Chapter One

Introduction

1.1 Background to the Study

History is a record of past events which are considered useful, either because such events hold a

significant part of a people’s culture and ideology, or because they represent a serious issue

which is considered relevant to the future. Goh Chor Boon explains that historical data embody

special details which are considered very important. Such data are usually devoid of triviality

because of the depth of facts and knowledge therein. Therefore, historical records do not contain

just any issue of speculation but established facts (Boon, 77). Whatever is documented as a

historical record must prove to be very useful to the future of an existing society.

According to Gary Wehlage, historical records are very useful to society for different reasons.

First, they could be records of key events which shaped the growth and development of a society

or records of the origin of someone or something. Usually, when an event occurs in a society and

leaves a huge impact on the society, whether positive or negative, such an event is documented

for the sake of posterity (Wehlage, 491). It is usually done with the belief that it can serve as a

reference material for those who would be born into the same society in the future. In any case

where the impact of the historical event is dire and grave, its being documented stems from the

belief that it can serve as a warning to the future generations against repeating similar actions.

For instance, a country that has witnessed severe political crisis or war, and has suffered the

consequences, will usually document the crisis from its inception or cause to the effects therein.

When readers in the future generations have access to such historical records, they learn of better
ways to handle an existing issue in order to forestall or avert any repetition of a similar crisis as

was witnessed in the past.

Sharon Kingsland explains that apart from serving as a medium to forewarn and advice future

generations against repeating a bad action, historical records also serve as a medium through

which knowledge about the origin of a people or society is stored and, subsequently, transmitted

on to future generations. People get to know about their origin and social system through

historical records (Kingsland, 67). Thus, records of past events are very useful and indispensable

to the growth and development of a society.

There are different media through which historical records can be stored. Some are stored in oral

narrative forms such as folktales; some others are documented in non-literary forms such as

anthologies and journals (Boon, 78). However, in recent times, literary artists have begun to use

their works as repository for historical data. Literary works now serve as avenue for storing,

recreating, and chronicling human experiences and historical data in a fictional mode. Hsu-Ming

Teo argues that fiction and history have become entangled in recent times. What this means is

that history and fiction are now inseparable because fiction attempts to recreate human history

(Teo, 298). Bryony Stocker corroborates this in saying that historical fiction has emerged to cater

to the need for human history to be reconstructed and documented through creative modes.

Major events which have had tremendous effects on society are now recreated, chronicled and

recorded in works of fiction (Stocker, 68). Thus, fiction, and the novel in particular, now serves

as repository for historical data.

Literary writers now create historical works because of the need to protect important human

experiences from going extinct (Sliwka, 62). If major events or collective experiences are not

documented, such experiences become extinct from the minds of people. The moment members
of the generation that witnessed the events are no longer in existence, the experiences die off

from human memory. This portends danger for the society because certain actions which harmed

a society in the past could be repeated by either the current or future generations (Stocker, 69).

This will throw the society back into the pains of the past and cause regrets. For this reason, it

becomes imperative to store historical data. Nonetheless, many scholars have questioned the

relevance of fiction to history. This argument stems from the erroneous belief that fictional

works are largely imaginative, thus, will either render a distortion of facts or imbue them with

the personal ideologies of the author, rather than recording the events in their pure forms. This is

considered erroneous because many readers prefer reading works of fiction than non-fiction.

Readers are drawn more to works that present facts in a fascinating, aesthetic, and appealing

way. Thus, fiction becomes very salient to history. The literary writer also becomes a historian

(Sliwka, 62) and Literature clearly now has ties with history.

African literary writers, just like those from other parts of the world, use their works to store

historical facts. Some of them have used their creative fiction to keep records of the colonial

experiences and the aftermath of political independence. Others have used their works to keep

records of other major events in Africa. Writers such as Chinua Achebe have documented

colonial and postcolonial events through their fiction. Their works dramatize history and provide

knowledge about what happened in the past. Thus, African literary writers have also become

historians (Eyeh and Eyeh, 3).

In the contemporary literary era, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has devoted her time to

dramatizing history through her work. Her epic novel Half of a Yellow Sun dramatizes the

agonies of Nigerians, especially those in the then eastern region in the Nigerian Civil War which

occurred between 1967-1970. Adichie uses the text to keep records of all the major events that
led to the war, the experiences of the people during and after the war, and the devastation which

the nation suffered. The text is a historical fiction whose aim is both to keep records and to

forewarn future generations about the harmful effects of war. Thus, the novel is like an advisory

note to youths and leaders of the current times. The text was, therefore, chosen because of the

way it dramatizes the history of the Nigerian Civil War. An analysis of the text will help to

uncover the writer’s vision for a peaceful Africa in which everyone co-exists and cooperates

despite their religious and cultural differences. This becomes very necessary because of the

multiethnic, multicultural, and multilingual nature of Nigeria which makes it prone to ethnic and

religious crises.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Too much literary research has been done on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's works from a purely

feminist perspective such that it now seems as if the name Adichie is tied solely to literary

feminism. Literary analysts tend to ignore many other thematic preoccupations of Adichie’s

works of fiction. Her novel Half of a Yellow Sun which dramatizes the Nigerian Civil War is still

analysed by literary critics more from a feminist perspective mainly because some of the most

significant characters are females who are enlivened by their strong will and sense of

responsibility, as opposed to some of the major male characters. This study, therefore, considers

it superfluous to still embark on a feminist appreciation of the text, thereby ignoring its unique

and excellent way of dramatizing the ugly Nigerian history of the Civil War. The study rather

concerns itself with analysing the text as a dramatization of history.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

dramatization of history. This is achieved against the following objectives, which are to:

1. identify the major events in the text as they symbolise the root causes of the Nigerian

Civil War.

2. examine the role of the people in either putting an end to or festering the actions that

prolonged the war as revealed through the characters.

3. analyse the characters and their roles as they symbolise key players in the political crisis

that led to the war.

4. evaluate the effects of war on society as revealed through the text.

5. ascertain the vision which Adichie has for a peaceful society.

1.4 Research Questions

The following research questions are considered necessary for this study to provide answers to:

1. What major events in the text symbolise the root causes of the Nigerian Civil War that

occurred between 1967-1970?

2. What role did the people play in either putting an end to or festering the various actions

that prolonged the Civil War as revealed through the characters in the text?

3. In what ways do the characters in the text symbolise key players in the political crisis that

led to the Nigerian Civil War?

4. To what extent did the Civil War affect the people and society?

5. What is the vision of Chimamanda Adichie for a peaceful society as revealed through the

text?

1.5 Scope of the Study

dramatization of history. The novel serves as the only primary text for this study. The analysis

does not go beyond evaluating and justifying the text as a dramatization of history and there is no

other text used for the analysis except Half of a Yellow Sun. The study considers this relevant

because of the plethora of research on feminism available on the text. Thematic and stylistic

analysis of the text are not paramount to this study, however, there are allusions to some of the

major themes of the text but such themes are not analysed.

1.6 Limitations of the Study

This study originally intended to extend its analysis to cover other historical novels by Nigerians

and Africans at large in order to broaden the scope and understanding of historical fiction, and

the role of Literature as a repository of history. However, the variables of time and finance

limited the intended scope. Thus, the study could not extend to cover the entire areas which it

originally intended to cover. This is why the study was restricted to analysing only Adichie’s

Half of a Yellow Sun as a dramatization of history. This is done to carry out an in-depth analysis

of the text as historical fiction and to be able to surmount the limitations within available time.

1.7 Significance of the Study

This study is significant in two ways. It is significant both in theory and practice. It is significant

in theory because it provides knowledge about the role of Literature in documenting historical

facts and justifies the ability of fiction to serve as repository for historical data. In doing so, the

study attempts to provide a basis for appreciating historical novels and fiction, and justify the

relevance of history to the growth and development of human society. Furthermore, the study is
significant because it deviates from the ubiquitous analysis of Adichie’s novels as feminist

fiction and looks at Adichie’s work from a different perspective other than feminism.

The study is significant in practice because it can trigger interest in historical fiction and African

fiction in particular. The study is also significant because it can provide reference materials for

future researchers who may want to delve into analysing African historical fiction in particular

and historical fiction in general.

1.8 Definition of Terms

In this section, some terms related to the study are defined. This definition of terms is

necessitated by the need to make the meaning of the topic more elaborate and lucid. An

understanding of the terms defined here will aid proper understanding of the study in general.

Such terms as war, fiction, and historical fiction are broadly defined in relation to this study.

1.8.1 War

War is a state of bloody crisis in which human lives and property are destroyed. During times of

war, there is usually organised violence on a very large scale. Using the word “organised” to

describe violence during war is because such violence is carefully thought out and planned

before its execution on the opposing side. War often involves the use of lethal weapons and

ammunition to wreck havoc on the opposing side in order to subdue them and make them

surrender. This explains why there is usually large scale violence during war. To intention to

subdue the opposing side and make them surrender is usually met with resistance. The opposing

side tries its best to ensure it surmounts the pressure to surrender. This act is responsible for the

prolonging of war. For instance, the Nigerian Civil War broke out in an attempt by the federal

government to subdue the authorities of the then eastern region and make them surrender to
being a part of Nigeria. However, the Biafran side kept resisting the forces of the federal

government through armed and organised violence. This was what prolonged the war.

War causes a lot of devastation, thus, all hands are supposed to be on deck to ensure that all

issues and disagreement that can lead to war are resolved before it totally degenerates. This is

why literary writers and artists such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie have waded in, using their

works to document past devastations of war and caution the current generation and future

generation against allowing cases of war to repeat itself

1.8.2 Fiction

The word “fiction” suggests creative writing or imaginative writing. It refers to literary writing

done from the writer's imagination. Some people refer to it as “imaginative writing”. Usually,

fiction is said to deal with issues that are not facts. However, in recent times, writers and analysts

associate the word with “prose” and not just any writing which is not done based on facts. This

reassigning of meaning to fiction stems from the fact that writers now create literary works that

dramatize facts and reality. Fictional works now actually represent facts in a way that shows that

it is being dramatized. However, the characters usually do not refer to any person in real life.

Nonetheless, the creation of historical fiction sees a deviation from this. Some of the characters

in historical fiction actually refer to actual beings. Thus, fiction is now used to refer to

imaginative prose and not just works that do not centre on facts.

1.8.3 Historical Fiction

Historical fiction refers to works of fiction or prose that document historical facts and events. In

historical fiction, the author concerns himself or herself with documenting historical facts in a

fictional mode. This means that the author takes historical facts and recreates them by imbuing
them with elements of fiction and imagination. This means the author combines facts with fiction

or imagination. For this reason, historical fiction is often called “faction”. The word”faction” is a

blend of the words “fact” and “fiction”. Historical fiction dramatizes history and has become a

major interest to literary writers and analysts.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun is a historical fiction because it dramatizes

the history of the devastating Nigerian Civil War. Adichie uses the work to document all the

events and sufferings of the people from a non-biased perspective. Historical fiction usually

should be devoid of bias or sentiments and Adichie perfectly does this.