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Season of anomy — postmodernism and development discourse

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Abstract

African novels are sometimes regarded in the academic discourse as characteristically postmodern pieces of literature because of the combination of western art and non-western sources of inspiration. Third-World literature, however, tends to be deeply interested in the economic, social and ideological reality of postcolonial situation. This paper examines the interaction of postmodernist thrust with the subtext of development discourse on the example of Wole Soyinka’s Season of Anomy. The narrative design of Season of Anomy exemplifies a characteristic disjoint: the creative universe of a postcolonial text implicitly suggests a hope of possibilities for the black world, while the explicit narrative formulates the difficulties of accomplishing these possibilities. In contrast with the events displaying the frustrations of the postmodern discourse in the postcolonial world the titles of the sub-divisions appear to affirm the possibilities in figural terms.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of English, Olabisi Onabanjo University, P. M. B. 2002, Ago Iwoye, Ogun State, Nigeria

    Wale Oyedele

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  1. Wale Oyedele
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Oyedele, W. Season of anomy — postmodernism and development discourse. Neohelicon 31, 278–288 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11059-004-0548-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11059-004-0548-4

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