MILITARY POLITICS IN THE NIGERIAN NOVEL: A POSTCOLONIAL READING OF CHINUA ACHEBE’S ANTHILLS OF THE SAVANNAH AND HELON HABILA’S WAITING FOR AN ANGEL
MILITARY POLITICS IN THE NIGERIAN NOVEL: A POSTCOLONIAL READING OF CHINUA ACHEBE’S ANTHILLS OF THE SAVANNAH AND HELON HABILA’S WAITING FOR AN ANGEL
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Date
2017-04
Authors
ANTHONY, NDE JAMES
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Abstract
In Nigeria, the mid 1960s up until the later part of the 1990s marked a turning period in the nation‟s political landscape, mainly because of the militarization of the Nigerian political space. These military interventions which began on 15th January, 1966 reached its zenith during the repressive regimes of Ibrahim Babangida and the dictatorship of Sani Abacha. Nigerian literature remains a formidable part of the opposition to military dictatorship and tyranny. The country‟s writers hold and project the military‟s messianic pontifications in huge suspicion and disbelief in their writings. Using Helon Habila‟s Waiting for an Angel (2002) and Chinua Achebe‟s Anthills of the Savannah (1988) as templates, the aim and objectives of this study have to do with examining in a broader perspective, the recurrence of the military in the nation‟s history as reflected in fiction as well as the public‟s perception of the military institution. Adopting postcolonial theory as a discursive framework for analysis, the study x-rays how the older generation of Nigerian novelists like Achebe and the younger generation which Habila represents depict the dynamics of military politics in their narratives. Postcolonial theory with strands that resist oppression and dictatorship have aided the analysis. The findings of the study show that, although the writer and the masses may not have the power to physically change the oppressive character and disposition of the military establishment, they can however; undermine military oppression and dictatorship through collective action in popular resistance
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A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN ENGLISH LITERATURE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITERARY STUDIES, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA
Keywords
MILITARY POLITICS,, NIGERIAN NOVEL,, POSTCOLONIAL READING,, CHINUA ACHEBE’S ANTHILLS,, SAVANNAH,, HELON HABILA’S,, WAITING FOR AN ANGEL