Fatin Abbas
Published: 2014
Total Pages: 280
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Focusing on the post-independence novels of Chinua Achebe, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Buchi Emecheta, Aminata Sow Fall and Idris Ali, this dissertation has two aims: To consider how these authors represent the relationship between the discourse of state power and counter-narratives set in opposition to it, and to examine how they inscribe the horizontal relationship or the interplay between competing and/or overlapping counter-narratives of class, gender and indigeneity in their work. The dissertation addresses the inscription of dissenting narratives as a heteroglossic phenomenon, exploring how counter-discourses of class, of gender and of indigeneity negotiate each other even as they negotiate state hegemony. Pursuing a comparative methodology, this dissertation contributes to a deeper understanding of the relevant literature and theory on a number of levels. Firstly, it sheds light on the theme of state power in the post-independence African novel. Secondly, it redresses the focus on the vertical relationship between discourse and counter-discourse reflected in postcolonial theory by shifting attention to the horizontal relationship between counter-narratives. Thirdly, it explores how the post-independence African novel subverts the valorization of discourse reflected in postcolonial theory by reconfiguring the exercise of power within a performative framework. Finally, it highlights and gives precedence to feminist concerns through a close consideration of how gender issues are inscribed both in female and male writing.