A dissertation submitted in partial dulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree " Licence en Langue et Littérature Anglaises"

RESUME

We set out in this study to examine the theme of culture conflict and resulting impacts in Wole Soyinka's Death and the King's Horseman. This conflict is explored within the context of the Yoruba ritual of death which entails the death of the king's horseman ; a ritual which is considered and treated by the representing colonial administration as barbaric and uncivilized in a modern era. Our study therefore explores the justifying arguments and attempts by each side of the conflict. This study shows us how rituals in a given society play a great role in strengthening intimacy, closeness, mutual help, etc. It is based on the hypothesis that Wole Soyinka in Death and the King's Horseman presents the Yoruba and the European cultures as conflicting. The coming of British colonization contributes in the destruction of the Yoruba tradition. As fur as the theoretical approach is concerned, New Historicism is applied in the analysis of our work. The work concludes that no culture is superior to another and the same work calls upon the Africans in general and the Nigerians in particular to preserve their cultural heritage for it constitutes their identity.