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We would like to cordially invite you to the Research Colloquium of the Master Program African Verbal and Visual Arts. Please find here the full schedule. 

On Jul 8th, MA African Verbal and Visual Arts Student at University of Bayreuth, Michelle Chiamaka Nkemakolam will present on

Magical Realism in Nigerian Literature: A Study of Ben Okri's The Famished Road and Akwaeke Emezi’s Freshwater

This presentation revisits my bachelor’s thesis, which examined the use of Magical realism to portray the abiku-ọgbanje phenomenon in Nigerian literature. The abiku (Yoruba), ọgbanje (Igbo) child is traditionally believed to be a spirit-being/child caught in a cycle of birth and death, representing liminality and spiritual fragmentation.

In my research, I analysed how Ben Okri’s The Famished Road and Akwaeke Emezi’s Freshwater reimagined these spirit-child figures as metaphors for identity, trauma and transformation. This presentation explores how magical realism serves as a narrative technique to merge the supernatural with the lived reality, offering insight into the indigenous cosmology and the
psychological dimensions of selfhood.

Through literary analysis and cultural approach, I aim to compare the protagonists Azaro and Ada as figures manoeuvring the spirit and physical worlds, symbolizing deeper tensions around tradition, gender, spirituality and identity. This research also reflects on how African literature creates space to honour African; in this context, Nigerian knowledge systems, by blending the real and the spiritual through magical realism, the themes discussed presents us (the readers) with a deeper way of understanding life and various human conditions.

In exploring the characters, this study highlights how spirit-child narratives further touch on questions of belonging, acceptance, transformation and healing in culturally rooted ways. Ultimately, this study shows that magical realism is not just a stylistic device, but a powerful tool for expressing the complexities of these themes within the Nigerian context while also inviting readers from diverse backgrounds to connect with each character’s journey.

Please note that this presentation is an exam and that a hybrid option is not available