Title: Creative Construct Of African Woes In The Post-Independent Era
Authors: Victor Olu-Agbeniga
Volume: 10
Issue: 4
Pages: 211-216
Publication Date: 2026/04/28
Abstract:
Like other semiotic regimes such as sculpture, painting, photography, film and others, literature is crafted to reflect social realities of man within their universe at varying magnitudes. As a protean universe of imagination, arts, through reflections, painstakingly document socio-political crises that have perennially ravaged Africa since independence. All of which have left indelible scars of political misgivings as well as deep and fatal stroke on the continent. These are manifestible in evils of colonialism, post-colonialism, religion, crime and corruption, uprising, banditry, extremism, underdevelopment, illiteracy, poverty, famine and inflation, epidemics and many others that overtly hallmark the post-independent Africa. From the Post-colonialist perspective, the paper posits that the thematic trope of socio-political satire in the African creative writings is a consequence of political subterfuge, monumental corruption and paradoxical image of the continent among the global communities. From the Post-colonial ideological lense, the essay examines how African writers depict political atmosphere of the continent and its social temperature since independence. As a conflatory attempt, the essay essentially substantiates the above claims by examining creative proofs through varied modes which arts engage to depict the contours of human experience within a blighted world of power and political malfeasance.