Duality in two west african literary genres: achebe’s a man of the people and soyinka’s the lion and the jewel

Abstract

Literature is a dual discipline as it deals with human beings and their environment at monist and dualist levels. Duality in literature in this respect arouses considerable interest here. It is explored in West African writings with a particular focus on Achebe’s A Man of the People and Soyinka’s The Lion and the Jewel. Both authors’ use of duality for each is examined by attempting to measure the two literary works’ main characters and the leading themes. Achebe’s Chief Nanga and his antagonist, Odili, are compared to Soyinka’s Baroka and his rival Lakunle. Sidi the center of the conflict in Soyinka’s play is measured to Achebe’s Edna. Both writers’ works are examined under the plane of the conflict of generations. The two literary works exhibit the themes of tradition versus modernity depicted through their characters. The analysis revealed that a character in one genre may be different from or similar to another’s story character from a similar or different setting.