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The Critical Concept of Afrocentrism in Nigerian Literature Submitted by Chike Francis Mgbeadichie to the University of Exeter as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English In June 2015 This thesis is available for Library use on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been identified and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by this or any other University. Signature: ………………………………………………………….. Abstract Since the early 1960s, Afrocentrism has been developed as a theory that resists forms of marginalisation of African peoples, places African culture at the centre of inquiry, and promotes African peoples as subjects rather than objects of humanity. However, as this thesis sets out to show, this theory has gained more ground as an anti-Eurocentric theory that liberates Africans from the margins of western domination and colonization. This project intends to challenge this limited critique of Afrocentrism. In ‘Afrocentrism: The Argument We’re Really Having’ [American Historical Review, 30 (1996), 202-39], Ibrahim Sundiata, a leading Afrocentrist, argues that ‘any theoretical move directed at erasing inscriptions of inequality, marginalisation and subjugation of any kind among African peoples could be classified as a version of the Afrocentric impulse.’ Extending Sundiata’s argument, this thesis situates the criticism of three insidious Nigerian traditions which marginalise and subjugate fellow Nigerians as Afrocentric discourse: i) the marginalisation of women, ii) the Osu caste system, and iii) the Oro festival and the tradition of ritual suicide. This project will redefine the theoretical concept of the Afrocentric discipline as a discourse that challenges both external and, importantly, internal forces of oppression in Africa. The study is divided into three chapters. The first examines and situates the discourse of Womanism in Flora Nwapa’s Efuru and Idu as an Afrocentric discipline. It exposes the sufferings and marginalisation of women in patriarchal Nigerian society. Through a critical evaluation of Nwapa’s use of myth, meta-fiction and, borrowing from Siga Jajne’s study, what I call ‘voice-throwing’ [‘African Women and the Category ‘WOMAN’ in Feminist Theory’ Proceedings at the Annual Conference of the African Literature Association, Ohio, March, 1995], I demonstrate how Nwapa creates a new world and an escape route for Nigerian women. If Afrocentrism is a discourse that offers a space to eradicate inequality of any kind within the African community, the critique of the subjugation of women in Nigeria, I argue, might be ii understood as a part of Afrocentrism. The second chapter attempts to critically analyse Chinua Achebe’s challenge of the Igbo tradition of the Osu caste system in Things Fall Apart and No Longer at Ease as an Afrocentric discourse. It analyses Achebe’s use of the literary technique of dualism and the critical engagement with questions of ‘form’ in his challenge of the Osu system. Through a close reading of these texts, I analyse Achebe’s position of the role of the intellectuals, the ‘voiceless’ situation of the Osu in Things Fall Apart, and the ‘voice- consciousness’ of the Osu in his short story, ‘Chike’s School Days.’ From the outset, this chapter maintains that Achebe’s first and second novels are criticial to the challenge of the Osu system. This is what makes these texts Afrocentric. The final chapter analyses Afrocentric interventions into the debilitating traditions of the Oro festival and ritual suicide in Adaora Ulasi’s Many Thing You No Understand, Wole Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman and Duro Ladipo’s Oba Waja (The King is Dead). While there are continued practice of some traditional customs and social structures that oppress, marginalise and displace Africans, this thesis shows that there is need to redefine and extend the Afrocentric paradigm as a theory that critically challenges any internal system of oppression in Africa. Theorizing Afrocentrism in this way will therefore address the challenges of twenty-first century Africa. iii Table of Contents Chapter Title Page Title Page Abstract ii Table of Contents iv Dedication v Acknowledgement vi Introduction 1 What is Afrocentrism? 2 Significant Criticisms on Afrocentrism 5 Rationale for this Thesis 16 Methodology 18 Approaching the Case Studies 21 Chapter Outlines 24 1. Womanism as an Afrocentric Discourse: Reading Flora Nwapa’s 25 Efuru and Idu 1.1 Reasons for the rejection of Feminism 25 1.2 What is Womanism? 33 1.3 Efuru and Idu 35 2. The Critique of the Osu Caste System as an Afrocentric Discourse: 74 Chinua Achebe 2.1 Definitions of the Osu caste system 78 2.2 Origin of the Osu caste system 80 2.3 Classifications of Osu 84 2.4 Discriminations against Osu 86 2.5 Things Fall Apart and No Longer at Ease 92 3. The Critique of the Oro Festival and the Tradition of Ritual Suicide 140 as a Discourse of Afrocentrism: Adaora Ulasi, Wole Soyinka and Duro Ladipo 3.1 The Yoruba People 144 3.2 Veneration to the Oba (King) 145 3.3 The Oro Festival and Ritual Suicide 147 3.4 Many Thing You No Understand, Death and the King’s Horseman, 156 and Oba Waja Thesis Conclusion 204 Bibliography 208 iv DEDICATION In memoriam of my late parents: Mr and Mrs Chukwuemeka Godwin MGBEADICHIE v ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I want to thank God for life, for inspiration and for the grace to complete this research. His presence and favour has been with me through this journey. I owe special thanks to Dr. ABC Orjiako who funded my MA and PhD degrees. Despite the global financial crunch and his very busy schedule, he attended to my financial requests on time and offered words of encouragement. These really kept my pushing. Uncle, I am very grateful. My sincere thanks also goes to Engr. Benjamin Ezeagwu for his wisdom and support. Uncle, I thank you for believing in me. To my beautiful wife, Onyin, my gorgeous daughter, Chizara and handsome son, Chidubem, I thank you all for your great support, understanding and prayers. This PhD is for you all. May God bless you. May I also extend my warmest appreciations to all my siblings, nieces, nephews and in-laws for their massive contributions towards my studies. You all have been fantastic. This research wouldn’t have been what it is without the contributions of my supervisors: Dr. Jane Poyner and Prof. Regenia Gagnier. I appreciate greatly your motivation, immense knowledge and patience towards my research. Your guidance, feedbacks and comments shaped my thoughts. I could not have imagined having better mentors and supervisors for my PhD study. Besides my supervisors, I would like to thank my colleagues and academic friends in Exeter: Dr. Tara Etherington, Dr. Ugochukwu Obibuaku, Dr. Felix Ike, Dr. Charles Ogheneruonah Eghweree, Dr. Samuel Odewunmi and Dr. Bayo Eludoyin amongst others for their insightful comments, discussions and encouragements which directed my research to the right path. I thank my lecturers, colleagues and friends at the Department of English, Anambra State University, Nigeria, and at the School of English in Leeds University for providing me with basic research skills at various levels. vi I would like to thank my Exeter family and Leeds family, too numerous to name, for supporting me spiritually throughout my studies in the UK. Your prayers were the backbone upon which I found strength to write this thesis. May God bless you all. vii Introduction This thesis extends the scope of Afrocentrism from a theory that resists western forms of marginalisation of African peoples to a principle that challenges internal systems of discrimination in Africa as well. Whilst giant strides have been made in recent years to position Afrocentric theory as an ideology that critiques external forms of discrimination in Africa, there has as yet been no robust and accurate attempt by Afrocentrists to critically position the Afrocentric ideology as a theory that challenges debilitating African cultural traditions which marginalise certain communities and persons within African countries. I do not by this suggest that African critics like Frantz Fanon, Albert Memmi, Mahmood Mandani, Barney Pityana, Lesiba Teffo and Toyin Falola amongst others have not advocated challenging retrogressive practices. They have done this but not specifically in the context of Afrocentrism. For example, the works of Fanon, especially his essay ‘On National Culture’ in The Wretched of the Earth (1961) advocate clearly the notion of autocritique and reflexivity amongst black, anti-colonial intellectuals but not explicitly in relation to Afrocentrism. For this research, Nigeria will be the focal point and I have identified three discriminatory cultural structures within the country that have continued to hinder the well-being of Nigerians: firstly, discrimination against women; secondly, the Osu caste system; and thirdly, the tradition of ritual suicide and the Oro festival. I have chosen to focus on Nigeria for a number of reasons: firstly, Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa with a population of over a hundred and fifty million; secondly, it is a multi-ethnic nation with over three hundred ethnic groups, rich in traditions and customs, both indigenous and modern;1 and thirdly, as Toyin Falola argues, ‘traditional practices affect the ways millions of Nigerians explain reality, understand how the country works, relate to other members of the society, react to events and changes, and reflect 1 The Adarawa, Manga, Kanuri, Bede, Fali, Egede, Igala, Tiv, Urhobo, Basa, Jaba, Angas and Borgawa to mention a few are the minority ethnic groups in the country. The Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba are the three major ethnic groups.
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