Abstract

Could literature be relevant to the Sustainable Development Goals SDGs in this giant stride by the UN to make this world a better place to live in Does Nigerian or African literature have any precedential capacity that can accord it some vital roles to play in a virtually virgin field like the SDGs This paper provides plausible answers to these questions It endeavours to coin out a synergy between literature and the SDGs It forays into the inner recesses of the three genres in search of existing structures into which the objectives of this vision could conveniently fit The paper argues that such structures exist prior to the launch of the Millennium Development Goals MDGs in 2000 and its relaunch in 2015 as Sustainable Development Goals SDGs The structures comprise feminist criticism eco-criticism or environmental literature utopian literature etc The paper is of the view that the SDGs literary criticism emanate from the post-independence disillusionment literary criticism to the extent that the latter is the forerunner of the former Through criticism of governments policies and politicians literature helps to entrench good governance which is a way of eradicating poverty and providing Education for Sustainable Development ESD better healthcare and remedies to diseases Again feminist criticism in Nigerian and African literature has got the capacity to sensitise society on gender equality and present highly educated and empowered women as characters in literary works to serve as models Ecocriticism alerts us on the danger of environmental degradation while utopian literature has the sheer force of lifting us out of the present anomy so that we can embrace an ethereal world where we will forget historical accidents and misfortunes and give a breaststroke to the future The paper concludes with this information the SDGs literary criticism has a tinge of partisanship in it as most writers deploy it to the protest of perceived marginalisation of pe