DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITEATURE

This essay explores the Absurdist themes and dramatic techniques employed by Egyptian playwright Tewfiq Al-Hakim in his play Fate of a Cockroach and Nigerian playwright Ola Rotimi in Holding Talks. Both writers depict the fundamental meaninglessness and absurdity of human existence through nonsensical dialogue, exaggerated unrealistic situations, and an overall sense that life has no purpose or overarching logical explanation. The protagonists in these plays grapple with the existential anguish of being thrown into an irrational universe without any rationale for their suffering. The study adopts a qualitative research method while employing the Absurdist theory. The findings reveal that Al-Hakim and Rotimi, through the use of language, characterization, and description of bizarre actions, successfully capture the philosophy of Absurdism and humanity's futile search for meaning. The study concludes that these two plays exemplify the core tenets of the Absurdist drama movement in their depictions of life as inherently meaningless and paradoxical.

This research, titled The Therapeutic Essence of David’s Book of Psalms and Lisa Mark’s “Just Wait for the Sun” as Poetry, explores the intersection of poetry, psychology, and healing. It examines how poetic expression, particularly within sacred and inspirational contexts, serves as a tool for emotional restoration, self-reflection, and inner peace. Drawing insights from Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory and the famous principles of bibliotherapy, the study affirms how poetry functions as a means of catharsis - helping individuals confront repressed emotions and transform pain into spiritual or emotional growth. The analysis of the Psalms reveals that King David’s poetic laments and praises express a deep range of human emotions - sorrow, fear, guilt, gratitude, and hope - mirroring the psychological journey from distress to recovery. Similarly, Lisa Mark’s poem “Just Wait for the Sun” reflects the therapeutic power of patience, light and resilience in times of despair. The study also extends to the role of music as spoken poetry, highlighting the case of King Saul and David, where lyrical expression and melody act as healing forces for mental unrest. Ultimately, this work underscores that poetry - whether in scriptural or modern form - is not merely an art form but a form of therapy, fostering emotional wholeness and spiritual renewal in a world marked by loneliness, anxiety, and mental strain.

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This research explores the representation of poverty in Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations and Buchi Emecheta’s The Joys of Motherhood, employing Marxist literary criticism as the central framework. Although the novels are set in vastly different cultural and historical contexts Victorian England and colonial/postcolonial Nigeria both works expose the struggles of the underprivileged and critique the social and economic systems that sustain inequality. Through a Marxist lens, the analysis demonstrates that poverty is not an individual failing but a structural outcome of class divisions, material scarcity, and systemic exploitation. Furthermore, the study argues that Dickens and Emecheta, despite their cultural differences, converge in their depiction of the poor as victims of social injustice, while at the same time portraying their endurance in the face of hardship.

This study critically examines the challenges faced by African women in Abayomi Adebayo's Stay With Me and Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo's The Last of the Strong Ones. The research explores themes of patriarchy, infertility, polygamy, political exclusion, economic disenfranchisement, and the psychological trauma experienced by women within traditional and colonial African societies. Through the protagonist Yejide in Stay With Me, the study highlights the societal pressure placed on women to conform to gender expectations, particularly in marriage and motherhood, and the devastating consequences of infertility. Similarly, The Last of the Strong Ones presents a broader communal struggle, showcasing the collective.

This study examines the Politeness strategies and Facework mechanism employed by individuals on the Red Carpet. The objective is to identify the negative and positive politeness strategies in the Red Carpet interview and to describe how these strategies are used for image and impression management in this context. The study adopts a qualitative research approach involving data collected from the textual analysis of selected Red Carpet interview clips retrieved from YouTube and Instagram.

This study examines racial discrimination as reflected in Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give and Nic Stone’s Dear Martin, two contemporary African American novels that interrogate the lived realities of systemic racism, social inequality, and the struggles of Black youth in America. The research explores how both writers employ fiction as a mirror of society, using young protagonists—Starr Carter and Justyce McAllister—to expose the recurring injustices of police brutality, racial profiling, and the silencing of Black voices. Through the framework of Critical Race Theory, the study investigates how race and power intersect to shape individual and collective experience, while also analysing the use of narrative techniques such as repetition, epistolary form, and point of view in constructing emotional and moral depth. The methodology is qualitative and interpretive, relying on close textual reading and comparative analysis to reveal how both novels humanise the statistics of racial violence by giving them personal and affective dimensions. Ultimately, this study argues that The Hate U Give and Dear Martin do not merely recount the pain of Black existence; they reclaim agency through language, resistance, and truth-telling, positioning young Black voices at the centre of America’s ongoing discourse on justice and equality

This study examines the exercise and consequences of religious power in Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God, with particular focus on the character of Ezeulu, the chief priest of Ulu. It explores how Achebe uses Ezeulu’s leadership crisis to critique the dangers of absolute spiritual authority and its effects on communal stability within a traditional Igbo society undergoing colonial disruption. The research employs qualitative textual analysis, guided by Postcolonial Theory and Michel Foucault’s Power Theory, to interrogate how religious leadership intersects with issues of pride, resistance, and social change. Findings reveal that Achebe presents Ezeulu as a tragic figure whose rigid adherence to divine instruction and unwillingness to adapt to colonial and communal pressures ultimately lead to his downfall and the disintegration of traditional religious order. The study also demonstrates that colonial interference and the rise of Christianity exacerbate the collapse of indigenous authority, signalling the broader cultural shifts from traditionalism to modernity. By highlighting the intersection between religion, power, and politics, the research concludes that Achebe’s Arrow of God is a profound commentary on leadership, spiritual absolutism, and the fragility of traditional institutions when confronted by internal rigidity and external domination.

This study examines the exercise and consequences of religious power in Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God, with particular focus on the character of Ezeulu, the chief priest of Ulu. It explores how Achebe uses Ezeulu’s leadership crisis to critique the dangers of absolute spiritual authority and its effects on communal stability within a traditional Igbo society undergoing colonial disruption. The research employs qualitative textual analysis, guided by Postcolonial Theory and Michel Foucault’s Power Theory, to interrogate how religious leadership intersects with issues of pride, resistance, and social change. Findings reveal that Achebe presents Ezeulu as a tragic figure whose rigid adherence to divine instruction and unwillingness to adapt to colonial and communal pressures ultimately lead to his downfall and the disintegration of traditional religious order. The study also demonstrates that colonial interference and the rise of Christianity exacerbate the collapse of indigenous authority, signalling the broader cultural shifts from traditionalism to modernity. By highlighting the intersection between religion, power, and politics, the research concludes that Achebe’s Arrow of God is a profound commentary on leadership, spiritual absolutism, and the fragility of traditional institutions when confronted by internal rigidity and external domination.

This study examines how societal maladies are depicted and understood in Nigerian society. It does so by comparing two well-known Nigerian literary works: Frank Ogbeche's Harvest of Corruption and Femi Osofisan's Midnight Hotel. Instead of focusing on specific details, the study takes a thematic approach to explore the various aspects of these societal issues as presented in the two narratives. By closely analyzing the characters, plot developments, and socio-political contexts, the project aims to reveal the authors' criticisms and observations of the current realities in Nigeria. Additionally, by comparing the treatment of these themes in the two works, the study provides insights into the unique perspectives and storytelling techniques employed by the authors. Ultimately, this project enhances our understanding of the complex dynamics surrounding political corruption, sexual immorality, and religious bigotry in contemporary Nigerian literature. It also emphasizes the role of literature as a reflection of societal norms, challenges, and aspirations.