SATIRE IN GRACE CHINYERE OKAFOR’S CAMPUS PALAVAR AND OTHER PLAYS

ABSTRACT

Chinua Achebe suggested in his book There was a Country that if a society is ill, it is the duty of the literary artist in that society to cure it of its ailment by picking up his pen to write. African societies in general and Nigerian society in particular are bed-ridden with so many ailments like corruption, moral decadence religious hypocrisy, cultism drug peddling to mention just a few.   One of the instruments the literary artist living in an ailing society has for diagnosing society’s ailment is satire. Therefore, this study looks at satire in Grace Chinyere Okafor’s Campus Palavar and Other Plays. Using stylistics and the history of satire as theoretical framework, the study looks at how effectively the playwright has used irony, sarcasm, caricature invective, exaggeration, and related literary devices to expose follies inherent in the society. The study reveals that Okafor plays satirize sexual harassment, economic extortion,   religious, hypocrisy, peddling and exploitation etc. which are responsible for under-development in the country’s educational system and the country as a whole. Her suggestion is that all hands should be on deck to have these follies eradicated.