In a drive to deconstruct Jameson's notion of the Third World, Aijaz Ahmad questions the idea of containing the experience of the Third World in a single narrative (In Theory 1992: 105). It is along this line of thought that my attempt to read Soyinka's Postcoloniality in The Interpreters should be viewed. The narrative, indeed, tries to provide the reader with a kaleidoscopic picture of a postcolonial Nigeria. Set 5 years (1965) after the departure of the Colonial Authority, the narrative challenges essentialist and orthodox readings made of the Postcolonial political, religious and social situation of the country. But of all the challenges that the narrative posits, the most captivating one is the Distance it wants to take as a narrative construct from the Canonized narrative tradition (The Nationalist Tradition by Elleke Boehmer 1995). The "brisures" and dentings the narrative incurs on the said Tradition, vary from purely narrative to linguistic ones in its struggle to "decolonize" the English language and deconstruct the narration practicum. Some of these brisures will be the target and the focus of the present paper.
Last modified: 7 May 2001