THE ROLE OF LITERATURE IN DEVELOPMENT: THE PORTRAIT OF AFRICAN DIASPORIC INVOLVEMENT IN AMMA DARKO’S BEYOND THE HORIZON AND AKACHI ADIMORA-EZEIGBO’S TRAFFICKED

Abstract

Critics of every literary persuasion acknowledge the relationship between literature and the society which brings it into being; with the view that literary art is not merely for its own sake and intent, but also a potential tool for the development of humanity. Diasporic issues are global phenomena which centre on the experiences of people who leave their homelands in search of greener pastures, which amount to crisis and estrangement. The study investigates the issues of disenchantment of the twenty-first century African women characters in the fictional works of Amma Darko‟s Beyond the Horizon and Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo's Trafficked, who interact with diasporic environment, as well as the survival strategies they employed in relation to aggression, segregation and discrimination. As a study of diasporic experiences, this paper adopts postcolonial concept as the theoretical basis for the evaluation of how the female characters in the selected novels contend with the challenges of human mobility from the postcolonial standpoint; investigates how the environment shapes and influences their temperament. The study concludes that the relationship between literature and discourses like diasporic experiences is for self-identity and transformation. Finally, the paper reveals that the causes and effects in relations to diaspora experiences for individuals who leave their country in search of greener pastures remain as outsiders in terms of the sagacity of belonging.