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

Henri Oripeloye^*

Department of English, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

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.

Keywords

Postmodernism, Cultural Values, Nation, Short Stories, Tanure Ojaide

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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