ABSTRACT

Literary creativity usually conforms to the tradition of the era in which it is created. That is why creative styles have changed from the classical, to the Medieval, through to the Elizabethan Age, the Restoration Age, the Augustan Age, and the Victorian Age when Realist literature thrived and so on. The question however is that with the passage of every successive age does it mean such literary tradition is gone forever? This is what motivated the researcher into research using Half of a Yellow Sun and Sunset in Biafra for the investigation of Realism. Realism as we know is a 19th century theory. The question therefore was, could this theory still be applicable to these modern literary works of art?  Despite the fact that Half of a Yellow and Sunset in Biafra are 21st and 20th century novels respectively, both novels show glaringly features of realism through themes, settings, characterisations, use of language and other literary devices, despite the time difference. This shows that, despite the fact that realism is no longer trending, writers need not ceased to present literary works in realist mode, as these two authors have done. This injunction is applicable not only to novels but to all literary genres.

1.1 Background to the Study

          English literature as we know it today has passed through series of historical epochs which have in turn conditioned and defined the nature of literature that is produced at any given point in time. “A good novelist observes his society, incidents and situations around him very closely and based on his observation, he creates his own story... creative writing is a form of self expression. The writer can get his germinal idea from an incident and develops (sic) it into a story” (NOUN, 59). It is based on this that it is possible to use the general characteristic of the incidents captured in the creative works of a given era to define the period in question.

           During the medieval period when English history and literature commenced, the literature was essentially oral. This type of literature according to NOUN “...is spoken imaginative communication that is not written but transmitted through the word of mouth for entertainment and sometimes edification of the audience... preserved and transmitted from one generation to the other in that form” (17). This was one feature of medieval English literature. But aside from being oral, the literature was dominated by the church to the extent that all creativity was tailored at promoting Christianity. Preoccupations other than this were frowned upon as vanity. According to Shmoop (paragraph, 3), medieval English literature refers to works that were produced in England from about the fall of the Roman Empire to the invention of the printing press in the 15th century. So we are talking of the end of the classical period, when people flitted around in togas, to the renaissance, when women flitted around in cumbersome Elizabethan attire and manly men wore tights (Shmpoo, paragraph, 3).

          From the medieval era and its oral literature there was largely religiously inclined, English literature moved into the renaissance era simply defined as rebirth of classical culture. This was when writers of the era were researching into ancient Greek and Roman culture and bringing them back to life through their works. Works of scholars like Plato and Aristotle were unearthed from classical traditions and given prominence. That is why writers of the Renaissance Era like Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe and John Denne came to prominence for tailoring their works to classical traditions. Put roughly from the 14th to 17th centuries, the literature characterising this era also known as Elizabethan era is referred to as renaissance literature whose main feature is the reintroduction of the literary principles of the classical era.

         The upheavals that characterised the renaissance particularly the civil wars that finally culminated in the restoration of the King Charles II on May 8, 1660 as King of England, Scotland and Ireland led to yet another literary era known as the Romantic Era. Romanticism is described as literature taking place roughly between 1770 and 1848. It was the revolt of the senses or passions against the intellect and the individual against the consensus. It began as a revolt against established views, but eventually became the established outlook (Merriam Webster, paragraph 1). Among the features of romanticism were interest in the common man and childhood, strong senses of emotions and feelings, awe of nature, celebration of the individual and importance of imagination (Merriam Webster, para.2). These were all reflected in the literary creativity of the period.

         Coming at the heels of the Romantic Age was the Victorian Age during which realism as a form of literary expression was born. The movement roughly comprises the years from 1830 to 1900 the name given to the period is from the royal matriarch of England, Queen Victoria, who sat on the throne from 1837 to 1901. One has difficulty determining with any accuracy where the Romantic Movement of the earlier 19th century left off and the Victorian Period began because these traditions have so many aspects in common. Likewise, identifying the point where Victorianism gave way completely to modernism is no easy task. The Victorian writers exhibited some well established habits from the previous era, while at the same time pushing arts and letters in new and interesting directions. It is these new and interesting dimensions of the realist tradition that this study investigates using the selected texts.

1.2. Statement of the Problem

           As indicated in the above background, literary creativity usually conforms to the tradition of the era in which it is created. Haven traced the development of these literary traditions up to the Victorian Age when realist creativity held sway does not imply that other literary traditions did not evolve thereafter. For instance, the Modernist Era came right on the heels of realism and thereafter other eras such as post modernism, cultural studies and so followed.

          The question this research seeks to answer however is whether or not literature has ceased to be presented in the realist mode with the passage of the Victorian Age. If it is discovered that literary creativity has not ceased to be cast in the realist mode despite the fact that realism is no longer trending, the research work shall attempt to find out the circumstances that have made it possible for the sustenance of the realist tenets in the selected novels long after the departure of the Victorian Age.

1.3 Aims and Objectives

        The aim of this research is to investigate the selected novels based on the realist style of writing. To bring out realist aesthetics in the selected novels and to find out, to what extent realist writing is manifested in the novels. Also, to see whether, these novels imbibed the practice of the earlier eras.

          The first objective of doing the above is to show that indeed literature is not created in a vacuum but on the contrary, it is the product of a people living in space and time with experience similar to normal human experiences.

         Secondly, the researcher, by investigating the selected works for tenets of the Victorian Age exemplified in all realist literature, hopes to show that literature is alive. And since it is alive, the principle used for its evaluation also cannot be dead and forgotten. The research shall show that even today or in contemporary society, situations may exist that would warrant the adoption of earlier forms of critical standards.

           Finally, by studying the realist dispositions of the selected novels, the research work shall endeavour to review the benefits of literature written in the realist mode. By so doing, the researcher believes that the message of the selected novels shall be more easily discernable by readers of the novels.

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