LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 13:9 September 2013
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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Privileging Politics as the Overriding Denominator in Social Transformation -
A Study on Buchi Emecheta’s Fiction Novel
Destination Biafra

D. Sumalatha, M.A., M.Phil., B.Ed., Ph.D. Candidate

Introduction

Buchi Emecheta’s Destination Biafra talks about the Nigerian Biafran Civil War – one of the predominant subjects of study in modern African literature which has been either ignored or underestimated the literary efforts of female writers. Most critics discussing works dealing with the tragic events of 1967-1970 often fail to include Destination Biafra, even though this novel unmistakably adds several new thematic discussions to the genre in Africa.

Emecheta introduces a new theme into her fictional output by way of including the Nigerian Civil War and the role of women in the political life of her country. Where Emecheta is different from other chroniclers of the Civil War, however, is in her presentation of female characters who transcend the traditional and stereotypical roles often reserved for them. Her major female characters in this war - Debbie Ogedemgbe, Dorothy, and Mrs. Uzoma Maddco are presented as people who are forced by either personal experience or idealism, to become active participants in the struggle for genuine freedom.

Perhaps the most remarkable political phenomenon in Africa in the 20th century is the progressive dismantling of colonialism, and the emergence of individual nation-states. One of the major implications of the nation-state formation in Africa is the conflict between primordial ethnic values and loyalties on the one hand and the demands of a wider nationalism on the other. The contradictions inherent in this development are manifested in the emergent national cultures of Africa, especially in the area of literature. My writing style is more like my story-telling . . . Nigeria is a land full of stories. Every time I am there I always come in contact with something new. . . . The way I recount things that happenings comes from the way we speak in our part of Nigeria. (Emecheta Interview, 1996) “When I write, I look for a problem in a certain society and I write about that problem strictly from a woman’s point of view”. (Emecheta Interview, 1988)

Destination Biafra

Destination Biafra is a vivid fictional record of the unwholesome events which started with the pre-independence elections in Nigeria in 1959 and the proclamation of the Republic of Nigeria to the secession of Biafra and the Civil War which ended with the triumph of the idea of an indivisible Nigeria. The novelist dramatises twelve years of political mismanagement, civil commotion, personal and communal greed, unabated selfishness and corrupt leadership which lead ultimately to social chaos, deprivation and death. The high functionaries of the State, civil and military, act with such reckless abandon that nothing but calamity and widespread suffering can result.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

D. Sumalatha M.A., M.Phil., B.Ed., Ph.D. Candidate
Assistant Professor
Department of English
University College of Engineering and Technology
Acharya Nagarjuna University
Nagarjuna Nagar
Andhra Pradesh
India
sumadonipati@gmail.com
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