本論文研究渥雷‧索因卡《死亡與國王的侍衛長》一劇，以及本劇對約魯巴（Yoruba）人孤注一擲抵制西化卻徒勞無功的境遇所做的關注。本劇改編真實歷史，重演一九四五年在奈及利亞奧約（Oyo）城發生的動亂。當時應舉行侍衛長（Horseman）自殺儀式，然而英國殖民者以武力中斷。本劇一方面解釋這個儀式在約魯巴社會的重要性，另一方面揭露侍衛長心不甘情不願了結生命，並斷言活人獻祭這類殘忍的傳統必然要革除，特別是在因英國殖民而致的動盪時刻。 / 論文分為四個章節，依據米哈依爾‧巴赫汀（Mikhail Bakhtin）的時空型（chronotope）理論，探究《死亡與國王的侍衛長》其社會歷史背景與戲劇表演手法。第一章介紹作者和劇本，並回顧評論，以及說明接下來討論的議題和理論架構。第二章分析文本與現實世界相互輝映的關係。艾瑞克‧霍布斯邦（Eric Hobsbawm）在〈發明傳統〉（"Inventing Traditions"）的見解用以闡明傳統是因時制宜的產物。比爾‧阿希克洛夫特（Bill Ashcroft）等三人提出的後殖民典型，有助於瞭解約魯巴人為了阻擋外來影響竭力奮戰，儘管殖民政府的干預相當強勢。第三章詮釋劇中人物的性格特徵，以弗朗茲‧法農（Frantz Fanon）告誡不可畫地自限的觀點為鑑。無法順應社會變異因此冥頑不靈的人，失去了看世界的洞察力。而那些猶豫不決者，為了遵從老一套的價值觀，受煎熬得筋疲力盡。第四章總結本文，認為本劇主張靈活性和果斷力以進行改變。 / This thesis studies Wole Soyinka's Death and the King's Horseman and its concerns for the Yoruba people's desperate but futile resistance to Westernization. Adapted from a real historical event, this play reenacts the disturbance in the Oyo city of Nigeria in 1945, when the ritual of the Horseman's suicide was interrupted by the British colonial force. While the play explains the importance of the ritual in the Yoruba society, it reveals the Horseman's reluctance to end his life and asserts that cruel tradition like human immolation must be reformed especially at the fluctuating moment caused by the British colonization. / Consisting of four chapters, this thesis relies on Mikhail Bakhtin's chronotope to explore the socio-historical context and theatrical representation of Death and the King's Horseman. Chapter one introduces the dramatist and the play, reviews critical opinions, and illustrates the purpose and theoretical framework of the following discussion. Chapter Two, which analyzes the interrelationship between textual and actual worlds, adopts Eric Hobsbawm's "Inventing Traditions" to clarify tradition as produced according to specific circumstances. The postcolonial models proposed by Ashcroft et al helps understand the Yoruba people's struggle for no foreign impact despite powerful intervention by the colonial government. Chapter Three interprets the roles' characterization with the aid of Frantz Fanon's warning of self-confinement. Unable to adjust to social variances, the obstinate people blind their vision of the world, while those procrastinating become dead exhausted by difficult conformity to old values. Chapter Four concludes that this play argues for resilience and resolution to make difference.