Africanjujuism: X-raying Jackson Chukwudi Dandy’s writings

Just like other forms of writing enterprise, literature is beginning to cope with the possibilities of new genres.

With the advent of Africanfuturism and Africanjujuism — terms coined by the Nigerian-American professor and science fiction writer, Nnedi Okorafor, new faces have been introduced into the Nigerian literary scene.

Among them is Jackson Chukwudi Dandy, who writes as Dandy Jackson Chukwudi.

Dandy, from Abia State, is an author of inventive, speculative and fantasy novels. He is best known for the novels ‘Tales of Eremma: Child of Prophecy’ (2020), and ‘S-HUNTER’ (2021).

The style of Dandy’s fiction draws heavily from the oral tradition of Igbo people. He incorporates folk tales into his stories, exposing community values in both the content and the form of the storytelling.

For example, the tale about the wind carrier from the East in ‘Tales of Eremma’ emphasises the inter-dependency of the masculine and the feminine. It is a classic tale in which the heroine has been tasked in retrieving the glory from Omoba.

Although Eremma enjoys hearing her mother tell the tale, the princesses dislike for it is evidence of her imbalance.

In ‘Tales of Eremma’ and his subsequent novels, Dandy incorporated African myths and legends into loosely constructed prose epics that improvise on traditional themes found in African folk tales.

A prevalent theme in Dandy’s novels is the intersection of African tradition (particularly Igbo varieties) and modernity, especially as embodied by European colonialism.

For example, the village of Omoba in ‘Tales of Eremma’ is violently shaken with internal divisions when the white Christian missionaries arrive.

The gender roles of men and women, as well as society’s conceptions of the associated concepts, are frequent themes in Dandy’s writing. He could be classified a liberal feminist author, in response to what many call the uncritical depiction of traditionally patriarchal Igbo society, where most masculine men take numerous wives, and women are beaten regularly.

Dandy’s vivid presentation of the world of Igbo mythology and religion, and his grasp of literary form made him a success among British, African, and American audience.

Valerie Jackson (sometimes known by her codename NK) is a human with latent superpowers — and the main heroine in ‘S-HUNTER’.

Before her powers develop, Valerie loss her father at a young. She is subsequently raise by her mother when her father dies in a battle with Vampires (speaking of European colonisation) and grows up not as many real-world youngsters do — she retreats into a world of blades and battles to cope with her grief.

In 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, Dandy wanted to create a social network application for African writers, called InstaNovella.

The co-founders of InstaNovella, Dandy Jackson Chukwudi and Awaji-Itimikpang Abadi, had earlier ran a Facebook community of writers that reportedly reached 2.1 million members.

But as things may seem to be, InstaNovella did not live up to expectations.