Various critics have spoken of similarities between Olive Schreiner and Bessie Head, and Head herself was pleased to find herself called Schreiner's "reincarnation," however startling this may seem (to some) in face of their racial difference. She also insisted, again surprisingly, that if she were indeed to be compared with Schreiner, she should be called the "Schreiner of South Africa," not "of Botswana." Her direct acquaintance with Schreiner was limited to The Story of an African Farm (1883) and a selection from her writings compiled by Uys Krige in 1968, and this only after Head had published her first three novels. Nonetheless, in an earlier essay on their relation, I explore a virtual connection between Schreiner's From Man to Man (1926) and Head's second published novel Maru (1971), arguing that the former text represents an act of dreaming "passed on" from an older to a younger generation, and even specifically from a storyteller identifying as "white" to one identifying as "black," and that this storyteller reappears in the latter text. If we allow ourselves to see Schreiner's writing as a precursor to Head's, we may then see an interactive line between the two writers, running back and forth, as it were, in both directions: "passing it on" segues, crucially, into the younger writer's unconscious "writing back" but also invokes a reassessment of Schreiner: does she "pass" over the test of social responsibility, ignoring it where she should have responded to it? Drawing from this earlier essay, though focusing far more on Head than on Schreiner, the present essay rehearses some of Head's comments on the felt similarities and differences between herself and Schreiner, but now does so in order to scrutinise more closely the younger writer's redefinition of "blackness" and her reincarnative relation to place, a relation strongly informed by her self-identification as "black" rather than "coloured" or "white." Re-reading Schreiner through Head invites us to ponder how each writer conceptualises these categories and the extent to which their writing takes account of or ignores the specific material histories that typically divide "black" and "white."
Don Veta's novel Guerrilla of the Niger Delta (2016) foregrounds the embedded realities of extractive capitalism in the Niger Delta. The novel, framed as an investigation, illustrates how petroculture, shaped by petrocapitalism and neocolonial governmental oppression, serves as a hegemonic mechanism that undermines the socio-political, epistemological, and existential rights of individuals. As implied by the title, guerrillas, primarily from Nigeria's disadvantaged Indigenous communities, engage in combat against the repressive governmentality and the persistent corruption of the oil magnates who represent the ruling elite of the region. This study involves a critical analysis of the novel, interpreting it as a discourse on the violent political economy of the Niger Delta. Hence, the focus is on examining the political and existential ramifications of extractive capitalism in the Niger Delta, as exemplified by physical violence, insurgencies, and militancy. The article underscores the intricate relationship between ecology and militancy in Nigeria, accentuating their role in perpetuating structural violence and triggering radicalism. Finally, this article asserts that these types of literary fiction serve as essential narratives in unmasking the consequences and societal toxicities associated with environmental violence and injustice, and in underscoring the associations between radicalism and ecological justice. In so doing, I contend that the struggles of guerrillas in the Niger Delta can be related to the ideologies of decolonial activism against petrocolonialism and its varied hegemonic manifestations.
This article proposes the episteme of the Shona concept of dariro as a reading strategy for Dambudzo Marechera's drama. Dariro is a Shona word for "performance space" or "zone of performance." Traditionally, dariro is a normatively inclusive performance space that is often harnessed in the very moment of enunciation. Unlike traditional forms of reading and writing that separate the encoder and the decoder in both space and time, dariro brings together the artist/performer and the reader/spectator within the same realm or sphere all at once. Sometimes this happens in ways that may shock the spectator as reader via in-the-moment presentations of what may be deemed as transgressive. Dariro is therefore an appropriate lens through which to read dramatic writings of the alternative kind such as those by Dambudzo Marechera. Dariro demonstrates Marechera's trademark penchant for creating transgressive spaces of alterity, which are harnessed in the very moment of enunciation. Therefore, dariro's performative inclusivity allows a reading of Marechera's works as spaces of alternative realities where Marechera's iconoclastic protagonists seize the opportunity to step up "in the moment" and play out outrageous behaviours in ways that demonstrate the constant tension between normative values and their deliberate transgression.
Ahmed Yerima has convincingly argued in his plays that drama constitutes a reliable alternative to historical narratives that enables a focus on Nigerian political discourses. Close readings of Yerima's plays probe into the country's socio-political problematics. Arguably, while memory has remained significant and relevant in the crafting of the dramaturgies in Yerima's plays, politics has continued to be used broadly as a device of thematic deconstruction. Recurringly, Nigeria often features as an over-arching (political) setting in most of Yerima's plays. Based on the playwright's demonstrated understanding of the specific problems associated with each geopolitical region, expressed in a different dimension, the country's political and cultural history are usually interrogated from the multi-ethnics' perspectives and grievances as can be seen from the inclusions of characters and scenes from the Niger Delta's political agitations in Hard Ground and the Fulani characters, and their idea of power relations with other Nigeria's ethnic groups in Hendu. A scrutiny of Yerima's plays reveals that tension in post-colonial Nigeria is explained not only by the peculiarity of the geopolitical area or people affected, but also by a reaction to the perceived marginality or neglect in terms of government's (non)distributions of economic and political privileges.
This study is concerned with the differences and similarities in perspective between the child narrator and adult narrator in Ellen Banda-Aaku's seminal 2011 novel Patchwork. The novel is analysed in terms of two theories, namely narratology and systemic functional linguistics. While the former is employed to analyse narrative technique, the latter is employed to analyse the use of language by Pumpkin both as a child narrator and as an adult narrator. The study provides a brief synopsis of Patchwork and an analysis of some of the literary devices used in the narration of both the child and adult narrators. The findings show that there is an apparent difference in the perspectives of the two narrators: the child narrator exhibits immaturity as well as a penchant for noticing details, while the adult narrator demonstrates a mature disposition, is more measured in her actions, more contemplative and certainly wiser than the young Pumpkin. This is not only demonstrated by the types of literary devices employed by the author, but also by the choice of words and language of the two narrators. The study is significant because it draws a contrast between two perspectives on life by the same narrator, except that the first perspective, in part one of the novel, is given when the narrator is a child while the second one, in part two, is given when the narrator is an adult. The study lends weight to the argument that the differences in child and adult narration are reflected not only in the treatment of themes, but also in the use of language and literary devices.
The Efik people of south-eastern Nigeria, as a means of socialisation and internalisation of cultural values, use proverbs, a folkloric art, to teach children in their daily interactions, particularly in the indigenous setting. However, despite the rich cultural resources of the practice among the Efik, it has not attracted the attention of scholars and critics. This study examined how proverbs are deployed as conversational tools by parents and elders in a way that helps children to develop oral proficiency, sociolinguistic competence, and cognition. An ethnopragmatic interpretation of children-related proverbs was undertaken with a view to determining, among other things, their pedagogical implications among the Efik. An ethnographic research approach using participant observation and semi-structured interviews was used with 20 purposively sampled participants. The findings revealed that Efik parents in indigenous communities exploit the rich resources and usage of proverbs to engender cognitive development and character moulding in children in their formative years. The study further reveals that proverbs constitute an essential aspect of the Efik traditional epistemology that enables children to acquire knowledge and demonstrable proficiency in oral communication especially through moonlight performances, including storytelling, songs, and oral poetry. We conclude that proverbs are knowledge transmission and performance genre, a veritable linguistic tool for the socialisation, internalisation, and general education of children in the Efik indigenous society.
The rapid advancement of digital technologies has transformed how cultures are preserved, communicated, and appreciated. In recent years, YouTube has emerged as a powerful platform for cultural dissemination, particularly among younger audiences. However, the digitalisation and aesthetics of the Yor & ugrave;b & aacute; culture and language remain underexplored, especially in the context of content created by and for children on YouTube. Despite the richness and diversity of Yor & ugrave;b & aacute; culture including its language, folklore, music, and visual arts, there is a significant gap in understanding how these cultural elements are being adapted and presented in the digital sphere. This is particularly critical for younger generations, who are increasingly consuming content online and may have limited access to traditional forms of cultural transmission. Thus, this study analysed the elements of Yor & ugrave;b & aacute; culture, and assessed the fidelity and authenticity of Yor & ugrave;b & aacute; cultural portrayals in the content created by YouTube children's performances. The study employed functionalist theory and analysed two children's performances. We found that YouTube Children's performances adopt various storytelling techniques (folktale, proverbs, and idioms), music, dance, and visual elements to suit digital platforms. Both performances effectively engage contemporary audiences while maintaining the essence of Yor & ugrave;b & aacute; culture. By addressing these objectives, the study contributes to a deeper understanding of how digital platforms can be utilised to preserve and promote cultural heritage, ensuring that younger generations remain connected to their roots in an increasingly digitalised world.
In this article, we discuss the relationship between decolonisation and the framing of Mama K's Supa Team 4. Central to this discussion is whether various narratological techniques in the animation skew decolonisation discourse towards a gendered reclamation of a lost African voice. The study is anchored on Adichie's pedagogy on the relationship between children's socialisation and gendered identity in Africa. Also instrumental to this study are studies on African animation that speak to the potential that African animation has to give a voice to the African story from an African perspective. This study employed a qualitative, interpretative approach, with season one of Supa Team 4 as a case study of the framing of the Zambian animation about decolonisation. Through a textual study of Supa Team 4 and thematic analysis of emerging patterns, the study found that manipulating an array of narratological devices assists in giving the girls in the animation agency and voice. Therefore, our thesis is that Supa Team 4 points to a decolonisation that considers women's issues instrumental to a wholesome decolonisation exercise.
This qualitative study explored the impact of imagination on children's writing. Through in-depth analysis of writing pieces, the study revealed the significant impact of imagination on children's ability to design engaging stories and poems. This study sought to highlight the unique perspectives and voices that emerge through the written word. The participants in this study were children aged 8-12 from diverse backgrounds, although they were from the same school. Grounded in Vygotsky's sociocultural theory, which emphasises the roles of social and cultural factors in shaping cognitive development, this qualitative study suggests that imagination plays a pivotal role in supporting creativity in children's writing. Other factors significantly influencing creative writing skills include multimedia and environment. The study's results support Vygotsky's notion that learning is a socially constructed process, highlighting the importance of culturally relevant stimuli in nurturing children's imagination. In addition, the study contributes to understanding the interplay between imagination, creativity, and writing skills in children, informing instructional practices that promote literacy development and creative writing pedagogy. Thus, the study's findings provide valuable insights for educators, parents, and policymakers seeking to nurture creativity in young learners.
