Critical Reflection on Values in Nigerian Literature: Pathways for Igbo Society.

This study engages in a critical analysis of the Igbo values and how it is represented in Nigerian literature. The study makes references but not exclusively to Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart (1958) and Arrow of God (1964) and No Longer at Ease (1960) by interrogating social reality and how representations of value systems in the selected novels contribute to the understanding of Igbo socio-cultural life. Using textual analysis as a methodological choice, the study critiques the representations as well as [mis]representations of value systems in the novels. The study also draws lessons from reader response theory to examine perceptions and receptions of aspects of Igbo culture like gender and how it is portrayed in the novels. The study ascertains that the views represented in the novels were influenced by several factors such as patriarchy, socialization, consciousness, religion, and education. The study recommends that future authors of African origin should consider emerging African issues that tell the story of African story, and how the stories affect them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]