Towards a Theory of Nigerian English Literariness: Nativisation, Aesthetics, and the Poetics of a Second-Language Literature

This dissertation develops an original theoretical framework for understanding the aesthetic dimensions of Nigerian English literary language, proposing a theory of Nigerian English literariness that accounts for the specific poetic resources that the nativised variety makes available to creative writers. Existing scholarship on Nigerian English literary language has predominantly described its features as deviations from standard British English or as instances of nativisation borrowing from Yoruba, Igbo, and Hausa. This study argues that such descriptive frameworks are inadequate to the aesthetic richness of the literary language and proposes instead a theory that treats the specific phonological, lexicogrammatical, and pragmatic features of Nigerian English as constituting a distinctive poetic resource with its own aesthetic logic. The theoretical framework is developed through close engagement with linguistic theory, particularly Hallidayan systemic functional linguistics, and with recent literary critical discussions of world literature and minor languages. The theory is substantiated through detailed stylistic analysis of literary texts from Amos Tutuola, Ben Okri, Gabriel Okara, and three contemporary Nigerian novelists, examining how each author exploits Nigerian English resources for specific aesthetic effects including rhythmic distinctiveness, semantic ambiguity, and culturally embodied figurative language. Original contributions include a typology of Nigerian English literary devices, a theoretical model of how nativisation enables rather than limits literary creativity, and a framework for teaching Nigerian English literary aesthetics in university literature courses. Keywords: Nigerian English, literary language, nativisation, poetics, world literature.