Image Of The Military In Selected Nigerian Novels

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the image of the military in Nigerian literature using selected novels of some notable Nigerian writers. It appraises the military in Politics, war and nation-building which are prominent areas where their activities have impacted significantly on the country's development. Though studies on them have been done in political science and sociology. none have addressed their exploration in literature to explicate their depth of character that the Nigerian novel projects. The perception of the military and their roles in the society are often influenced by their historical antecedents. Therefore, New Historicism, a critical theory that highlights the background of the subjects of literary works is applied in this study, New Historicism explores the correspondences between history, art and society, and though them probes the influence of the past on present knowledge and the aesthetic qualities of artworks. It is also concerned with the issue of power as a tool of control. It is relevant to this study because the military thrive on authority, force, violence and brutality to achieve their objectives in the society. This theory is hence applied in the investigation of the power relations between the military and the civil society and intra-military relations, especially between the officer corps and the rank and file Consequently, to achieve the objectives of this study, an overview of the military, major theories on them, and the relationship between the novel, history and society are highlighted in the review of relevant literature. The selected texts are then analyzed to assess how the military have manifested the characteristics associated with them in the theories reviewed, how they have used power as a weapon of control, and how they are perceived in the societies the novels reflect.