Nation as Grand Narrative

Nation as Grand Narrative offers a methodical analysis of how relations of domination and subordination are conveyed through media narratives of nationhood. Using the typical postcolonial state of Nigeria as a template and engaging with theoretical perspectives ranging from media studies political science and social theory to historical sociology and hermeneutics Wale Adebanwi examines how the nation as grand narrative provides a critical interpretive lens through which competition among ethnic ethnoregional and ethnoreligious groups can be analyzed. Adebanwi illustrates how meaning is connected to power through ideology in the struggles enacted on the pages of the print media on diverse issues including federalism democracy and democratization religion majority-minority ethnic relations space and territoriality self-determination and threat of secession. Nation as Grand Narrative will trigger further critical reflections on the articulation of relations of domination in the context of postcolonial grand narratives. Wale Adebanwi is associate professor of African American and African studies University of California-Davis and a visiting professor at the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) Rhodes University Grahamstown South Africa.