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Embleton, Nadia (2019) Re‐imagining Nigerian unity : identity, ethno‐nationalism and the depiction of the nation in Nigerian novels by female authors. PhD thesis. SOAS University of London. http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/30987

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Reimagining Nigerian Unity:
Identity, Ethno-Nationalism and the Depiction of the Nation in
Nigerian Novels by Female
Authors

Nadia Embleton
Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD
2017

Department of Africa
SOAS, University of London

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Declaration for SOAS PhD thesis

I have read and understood Regulation 21 of the General and Admissions Regulations for students of the SOAS, University of London concerning plagiarism. I undertake that all the material presented for examination is my own work and has not been written for me, in whole or in part, by any other person. I also undertake that any quotation or paraphrase from the published or unpublished work of another person has been duly acknowledged in the work which I present for examination.

Signed: ____________________________

Date: _________________

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Abstract

The research undertaken in this thesis looks to fill the gap in understanding how female authors construct images of the Nigerian national identity in relation to the characters ethno-national identity. Within this it seeks to understand how the role of the mother figure is portrayed in relation to nurturing these supra-national and ethno-national identities, and the way in which independent female characters are depicted as playing crucial roles in furthering the process of Nigerian nation building. Thus, my critical line of inquiry will engage with the following questions: (1) How do Nigerian novels by female authors build national identities in their narratives? (2) What does a Nigerian identity look like in these novels? (3) If the narratives of these female authors are not concerned with nationalism, then what is the thematic focus of these works in relation to identity in Nigerian society? The core of my analysis will be a direct engagement with the aesthetics of Nigerian novels by female authors, both early and contemporary. As identity is an important aspect of my critical inquiry I will look to use post-colonial discourses as a framework through which to understand the more contemporary constructions of black and African identities. Through the application of concepts such as W.E.B Du Bois’ (1994) “double consciousness”, Alcinda Honwana’s (2012) idea of “waithood” and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s (2016) concept of “choicelessness” I analyse the experience of young Nigerians based in Nigeria and the diaspora in negotiating both an ethno-national and Nigerian identity. Finally, I will also engage with discourses surrounding nationalism, both in its general theoretical context. I argue that the characters and experiences constructed by female authors are more inclusive and empathetic to all Nigerians regardless of gender. That female authors narratives demonstrate the importance of female figures in the construction of the nation.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to start by thanking my first supervisor, Dr. Kwadwo
Osei-Nyame Jnr for his incredible guidance throughout this whole process. He has been the perfect mentor for me in terms of furthering my engagement with multiple African discourses. He is a wealth of knowledge, has always been so supportive and always did what he could to help me build confidence in myself and my work. I will be forever grateful to him.

Secondly, I would also like to thank my second and third supervisors, Dr. Grace Koh and Dr. Akin Oyètádé. Grace has been pivotal to this process right to the very end. Her guidance on literary theory and the construction of my work has been priceless in helping me improve my style of writing and engagement with literary texts. She has also been a picture of calm when my anxious phone calls and emails to her regarding admin were keeping me up at night. So, I thank you Grace for your unshakeable patience with me. I would also like to thank Akin for his guidance in Nigerian history and his knowledge of Yoruba culture, which informed much of my work during this process, so thank you Akin.

I would also like to thank my peers Nadeschda Lisa Bachem and
Kataryzana Agata Kubin for taking the time to proofread my work whilst trying to conduct and write up their own research: very much appreciated. Also, Dr. Steve Itugbu and Dr. Mordi Muorah for helping to guide me in the right direction, be that by giving me books to read or casually directing me towards topics to help fill my own knowledge gaps: I would have been stranded at sea without your help, so thank you.

Most importantly I would like to thank my parents, Susan and Henry
Foluso. Without their support, guidance and unconditional love, I would never have been able to achieve what I have in my life. I love you both, you’re unquestionably my best friends and I could not have asked for better parents: thank you.

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Finally, I dedicate this thesis to my aunty Gina, who sadly passed away in 2016 and was never able to see me finish my work. I love and miss you every day and I would like to think that somehow you can bear witness to this.

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Table of Contents

Introduction: The Nigerian Novel, Literary Purpose and Nigerian

Nationalism...............................................................................................7

Outline of Chapters ..........................................................................................9

Nigerian Female Authors: An Introductio n......................................................11

Literature Review ...........................................................................................17 Brief History of Nigeria....................................................................................19 The Nigerian Novel.........................................................................................22 The Role of the African Author .......................................................................28

Chapter 1 - The Fempire Writes Back: Narratives of Resistance in the

Works of Buchi Emecheta and Sefi Atta...............................................32

Perspectives on the Construction of Female Characters in Nigerian Novels...35 Motherhood: Female Bondage or A Source of National Resistance ...............47

Buchi Emechet a.............................................................................................50 Sefi Atta..........................................................................................................70

Chapter 2 - The Nigerian Diaspora: Narratives of ‘Unbelonging’ and Return in Buchi Emecheta’s The New Tribe, Sefi Atta’s A Bit of

Difference and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah ................80

Locality, Double-Consciousness and Cultural Dislocation in the Diaspora......84 Narratives of Unity: The Experience of the African-American and the African in

Americ a........................................................................................................105

Black and British: Images of Afro-Unity and Belongin g.................................116

Chapter 3 - The Arrested Development of Nigerian Youth in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah and Adaobi Tricia

Nwaubani’s I Do Not Come to You by Chance...................................125

Coming of Age: The Portrayal of “waithood” and “choicelessness” in Nigerian

Novel s..........................................................................................................128

419ers and Internet Entrepreneurs: Carving out a Futur e.............................147

Chapter 4 - Memory, Locality and the Search for Identity in Chibundu

Onuzo’s The Spider King’s Daughter .................................................165

Marxism and Class in Nigeri a.......................................................................168

The Haves and Have-Nots: ‘Othering’ in the Nigerian Social Strata..............173 Memory, Locality and the Importance of National Identity.............................188

Chapter 5 - Was There a Country?: Female Perspectives on the Biafran Nation in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun

and Buchi Emecheta’s Destination Biafra..........................................204

A Short History of the Nigeria-Biafra War and the Civil War Novel................207 The Construction of the Biafran Nation in Half of a Yellow Sun ....................214 The Experiences of Minority Groups and Women in Destination Biafr a........228

Conclusion............................................................................................241 Bibliography..........................................................................................250

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Introduction: The Nigerian Novel, Literary
Purpose and Nigerian Nationalism

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Throughout the world, the histories and current realities of women from various societies, present an image of exclusion and silence. These images can often be found in the narratives of both fictional and nonfictional texts in multiple languages. Whilst there have been efforts to reverse this trend, there is still a need for further analysis regarding the contribution of women to the literary canon of their society. The research undertaken examines the work of Nigerian female authors and the way in which they construct images of the Nigerian national identity in relation to the characters ethno-national identity. My critical line of inquiry will engage with the following questions: (1) How do Nigerian novels by female authors build national identities in their narratives? (2) What does a Nigerian identity look like in these novels? (3) If the narratives of these female authors are not concerned with nationalism, then what is the thematic focus of these works in relation to identity in Nigerian society? The authors whose work that will be at the centre of my analysis are Buchi Emecheta, Sefi Atta, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Chibundu Onuzo and Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani. The authors chosen for my analysis predominantly represent ethnic groups from the southern region of Nigeria. Sefi Atta is the only author who is representative of a northern ethnic group, as this is where her father derives from. I have chosen to exclude other female authors from the northern region as a result of the limited literary canon of the Nigerian novel in English. For reference, examples of some of the key authors are Zaynab Alkali whose body of work includes The Stillborn

(1984) and The Virtuous Woman (1987) and Hauwa Ali who wrote Destiny

(1988). In this research I argue that the aesthetic of the Nigerian novel by female authors offers readers a critical lens through which to view aspects of society that are obstacles to national growth. That in their intent to critique the patriarchal structures of society that confine women, they also look to demonstrate how those same structures are equally restrictive to men. I also argue that novel’s aesthetic frames both the ethno- and national-identities in Nigeria as equally important and interchangeable depending on the locality of the individual.

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Outline of Chapters

Chapter one discusses the portrayal of women in the novels of
Buchi Emecheta and Sefi Atta. It looks to interrogate the role of the mother, the family and the influence that these characters are depicted as having over the process of nation building. To understand the counter narrative that female authors have created, an examination of the comparative images of the female characters of both male and female authors is necessary. It argues that the work of female authors and the female characters they have constructed in their novels adds an important contribution to the Nigerian literary canon, by focusing on the experience and contribution of women in Nigerian society.
Chapter two discusses W.E.B Du Bois’ theory of “double consciousness” (Du Bois 1994:2) and its relevance to the experience of both male and female characters living in Nigerian diasporic communities in Western countries. It argues that these encounters with double consciousness contribute to the sense of a Nigerian identity and the development of nationhood within Nigeria. It also examines the idea of unbelonging, how it affects those living in the diaspora and how the characters respond to the duality of their identity within the various narratives. In relation to the two young male characters from Buchi Emecheta's The New Tribe (2000) and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah (2013), the role of the mother in fostering a sense of national identity in their children will also be taken into consideration. Furthermore, there will be an exploration of the differences between the AfricanAmerican experience with that of the African in America: (1) how does a sense of unity in the diaspora relate to this contemporary portrayal of these experiences? (2) If and how this affects the construction of a Nigerian identity whilst living in the diaspora?
Chapter three discusses the concepts of “waithood” (Honwana
2012; Sommers 2012; Hansen 2015; Branch and Mampilly 2015) and “choicelessness” (Adichie 2013: 276) in contemporary Nigerian society, identifying the consequences of these experiences in causing the arrested development of the Nigerian youth. It examines the experiences of three

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characters, two of which are temporarily caught in these states of “youthhood” and one who is an example of a young Nigerian with choice. It argues that the image of the youth in contemporary Nigerian novels written by women will offer the discourse on Nigerian literature an indication on the future development of the Nigerian nation and state. It also questions whether a sense of national identity is even a pre-occupation for those who are caught in a period of “waithood”, arguing that some of the cultural pressures in Nigerian society can at times lead these characters to make choices that they may never would have considered under different circumstances. It also considers the entrepreneurial spirit of the Nigerian youth in carving out new futures for themselves and their country, in the absence of finding employment through conventional means.
Chapter four explores the differences in experience of the haves and have-nots in Nigeria’s former capital city, Lagos. The term haves and have-nots will be used in my analysis to differentiate between the very rich and the poor within the context of the novel. The analysis focuses on Chibundu Onuzo’s first novel The Spider King’s Daughter (2012) and questions the stability of the Nigerian social strata by exploring the experience of one of the novel’s protagonists, Runner G, and his transition from an affluent lifestyle to one of poverty. Through Runner G’s experience I question whether or not a relationship and/or concern with a national identity is in fact a privilege. Furthermore, the analysis in the chapter will also look to explore the character’s relationship and definition of his personal identity and how this can change after one has experienced such an extreme change in lifestyle. Within the novel itself, it becomes clear that the concerns of the haves, is quite often at odds with that of the have-nots. As a result, I question how the development gap in Nigeria affects the sense of unity within the country; whether or not ideas of belonging differ depending on the class of the character and ultimately, how this influences the process of nation building.
Finally, chapter five focuses on the Nigeria-Biafra War and the civil war literature that was written both shortly after the war and within the last two decades. My primary line of inquiry will look to understand how the Nigerian nation has been betrayed within these narratives and whether

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there remains a possibility of there being a unified Nigerian identity after all the events that took place both before and during the Nigeria-Biafra War. Through this line of questioning I examine the image of both the Biafran and Nigerian nations within the chosen narratives, questioning the differences between the nations and countries within the novels. I will also look at the way in which nationalism has been framed in the narratives, focusing predominantly on the civilian experience during the war, as well as the role that civil society and women played in the process of nation building through grassroots politics during that era. Finally, I also explore the experience of the ethnic minority groups during the conflict and question whether the way in which they are depicted in the novels effects the image of the Biafran nation as inclusive or solely focused on a panIgbo nation building project.

Nigerian Female Authors: An Introduction

Over the years there have been numerous critical assessments of the works of early African male authors¹. During the decades in which African countries were gaining independence from European colonial rule, many of these critical inquiries focused on the way in which these male authors used fiction to “write back” to narratives written by Europeans about African identities (Ashcroft, Griffiths and Tiffin 2002; Ashcroft 2001; wa Thiong’o 2006; Currey 2003). These narratives dehumanised the peoples of Africa and sought to rob them of any claim to a history, culture or intellect, prior to the arrival of Europeans to the continent. These African male authors used their work to subvert these master narratives that related to all people of African descent. However, despite the success of their work in challenging those images of African peoples, those same male authors have also experienced a similar challenge to their work by female authors of African descent, who focused their attention

¹Examples of some of the important critiques of key Nigerian male authors:
Wole Soyinka — see the works of Biodun Jeyifo, James Gibbs and Yemi D. Ogunyemi. Chinua Achebe — see the works of Carole Boyce-Davies, Ernest N. Emenyonu, C.L. Innes and Berth Lindfors.

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predominantly on confronting the fictional portrayals of women within those same male authored narratives (Erwin 2002; Ladele 2010).
The most common critique postulated by these female authors and academics focused on the image of women that had been portrayed in novels written by men, suggesting that those portrayals misrepresented the realities of how women viewed themselves in African societies (BoyceDavies 2014; Boyce-Davies 1986a; Stratton 1990; Chand 2005; Stratton 1994; Nwapa 2007). Boyce-Davies argues that to date:

“African feminist criticism so far has engaged in a number of critical activities which can be conveniently categorized as follows: 1) Developing the canon of African women writers; 2) Examining stereotypical images of women in African literature; 3) Studying African women writers and the development of an African female aesthetic; and 4) Examining women in oral traditional literature” (Boyce-Davies 1986a:13-14)

This body of work—both fictional and non-fictional—that has been produced and collected since 1966, has been an integral part of giving a voice to women of African descent. It not only critiqued inaccurate representations of African women in literature, but it also created spaces for discourses to take place amongst African women themselves as points of empowerment and self-discovery. One of the first African female authors to begin the trend of “writing back”, was the Nigerian author Flora Nwapa (Sackeyfio 2017; Griswold 2000; Stratton 1994; Andrade 2011b; Condé 2012). Consequently, she has been credited with leading the way for other female authors in Nigeria, such as Adaora Lily Ulasi, Zaynab Alkali, Buchi Emecheta, Helen Obviagele and many more.

Within the narratives of the novels written by the aforementioned authors, can be found similar themes regarding the experiences of womanhood, motherhood and nationalism, both in Nigeria and the Nigerian diaspora. Flora Nwapa was the first female author in Nigeria to be published by Heinemann African Writers Series (Currey 2003). Her body

of work includes novels such as Efuru (1966), Idu (1970), Never Again (1975), One is Enough (1981) and Women are Different (1986). Arguably,

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Nwapa’s first intentions as a writer were not political as she states: “I started writing because when I was a high school teacher, I had too much time on my hands and did not know what to do with it” (Nwapa 2007:526). Nwapa, like many of her other female literary peers began writing by focusing on portraying an image of the experience of those around them: “In my first two novels, I tried to recreate the experiences of women in the traditional African society – their social and economic activities and above all their preoccupation with the problems of procreation, infertility, and child-rearing” (Ibid.528). Though her intentions were perhaps not initially political, through the process of presenting alternative narratives and challenging the literary constructions of women, her work became political.
Nwapa’s legacy was continued by Buchi Emecheta, who also began the process of writing because she had stories to tell rather than for any political pursuits: “I am just an ordinary writer, an ordinary writer who has to write, because if I didn’t write I think I would have to be put in an asylum” (Emecheta 2007:551). Furthermore, she likens her experience of story-telling to the Igbo oral tradition of the Big Mother²: “I am simply doing what my Big Mother was doing for free about thirty years ago. The only difference is that she told her stories in the moonlight, while I have to bang away at a typewriter I picked up from Woolworths in London” (Ibid.552). The Big Mother, is a hugely influential figure to all the children in her community through storytelling and as a result has a very significant place in the process of nation building (Emecheta 2007; Emecheta 1994c). It could be argued then, that other female authors have, knowingly or unknowingly, taken on the role of the Big Mother with their writing, but with the ability instead to reach an audience beyond their own community (Ogunyemi 1996). Emecheta’s body of work includes titles such as In the