Societal Perception and Individual Indetermination in Tanure Ojaide’s the Activist: a Postcolonial Examination of Reality in Contemporary African Society
Abstract
The problem of disillusionment is still affecting Africans, no thanks to the effect of imperialism. This makes them believe that the only way to attain their physical and mental essences is by seeking greener pastures. This paper attempts to juxtapose various perceptions and individual indetermination, and what is the reality as Tanure Ojaide captures in The Activist taking cognizance of Lacan’s view that ‘that chapter of my history that is marked by a blank or occupied by a falsehood: it is the censored chapter’ (Goring et al: 435).
Introduction
The goal of the African literature has been to reposition the African continent from its negative portrayal by the colonial masters. The imperialists showcased African people as naïve. It is this battle that prompted the likes of Chinua Achebe, Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Wole Soyinka to write in defence of the continent through literature. The effort to defend ushered in some confrontations between Western critics and their African counterparts.
Nnolim in Issues in African Literature writes,
…the West African novel was born in response to colonial invasion and its abuses which threatened our collective security as a people; it has since then been sustained by reaction to our collective disenchantment with political independence (62).
The success of this battle is far from realization despite that the colonial masters have granted political independence to their various colonies. A postcolonial analysis of independent African nations indicates that although the flag independence has been won, the impact of colonialism is still prevalent both in the psyche and the endevours of Africans. This is shown in the ways that Africans wrongly perceive issues, embrace foreign cultures and discard their own.
Shija in Post-Coloniality And The Poetry Of Tanure Ojaide asserts that despite that African nations have got ‘flag-independence’, a majority of the critics are of the opinion that
The problem of disillusionment is still affecting Africans, no thanks to the effect of imperialism. This makes them believe that the only way to attain their physical and mental essences is by seeking greener pastures. This paper attempts to juxtapose various perceptions and individual indetermination, and what is the reality as Tanure Ojaide captures in The Activist taking cognizance of Lacan’s view that ‘that chapter of my history that is marked by a blank or occupied by a falsehood: it is the censored chapter’ (Goring et al: 435).
Introduction
The goal of the African literature has been to reposition the African continent from its negative portrayal by the colonial masters. The imperialists showcased African people as naïve. It is this battle that prompted the likes of Chinua Achebe, Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Wole Soyinka to write in defence of the continent through literature. The effort to defend ushered in some confrontations between Western critics and their African counterparts.
Nnolim in Issues in African Literature writes,
…the West African novel was born in response to colonial invasion and its abuses which threatened our collective security as a people; it has since then been sustained by reaction to our collective disenchantment with political independence (62).
The success of this battle is far from realization despite that the colonial masters have granted political independence to their various colonies. A postcolonial analysis of independent African nations indicates that although the flag independence has been won, the impact of colonialism is still prevalent both in the psyche and the endevours of Africans. This is shown in the ways that Africans wrongly perceive issues, embrace foreign cultures and discard their own.
Shija in Post-Coloniality And The Poetry Of Tanure Ojaide asserts that despite that African nations have got ‘flag-independence’, a majority of the critics are of the opinion that
Cited: Fanon, Frantz. The Wretched of the Earth. Great Britain: Penguin Books. 1980 Goring, Paul et al Ojaide, Tanure. The Activist. Lagos: Farafina. 2006 Shija, Terhemba Aboki Publishers. 2006 Silberman, Charles Sofola, Zulu. Wedlock of the Gods. Ibadan: Evans Brothers Limited. 1972 Walter, Rodney