CULTURAL REPRESENTATION IN OBIDIYA: A POST-COLONIAL LITERATURE
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Date
2018-03-03
Authors
Anyachebelu, L.A
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Publisher
The Quint
Abstract
Cultural elements abound in Africa which could serve as sources of thematic exploration, plot narratives, same as means to the documentation of such cultures. Some Igbo writers as part of African writers have appropriated the use of cultural elements in their works. This study is therefore; set to examine Igbo cultural representations in Akoma’s Obidiya and aims at examining how much of the cultural elements reflected in the text are still applicable in the contemporary Igbo society. The content analysis is employed in the analysis of this study and the Marxist theory of literature is employed as the theoretical model for the study. The study reveals that Akoma is able to reflect so many Igbo customs, beliefs and traditions, such as belief in ‘Chukwu’ God, ‘Ịgbaafa’, divination, ‘ịlọụwa’ reincarnation, ‘nrọ’ dream, ‘ohu’ slavery, ‘Ndịichie’ Ancestary, “Arụsị’ deity, ‘Ịkwụụdọ’ – suicide, and ‘ụwaọzọ’ Another world. The study also reveal that some of the cultural practices reflected in Obidiya have gone extinct, such as ‘ohu’ slavery, ‘ihianụ’ humans operating through the form of animal. Some of them seem to still be in operation, but under some disguised forms, such as ‘ịgbaohu’ slavery which operates in the form of domestic/house helps ‘ihianụ’ operating as witchcraft. The study therefore recommends that Igbo literary authors should borrow a leaf from Akoma by incorporating more of the Igbo cultural elements into their works; especially the very archaic ones as a means of their documentation, preservation and transference to the on coming generations.
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Keywords
culture, Igbo literature, post-colonial, representation, Obidiya