LANGUAGE OF NIGERIAN LITERATURE IN A GLOBALIZED WORLD

Abstract

This paper examines the language of Nigerian literary writers by x-raying the interrelatedness of language, literature and culture. The study is analytical and qualitative in nature. It traces the origin and development of the English language in Nigeria and the effect of the globalized status of the language on its usage especially literary writers. The paper examines the language debate of African literary writers and comes to the conclusion that Nigerian literary writers use the Nigerian variety of English in their oeuvres as a way of getting wider readership for their work. The study also believes that the use of Nigerian English ensures the inclusion of linguistic features of the writers’ indigenous languages as one of the ways of promoting the Nigerian cultural identity.