The Writer’s Art as a Reflection of Society: Exploring the Literariness in Wale Okediran’s Novels

Abstract

This paper addresses one of the controversial issues in the literary domain: literariness. The literary artist is conscious of his social responsibility to society as the image-maker and the voice of the voiceless. His art should not be subjected to ridicule. Literariness has been given a colouration by text-oriented critics to mean a form of defamiliarization of text and meaning. This dimension sees the text with specific features which must be inherent to authenticate its literariness. However, the conventionalist approach of the text with emphasis on meaning and the readers-response, attempts to shape a more robust discussion on the subject of literariness. The method adopted in this study is a textual-analytical approach of Wale Okediran’s Tenants of the House, Strange Encounters, Boys at the Border and The Weaving Looms. The novels are comparatively discussed to demonstrate the literariness in them while attesting to the creative ingenuity of the author. The conclusion reached is that literariness in a literary work is subject to the fecundity of the text, the consciousness of the critic; his ideological stance and mental deportments, and contextual factors enveloped around the text.