Narrating the green gods: the (auto) biographies of Nigerian military rulers

Adeoti, Gbemisola

doi:10.5040/9781350220782.ch-003

Cited by 1 publication

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“…On the other hand, studies on the military in politics include Adeoti (2003a) which surveys how writers have captured the experiences of people under military rule within the years 1966 to 1999 and concludes that the military’s recurrent presence in Nigerian literature is evident that they have become entrenched in the psyche of the Nigerian people. In another study also, Adeoti (2003b) appraises the autobiographies and biographies of major Nigerian military officers who have played significant roles in the nation since independence. He concludes at the end of the exercise that such publications were efforts at self re-writing.…”

Section: The Military In Nigerian Novelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Portraits of the Nigerian Soldier in Isidore Okpewho’s The Last Duty and Festus Iyayi’s Heroes

Onwuka

2021

Sage Open

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An essential feature of Nigerian literatures is their capacity to exploit history and social experience to bring to light the human condition in society without compromising literary aesthetics. Thus, Nigerian novels often appear to be more educative than entertaining by their ability to illuminate social realities far more effectively than historical or sociological texts. This is evident in the representations of soldiers in Nigerian novels which are highly influenced by historical and social circumstances. This paper carries out a comparative and descriptive analysis of portrayals of Nigerian soldiers in Isidore Okpewho’s The Last Duty and Festus Iyayi’s Heroes from a new historical perspective. Most studies on the military in Nigerian novels often focus on their actions in war situations and their disruptive and undemocratic activities in politics. However, these studies frequently explore the military as a group with little attention to the texts as expositions on character types in the Nigerian military. This study therefore contributes to criticism on the nexus between literary representation, history, and society. It further highlights historical and social contexts of military explorations in Nigerian novels and their impacts on the perception of the Nigerian soldier in society. These are aimed at showing that depictions of the military in Nigerian novels go beyond their capacities for disruptions and destructions in society; they represent artistic probing of the nature and character of persons in the Nigerian military.

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Section: The Military In Nigerian Novelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Portraits of the Nigerian Soldier in Isidore Okpewho’s The Last Duty and Festus Iyayi’s Heroes

Onwuka

2021

Sage Open

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Narrating the green gods: the (auto) biographies of Nigerian military rulers

Cited by 1 publication

References 0 publications

Portraits of the Nigerian Soldier in Isidore Okpewho’s The Last Duty and Festus Iyayi’s Heroes

Portraits of the Nigerian Soldier in Isidore Okpewho’s The Last Duty and Festus Iyayi’s Heroes

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