Abstract:
Contemporary Nigerian fiction continues to engage deeply with themes of gender, migration, and socio-political conflict, yet the structural role of allusion remains underexplored. This paper aims to critically evaluate the role of historical, biblical and pop culture allusions in Chimamanda Adichie's Dream Count and Chika Unigwe's The Middle Daughter, arguing that allusion is not merely a literary embellishment but a central organizing principle in the texts. The study adopts textual analysis and draws on intertextuality theory to guide its interpretation. The paper examines how both authors draw upon past literary, historical, and cultural sources to create a multifaceted narrative. The findings demonstrate how Adiche's Dream Count uses historical allusions to weave a narrative that links past oppression to present realities, while Unigwe's The Middle Daughter employs biblical allusions to critique religious fanaticism and moral hypocrisy. These intertextual references are shown to shape plot development, character portrayal, and thematic resonance. This paper concludes that recognizing allusion as a central literary motif enhances the dialogic relationship between texts and deepens our understanding of narrative structure in contemporary Nigerian fiction.
Keywords: Allusion, Intertextuality, Chimamanda Adichie, Chika Unigwe, Narrative Structure
DOI: www.doi.org/10.36349/tjllc.2025.v04i02.018
author/Owoyele, G.T. & Oladeji, F.O.
journal/Tasambo JLLC 4(2) | July 2025 |
