Quest for Recolonization: Nigerian Nationalism and Confiscation of Democracy in Ben Okri’s the Freedom Artist
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26750/Vol(12).No(2).Paper30Keywords:
Recolonization, Confiscation, Totalitarianism, Neo-colonialism, Nationalism.Abstract
This study discusses the literary illustrations of the Nigerian nationalist government as being a tyrannical regime in Ben Okri’s the Freedom Artist (2019). Being a Nigerian and widely known literary writer, Okri fictionalizes tyranny, reflecting real political life in Africa, as a ruler exercising oppressive power, resembling a tyrant in real life. This study focuses on showing the parallels between the tyrannical strategies manipulated by the Nigerian nationalist government in postcolonial Nigeria to establish a cohesive nation and the methods employed by white colonial powers during the colonization of African territories – with a special focus on Nigeria. Despite their different historical contexts, both colonial and postcolonial regimes demonstrate similar oppressive tactics in terms of governance and control. Therefore, it explores the way The Freedom Artist demonstrates the Nigerian nationalist government and its doctrines as outcomes and modified iterations of neo-colonialism, carrying forward the legacies of colonial rule. This perspective posits that postcolonial Nigeria and its quest for independence are heavily affected by colonialism, showing that postcolonial Nigeria is a constructed formula deeply fed by colonial paradigms following the period of so-called decolonization in non-western spaces and especially “the third world”. Given the Nigerian context in Okri’s The Freedom Artist, this type of postcoloniality is mirrored in the framework of recolonization, referencing that recolonization is a novel phenomenon, desired by the members of the nation, in postcolonial Nigeria.
References
Achebe, C. (1983) The Trouble with Nigeria. London: Fourth Dimension Publishers.
Ahmed, H. (2022) Internal Orients Literary Representations of Colonial Modernity and the Kurdish 'Other' in Turkey, Iran, and Iraq. New York: Peter Lang Publishing Inc. New York.
Arendt, H. (1973). The Origin of Totalitarianism. London: Andre Deutsch.
Ayittey, G. (2006) Indigenous African Institutions. Ardsley, NY: Transnational Publishers.
Ayittey, G.B.N. (1992) Africa Betrayed. New York: St. Martin's Press.
Barrington, L.W. (2006) After independence: Making and protecting the nation in postcolonial and Postcommunist States. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.
Bhabha, H. (1990) Nation and Narration. London; New York: Routledge.
Bolarinwa, O. F. O., & Osuji, U. (2022, January 1). Political Elitism in Nigeria: Challenges, Threats and the Future of Citizenshi Open Journal of Philosophy; Scientific Research Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojp 2022.121007
Brodeur, K. (2011). George Orwell's 1984. 1st ed. Piscataway, New Jersey: Research & Education Association.
Canovan, M. (1992). Hanna Arendt. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Chatterjee (1993) The Nation and its Fragments: Colonial and Postcolonial Histories. Princeton- New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
Ebeh, J.I. (2015) “National Security and national development: A Critique,” AFRREV IJAH: An International Journal of Arts and Humanities, 4(2), p 1–14. Available at: https://doi.org/10.4314/ijah.v4i2.1
Friedrich, C., Brzezinski, Z. (1965). Totalitarian Dictatorship and Autocracy. New York: Praeger.
Gellner, E. (1983) Nations and Nationalism. NY: Cornell University Pres.
Graf, W. D. (1983). Nigerian Elite Consolidation and African Elite Theories: Toward an Explanation of African Liberal Democracy. Verfassung und Recht in übersee/Law and Politics in Africa, Asia and Latin America, 16, 119-138.
Hall, J.A. (2010) Ernest Gellner: An intellectual biography. London: Verso.
Harlow, B. (1987) Resistance Literature. New York: Methuen Publisher.
Kehinde, A. (2010) ‘Rulers Against Writers, Writers Against Rules: The Failed Promise of the Public Sphere in Postcolonial Nigerian Fiction’, Journal of English Studies, 8, p 73–102. doi:10.18172/jes.149.
Masad, I. (2020) 'the freedom artist' is a perfect read for a post-truth era, NPR. NPR. Available at: https://www.npr.org/2020/02/08/803778668/the-freedom-artist-is-a-perfect-read-for-a-post-truth-era (Accessed: April 23, 2023).
Mellor, R.E.H. (1989) Nation, state, and territory: A political geography. London: Routledge.
Mondal, A.A. (2011) Nationalism and post-colonial identity: Culture and ideology in India and Egypt. London: Routledge.
Okri, B. (2019) The Freedom Artist. London: Head of Zeus Ltd.
Roskin, M.G. and Berry, N.O. (1997) The New World of International Relations. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Swift.S (2009). Hanna Arendt. London: Routledge.
Wa Thiong'o, N. (1993). Moving the Centre: The Struggle for Cultural Freedom. London: Heinemann.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of University of Raparin
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
