adherence to tradition that hinders social progress. In doing so, Soyinka refuses binary  
oppositions between “authentic” African culture and “imported” Western influence; rather, he advocates for a  
dynamic engagement with cultural heritage in ways that speak to contemporary realities.  
In The Lion and the Jewel (1959), this hybridity is vividly illustrated. The play stages a clash between tradition  
and modernity through its three central characters: Lakunle, the Westerneducated schoolteacher; Baroka, the  
traditional village chief; and Sidi, the village belle whose body becomes a contested site of cultural power.  
Soyinka employs satirical humour, lyrical dialogue, and ritualised performance to dramatise the tensions of  
cultural transformation in postcolonial Nigeria. Lakunle embodies the dangers of uncritical Westernisation,  
parodying the figure of the “mimic man” described by Bhabha (1994). His mimicry of European manners,  
speech, and thought does not translate into genuine progress but rather exposes him as comical and alienated.  
By contrast, Baroka represents the resilience of tradition, deploying cunning strategies to assert its continued  
relevance in a changing world.  
The play’s theatrical structure itself reflects hybridity. Soyinka integrates Yoruba performance aestheticssuch as  
song, mime, drumming, and dancewithin a Western dramatic framework of acts and scenes. This fusion allows  
Soyinka to communicate effectively to audiences across cultural boundaries. For example, the “Dance of the  
Lost Traveller” and the “Dance of the Virgins” incorporate Yoruba ritual performance into the play’s narrative  
arc, exemplifying how indigenous forms can coexist with and enrich Western dramaturgy. In this sense, the stage  
becomes a Third Space where Yoruba performance traditions and European dramatic forms intermingle to  
produce a uniquely Nigerian theatrical identity.  
Moreover, Soyinka’s play resists the cultural homogenisation that globalisation threatens to impose. Rather than  
diluting Yoruba traditions for international consumption, Soyinka foregrounds their complexity and vitality. At  
the same time, his works are not static celebrations of tradition; they interrogate internal contradictions and  
excesses within Yoruba culture itself. For instance, The Lion and the Jewel critiques patriarchal practicessuch  
as polygamy and female objectificationwhile nonetheless affirming the ingenuity and adaptability of Yoruba  
cosmology. This dual strategy situates Soyinka within a broader postcolonial project: resisting external  
domination while interrogating internal structures of power.  
Other African playwrights have also engaged with cultural hybridity, albeit in different ways. Ngũgĩ wa  
Thiong’o (1977), for instance, advocates for theatre in indigenous languages and decolonised forms that reject  
Western dramaturgy altogether. In contrast, Femi Osofisan (1999) embraces hybridity more explicitly,  
employing adaptation and intertextuality to reimagine both African and Western classics. Soyinka’s position lies  
between these poles: his hybrid dramaturgy affirms African traditions while engaging critically with Western  
influence, producing a theatre that resonates locally and globally.  
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From a theoretical perspective, hybridity in Soyinka’s work complicates simplistic narratives of cultural purity.  
As Ashcroft et al. (1989) argue, postcolonial identities are always already hybrid, forged in the crucible of  
colonial encounters. Attempts to preserve “authentic” traditions untouched by foreign influence risk ignoring  
the historical realities of cultural exchange. Soyinka’s theatre acknowledges this inevitability by dramatizing  
both the losses and gains of cultural hybridity. His satire of Lakunle warns against blind imitation of the West,  
while his celebration of Baroka’s adaptability suggests that traditions can evolve without losing their core values.  
In the context of globalisation, The Lion and the Jewel offers a prescient commentary on the challenges facing  
postcolonial societies. As African cultures become increasingly integrated into global cultural circuits, the  
temptation to conform to external expectations intensifies. Soyinka’s dramaturgy insists on the need for  
selfdefinition: engaging global audiences without sacrificing indigenous worldviews. The play’s international  
success demonstrates the viability of such an approach, where hybridity becomes not a loss of identity but a  
strategy for cultural survival and creativity.  
Thus, the theoretical framework of cultural hybridity and globalisation provides a powerful lens for analysing  
The Lion and the Jewel. Bhabha’s (1994) Third Space illuminates the ways in which Soyinka stages cultural  
encounters that transcend binary oppositions. Ashcroft et al.’s (1989) postcolonial insights help situate the play  
within the broader dynamics of cultural imperialism and resistance. And globalisation theory underscores the  
ongoing relevance of Soyinka’s dramaturgy in a world where cultural boundaries are increasingly porous.  
Together, these frameworks highlight how The Lion and the Jewel exemplifies the complexities of negotiating  
identity, tradition, and modernity in postcolonial African drama.  
Storyline of The Lion and the Jewel  
Wole Soyinka’s The Lion and the Jewel (1959) is a satirical comedy set in the fictional Yoruba village of Ilujinle  
during colonial Nigeria. At its core, the play dramatizes the cultural clash between tradition and modernity,  
personified in its three central characters: Baroka (the Lion), Lakunle, and Sidi (the Jewel).  
The play opens with Lakunle, the village schoolteacher, attempting to court Sidi, the celebrated village belle.  
Educated in Western ways, Lakunle views himself as the embodiment of modern civilisation, constantly quoting  
European literature and dismissing Yoruba traditions as primitive. He insists on marrying Sidi without paying  
the customary bride price, denouncing it as “barbaric” and “outdated.” Sidi, however, resists his advances,  
ridiculing Lakunle’s affected speech and mannerisms, while insisting that tradition must be honoured. Their  
banter sets the stage for the central theme of tension between modern ideals and indigenous practices.  
The arrival of a foreign photographer’s magazine featuring Sidi’s images elevates her status in Ilujinle. Proud of  
her newfound fame, Sidi becomes even more selfassured. Baroka, the aging but shrewd village Chief, also takes  
interest in Sidi, declaring his intention to make her his newest wife. Lakunle, jealous and determined to secure  
Sidi’s hand, warns her against Baroka, portraying him as an old, lustful man clinging to fading power.  
To advance his plan, Baroka enlists the help of his senior wife, Sadiku, to propose on his behalf. Sadiku,  
delighted by the task, reveals to Sidi that Baroka is supposedly impotenta false rumour Baroka himself has  
cleverly planted to lower Sidi’s guard. Emboldened by this news, Sidi decides to confront and humiliate Baroka.  
Yet, during their encounter, Baroka deploys his wit, charm, and cunning, successfully seducing her.  
By the end of the play, Sidi agrees to marry Baroka, symbolising the triumph of tradition, pragmatism, and  
adaptability over Lakunle’s shallow mimicry of modernity. Lakunle is left defeated, clinging to Western ideals  
that lack resonance or power in his community. The play thus closes on a satirical note, underscoring Soyinka’s  
critique of blind Westernisation and his valorisation of cultural resilience and adaptability.  
Intersectional Feminist Readings and Contemporary Resonance in The Lion and the Jewel  
In order to deepen the analysis, one may draw on recent feminist scholarship that critiques Soyinka’s portrayal  
of women—especially Sidi—as more than passive symbols caught between tradition and modernity. Ramesh  
Prasad Adhikary, for instance, argues in his postcolonial feminist critique that The Lion and the Jewel depicts  
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female suppression that persists even after colonial rule ends. He contends that Soyinka stages a “postcolonial  
and feminist rebellion” that nevertheless fails because Sidi and the other women remain constrained by the  
patriarchal order (Adhikary 89). By engaging with this kind of critique, the argument may account for how Sidi’s  
commodification aligns with broad patterns of gendered exploitation, rather than being simply a comic or  
symbolic device.  
Similarly, Yaqot Elbechir and Naimi Amara emphasise a feminist perspective in their study, arguing that the  
women in Soyinka’s play are consistently marginalised. They show that, in the patriarchal social system of  
Ilujinle, Sidi’s beauty and social value derive from external validation, and they question whether Soyinka truly  
grants her agency or merely uses her to affirm male-dominated norms (Elbechir and Amara). Their reading  
suggests that hybridity in the play is not only a cultural negotiation but a gendered one: Sidi’s body becomes a  
site where colonial aspirations and patriarchal structures converge.  
A critical discourse analysis by Ochulor Nwaugo Goodseed provides a linguistic dimension to this critique.  
Goodseed examines the ideologies embedded in the play’s discourse, showing that Western-inflected marriage  
rhetoric and traditional bride-price negotiations both serve to reinforce male dominance, even as Lakunle appears  
to challenge custom (Goodseed 982–88). By highlighting how language in the play perpetuates gender hierarchy,  
this analysis supports a more intersectional reading: Sidi’s subjectivity is bounded not only by cultural ideologies  
but also by discursive practices that limit her autonomy. In further support of this intersectional approach, a  
recent article by Ndapunikwa Desdelia David and Haileleul Zeleke Woldemariam explores gender questions in  
The Lion and the Jewel using feminist stylistics. They show that semantic derogation, lexis and syntax in  
Soyinka’s dialogue often mark women as passive or dependent, while men are syntactically privileged as agents  
(David and Woldemariam). Their reading reinforces the idea that Sidi’s agency must be understood in relation  
to age, education, social expectations, and the ideological weight of colonial modernity.  
To make the article more relevant to present-day African realities, it would be useful to add a section connecting  
Soyinka’s themes to contemporary cultural-political debates. Chaabane Ali Mohamed, for example, argues that  
Sidi and Sadiku represent symbolic figures of Africa itself—idealised, but deprived of genuine self-  
determination (Mohamed 159–75). In today’s world, where African women navigate global media, tourism, and  
national branding, Sidi’s photographic commodification resonates powerfully. Her image can be read alongside  
modern discussions about how female bodies are circulated in cultural industries, often as exotic or nostalgic  
symbols rather than full persons. One might draw on current debates over bride price, gender equity and cultural  
authenticity in African societies. As critics increasingly question whether traditional practices like bride price  
serve as protection for women or as constraints on their economic and personal freedom, The Lion and the Jewel  
provides a literary lens through which to examine these enduring tensions (Adhikary 90). Such a section could  
show how Soyinka’s play remains deeply relevant, as it dramatizes power negotiations that mirror real-world  
struggles for gender justice, social recognition and economic value in a globalising Africa.  
Tensions of Cultural Hybridity in The Lion and the Jewel  
Tensions of total immersion in Western culture and the hybrid interplay between modernity and tradition are  
vividly dramatised in the three major characters of Wole Soyinka’s The Lion and the Jewel: Lakunle, Baroka,  
and Sidi. Among these, Lakunle most overtly embodies Western ideals, positioning himself as the agent of  
cultural transformation in Ilujinle. A young schoolteacher, he passionately advocates education, gender equality,  
and social reform, often portraying himself as a visionary crusader who must liberate his village from what he  
perceives as backward practices. His persistent criticism of traditional customs, particularly the payment of bride  
price, underscores his alignment with colonial discourses of civilisation and progress. Lakunle denounces the  
practice as a “savage custom, barbaric, outdated, rejected, denounced, accursed” (The Lion and the Jewel 6),  
insisting that marriage should conform to Western ideals of love and companionship rather than communal  
obligations.  
Soyinka portrays Lakunle as a parody of cultural mimicry. His speech is saturated with borrowed European  
idioms, and his exaggerated attempts to emulate the Englishman’s mannerisms through his dress, walk, and  
speech render him more comical than admirable. In this sense, Lakunle becomes a representation of what Homi  
Bhabha (1994) terms the “mimic man,” a colonial subject caught in the liminal space between the coloniser and  
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the colonised, never fully belonging to either world. His excessive zeal for Westernisation alienates him from  
his community, and rather than positioning him as a true moderniser, Soyinka ridicules his inability to adapt  
these borrowed ideals into a meaningful synthesis with Yoruba tradition.  
Through Lakunle, Soyinka dramatises the danger of uncritical assimilation of foreign values, which creates  
cultural dissonance rather than progress. Lakunle’s comic failures highlight the limitations of wholesale  
Westernisation in postcolonial African societies. His rejection of tradition lacks the pragmatism and adaptability  
displayed by Baroka, who negotiates modernity on his own terms, and by Sidi, whose identity becomes a  
contested site between tradition and modernity. Thus, Lakunle stands as a cautionary figure, symbolising the  
tensions of cultural hybridity where immersion in Western ideals risks eroding communal values without  
offering viable alternatives.  
Lakunle Trying to entice Sidi with his western ideas in a performance at Pit Theatre, Obafemi Awolowo  
University, Ile ife  
He rejects the traditions and cultural practices of his people, including polygamy, communal dance, age based  
respect systems. He views these customs as backward and inferior, failing to appreciate their cultural significance  
or functionality within the local context. His desire to marry Sidi without bride price is rooted not in genuine  
reformist thinking but in a superficial desire to impose western norms. Lakunle therefore represents the  
postcolonial African elite who having been exposed to western education often dismiss their own heritage in  
favour of alien ideologies. However, Soyinka enacts Lakunle’s mimicry as hollow and ineffective. Despite his  
professed modernism, he fails to win Sidi’s heart or convince the villagers of his views. His inability to  
understand or adapt to the sociocultural realities of his environment makes him ineffective and, at times,  
ridiculous.  
This colonial mimicry makes him naïve and out of touch with local customs Lakunle’s ridicule stems from his  
superficial adaption of western norms without understanding their context. This is dramatised in his deridation  
of bride price as Lakunle avers that:  
Ignorant girl, can you not understand? to pay the bride price would be to buy a heifer off the market stall. You  
would be my chattel, my mere property. No Sidi (tenderly) when we are wed, you shall not walk or sit tethered,  
as if it were, to my dirtied heels. Together, we shall sit at table … Not on the floor and eat, not with fingers, but  
with knives and forks and breakable plates like civilised beings. I will not have you wait on me till I have dined  
my fill. No wife of mine, no lawful wedded wife shall eat the leavings off my plate… that is for the children, I  
want to walk beside you in the street…  
(The Lion and the Jewel 6).  
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Lakunle’s envisaged western romantic life as voiced out in this edialogue affirms his disdain for African culture  
and tradition that hold woman in high esteem, hence the secrecy in professing affection. The village teacher’s  
character reveals tensions and contradictions of cultural hybridity. He is caught between two worlds; the modern  
western world he aspires to and the traditional African society in which he lives. He neither fully belongs to one  
nor is accepted by the other. His modernity lacks authenticity and fails to resonate with the community,  
highlighting the dangers of cultural alienation. Lakunle is not just a character but a satirical representation of the  
westernised African who rejects his own culture without fully understanding the foreign one he embraces. In  
The Lion and The Jewel, Soyinka uses Lakunle to critique uncritical westernisation and to champion a more  
balanced approach to modernity, one that respects indigenous traditions while embracing meaningful progress.  
Baroka on the other hand represents traditional authority with nuanced complexity. Far from, being a symbol of  
backwardness, Baroka is portrayed as adaptable and cunning, capable of manipulating both tradition and change  
to his advantage.While Baroka initially appears a relic of the past, his actions reflect a deliberate engagement  
with modernity on his own terms. Rather than resisting change entirely, he strategically manipulates elements  
of modernity to preserve his power. This is evident in the way he coopts modern tools (like the printing press)  
and controls the narratives. His deception about losing his virility is also a clever tactics to lure Sidi and reclaim  
his masculine image as a symbol of both power and adaptability. Baroka’s interest in modernity is encapsulated  
in these words:  
Did you not know that, I wrestled the railway surveyor to a standstill? They made to lay the rails through Ilujinle.  
I sent them off with their survey poles roughly off their backs. That was five years ago. I began to fight them in  
my youth. Now I shall ride their rails myself.  
(The Lion and The Jewel 36)  
This implies that, Baroka did not reject modern technology like printing press entirely but instead acquires it and  
attempts to use it for economic gain and control of image. A clever cooperation of modern tools for traditional  
power. In the same vein, he manipulates Sidi with a fabricated weakness as Sadiku reports that “The lion is no  
longer a man” (The Lion and The Jewel 30)”. Baroka feigns weakness (impotence) to manipulate Sidi’s  
perception and ultimately wins her trust. This reflects not just cunning, but adaptive use of deception in shifting  
social climate where women like Sidi are beginning to assert power. He understands that brute strength will not  
work and hence his strive to outwit her.  
Baroka deploying native wisdom to sweep the village belle off her feet  
The figure of Sidi represents the female body as a site of cultural contestation. As the Jewel, Sidi is both desired  
and commodified, photographed by a foreigner and symbolically transformed to a spectacle. Sidi’s fascination  
with modernity, as represented by the photographes and Lakunle’s education is undermined by her eventual  
choice to marry Baroka. While this decision may seems reinforce patriarchy, it also underscores the limits of  
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western modernity to fully account for African subjectivities especially for women. The tensions in Sidi’s  
portrayal speak to the uneven effects of globalisation and particularly in gendered terms.  
Sidi’s boasting of her endowment before Sadiku  
Sidi’s beauty, especially as captured in the photograph taken by the foreign photographer, becomes a  
commodified object, turning her into spectacle for both local and global audiences. Her body becomes currency  
– a means through which she negotiates her status and identity in the village. This objectivication reflects how  
women’s bodies, in postcolonial contexts are often tested as symbols of national pride or tradition yet are  
simultaneously subjected to male desire and control. As Sidi boasts.  
… He is old. I never knew till now. He was that old…  
… to think I took no notice of veluet skin. How smooth it is! And no man ever thought to praise the fullness of  
my breasts.  
(The Lion and The Jewel 21)  
Sadiku, I am young and brimming, he is spent. I am the twinkle of a Jewel, but he is the hindquarters of a lion.  
(The Lion and The Jewel 22)  
These lines reflect her vanity and how she begins to perceive herself as superior, especially to Lakunle and even  
Baroka because of the external validation of her beauty. This pride in her image indicates her internalisation of  
the gaze, especially colonial and patriarchal gaze that frames her beauty as the most valuable aspect of her being.  
Sidi’s interactions with Lakunle, the school teacher who embodies western modernity, and Baroka, the village  
Chief who symbolises tradition position her as a site of ideological conflict. Lakunle wishes to marry her without  
paying bride price, arguing from western feminist perspective that is barbaric custom yet his views are  
patronising and hypocritical as Lakunle contends: “ignorant girl, can’t you not understand? to pay the price  
would be to buy a heifer off market stall, you’d be my chattel, my mere property” (The Lion and The Jewel 7).  
Below is an intellectually strengthened, well-structured, and professor-level revision of your review, written in  
excellent British English and consistent with MLA-style referencing. I have preserved your argument but  
elevated the analysis, clarified the logic, and integrated the theoretical depth you requested.  
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Soyinka’s representation of Sidi extends far beyond a simple narrative of female vanity; it illustrates how the  
female body becomes a charged site of cultural, ideological, and economic negotiation within the broader  
dynamics of hybridity in a globalising Africa. While the paper briefly mentions Sidi’s commodification, a fuller  
analysis reveals that her beauty, especially as mediated through the foreign photographer’s lens, transforms her  
into an object circulating between the local and the global. The photograph converts Sidi into a spectacle, a  
commodity whose value is determined not only by the village’s admiration but also by an external, global gaze  
that redefines her worth. Her body becomes a kind of social currency, a negotiable asset through which she  
interprets, asserts, and renegotiates her identity within the cultural economy of Ilujinle.  
In postcolonial contexts, female bodies often stand in as emblems of national identity or cultural pride, yet they  
remain subject to patriarchal scrutiny and control. Soyinka dramatises this ambivalence through Sidi’s own  
voice, as she boasts, “He is old. I never knew till now. He was that old… to think I took no notice of velvet skin.  
How smooth it is! And no man ever thought to praise the fullness of my breasts.” (The Lion and the Jewel 21).  
And later, “Sadiku, I am young and brimming, he is spent. I am the twinkle of a jewel, but he is the hindquarters  
of a lion.” (The Lion and the Jewel 22)  
These lines expose not merely her vanity but her internalisation of the multiple gazes directed at her, colonial,  
patriarchal, and communal. Her self-assessment shifts according to the value imposed upon her image,  
demonstrating how colonial modernity intensifies the commodification of the female body. Sidi begins to see  
herself through an externalised gaze, one that privileges her physical beauty as the totality of her identity and  
worth.  
Her relationships with Lakunle and Baroka further illustrate how her body becomes the site where competing  
ideologies struggle for dominance. Lakunle presents himself as a representative of Western modernity,  
advocating a form of pseudo-feminism grounded in colonial discourse. He dismisses the bride price as  
“barbaric,” yet his rhetoric is deeply patronising, exemplified in his condescending assertion: “Ignorant girl, can  
you not understand? To pay the price would be to buy a heifer off a market stall—you’d be my chattel, my mere  
property.” His position claims moral superiority, but he merely replaces indigenous patriarchy with a  
paternalistic modernity.  
Baroka, conversely, embodies tradition—not as a static cultural remnant but as a strategic, adaptive force capable  
of negotiating modern pressures. His desire for Sidi is deeply patriarchal, but Soyinka complicates this by  
presenting Baroka as someone who understands how to manipulate the forces of modernity rather than reject  
them outright. Sidi, caught between these two men, becomes symbolic of the African female subject negotiating  
the uneven terrains of globalisation. Sidi’s eventual choice to marry Baroka has often been read as a capitulation  
to patriarchal authority, yet a more nuanced reading suggests that Soyinka is critiquing the superficial promises  
of Western modernity. Her decision underscores the inadequacy of imported ideologies to account for African  
social realities, particularly as they relate to gender. Lakunle’s modernity is performative and disconnected from  
local epistemologies, whereas Baroka’s authority, however problematic, remains embedded in cultural  
continuity. Sidi’s trajectory thus reflects the limits of hybridity when global forces collide with entrenched  
gender structures.  
More importantly, Soyinka’s portrayal resonates powerfully with contemporary African experiences of  
globalisation. Beyond the binary of tradition versus modernity, the play anticipates the ongoing tensions between  
cosmopolitan desire, local identity, and gendered vulnerability. Sidi’s commodification mirrors current debates  
on the global circulation of African female bodies in media, tourism, and cultural industries, where representation  
often oscillates between empowerment and objectification. Her story exemplifies how globalisation intensifies  
existing inequalities while offering illusory forms of progress. By expanding the discussion of Sidi’s  
commodified image within the context of hybridisation, the analysis reveals Soyinka’s broader critique: that  
global modernity, rather than dismantling gender oppression, frequently repackages it under new discourses of  
visibility, desire, and value. Through Sidi, Soyinka dramatises the complexities of African womanhood at the  
intersection of local traditions and global pressures, illustrating that the struggle for agency within a hybridised  
world remains deeply gendered and fraught with contradiction.  
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Lakunle’s language reveals how he, too, objectifies her, despite his modern pretentions. Sidi resists his version  
of modernity because it does not empower her but rather seeks to redefine her on foreign terms. Baroka on the  
other hand represents a cunning and adaptable tradition. He seduces Sidi not through brute force, but by  
strategically undermining her pride and offering her a form of power within tradition, a place in his harem and  
later, potentially as the favourite wife. Initially, Sidi wields her sexuality as a tool of power, rejecting both  
Lakunle’spatronisation and Baroka’s advances. However, her eventual seduction by Baroka complicates this  
dynamic. She transitions from a figure of defiance to one of submission, suggesting that traditional patriarchy  
still holds sway even over women who attempt to assert themselves. Yet this submission is not entirely defeatist  
one could argue that Sidi chooses Baroka not because he is conquered but because she sees an opportunity to  
retain value and status in a system that still marginalizes women.  
In terms of symbolism and allegory, The Lion (Baroka) and the Jewel Sidi serves as metaphors for power  
dynamics between tradition and modernity. The Village Ilujinle acts as microcosm of postcolonial Africa, a  
space negotiating external influences and internal continuities. With these metaphoric characters and location,  
Soyinka critiques the uncritical adoption of western values as cultural imperialism under the guise of progress.  
The village’s resistance to external change becomes an assertion of cultural sovereignty. However, Soyinka does  
not romanticise tradition; rather, he portrays cultural continuity as something that must be negotiated, not merely  
preserved. The play thus reflects a form of resistance that is neither isolationalist but hybrid retaining indigenous  
agency within a globalising world.  
CONCLUSION  
Wole Soyinka’s The Lion and the Jewel remains one of the most incisive African plays to dramatise the cultural  
hybridity and tensions inherent in the processes of globalisation. At its core, the play stages a conflict between  
tradition and modernity, personified in its central characters: Lakunle, the schoolteacher who embodies the zeal  
of uncritical Westernisation; Baroka, the village chief who symbolises the cunning adaptability of tradition; and  
Sidi, the village belle whose body and agency become a contested site of cultural power. Through their  
interactions, Soyinka foregrounds the complexities of identity formation in a society negotiating both local  
values and global influences.  
The play illustrates Homi Bhabha’s (1994) concept of the Third Space in practice. The cultural encounters  
between Lakunle, Baroka, and Sidi generate a liminal zone where meaning is constantly negotiated rather than  
fixed. Lakunle’s mimicry of Western ideals and his attempt to replace indigenous practices with European  
customs do not lead to progress but instead render him comical and alienated, embodying the contradictions of  
the colonial “mimic man.” By contrast, Baroka’s manipulation of both tradition and modern innovations (such  
as his interest in the printing press) reveals the resilience and flexibility of indigenous authority. Sidi, situated  
between these forces, represents the emerging hybrid subjectivity of postcolonial Africa—caught between the  
seductions of modern fame and the enduring pull of tradition.  
Rather than offering a neat resolution, Soyinka insists that cultural hybridity is an ongoing process marked by  
contestation, tension, and transformation. The conclusion of the play, in which Sidi ultimately marries Baroka,  
symbolises not a total triumph of tradition over modernity but rather the pragmatism of adaptation. Tradition, in  
Soyinka’s dramaturgy, is not static or unchanging; it is flexible, manipulative, and resilient, capable of  
negotiating its place within the encroaching pressures of modernity. In this sense, Baroka does not merely  
preserve tradition but actively reconstitutes it in ways that ensure its survival.  
From a globalisation perspective, The Lion and the Jewel critiques the simplistic binaries that often dominate  
discourses about Africa’s cultural future. Rather than positioning modernity as a wholesale replacement of  
tradition, Soyinka presents the African experience as a balancing act between preservation and adaptation. His  
dramaturgy demonstrates that the encounter between Africa and the West is not one-directional but dialogic,  
producing hybrid forms that are simultaneously local and global. This insight remains highly relevant in  
contemporary Africa, where cultural products—including drama, film, music, and literature—must navigate the  
demands of global audiences without sacrificing local authenticity.  
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Moreover, the play exemplifies what Ashcroft, Griffiths, and Tiffin (1989) describe as the postcolonial  
negotiation of cultural imperialism. Lakunle’s insistence on dismissing indigenous practices in favour of Western  
models mirrors the dangers of cultural homogenisation under globalisation. Yet Soyinka’s satirical treatment of  
Lakunle demonstrates the futility of rejecting one’s cultural roots without adequately translating foreign ideals  
into meaningful local contexts. At the same time, Soyinka does not glorify tradition uncritically. Baroka’s  
patriarchal dominance and manipulation of women reveal the contradictions within indigenous systems of  
power, underscoring the need for constant interrogation and renewal.  
In this light, Soyinka’s play contributes to broader debates in African dramatic literature about the role of theatre  
in articulating cultural identity. While Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o (1977) advocates for a return to indigenous languages  
and forms, and Femi Osofisan (1999) explores hybridity through adaptation, Soyinka charts a middle path. His  
dramaturgy simultaneously affirms the vitality of Yoruba traditions and engages critically with modern realities,  
producing a theatre that resonates both locally and globally. This hybridity situates Soyinka within what Mbembe  
(2001) terms the “postcolony,” where cultural expressions are entangled with the legacies of colonialism, the  
pressures of globalisation, and the demands of local relevance.  
Ultimately, The Lion and the Jewel underscores the resilience of indigenous cultures while acknowledging the  
inevitability of cross-cultural encounters in a globalised world. Its enduring relevance lies in its refusal to offer  
simple answers: tradition and modernity are not presented as mutually exclusive, but as interwoven forces that  
must be continually renegotiated. Soyinka’s play thus captures Africa’s cultural realities with nuance,  
demonstrating that hybridity is not a sign of weakness but of creative survival.  
As African dramatic literature continues to evolve under the pressures of globalisation, Soyinka’s vision provides  
both a warning and a model. It warns against the dangers of uncritical assimilation and cultural erasure, as  
exemplified in Lakunle, while modelling the pragmatic adaptability of tradition in the figure of Baroka. In  
today’s interconnected world—where Nollywood films, African music, and postcolonial literature reach global  
audiences—the balancing act Soyinka dramatized in 1959 remains strikingly contemporary. His play anticipates  
the ongoing struggle of African societies to preserve cultural authenticity while participating in global narratives.  
In conclusion, The Lion and the Jewel remains not only a satirical commentary on colonial Nigeria but also a  
timeless reflection on the processes of hybridity and globalisation in African societies. By dramatizing the  
tensions between the local and the global, tradition and modernity, Soyinka contributes to an enduring discourse  
on cultural negotiation. His work affirms that African drama, far from being a passive recipient of global  
influences, actively reshapes them through its hybrid forms. The resilience of African theatre lies precisely in  
this negotiation: preserving its cultural heritage while transforming it to speak to new realities. This ongoing  
tension is not a weakness but a strength, ensuring that African dramatic literature continues to thrive in the global  
arena.  
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