SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY ELEMENTS IN MODERN NIGERIAN LITERATURE: A STUDY OF NNEDI OKORAFOR’S AKATA WARRIOR AND LAGOON

This study is on science fiction and fantasy elements in modern Nigerian literature: a Study of Nnedi Okorafor’s Akata Warrior and Lagoon. Since more than two decades, literature has been interlaced with social traditions, religious belief and scientific inventions. The science fiction genre reflects and prolifically contribute to such connections and inventions. Science Fiction and Fantasy works as a genre maintains a continuous stronghold on its readers' mind and offers them to escape into the world of imagination. This study evaluate science fiction and fantasy elements in Modern Nigerian Literature using Nnedi Okorafor’s Akata Warrior and Lagoon. This study adopts a qualitative method of research and the analyses of literary texts as its approach. The theoretical underpinning for this study is the magical realism. Findings from this study shows that both Akata Warrior and Lagoon are grounded in Nigerian culture and mythology, but deploy fantasy and science fiction in markedly different ways. Akata Warrior embraces traditional magical adventure while Lagoon reimagines speculative fiction through an African lens melding futurism, folklore, ecology and narrative experimentation. The result is a powerful literary vision that expands the boundaries of genre while centering African identity, mythology and futures. This study concludes that introducing a phenomenon like alien invasion into the corpus of Nigerian fiction does not radically distort existing styles. Rather, this integration seems to provide a better springboard for the novel as a means of social critique.