M.A. / The Nigeria-Biafra War has elicited a corpus of literature which thematises the hydra-headed problematic of nationhood that embodies ethnicity, politics and history. A recent contribution is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s award-winning Half of a Yellow Sun (henceforth, Yellow Sun) which reveals interesting affinities between Adichie and Chinua Achebe, and suggests the influence of Achebe on her. The centrality of Biafra to these writers (both are of Igbo or ‘Biafran’ extraction) foregrounds concerns about the links between literary production, identity politics and the narrative of the nation. At a time marked by the resurgence of sub-nationalist notions in Nigeria, it becomes fitting to review the growing ‘Biafra discourse’ as enunciated in recent Nigerian fiction. It is argued that in Yellow Sun and Achebe's most recent novel Anthills of the Savannah (henceforth, Anthills) both writers espouse notions of nationhood which privilege the ethnic group mainly through a valorisation of the Igbo people of south-eastern Nigeria who constituted the defunct Biafra republic. This dissertation examines how both novels depict difference and deploy historical revision to fetishise ethnic identity in their enunciation of ethno-nationalism. It also explores the degree to which Yellow Sun may reflect the influence of Anthills, both ideologically and stylistically. In this regard, the study interrogates the peculiar narratological features of both novels. The predominant research method applied is close reading, and the theoretical framework incorporates theories of narratology, influence and intertextuality as well as postcolonial notions of nationalism, historicisation, difference and representation. The study draws significantly on the scholarship of Frederic Jameson, Mieke Bal, Harold Bloom and Imre Szeman among others. Keywords: narratology, nationalism, historicisation, representation, ethnicity, difference, other/otherness/othering, representation, intertextuality, Nigeria, Biafra, civil war.

This essay aims to examine which consequences a less-detail controlled curriculum has on English teachers’ choice of English-language literature. With support from the literature review, this essay argues that an unofficial, tacit school canon of English-language literature mainly composed of ten literary works seems to have been established in Swedish upper-secondary schools, despite the Swedish National Curriculum not naming specific literary works educators in Sweden are required to use in their teaching. Thus, this essay answers the following questions: 1) Which English-language literature do English teachers in Sweden use in their teaching? 2) Does a less-detail controlled curriculum contribute to English teachers in Sweden being more inclusive in their choice of literature in teaching? The results support the hypothesis; that despite the ten literary works found in the unofficial, tacit school canon might be vulnerable to the same criticism aimed at the “Western literary canon” and a “prescribed” curriculum. Yet, no evidence was found which would illustrate that a less detail-controlled curriculum does not contribute to English teachers in Sweden being more inclusive in their choice of literature in teaching since the inclusive classroom is not only a matter of what is being taught but also of how it is being taught. Additionally, the study shows that there are countries in the Western world that name literary works as a teaching requirement for educators that “silently” marginalize and privilege some voices. Despite educators not being able to influence what is being taught, educators have developed strategies and methods (critical literacy/pedagogy, and intersectionality) on how these literary works are taught to learners with the aim to make room for a spectrum of voices when being required to teach from a “prescribed” curriculum.