IDENTITY, INDEPENDENCE AND CURRENT STATE OF LEADERSHIP IN AFRICA: AN INTERTEXTUAL READING OF BABATUNDE’S BOMBAY’S REPUBLIC

Abstract

It is known that African soldiers who were conscripted by the imperialist rulers such as Britain and France contributed to the ending of World War II which was fought by the Axis countries across Europe, Africa and the East. However, very little literature exists on the contribution of these African soldiers and the experiences they gathered. Also, there is not much literature on the causes that eventually led to the reformation of their mindset regarding their identity and position vis-à-vis the colonialists. Babatunde provides in his story, Bombay’s Republic, a serious yet exciting and humorous insight into these untold stories of African soldiers. This paper uses thequalitative method of research and applies Julia Kristeva’s intertextuality to the language andnarrative techniques of the story. Through a literary analysis of the story, it is discovered that the social and political background of the text provides a depth of dialogic interplay. This dialogic interplay of texts informs the interpretations of the narrative in order to reveal possible meanings. And all these possible meanings speak to three pertinent issues: African identity, independence and the current state of leadership on the continent.