This is a report on an ongoing writing project. I traveled widely in Nigeria in the 1960s, then did anthropological field work in a Nigerian town in several period in the 1970s and 1980s.
After that, I have not been back in the country, but for an anthropologist, a field experience becomes an enduring part of one’s life. So I have tried to keep up with Nigerian affairs, and I have kept reading Nigerian fiction, from the 1950s into the present.
Now I am attempting to write a set of essays, particularly with my field experience as a point of departure, about the portrayal of Nigerian society by Nigerian, and some non-Nigerian expatriate, authors. The materials are further enriched by the fact that a couple of the authors were born in the town which became my field site, and I have also met with some of the other writers involved.
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The College of Arts