The revivification of indigenous IGBO tradition in Tess Onwueme's then she said it

الملخص EN

One of the most intellectually popular ideas in the African world, Afrocentrism is having an increasing impact on both the social sciences and humanities.

Rooted in African culture, it challenges Western values and traditions to offer a new thought and framework able to confront multiple forms of oppression.

According to African American scholar and activist Molefi Asante, Afrocentric philosophy empowers African people and helps them to assert their individuality.

It has gained a wide appeal worldwide since it entails a remedy for the African dilemmas.

As one of the leading second generation playwrights of the Nigerian National Theatre movement, Tess Onwueme resorts to the past to reform the present by manipulating the concept of Afrocentricity and reviving the indigenous Igbo traditional heritage.

The aim of this paper is to examine Tess Onwueme's Then She Said It (2002) to explore its potential for creating a better socio-political milieu through reviving the indigenous Igbo heritage by manipulating multiple techniques.

The paper at hand focuses on three techniques manipulated by the dramatist to revive the ancestors' tradition: the structure of the dramatic performance, the relation between characters' names and their identities and the interaction between actors and spectators.