THE ESOTERIC IN OKRI’S THE FAMISHED ROAD AND OKORAFOR-MBACHU’S ZAHRAH THE WINDSEEKER: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

This paper is a review of literature on the representation of the
esoteric category in Ben Okri’s The Famished Road and Nnedi
Okorafor Mbachu’s Zahrah the Windseeker. It reinforces the
argument that the esoteric, as the inner core that is not open to all
adherents, is one of the archetypes that have featured in literature
from time immemorial. It further reveals that although scholars
have done enormous critical work on the two novels, there is still
much to explore in the texts by critics: The Famished Road and Zahrah
the Windseeker have been discussed from the magical realist, mystical
realist, and other postcolonial and modern critical perspectives but
none, to our knowledge, has approached these texts from the
perspective of the esoteric contents. It is a significant finding in the
novels that power as esoteric element could be either changed
towards positive ends for the good of man or towards negative ends
for the destruction of lives. For instance, while the herbalists used
their secret powers to heal patients, people like Madame Koto use
their own power to bewitch people and exploit her customers. It is
also seen that ritual as a component of the esoteric is crucial in
invoking power for either positive or negative ends. To this end, the
paper concludes by calling on future critics and researchers to
further explore the esoteric elements in these and other Nigerian
literary works, to popularize this critical perspective, since the esoteric experience, being an existential reality, can always provoke literary creativity