Ben Okri: Voice of the Blacks

Name of Author : Dr. Pallavi Bhardwaj

Abstract: African continent has witnessed an unparalleled augmentation of African intellect in the fictional works of Ngugi wa Thiongo, Wole Soyinka, Kofi Awoonor, Chinua Achebe, Cyprian Ekwensi, Gabriel Okara, Flora Nwapa, Buchi Amecheta, Bessie Head, Mariamma Ba, Ayi Kwei Armah, Ben Okri and many more, who have been voicing the protest of populace in opposition to the forces of colonialism on one hand, and vindicating the African legacy and ethnicity on the other. In fact, African literature is a literature of protest, against mortification, contravention of traditions, customs, cultural patterns and rhythms of life in an endeavor to show a way out from the current quagmire. Almost as a rule, the African literature is a literature of protest … agony and deferred hope, of self-introspection and self assertion (Iyengar, Contemporary African Literature, Indian Literature 279). The intrinsic attribute of the existing African literature in current times has been a surge of radical literature - the protest literature. African writers have played an exceptional task in boosting up the insurgent spirit of the people. The writers envision a symbolic overhaul (Boehmer 3) of the system, sharing a faith in future, a better future that can be ushered in through struggle and reform by trying to connect the works of the imagination with the struggles … for social change and social justice (Ngugi wa Thiongo, From the Corridors of Silence, Weekend Guardian 4).

Keywords : African continent, Nigerian novelist, socio-political

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