Abstract

This research is an in-depth study of three novels of contemporary Nigerian novelist, Odafe Atogun whose narrative style has been generously compared with that of Franz Kafka, George Orwell and Amos Tutuola. These three writers have been associated with the folkloric style of prose narrative. This study has also attempted to capture the Atogun works in question as belonging to the Tall Tale category of the folklore storyline. The novelists identified with this group adopt plots, characters and events that are extremely unbelievable within the realm of reality. The Magical Realism literary theory is adopted in doing the textual analysis of the novels chosen for this research. It is a literary critical tool of inquiry that places emphasis on protagonists, plots and events in novels that are bereft of reality. The reason why Atogun is regarded as a novelist who adopts the surrealistic narrative technique therefore becomes very obvious in this study. In conclusion, it is discernable that the novels: Taduno’s Song, Wake Me When I’m Gone and The Cabal by Atogun follow the well acclaimed creative styles of Kafka, Orwell and Tutuola

Keywords

TrilogyFolkloric NarrativesNigerian NovelistMagical RealismTall Tale

Published in: Nsibidi:AE-FUNAI Journal of Humanities ( Volume: 2 , Issue: 1 , October 2023)

Page(s): 157 - 178

Date of Publication: October 2023

ISSN Information: 1596-5428