Arts , Humanities & Social Science

Abstract

Knowledge production experiences some noticeable widening and tends to become interdisciplinary in its scope. With globalization and transnationalism, postcolonial African literary corpus presents a growing interest from migrant writers in events happening in their place of origin. In their fictional craftsmanship, these writers attempt to deepen their commitment to issues related to development in what is known as ‘postcoloniality.’ Drawing on postcolonialism theory, this paper explores texts from two third-generation Nigerian writers namely Adichie and Noo Saro-Wiwa by revealing their contribution to a better understanding of African developmental challenges in their narratives. The essay continues the conversation over the need to locate development fiction within the development aesthetic paradigm. The two writers under scrutiny, the paper contends, strive to contextualize impediments to advancement in Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa. Adichie’s short stories: “Cell One” and “The American Embassy” direct the reader to development-related issues in terms of bad governance, safety, and security challenges while Saro-Wiwa’s travelogue points to city mismanagement and city transportation mayhem. The essay concludes that their fictional rendition of development-related issues appears as an attempt to bridge the gap between literature and development studies and thus, appraising ‘interdisciplinarity’ over traditional disciplinary compartmentalization in academia.