CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2021
| Author | Akinpelu, Oluwafunmilayo Miriam |
|---|---|
| Title | From Postcolonial to Global Trajectories: Nigerian Novels and the Literary-Generational Historical Model |
| Summary | This thesis is mostly dedicated to an in-depth discussion of the literary generational paradigm used in the historicisation of written Nigerian literature-in-English. This method of historically 'periodising’ the literary trajectory of Nigeria is commonplace but, as is posited in this thesis, it is very problematic. Owing to this viewpoint, this thesis offers historiographical and conceptual insights into how this generational model used in Nigerian literary history came about. Knowing that postcolonialism and globalisation are two concepts that relate directly to discourses about written Nigerian literature-in-English, chapter one of this thesis is dedicated to delineating the concepts in relation to the generational model while paying attention to the evolving dynamics that have re-configured these concepts within the context of Nigerian literature. Then, by focusing on the novelistic genre, this thesis offers a descriptive delineation of the three generations that are associated with Nigerian literary history. This is followed by criticisms of the appropriated national-generational paradigm, and its frictional relationship with postcolonialism and globalisation/globality using arguments that revolve around such phenomena as the nation, language, form, time, and space. The first and second generations are often discussed in relation to postcolonialism while discussions about globalisation almost always involve the third generation. It is argued that the use of the generational paradigm in Nigeria’s literary criticism and history leads to exclusivity, unrepresentability, stereotypes, ambiguities and does not in fact capture the dilemmas and ambivalences of Nigeria’s supposed national literature. Towards the end, some hypothetical alternative frameworks are suggested. |
| Supervisor | Wilke, Carsten; Lukic, Jasmina |
| Department | History MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2021/akinpelu_oluwafunmil.pdf |
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