African fiction and its social context. A critical analysis of social realism in Festus Iyayi's works

Doctoral Thesis / Dissertation from the year 2014 in the subject Didactics - English - Literature, Works, grade: A, University of Nigeria (University of Maiduguri-Nigeria), course: ENG 899: Thesis, language: English, abstract: This thesis examines Iyayi's use of social realism in fiction with the aim to locate his work in the realm of African literature. The concept of social realism and its exponents will be identified and discussed, and its tenets will be applied in the assessment of Iyayi's works. Iyayi's novels and a collection of short stories are analysed with a focus on locating Iyayi's works in the continuum of African literature through an identification of similar authors and their works. Festus Iyayi is comparatively young in the literary circle, compared to names like Achebe, Ngugi, Mwangi, Ousmane and Armah. While some scholars and critics like Amuta (1986) and Ogundipe-Leslie (1994) describe Iyayi's works as accomplished works of social realism, Acholonu (1987), on the other hand, does not categorize his works this way.

Brief Biography of Dr. Abdullahi Haruna (Ph.D) Dr. Abdullahi Haruna was born on 13th January, 1969 in the village of Wuyaku, Hawul Local Government Area of Borno state of Nigeria. He attended Wuyaku Primary School in 1975 and finished in 1981. He proceeded to the Comprehensive Secondary School Waka Biu in 1981 and completed in 1986. He went to the College of Education Gashua for his NCE (Nigeria Certificate in Education) in September, 1987 and completed in June 1990. He taught English in secondary schools between 1991 and 1995 before proceeding for his first degree in English between 1996 and 1999. He enrolled for his Master's Degree in English (African Literature) in 2000 and graduated in 2014. He took up an appointment with the Borno State House of Assembly as a Senior Legislative Officer and Personal Assistant to the Honourable Speaker in 2014. He left the House of Assembly in October 2015 when he was offered the post of an Assistant Lecturer with the Federal University of Technology, Yola (presently, Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola). He obtained his PhD in English (African Literature) in 2014. Presently, Dr. Abdullahi Haruna is a Senior Lecturer of English in the Department of English, School of General Studies, Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola, Nigeria. He has published several poems and papers on African literature. He is married with a good number of children.