Art and the Rhythms of Social Reality

The inextricable relationship between art and society can neither be refuted nor overemphasized, as no work of art exists in a vacuum without that identification with as well as reflection of the social relations in which it is created. The implication is that issues that border on social realities have been the major or dominant motif of writers the world over, Africa not exceptional. This study examines art’s instrumentality in understanding and interpreting aspects of human society. By exploring the inextricable nexus between art and society, as well as the artist’s unalienable role in mediating between the knit extremes of this duality, it establishes the understanding that art remains an effective means of representing the social realities of a people; and has become even more functional, more immediate, more realistic, and more truthful in this role. Drama, therefore, as the most social of art forms invariably predisposes the dramatist – artist – as invaluable in the solemn task of mirroring these realities, as essentially explored in Art and the Rhythms of Social Reality.