The writer and burden of posterity: intertextuality between selected fictive and non-fictive narratives of Chinua Achebe

Abstract

This study, a critical-qualitative analysis, is aimed at x-raying the intersections between Chinua Achebe’s fictive and non-fictive narratives. From his oeuvre, four texts are purposively selected for this study to represent his earlier and later creative vigor. Through the analytical tool of postcolonialism, the findings revealed that Achebe’s writings, both fictive and non-fictive, are direct representations of Nigeria’s history, a courageous, brilliant and a formidable engagement of his country home, Nigeria. His works emphasize the need to ponder on the dysfunctional tendencies in Nigeria as well as chart a new course for development and advancement in line with global best practices. The paper concludes that the points of intersections between his fictive and non-fictive narratives are thus that they are his burden of posterity, fulfilling his role as a nationalist and in demonstration of his yearnings for utopianism in Nigeria.