Nigeria as a country of stories

The article is dedicated to the phenomenon of storytelling and its evolution in the context of globalization and digitalization. The choice of Nigeria as an object of study is not accidental. The oral tradition in Nigeria has developed dynamically over the centuries. Nigerian literature is considered to be a successor of the traditions of world classics. It was the writers - the «children of Herodotus» - who assumed the function of recording and relaying stories that, being biased, led to the destruction of a number of stereotypes regarding Africa and Africans. The traditions of storytelling appeared in literature and journalism, in television and radio broadcasting, across In-ternet. Nigerians have become active participants in TED conferences. Storytelling in Nigeria has become a profession. Within its framework, famous writers, including women, found application, overthrowing gender inequality.

Recreating Experience in Nigerian Fiction: Camillus Ukah’s Sweet Things and the Politics of its Production

This article contends that, in the same way as some postcolonial literature, the latter third generation Nigerian literature is a product of the writer’s experience. When the writer does not reproduce his sociopolitical experience, he reshapes his expectations into literature. The writer manipulates his experience into creative activity that fulfils his innate desire – this is the same desire which he is ordinarily unable to achieve in reality. This article argues further that even though the literature is a product of the writer’s experience, it is harmless and beneficent. Using Camillus Ukah’s Sweet Things as a representative text of the fiction produced by a latter third generation Nigerian literature writer, emphasis is made on the way in which Camillus Ukah has recreated his experience. It concludes that through the novel, Ukah expresses his bitterness towards a certain matrimonial experience that is of his particular concern.

Towards Environmental Justice: An Ecopoetical Reading of Ikiriko and Otto’s Poetry

Ecology is a study that transcends disciplinary boundaries. It has roots in the sciences but enjoys a number of representations in the humanities, specifically through literature. Several African writers have in their imaginative works, portrayed the devastating condition of the environment in a 21st century technological-driven world and also proposed solutions to this malady. In fact, environmental degradation has become a global issue, hence, the pressing need for a lasting panacea. Attempts at literary ecocriticism in Nigerian literature have largely focused on prose fictional works and the poetry collections of older and second generation poets like Tanure Ojaide. Consequently, little research has been carried out on the representation of environmental degradation in the poetry of more contemporary poets like Ibiwari Ikiriko and Albert Otto. This paper therefore, is a critical, close reading of Ikiriko and Otto’s poetry engagement with environmental degradation. The paper adopts the notion of ecopoetry from the ecocritical theory, which accounts for poetry foregrounding questions of ethics in relation to the environment. It acts as a reminder to humans of their responsibility towards the earth and challenges the existing status-quo that has the environment and the common people at the mercy of the ruling class. In this paper, Ikiriko’s Oily Tears of the Delta and Otto’s Letter from the Earth are subjected to literary and critical analysis to examine their preoccupation with the destructive onslaught on nature, and the traumatic experiences of the marginalised. Amidst the environmental depredation, the poets express hope and revolutionary fervour towards the rejuvenation of their society.

Proverbs and Postproverbial Stance in Selected Plays of Emeka Nwabueze and Zulu Sofola

Since the birth of Nigerian literature, writers have produced impressive collection of literature in English. African oral traditions like proverbs have been in use in creative works. Over time, there have been some alterations in proverbs as their usage and meanings slightly assume different dimensions on their seriousness, effects and explicitness of the message therein, forming either an extension to the traditional proverbs or coinages of certain expressions. It is contended that the meaning of proverbs can be interpreted within the semantic, ideational, stimulus-response, realist and contextual theories, as proverbs play significant roles in literary works. This paper anchors on J.L. Austin’s Speech Act Theory and examines the proverb uses and postproverbial reflections with the view to foregrounding their implications in two plays of common thematic preoccupations—Zulu Sofola’s Old Wines are Tasty and Emeka Nwabueze’s A Parliament of Vultures. Ultimately, it will highlight the proverbial stance and significance of the texts, thereby ascertaining the proverbial mutations in contexts.