A Theoretical Framework for Reading Nigerian Literature as World Literature: Beyond Eurocentrism

The conceptual framework through which Nigerian literature is positioned in world literary studies consistently reproduces Eurocentric assumptions about universality, literary value, and comparative methodology, even in studies that explicitly claim to decentre European literary dominance. This study developed an original theoretical framework for reading Nigerian literature as world literature from a position that genuinely decentres European critical norms and constructs world literary comparison from an African epistemological starting point. A theoretical construction methodology drawing on African philosophy (Ubuntu, Yoruba ontology, Igbo cosmology), world literature theory, and postcolonial literary criticism was employed. Three forms of Eurocentrism in existing world literature theory were systematically identified and critiqued: temporal Eurocentrism (the privileging of print literature over oral tradition as the basis for comparison), linguistic Eurocentrism (the privileging of European major languages as vehicles for world literary canonicity), and axiological Eurocentrism (the application of European aesthetic criteria as universal standards for literary value). The original Afrocentric World Literature Framework proposes an alternative theoretical architecture founded on three principles: temporal pluralism (oral and written literary forms as equally valid world literary participants), linguistic cosmopolitanism (multilingual literary production as the norm rather than the exception in world literature), and cultural axiological pluralism (the explicit acknowledgement that literary value criteria vary across cultural frameworks). The framework was developed through 30 months of theoretical elaboration, tested in applied readings of ten Nigerian literary works, and validated by expert review from 24 world literature scholars. The study constitutes an original contribution to world literary theory.