FLIPSIDE CRITICISM OF THE PSYCHO-SOCIAL DYNAMICS OF OLUNDE AND PILKINGS IN WOLE SOYINKA'S DEATH AND THE KING'S HORSEMAN

Abstract

The psycho-social dynamics of main characters such as Olunde and Pilkings in Soyinka' Death and the King's Horseman is interesting for exploring the circumstances of individuals contending with forces that finally impose outcomes they never really intended. Using qualitative methodology and textual analysis, Death and the King's Horseman was subjected to the critical tools of flipside theory to interrogate the depiction of people on the margins of society. The purpose was to shed more light on the behaviours of selected characters. This research establishes that it is by applying flipside theory that one can appreciate how characters on the margins of society can cause significant social transformations, and that Olunde and Pilkings are not flipside characters, neither is Death and the King's Horseman a flipside work. Flipside theory is an important contribution to the global toolkit of literary theories by bringing discourse about victims of social existence to the fore.