By
Vivian
Chukwu
Department
of English and Literary Studies
Federal
University Lokoja
And
Adaji
Haruna
Department
of English and Literary Studies
Federal
University Lokoja
Abstract
This study examines the
variations in the representation of Ala, the earth goddess, in Akwaeke Emezi’s Freshwater, with
particular attention to the ways the novel reimagines an established Igbo
religious belief within a contemporary literary context. Ala occupies a
significant position in Igbo cosmology as the earth goddess associated with
fertility, morality, justice, creativity, and the regulation of communal
values. The study observes that literature serves as an important medium for
preserving, transmitting, and reinterpreting indigenous beliefs and cultural
practices. Drawing on postcolonial cultural theory, the study interrogates
Emezi’s representation of Ala and examines the extent to which it corresponds
with and departs from traditional Igbo conceptions of the deity. The analysis
reveals that Emezi retains important elements of the traditional belief, particularly
Ala’s association with the earth, motherhood, the sacred python, and spiritual
authority. However, the novel also introduces significant variations by
personalizing Ala’s presence through the Ada and shifting her representation
from a predominantly communal deity to a more intimate and individualized
maternal figure. The study argues that this variation enables Emezi to
foreground the individual experience of indigenous spirituality while
simultaneously challenging the erasure of Igbo cosmological beliefs through
colonial and Christian influences. The study concludes that Freshwater does not merely
reproduce the traditional conception of Ala but creatively reconfigures it to
address contemporary questions of identity, spirituality, cultural memory, and
indigenous consciousness. Emezi’s representation therefore demonstrates how
contemporary African literature can preserve cultural beliefs while adapting
them to new literary and social contexts.
Keywords: Igbo cosmology, Ala, earth
goddess, Freshwater,
Akwaeke Emezi, representation, variation, postcolonial cultural theory
DOI: www.doi.org/10.57233/tjllc.2026.v05i03.008
author/Vivian Chukwu & Adaji Haruna
journal/Tasambo JLLC 5(3) | February 2026 |
