Tella, Damilare (2025) COLLECTIVE MEMORY OF THE NIGERIAN CIVIL WAR THROUGH LITERARY NARRATIVES. Master thesis, Pedagogical and Educational Sciences.
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Abstract
The absence of history from Nigeria’s school curriculum has created a gap filled by literary texts that present narratives about the Nigerian Civil War. This thesis examines how four selected texts—The Last Duty by Isidore Okpewho, Sunset in Biafra by Elechi Amadi, Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and There Was a Country by Chinua Achebe—portray the war. These texts are categorized into Igbo and non-Igbo perspectives based on the ethnic origins of their authors. Employing a hybrid thematic analysis approach, this study identifies the themes in these literary texts. The analysis reveals key themes in each text. Achebe’s There Was a Country highlights the incompetence of the ruling class, ethnic hostility, the Igbo massacre, and the dangers of being Igbo. Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun emphasizes resilience, trauma, and in-group/out-group dynamics. Amadi’s Sunset in Biafra discusses Biafran aggression, ethnic oppression, conflict profiteering, and comradeship. Okpewho’s The Last Duty explores themes of liberation, conflict profiteering, and the destruction of inter-tribal bonds. The study also identifies overlaps between texts: non-Igbo works converge on conflict profiteering and ethnic oppression, while Igbo texts share a focus on the harrowing experiences of Igbos during the war. Based on these findings, the researcher concluded that selected texts have presented a cultural interpretation of the Nigerian Civil War, and recommended that that the Nigerian Government should re-enlist history into the school’s Curriculum
| Item Type: | Thesis (Master) |
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| Supervisor name: | Bartelink, B.E. |
| Degree programme: | Pedagogical and Educational Sciences |
| Differentiation route: | Ethics and Education: philosophy, history and law [Master Pedagogical and Educational Sciences] |
| Date Deposited: | 30 Jan 2025 13:35 |
| Last Modified: | 30 Jan 2025 13:35 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/4569 |
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