ABSTRACT
This research work examines the menace of war and terrorism as presented by different writers in likes of Cimamanda Adichie and Helon Habila in half of a yellow sun and Chibok Girls respectively, and their adoption of style which Makesa their presentation different but unique. The research is carried out using the texts chosen for this study as primary data and sources from the library and relevant online sources as secondary data. This work adopts two theories which are post colonialism and new historicism respectively.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the study
The definition of terrorism has proved controversial as various legal systems and government agencies adopt different definitions at different points and at different situations. Moreover, the internal community has been slow to formulate a universally agreed and legally binding definition of the concept. Terrorism can be variously defined according to the orientation and background of the researcher that adopt the same. Some definitions also include acts of unlawful violence and war. The history of terrorism suggests that terrorist organizations do not select terrorism for its political effectiveness. Individual terrorist tend to be motivated more by a desire for social solidarity with other members of their organization than by political platform or strategic objectives which are often undefined (Green, 2005: 23).
The word terrorism is politically and emotionally charged and this greatly compounds the difficulty of providing a precise definition. The concept of terrorism may itself be controversial as it is often used by state authorities to delegitimize political or other opponents and potentially legitimize the state’s own use of the armed forces against opponent.
Terrorism has been practiced by a broad array of political organization for furthering their objectives. It has been practiced by right-wing and left-wing political parties, nationalistic groups, religious groups, revolutionaries and ruling government and ruling government (Frau, 2013:33). However, the use of terrorism depends on the intention of the user and for what purpose. From the forgoing, this research work will look into various definitions of the concept of terrorism. (Hoffman and Graham 2006 p. 231) see “terrorism as the use of political violence against individuals or the functionaries of the state”. Terrorism necessarily contains references to acts of violence and what makes terrorism a negative term is that violence itself is seen as negative.
(Goldstein and Pavehouse 2008 p.301) see “terrorism as political violence that targets civilian deliberately and indiscriminately”. Beyond this basic definition, other criteria can be applied, but the definition becomes politically motivated: one’s person’s freedom fighter is another’s terrorist. In his definition of terrorism, Kofi Annan, 1999 the former Secretary General of the United Nations is of the view that:
For too long the moral authority of the United Nations has been weakened by protracted debate about what terrorism is. Whether states can be guilty of it as well as non-state groups and whether it includes acts of resistance against foreign occupation. It is time to end this argument. Deliberate use of force by states against civilian is already banned by internal law. And the right to resist cannot include the right to deliberately kill or maim civilians. Let us say clearly that any action is terrorism if it intends to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilian or noncombatant with the purpose of intimidating a population or compelling a government or international organization to do something or not to do something (102).
From the various definitions of terrorism above, it can be deduced that terrorism involves illegal acts of violence by group with aims intended to strike or induce sympathy to a political/ideological cause which may not necessarily result in the seizure of political power. Terrorist are clandestine groups who pursue their cause through the use of terror. Such end may be to cause anarchy, elite sympathy for self-determination or to intimidate a political adversary.
Terrorism often involves the wanton destruction of lives and property and inflicting immense suffering on victims who in most cases are not directly responsible for the political problem the terrorist claim to be fighting. Acts of terrorism include bombings, sabotage, assassinations and hijacking of planes. However, due to their usually bloody methods and violence, terrorist are seen and treated as outlaws both by domestic and international laws. Terrorism is becoming an unviable endeavor in the contemporary world especially when such terror is driven by hate, revenge, religious fanatism and the desire to instill fear in the minds of defined enemies.
Terrorism is a criminal act that influence an audience beyond the immediate victim as the strategy of terrorism is to commit acts of violence that draws the attention of local populace, the government, and the world to their cause. The terrorist plan their attack to obtain the greatest publicity, choosing targets that symbolize what they oppose. However, there is often a great confusion between terrorism and guerrillaism. This has been a major conundrum for the world community on the international legal level, as well as for nation states subject to internal strife.
1.2 Objectives of the study
The study shall be guided by the following objectives
To examine the position of the authors on war and terrorism in their works.
To examine the presentation of the authors on war and terrorism in their works.
1.3 Statement of the problem
Many Nigerian writers have written on the Nigerian Civil War and the menace of terrorism in Nigeria of in the last decade. The focus of this research is to examine in terms of literary techniques how differently Chimamanda Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun and Habila Hilon’s Chibok Girls presents the factors that caused the war and terrorism in Nigeria as well as their negative effects.
1.4 Significance of the Study
The significance of this study can be viewed from the following perspectives.
One main significance of this study is that when completed, it would serve as a bridge for the gap that have been created between where previous works on this subject area stopped and today.
This study is significant in the sense that it’s finding would serve as a base and framework for future researchers to carry out further studies in the field of knowledge under study.
The outcome of this research is hoped to be of immense use to students of political science since it contains information on war and terrorism.
The significance of this study would include all those who would benefit from and use the information from the study like researchers or students of organizational behaviour, political science, linguistics etc.
1.5 Scope of the study
The scope of this study is limited to the presentation of war in Chimamanda Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun and terrorism in Habila Hilon’s Chibok Girls text. The data of this research are of two kinds; primary and secondary data. Primary data contains an original account of event or phenomenon in the text under review and comparison while secondary data were relevant information obtained from the works of others.
1.6 Methodology
The survey method was utilized for this study. This approach was considered most appropriate because it helped the researcher to describe, examine, record, analyze and interpret the variables that were found in the study. It is also useful because of the relatively large population from which the information was collected. Ezejulue and Ogwo (1990: 69) insist that the purpose of a survey research is not the collection of data per se but the discovery of meaning in the data collection, so that facts and events can be better understood, interpreted and explained. They emphasized that the terms “descriptive’ and ‘survey’ are after used inter-changeable to denote a type of research explained above.
