This is a book that uses the political theory of “dialogue” (Fred Dallmayr, Hans Köchler and Ronal Niezen) as a lens to examine interpretations of postcolonial theory. Focused on West African literature, this inquiry links literature and history with the critical discourses of globalization to bring forth the novel concept of “postcolonial soliloquies”. The repeated traversal on the terrain of colonial history and the postcolonial present leaves us with an overarching question: what are our identities as political beings? Despite diverse ways of defining identities, what we find common is the fixation on “difference” or “otherness”. Whether it is the otherness of race during periods of colonialism continuing into present times, or the segregation imposed by apartheid, or “untouchability” in India, a preoccupation with difference has defined our identities in significant ways. Postcolonial theory encompasses a plethora of social, cultural, historical and political concerns, and addresses them with approaches that are specific to each issue. “The danger of a single story” (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie) has transformed into the danger of multiple cacophonies. It has become more of a “contest between two intellectual currents attempting to define a global identity, one sometimes referred to as cultural universalism and the other cultural particularism” (Ronald Niezen). Voices, stories and intellectual discourses stand today as “soliloquies” of the postcolonial (or rather neo-colonial) world. The idea of “postcolonial soliloquies” in this book addresses these present undercurrents of thought.

If we learn postcolonialism by example, then literature plays an important role in the history of colonialism and postcolonialism in West Africa. This book focuses its inquiry on “postcolonial soliloquies” with readings from the Nigerian novelist Thomas Obinkaram Echewa. He addresses the juncture at the end of colonial history and the beginning of postcolonial history, contrasting both with prior approaches by West African writers. He looks at the configurations of blackness and whiteness, notions of hierarchy, intergenerational conflict and religious dilemma. The characteristic folktale feature of grandmothers’ stories in West Africa bears the burden of the discourse of women’s history-making through intergenerational storytelling in his novels. The scope of his concern extends beyond postcolonial interpretation of history and literature. It calls for a dialogic approach across civilizations as is addressed by political theorists such as Dallmayr, Köchler and Niezen.

The research methodology employs methods that are interpretive and analytical in nature. This book contributes to an on-going dialogue in the fields of critical theory and African literature. The methodology takes a contextual approach that is historical and critical in orientation. It examines the context and the background that produced these literary works, apart from an in-depth literary analysis of West African literature. Interpreting literary texts requires a cross-examination of varied historical and anthropological accounts as part of archival research. Interpretation of the authors’ works, as based on this background, informs the research.

Examining narrative as history, this book investigates the representation of historiography in narratives. Narrative constitutes a sense of ambiguity that is evident in the writing of history too. Hayden White defines narrative as a “mode of discourse, a manner of speaking which can be used to represent ‘real’ events”, as in “historical narrative” and the result of this would be a “kind of discourse with specific linguistic, grammatical, and rhetorical features, that is, ‘narrative historiography’”. The element of imagination in a narrative does not necessarily relate to a false portrayal of the past. An imaginary account of something “real” holds the same significance as an objective literal way of writing because the content of the discourse remains the same. It is only the mode of representation that varies, and that cannot question the authenticity of the subject represented. Echewa’s novels engage with history writing in experimental ways. He reclaims pre-colonial and colonial history by approaching history as a narrative in constructing the plot of his novels and shaping his characters in an intricate manner. This book locates Echewa’s novels in the wide spectrum of themes that address West African literature.

The novels examined here give a detailed understanding of the notion of “postcolonial soliloquies.” The “soliloquy” of the subaltern, the “soliloquy” of the past, and the “soliloquy” of the older generation engage in a dialogic space that entails mutual recognition as well as contestation in Echewa’s novels. He problematizes the notion of “postcolonial soliloquies” by revisiting the colonial past. He uses folktales and proverbs to reconstruct an Igbo worldview that nurtures the philosophy of co-existence. “Postcolonial soliloquies” address the disturbing silence of the “Self” on the dominant civilizing mission that motivated the colonial empires for centuries, leaving a debilitating mark in the postcolonial present. Be it the colonial policy of the dual mandate by Lord Frederick Lugard in Nigeria, or the “divide and rule” policy of British colonial rule in India, the brutal consequences of civil wars in postcolonial Nigeria and partition in independent India bear testimony to the violence of colonial imposition. The attempt to define “postcolonial soliloquies” is not made with the intention of searching for solutions to postcolonial conflicts but to address the politics of the colonial past that have shaped the postcolonial present in ways that inevitably lead to ethnic conflicts and corruption in governance.

Locating the author in the context of West African literature, the chapters in this book understand narrative as history in addressing the crucial juncture between postcolonial theory and the concept of “dialogue” in political theory. The first chapter addresses the concepts of ethnicity and difference, analyzing novels from Africa. Taking the discourse that emanates from the body of literature explored, the second chapter explores the conflict of religion and identity. The third chapter challenges the stereotype of a glorified pre-colonial past in addressing history, memory and intergenerational conflict. The fourth chapter looks at history-making through the lens of a Western anthropologist and at the same time engages with indigenous storytelling by Nne-nne (the grandmother) as a counter-anthropological discourse. Nne-nne’s storytelling finds a more detailed analysis in the fifth chapter, which is about the wars of women against the hierarchy of native patriarchy and colonial rule. The conclusion re-examines Echewa’s engagement with history through literature, and situates the notion of “postcolonial soliloquies” within the debates of a dialogic space proposed by political theorists.

“Postcolonial soliloquies” exist on multiple planes of postcolonial discourse without acknowledging a deep connection between themselves. The connection demands mutual recognition, contestation, dialogue and a shared vision to bring a change to the existing order of celebrating individual postcolonial identity(s). It is when differences are celebrated, recognized, and merged with the canonical markers of discourse that a footing on an equal plane is possible. Echewa’s characters spell out this call for celebration and recognition of differences, thereby remaking history in their own ways.

With an intriguing foreword by the Nigerian anthropologist Dr. Chinyere Ukpokolo (University of Ibadan, Nigeria), this book marks the beginning of a scholarly work that addresses postcolonial conflict and the present discourse on “dialogue”, and in so doing it becomes a space for both contestation and reconciliation.

Anwesha Das is associated with the Creative Writing Program at the Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology, India. Her research interests include African literature, personal accounts of the transatlantic slave trade, and the history of the Berlin Conference. She completed her PhD at the Department of English Literature of the English and Foreign Languages University, India, and is the author of three book chapters and seven journal articles.

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