Women in crime: A reader-response analysis of Femi Osofisan’s Once upon Four Robbers

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32690/SALC57.3

Keywords:

women’s criminalities, crimes in Nigeria, armed robbery, Reader-Response Theory (RRT), Femi Osofisan

Abstract

This study examines female characters as agents of criminal activities in Femi Osofisan’s Once upon Four Robbers. The study relies on insights from Wolfgang Iser’s Reader- -Response Theory (RRT). Drawing data from twelve purposively selected excerpts from the text, the study argues that Osofisan connects the reader’s knowledge in constructing women as agents of crime. Women’s involvement in crime is constructed through their activities in organised and strategic robbery, engagement of sexual ploys and illicit market transactions. The depiction of women’s criminal activities in the text portrays the connection between Osofisan’s art and his literary commitment.

References

Abasi, A. 2012. “Portrayal of women in Femi Osofisan’s Once upon Four Robbers”. Journal of English and Literary Studies 3(1). 1-12.

Afolayan, B.F. 2012. “Drama and social change: Osofisan’s humanistic approach in Once upon Four Robbers”. African Studies 5(4). 137-156.

Ajayi, A.B. 2012. “Ritualisation as pragmatic development of revolutionary consciousness in the drama of Femi Osofisan”. Journal of Literature 2(1). 23-36.

Ajayi, T. & T. Akinrinlola. 2020. “Import of laughter in police-suspect interaction in Ibadan, Nigeria: A multimodal analysis”. African Journal of Criminology and Justice Studies 13(2). 45-60.

Ajidahun, C.O. 2013. “Femi Osofisan tackles graft and corruption: A reading of his socially committed plays”. Tydskrif vir Letterkunde 50(2). 10-20.

Ajidahun, C.O. 2012. “Understanding Femi Osofisan’s Once upon Four Robbers and Aringindin and the Nightwatchmen: A critical perspective”. English Language and Literature 2(3). 115-120.

Akem-Vingir, P. 2020. The lived experiences of reformed armed robbery in Nigeria. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis. Walden University.

Akinrinlola, T. 2021a. “A discursive construction of resistance in police-suspect interac- tions in Ibadan, Nigeria”. Southern Journal of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 39(3). 12-24.

Akinrinlola, T. 2021b. “A discursive import of suspects’ affirmative responses in police- -suspect interaction in Ibadan, Nigeria”. Linguistik Online 106 (2). 3-18.

Akinrinlola, T. 2021c. “Rapport building strategies in police-suspect interaction in Ibadan, Nigeria”. Covenant University Journal of Language Studies 9(1). 38-53.

Akinrinlola, T. 2019a. “Deixis as a discourse strategy in police-suspect interaction in Ibadan, Nigeria”. Journal of English Scholars’Association of Nigeria (JESAN) 21(1). 49-60.

Akinrinlola, T. 2019b. “A stylistic analysis of Seun Ogunfiditimi’s songs”. Yoruba Studies Review. 4(1). 183-208.

Akinrinlola, T. 2016. A discursive elicitation and response strategies in police-suspect interaction in Ibadan, Nigeria. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis. University of Ibadan.

Akinrinlola, T. 2015. “Rhetorical devices in Femi Osofisan’s Women of Owu”. Journal of Humanities 9(1). 18-28.

Akinrinlola, T. 2018a. “Language and social interaction in Femi Osofisan’s Morountodun”. Coaxial Journal of Linguistics Studies 2 (1). 43-65.

Akinrinlola, T. 2018b. “Turn management strategies in police-suspect interaction in Ibadan, Nigeria”. The Quint 10 (3). 146-177.

Akinrinlola, T. 2011. Language and power relations in Femi Osofisan’s Morountodun and Nguigi wa Thiong’o and Mugo’s The Trial of Dedan Kimathi. Unpublished MA Thesis University of Ibadan.

Akinrinlola, T. & C. Williams. 2019. “Gender communication in Femi Osofisan’s Women of Owu”. ALORE: Ilorin Journal of the Humanities 28(1). 43-67.

Akinrinlola T. & F. Sonde. 2022. “Literary-stylistics of engagement in Femi Osofisan’s The Engagement”. African Identities 20(2). 1-18.

Akinrinlola, T. & R.O. Farinde. 2018. “Topic change as a conversational strategy in po- lice-suspect interaction in Ibadan, Nigeria”. Journal of Linguistics and Language Education 12 (2). 1-24.

Akinrinlola, T. & T.M. Ajayi. 2022. “Discourse tactics in police-suspect interactions in Ibadan, Nigeria”. Language Matters 53(2). 1-18.

Akujobi, R. 2014. “Motherhood in African literature and culture”. Journal of Humanities 13(1). 2-7.

Awogu-Maduagwu, E.A. 2018. “Gendered representation of women in war literature: A study of Akachi Ezeigbo’s Roses and Bullets and Festus Iyayi’s Heroes”. Interna- tional Journal of Social and Management Science 2(1). 1-9.

Ayodele, J.O. 2015. “Crime reporting practices among market women in Oyo, Nigeria”. Sage 32(1). 1-11.

Eben, A. & K. Oyewo. 2018. “Dramatics and the burden of responsibility”. International Journal of Humanities and Social Studies 5(8). 1-12.

Federal Military Government of Nigeria. 1977. Robbery and Firearm (Special Provisions) (Amendment) Decree 1977. Supplementary to Official Gazette No. 22, Vol. 64, 12th May, Part A.

Iser, W. 1989. Prospecting: From reader-response to literary anthropology. Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Ndubuisi, N. 2016. “The demonization of women in Femi Osofisan’s Women of Owu”. Nile Journal of English Studies 2(2). 1-12.

Nnanna, N. 2016. “The demonization of women in Femi Osofisan’s Women of Owu”. Nile Journal of English Studies. 2(2). 57-70

Nwankwo, E.A., M.V. Agboeze & A.U. Nwobi. 2018. “Community heritage resources and crisis management in rural Nigeria”. Sage Open 7. 9-25.

Nwaozuzu, U.C. 2019. “The market metaphor and women empowerment in contemporary Nigeria drama”. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature 8(2). 11-22.

Nwosu, C.C. 2015. “African feminism and Zulu Sofola’s Paradigm shift in the sweet trap”. Journal of Modern European Languages and Literature 4(1). 193-207.

Obasi, N.T. 2012. The limitation of the Marxist ideals in the plays of Femi Osofisan: A study of Once upon Four Robbers, Morountodun and Who is afraid of Tai Solarin. Unpub lished MA Dissertation, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Odi, C. 2018. “Women empowerment in Nigerian drama: A contextual study of Irene Salam-Agunloye’s Heroine”. Journal of Literature 7(1). 24-40.

Ogunleye, F. 2004. “21st century image of women: A womanist reading of two Nigerian plays”. Research Reviews of the Institute of African Studies 20(1). 33-47.

Osita, E. 2005. “The representation of women in Nigerian theatre: An issue in theatre development”. Nigerian Theatre Journal 12(2). Lagos Society of Nigerian Theatre. 23-40.

Piquero, A. & R. Brame. 2008. “Assessing race, crime and ethnicity: Crime relationship in a sample of serious adolescent deliquents”. Crime Delinquent 54(3). 390-42.

Rotimi, A. 1984. “Perspectives on the armed robbery offense in Nigeria”. Indian Journal of Criminology 12 (2). 122-135.

Sunday, A.B. & T. Akinrinlola. 2021. “Discourse strategies of handling denials in police- -suspect interaction n in Ibadan, Nigeria”. Studies in African Languages and Cultures 55(1). 87-109.

Sunday, A.B. & T. Akinrinlola. 2017. “Language of protest in Femi Osofisan’s Morountodun”. Lapai Research in Humanities 4(1). 148-161.

Tade, O. & O. Adeniyi. 2017. “They withdraw all I was worth: Automated teller machine fraud and victims’ life changes in Nigeria”. International Review of Victimology 23. 313-324.

Udengwu, N. 2007. “Negotiating the image of women in African drama”. Journal of English Studies 3(2). 1-12.

Ukwen, K.R. 2015. “On the contribution of Nigerian female dramatists to indigenous theatre development”. Scientific Research 2(3). 1-8.

Yeseibo, J.E. 2013. “Portrayal of women in male authored plays in Nigeria”. Journal of Philosophy, Culture and Religion 1(1). 1-6.

Downloads

Published

2023-12-15

How to Cite

Akinrinlola, T., Farinde, R. O., & Ariremako, I. A. (2023). Women in crime: A reader-response analysis of Femi Osofisan’s Once upon Four Robbers. Studies in African Languages and Cultures, (57), 57–76. https://doi.org/10.32690/SALC57.3

Issue

No. 57 (2023)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2023 University of Warsaw Press

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The SALC is a BOAI-compliant open access journal. The journal content is freely available on the journal website. All journal content appears on the licence Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of the first publication, the work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).

Authors are required to sign and send copies of Article Publishing Agreement and Fields of Exploitation statement prior to article's publication.