EXPLORING THE PORTRAYAL OF RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM IN UNIGWE’S ON BLACK SISTERS’ STREET

Abstract

There is hardly any shortage of studies on the problem of religious extremism. However, what most studies on religiously motivated terrorism and armed conflict lack is a balanced view, a perspective which recognizes that Islamic religion is not the only religion susceptible to extremism. This is the lacuna which this paper seeks to fill, the exploration of extremism in the context of Christianity, a religion which all too often claims to distinguish itself from the acts of extremism often pointed out in Islam. Using the Christian religious setting of Chika Unigwe’s second novel, On Black Sisters’ Street, the researcher through the lens of postcolonial theory studies the way in which the novel, through the family of Brother Cyril–Ama’s supposed father – represents religious extremism as a menace strangulating the peace and unity of families in post-colonial (post-independence) Africa. In detecting and discussing Brother Cyril’s extremist actions, the paper further employs Alex P. Schmid’s EMI-20, an instrument developed for the detection of extremism using TwentyIndicators for Monitoring Extremism.