Violence as intentionality for survival and power in two Yoruba films

Abstract This article explores how violence is motivated by different levels of apprehension in man’s consciousness to provoke him/her to certain vicious actions. It builds on the hypothetical suggestion of Nietzsche that men interpret the world through their fears and project their fears into the nature of things (cited in Schacht 1983: 199–225) when analysing violence in its existential terms/forms. This article assumes that it is normal for men to have fears and relate to others through their fears. Consequently, it interrogates the roles played by fear as an existential sub-theme in man’s consciousness in relation to violent actions as projected in two Yoruba films, Eku Meji/Two Rats (Ayinde, 2011) and Aje Nimope/I Call to Wealth (Ramon, 2012), with the possibility of seeing violence as a conscious intentional act of survival and sociocultural interaction/production. It also looks at grounds upon which characters are predisposed to violence, concluding that whoever wishes to survive at all cost may be predisposed to violence.