The Depiction of Insecurity and Militarization of Societ: A Postcolonialist Appraisal of Tanure Ojaide's The Activist
The Depiction of Insecurity and Militarization of Society Against Global Democratic Norm: A Post-colonialist Appraisal of Tanure Ojaide’s The Activist by Ode John Iyanya
Introduction
Some countries are colonized by others. This has bred a fusion or a total altering of the culture, values and psychic of the colonized. The concept of Post-Coloniality therefore refers to the behavior in reaction to this relationship and the resultant aftermath in all aspects of the people’s lives after the period of colonization. Speaking about post-colonialty, Shija posits that: “Although flag-independence had been granted to the colonized territories, most critics believe the stigma of colonialism and its attendant conflicts were still in force” (2). Colonialism has consequences which are examined in the theory of post-coloniality.
We use the term post-colonialism or post-coloniality to mean all the perspectives, the ideologies and the whole gamut of thinking and value appraisal occasioned by the act of colonialism. Graham Huggan, opines that:” Post-colonialism and post-coloniality are inextricably interconnected. The first mentioned refers to localized agencies of resistance and the second to a global condition of cross cultural symbolic exchange” (ix). In agreement with this position, Kerstin W. Shands says: “Post-coloniality should be seen as a time period and condition marked by the challenges of difficult change and complicated continuity within an unpredictable mix of pre-, anti-, post-, and neo-colonial elements” (87). It is a very well known fact that African continent has had its fair share of colonialism. Many African writers have reflected these realities in their literary works. Examples include: Chinua Achebe’s Anthills of the Savanna, Wole Soyinka’s The Interpreters Ayi kwei Armah’s The Beautyful Ones are Not Yet Born, Ngugi Wa Thiong’o’s Petals of Blood, Tanure Ojaide’s The Activist and so many others.
The Activist showcases the plight of the
Introduction
Some countries are colonized by others. This has bred a fusion or a total altering of the culture, values and psychic of the colonized. The concept of Post-Coloniality therefore refers to the behavior in reaction to this relationship and the resultant aftermath in all aspects of the people’s lives after the period of colonization. Speaking about post-colonialty, Shija posits that: “Although flag-independence had been granted to the colonized territories, most critics believe the stigma of colonialism and its attendant conflicts were still in force” (2). Colonialism has consequences which are examined in the theory of post-coloniality.
We use the term post-colonialism or post-coloniality to mean all the perspectives, the ideologies and the whole gamut of thinking and value appraisal occasioned by the act of colonialism. Graham Huggan, opines that:” Post-colonialism and post-coloniality are inextricably interconnected. The first mentioned refers to localized agencies of resistance and the second to a global condition of cross cultural symbolic exchange” (ix). In agreement with this position, Kerstin W. Shands says: “Post-coloniality should be seen as a time period and condition marked by the challenges of difficult change and complicated continuity within an unpredictable mix of pre-, anti-, post-, and neo-colonial elements” (87). It is a very well known fact that African continent has had its fair share of colonialism. Many African writers have reflected these realities in their literary works. Examples include: Chinua Achebe’s Anthills of the Savanna, Wole Soyinka’s The Interpreters Ayi kwei Armah’s The Beautyful Ones are Not Yet Born, Ngugi Wa Thiong’o’s Petals of Blood, Tanure Ojaide’s The Activist and so many others.
The Activist showcases the plight of the
Cited: Huggan, Graham. The Postcolonial Exotic: Marketing the Margins. New York: Routledge, 2001 University of Minnesota press, 1979. Ojaide, Tanure. The Activist. Lagos: Farafina, 2006 Shija, Terhemba Publishers, 2006.