Migration and the challenges of identity: a new historicist reading of Dul Johnson’s Deeper Into The Night

Abstract

This study discusses Dul Johnson’s Deeper into the Night, looking at issues of migration and identity within the Nigerian sphere. A lot of people tend to associate the term migration and identity to go hand in hand. It is not out of place to think that way. This is because when people migrate to a different place, they carry their identity along with them. Hence, by the time they settle in a new environment, they are faced with the issue of assimilation and as a matter of fact, their cultural identity tends to shift. Through the novel, the issues of migration and the challenges of identity is presented through the male character Alhaji Nisa Maiguguwa who migrated from Karara emirate with his entire family in search of a better life. The author presents conflicting issues such as ethnicity, religion and tradition which also introduces the problems of identity in the text under study. This research focuses on the reasons for migration and the problems faced by characters as it concerns identity. New Historicism is used in analyzing the text.