THE SURVIVAL ECONOMY : RURAL REALITIES IN WOLE SOYINKA'S THE SWAMP DWELLERS

Abstract : This article offers an economic reading of The Swamp Dwellers by Wole Soyinka, highlighting how the dramatic work portrays the mechanisms of a survival economy specific to rural areas in postcolonial Nigeria. Through an analysis focused on environmental precarity, tensions between tradition and modernity, and migratory dynamics, the study demonstrates that the characters' survival depends on fragmented and often ineffective strategies, thus revealing the structural limitations of rural development. The approach adopted helps to fill a gap in existing criticism, which tends to prioritize symbolic or religious dimensions over material concerns. Soyinka’s play thus emerges as a subtle critique of the socio-economic conditions imposed on marginalized populations, while also questioning both traditional and modern responses to this ongoing crisis. Keywords : African theatre – Marginalization – Migration – Precarity - Survival economy.