An Original Contribution to World Literature Theory: The Nigerian Paradigm

World literature as a theoretical concept has been dominated by European perspectives, particularly through the work of Goethe, Casanova, Moretti, and Damrosch, and a systematic theoretical examination of how the Nigerian literary system challenges and enriches these models represents a significant original contribution to world literature theory. This study developed an original theoretical framework for understanding Nigerian literature's position in and contribution to world literary systems. A multi-method theoretical methodology was employed, combining critical engagement with existing world literature theory, political economy analysis of Nigerian literature's international circulation patterns, institutional analysis of how Nigerian texts enter global literary markets, and textual analysis of fifty significant Nigerian literary works from the 1950s to the present. The political economy analysis drew on publisher data, literary prize records, and translation statistics to map the actual circuits through which Nigerian texts circulate globally. The textual analysis identified formal and thematic features of Nigerian literary works that have been assimilated into global literary norms through their reception. Three original theoretical contributions are made: the Concept of Peripheral Canon Disruption (how Nigerian literature forces revision of world literary taxonomies from the periphery), the theory of Polylingual World Literature (how the coexistence of English, indigenous languages, and Pidgin in Nigerian literary production challenges Casanova's monolingual world republic model), and the Afrocentric World Literature Paradigm (a South-South model for world literature that centres African literary exchanges rather than European mediation). Expert review by 25 world literature scholars confirmed the framework's original contribution.