Power and resistance

Power and Resistance: Literature, Regime and the National Imaginary is a theoretical and analytical exploration of contemporary Nigerian writing that captures the years of army rule in Nigeria. It is a timely intervention in Nigeria's critical tradition, emphasising the political force, artistic strategies, and thematic compass of a literature that ardently confronted institutional powers in the 1980s and 1990s. Reading texts across genres, with a keen eye on their historicity, the book makes the crucial point that there can be no account of Nigeria's democratic process without highlighting the contribution of writers. The book is therefore a testament to the high point of Nigeria's literary instrumentalism as literature rises to the duty of nationalist struggles. It is, in the words of the author, "also a tribute (overdue in this form) to Nigerian writers for daring to use their pens" in the face of military despotism. --