Anidi, Ojel Clara Adaozo (2022) A Survey of Adversarial Phases of Nigerian Literature and Emerging Themes in Selected Drama Texts. In: Research, Writing, and Creativity in Adversarial Conditions: Emerging Contexts, Themes, and Practices in African Literature (ALA-EC Sponsored Roundtable), May 18th 2022, 47th Annual Meeting/Virtual Conference of the African Literature Association,. (Unpublished)
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Abstract
Most literary works are usually conceived, even if not finally birthed, during adversarial conditions; hence the statement “necessity is the mother of invention” can be put differently as “adversity is the mother of creativity”. Nigeria, where my discussion is focused, has faced a number of adversities, which creative people, inventors and artists, have responded to in diverse ways and thus have given birth to various forms of arts with which they use to portray their experiences of these adversities. I identify four historical/ chronological phases of adversities in Nigeria, which Nigerian literary writers in their individual ways have responded to in their works: (1) the colonial era, (2) the Nigerian civil war era, (3) the gender/feminist era and advocacies against the subjugation of women, and (4) the present era of crises of leadership, violence and insecurity in Nigeria. Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, for example, depicts the traditions and culture of the Igbo people of Nigeria which were truncated by the colonizers. The Nigerian Civil War of 1967-71 inspired so much literature, prose, that today the war writings constitute a major subject of periodization in the Nigerian literature – up to fifth decades or generations of war writings, mainly from Igbo writers which is understandable because their homes were the battle ground (Elechi Amadi’s Sunset in Biafra, Flora Nwapa’s Never Again, Ossie Enekwe’s Come Thunder, and then Emeka Otagburuagu’s Echoes of Violence, Chimamanda Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun, and later Achebe’s There was a Country, among others. There is no closure yet to the war adversity in Nigeria, as new works keep coming up on the war. The third era of adversity in Nigeria concerns gender stereotyping and subjugation of women in Nigerian literature and society, an issue that still engages writers though the preferred concept now is gender balance, mainstreaming – the welfare of the boy-child is as important as that of the girl-child. A number of female writers including male critics have responded to this – 2 Flora Nwapa in Efuru, Idu, and One is Enough, Buchi Emecheta in Joys of Motherhood, Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo in The Last of the Strong Ones, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi in most of her works, including the booklet Dear IjeAwele or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions, have responded to this situation. Lastly, the fourth era of adversity in Nigeria, according to my study, is the ongoing crises of leadership, violence and insecurity in the country. It has led to the creation of a number of literary works all addressing themes relating to the present problems.
| Item Type: | Conference or Workshop Item (Other) |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | L Education > L Education (General) |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Arts > Faculty of Law > Faculty of Management and Social Sciences > Faculty of Education |
| Depositing User: | Uchenna Eneogwe |
| Date Deposited: | 09 Aug 2025 00:36 |
| Last Modified: | 09 Aug 2025 00:36 |
| URI: | http://eprints.gouni.edu.ng/id/eprint/5011 |
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