Exploration of Colonial Legacy: A Study of Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun

Abstract

The novel Half of a Yellow Sun centers at the issue of Civil War in Nigeria during the historical context of the 1960s. The violence occurs between two ethnic groups; Hausa and Igbo due to the interference of colonial legacy. That makes the explicit linkage between the colonialism and the politicization that caused annihilation in Biafra. The legacy of colonialism is not only efficient in the form of divide-and-rule policy of whites but it is embedded within the characters, everyday lives. The result out of colonial legacy in post-independent Nigeria reinforces the Biafrans to form 'a new nation' through the conception of Eurocentric belief, i.e. nationalism. Finally, the Western neocolonial power has become successful to govern the mindset and body of characters and their sense of nationhood has become no more than paradox. The support Nigeria gets from Britain, Russia and Egypt points out their neocolonial interest in alien world. Thus, this research tries to prove that whether it is the cause of war or the daily lives of people in Nigeria even after the era of decolonization are undergoing colonial rule, i.e. the legacy is still working in the name of foreign aids and support through the means of political co-ordination, economic globalization and foreign academic policies.