Whose Nation?: Romanticizing the Vision of a Nation in Bole Butake’s Betrothal without Libation and Family Saga

This paper reflects on the project of the nation and nation-ness in postcolonial Africa with specific attention to the two plays by the anglophone Cameroonian playwright Bole Butake. The paper argues that in Butake’s dramatic imaginary, the project of the nation and nation-ness are highly romanticized. The paper locates its argument in Butake’s two play-texts: Betrothal without Libation (2005) and Family Saga (2005).