NEG OT IATI NG M OD E RN IT Y, R E S IS T ING T RA DITI ON: G E NET IC ST RU CTUR ALIS M AN ALYS IS ON B UC HI E M E CHE T A’ S THE B R IDE PR I C E

Abstract

T he

Bride Price

is a

nove l wr it ten b y

B uc hi E mec he ta f rom Nige ria . This

re se a rc h

is

foc us e d on th e

pe r c e pti on of

a binar y

opposi ti on be twe e n mod e rnit y

a nd

tr a dit ion (the

moder n a nd tra di ti on a l wa y

of

t hinki ng ) in Af ri c a n so c iet y

a s a

re fle c ti on throu g h the no ve l of

T he

Bride Pric e . T he

main f e male

a nd male

c ha r a c te r s

re pr e s e nt the pe ople in 1950s unti l 1970s

who a re

e x posed

to the ne w dis c ourse

a nd

tend to r e j e c t t he A fr ic a n tra dit ional c ult ur e , be c a u se of the ir e du c a ti on.

The re

a re

thre e

pr o blems to discuss in

thi s

re se a rc h . The

fir st is the mod e rn

a nd tra dit ional thoug hts in T he

Bride Price

nove l, the wor ld view ' s c onst ruc ti on in T he

Bride Price , a nd the

last

is the socia l struc tur e

whic h pr e va il s in Ni g e ria n socia l

c lass that make s them ha ve

the wor ld view . F ur th e rmor e , in e x a mi ning

the re se a r c h, I use qua li tative re se a r c h

method

a nd qua li tative

da ta to a na l y se

a nd id e nti f y

thi s

re se a rc h . Th e da ta is

wr it ten in t he r e se a rc h a s quo tations

This re se a rc h us e s

g e n e ti c

struc tur a li sm theor y . A ppl y in g

Goldmann the o r y

o f g e n e ti c

struc tura li sm, I

a na l y s e

the wor ld view

of

the wr it e r a nd Nig e ria n socia l struc ture . The r e for e , ther e

a re

some re sult s of

thi s thesis using

g e ne ti c

stru c tura li sm, I

br e a k the a n a l y sis

of

the

binar y

opposi ti on be twe e n moder n a nd tra dit ion a l thoug hts in the nove l, the wor ld vi e w of

the wr it e r throug h the fe male

main c ha r a c te r’ s wa y

o f thi nking , a nd soc ial c ult ur a l conditi on in Nig e ria

i n 1950s un ti l 1970s .

K e yw or d s: M od e r n ity , T r ad ition , G e n e tic

S t r u c turalism , Nig e r ia n

S oc ia l

Cons tr u c tion