Social Protest and Literary Imagination in Selected Nigerian Novels
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UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS SOCIAL PROTEST AND LITERARY IMAGINATION IN SELECTED NIGERIAN NOVELS BY ONIYIDE AJISAFE AKINGBE B. A. (Hons) English Studies, OAU, Ile-Ife; M. A., English, UNILAG A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, FACULTY OF ARTS, UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS, AKOKA SEPTEMBER, 2010 1 SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS, AKOKA CERTIFICATION This is to certify that the thesis “Social Protest and Literary Imagination in Selected Nigerian Novels” Submitted to the School of Postgraduate Studies, University of Lagos For the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) is a record of original research carried out by Oniyide Ajisafe Akingbe In the Department of English, University of Lagos, Akoka ____________________ _______________ _____________ Author Signature Date ____________________ _______________ _____________ First Supervisor Signature Date ____________________ _______________ _____________ Second Supervisor Signature Date ____________________ _______________ _____________ Internal Examiner Signature Date ____________________ _______________ _____________ External Examiner Signature Date ______________________ _______________ _____________ P. G. School Representative Signature Date 2 DEDICATION To the youths protesting oil theft in Ilaje creeks. 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to thankfully acknowledge with appreciation the assistance of the following individuals in the successful completion of this work. They include the lead supervisor, Professor Karen King- Aribisala who helped to sharpen my arguments, the second supervisor, Dr. Chimdi Maduagwu who offered useful comments and suggestions, Professor A. E. Eruvbetine, Professor Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, Dr. Oko Okoro, Dr. Hope Eghagha, Dr. Adeyemi Daramola, Dr. Adetokunbo Pearse, Dr. Sola Osoba, Dr. Austin Nwagbara, Dr. Emmanuel Adedun, Dr. Patrick Oloko, Dr. Felicia Owhovoriole, Dr. Ben Nweke, Dr. Biodun Adeniji and Mrs. Ogbonna. Dr. Chris Anyokwu has my sincere thanks for his generous offer of valuable books on protest literature. For his enduring mentoring and criticism, I would like to gratefully acknowledge Professor Jide Timothy-Asobele. Dr. A. B. Adeloye deserves my sincere and genuine commendation for friendship and useful advice. Among the very many people who provided me with their time, insights and company. I am especially grateful to Dr. David Aworawo, Omoniyi Omosehin, Dr. Femi Adegbulu, Dr. Eddy Onwuka, Lateef Rasheed, Gbenga Fasoto, Dr. Dotun Ogunkoya, Sola Ogunbayo, Olu Omojugba, Dr. C. A. Ibitoye, Dr. Tony Okeregbe, Eric Usifo, Dr. Taye Arayela, Dr. Koya Ogen, Leye Dairo, Kenneth Nwoko, Dr. Olumide Ekanade, Dr. Victor Ukaogo, Dr. Harry Olufunwa, Bisi Arewa, Ebinyo Ogbowei, Femi Omoyele, Ferdinand Ottoh, Dr. Mayowa Adeyeye, Effiong Akpan, Dr. Akinnifesi Fatusin and Dr. Akachi Odoemene. I would also like to acknowledge my debt to my parents: my father, Oyewunmi Akingbe, and my late mother, Omonola Akingbe. My special thanks go also to Mary-Juliet, Ladele, Simisola and Tamilore, for their love, affection and for always being there for me. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Title page i Certification ii Acknowledgment iii Dedication iv Table of Contents v Abstract vi Introduction 1 CHAPTER ONE: SOCIAL PROTEST AND LITERATURE: A BACKGROUND 14 Protest: A Definition 14 The Evolution of Protest 23 Theoretical Approaches to Protest 28 The Rationalist Approach 30 The Mobilization Paradigm 30 The Political Process Approach 31 Social Protest in Literature 32 Relationship between Protest and Literature 38 Protest Literature 42 The Art-Versus-Propaganda Debate 48 5 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 52 Social Relevance in Literature 52 Protest and Social Relevance 64 Socio-Political Consciousness in Literature 66 The Novel and Society 70 Conceptual Framework 76 Ideology 81 Cardinal Concepts of New Historicism 83 Literary Texts Chosen for the Study 87 CHAPTER THREE: PROTEST AS LANDSCAPE: ANTHILLS OF THE SAVANNAH 89 Introduction 89 Strategies of Protest in Anthills of the Savannah 100 Multiple Narration 101 Vignettes 104 Oblique Forms of Protest 106 Paradoxes of Protest 106 Communality of Protest 108 Reversing the Trajectory of Protest 108 Literary Technique 114 Folkloric Elements 118 6 Textuality of Protest 122 Memory 123 The Contestation of Meanings 125 Conclusion 127 CHAPTER FOUR: HISTORY AS PROTEST IN JUST BEFORE DAWN AND DESTINATION BIAFRA 129 Introduction 129 Faction and the Notion of Protest 133 History and Fiction 134 Telling Untold Tales 136 The Importance of Memory 140 Contesting Official History 142 Creative Recollection 144 Metaphors of Nigeria 150 Updating Nigerian History 151 Fiction as an Alternative Narrative 166 Conclusion 171 CHAPTER FIVE: INTERROGATING POWER RELATIONS: PROTEST AS DIALOGUE IN VIOLENCE 173 Introduction 173 Class Stratification in Violence 179 Poverty as Alienation in Violence 187 7 Wealth as a symbol of Social Disruption in Violence 191 Marxist Ideology as a Motif of Social Consciousness in Violence 196 Extreme Poverty as Protest in Violence 200 Dialectic as Form in Violence 204 Conclusion 208 CHAPTER SIX: DEFYING ARMIES: PROTESTING MILITARY OPPRESSION IN ARROWS OF RAIN AND WAITING FOR AN ANGEL 209 Introduction 209 The Military as Harbinger of Terror 210 Memory as Subversion of Silence 214 Motifs of Protest in Waiting for an Angel and Arrows of Rain 220 Alteration and Loss of Identity as a Motif of Protest 222 Prison as Motif 222 Rape as Motif of Protest 225 Physical assault as Protest 226 Orature as Motif of Protest 227 Mysticism as Motif of Protest 230 National Narrative in Waiting for an Angel and Arrows of Rain 235 Literary Techniques 239 Memory 239 Narrative Strategies in Arrows of Rain and Waiting for an Angel 245 Faction 245 8 Narrative Style 246 Humour 247 Use of Irony 249 Metaphor 250 Conclusion 251 CONCLUSION 252 Introduction 252 Protest and Literature in Nigeria 253 Theoretical Framework 256 Research Questions 258 Research Hypothesis 259 Summary of Major Research Findings 259 The Nature of Protest 260 The Relationship between Protest and Fiction 263 The Treatment of Protest in the Selected Texts 265 Contributions to Knowledge and Suggested Areas for Further Research 269 Works Cited 271 9 ABSTRACT This study is an examination of how selected Nigerian novelists have, through the literary imagination, used protest as a mode of expression necessary for assessing the relationship between art, ideology and social consciousness. This study examines the relationship of these three elements within the context of selected Nigerian novels dealing with a specific society struggling within difficult economic and socio-political circumstances. The analytical focus is on six primary texts, namely Chinua Achebe‟s Anthills of the Savannah (1987); Kole Omotoso‟s Just Before Dawn (1988); Buchi Emecheta‟s Destination Biafra (1982); Festus Iyayi’s Violence (1979); Okey Ndibe‟s Arrows of Rain (2000) and Helon Habila‟s Waiting for an Angel (2002). The choice of these texts is informed by the fact that their thematic preoccupations and structural concerns are broadly similar. In these texts, the selected writers have attempted to chart a course of communal awareness and social reconstruction as they show concern for the socio-political issues prevalent in Nigeria. In essence, the study takes a close look at the nature of protest, its manifestation in literature and the novel, and the way in which the literary imagination transforms it to suit the artistic temper of the individual authors while at the same time retaining its essence as a means of drawing attention to inequity and injustice. A cursory examination of the texts selected for this study underscores their reading as protest texts. Anthills of the Savannah, Just Before Dawn, Destination Biafra, Violence, Arrows of Rain and Waiting for an Angel. To varying extents, these texts show that the events that constitute the national narrative are all subject to contention because they are informed by the conflicting motivations of different characters, distorted by a variety of perspectives and shaped by the dynamics of an ever-evolving culture, as well as by the biases and objectives of the writers themselves. The study concludes that, in the evaluation of social protest and the literary imagination in the Nigerian novel, it is 10 important to analyse the relativity or ideological pursuits of the selected writers. The selected writers in this study appear to be shaped by the prevailing Nigerian socio-political imbalance and its resultant harshness. This in turn is expressed in their individual reactions to these perceived socio-political problems. The recurrent motif in all the texts in this study is what could be regarded as the most recent state of consciousness in Nigerian fiction; namely, an ideological stance which no longer contents itself with either blaming outsiders or by wallowing in a literature of despair and disillusionment. 11 INTRODUCTION This study evaluates the significance of protest and the literary imagination in the Nigerian novel. It investigates how selected Nigerian novelists namely, Chinua Achebe, Kole Omotoso, Buchi Emecheta, Festus Iyayi, Okey Ndibe and Helon Habila have used protest as a mode for assessing the relationship between art, ideology and social consciousness. The study examines the relationship of these three elements within the contexts of particular works of authors who live in a specific society, with its socio-political