Literature and the Reconstruction of History in Festus Iyayi’s Heroes and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun

Student: Oyindamola Anjola Bakare (Project, 2025)
Department of English and International Studies
University of Port-Harcourt, Rivers State

Abstract

The major preoccupation of this study is to examine two war novels, Heroes by Festus Iyayi and Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. For a long time, literature has played a role as a custodian of history, shaping the way readers perceive historical events. The problem identified in this study is that despite the available studies on the Nigerian civil war in literature, there exists a lack of deep exploration of how these literary works challenge established historical interpretations and provide alternative viewpoints that amplify the voices and experiences of ordinary individuals amidst the turmoil of conflict. This research therefore seeks to fill this gap by analysing how Heroes and Half of a Yellow Sun reconstruct historical events, especially in the case of the Nigerian civil war. The postcolonial theory is adopted in this study to fully examine history as it is represented in the novels. The findings of the study revealed that through their respective works, Iyayi and Adichie challenge the traditional historical accounts, offering different perspectives that highlight the human experiences and tragedies often overshadowed by grand historical narratives.

Keywords
literature reconstruction history festus iyayi heroes chimamanda ngozi adichie yellow
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