Onitsha market literature and negotiations of modernity in Nigeria

Abstract

Nigeria, during its period of decolonization in the 1950s and 1960s, was marked by extensive cultural, economic, and political change. The primary objective of this research is to understand the ways in which modernity was negotiated during decolonization in Nigeria. Onitsha market literature, a locally produced and consumed product, provides a window through which to view Nigeria before, during, and after these changes. These pamphlets reveal the agency of average Nigerians in creating and reproducing new social relationships and cultural meanings in the post-colonial era. I approach these themes from a geographical perspective, exploring the relationship and co-constitutive link of place and self. The Onitsha authors empower their readers by providing a variety of modernist ideological tools: individualism, capitalist enthusiasm, and the English language. In particular, the pamphlets show how messages were internalized, transmitted, and reproduced on a local scale, and express and reflect the creation of a new place.