Eighteenth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

Literature has been adjudged by scholars across the world as a humanistic tool for diagnosing the realities within the human society for diverse purposes. Thus, the web of binary relationships such as between the government and the governed, the rich and poor, the haves and the have-nots, among other binary identities are often captured, especially within such a claustrophobic society as Nigeria. Issues such as heterogeneity, religion, language and origin have been advanced by scholars as factors inhibiting the true manifestation of a national identity as averagely expected of a nation, thus questioning the existence of the concept Nationalism where such denotes patriotism and loyalty to one’s clearly identified nation of origin. This paper explores the naked realities within the Nigerian political class, the illusion of Nationalism viz a viz the prevalence of nepotism, bigotry and tricks infused into the politically coordinated process of nation-building as explored in Wale Okediran’s Tenants of the House. It employs postmodernism literary theory as a binoculars for exploring the manifestations of fragmentation, disunity, absence of order, pastiche, among others towards the disillusionment of the Nigerian conceptualised nation-building.