Literary Studies in the 21st Century: Practical Implication for Ethnic Conflict and Conflict Resolution Using Cyprian Ekwensi’s Iska

Abstract

Ekwensi preoccupied himself with contemporary issues in the Nigerian Society, probably more than any other Nigerian writer. His novel Iska, set in the North, captures vividly the ethnic conflict situation in Nigeria. He guides the reader through his characters to the root causes of ethnic conflict or violence in Nigeria and the likely solutions to the conflicts. This paper examined the causes of ethnic conflict or violence among Nigerian ethnic groups as expressed in the text, Iska, and showed ways in which they could be clarified and possibly resolved. The paper tried to find out whether the text or the novel could be relevant in conflict resolution, whether it could capture the conflict incidents that ordinarily a researcher will go to the field to investigate, and whether the pieces of information in the text could come in handy in conflict resolution. The major objective of this paper was to prove that fiction can be relevant in conflict resolution in Nigeria. New Historicism and Instrumentalism came in handy in the conceptual framework with regard to theories and critical analysis. The method that was used in the process of doing this paper was largely inductive and deductive and references were made to empirical researches that supported the ground for the inductive and deductive methods used.