Telling the Nation: A Postmodernist Reading of Tanure Ojaide’s God’s Medicine-Men and Other Stories

Henri Oripeloye

doi:10.4236/als.2014.24016

Abstract

Postmodernist reasoning signifies a move from traditional viewpoint to an accelerated technological terrain, the implication of this diversion is noticeable in the eclectic nature of life in contemporary society; all things become a continual flickering without any recognizable or perpetual presence. As a literary concept, postmodernism fashions the problematic landscape for the appreciation of the disordered nature of the world as it focuses on the dismantling of traditional values and affirmation of a fragmented society. Postmodernism, with its subtle emphasis on capitalism, has greatly exacerbated the post-colonial tendencies in Tanure Ojaide’s God’s Medicine-Men and Other Stories as money becomes a recurrent motif and a chief signifier. The stories underpin the overarching effect of cultural materialism, individuals and the society as everyone is caught in its web; these stories could also be read as the author’s depiction of a society that is going through a cultural flux.

Highlights

Writings in modern societies are influenced by the events that shape the consciousness of the people and the historical antecedents that have contributed to these changes
It is against the foregoing background that this paper examines the negative aspects of postmodernism in the Nigerian nation as exemplified in Tanure Ojaide’s God’s Medicine-Men and Other Stories (Ojaide, 2004)
Tanure Ojaide demonstrates that traditional African societies and cultures no longer exist in this age and in keeping with his postmodernist temper, the modes of utterance, terminologies and concepts in God’s Medicine-Men and Other Stories are predominantly cosmopolitan and most of the characters engage in modern professions and economic pursuits

Summary

Introduction

Writings in modern societies are influenced by the events that shape the consciousness of the people and the historical antecedents that have contributed to these changes. Postmodernism, Cultural Values, Nation, Short Stories, Tanure Ojaide Telling the Nation: A Postmodernist Reading of Tanure Ojaide’s God’s Medicine-Men and Other Stories.

Results

Conclusion