BETWEEN FAITH AND DESIRE: A METAMODERNIST READING OF CHINELO OKPARANTA’S UNDER THE UDALA TREES

Kufre Nosa Egharevba

Department of English, University of Uyo, Nigeria

Abstract

In contemporary African literature, questions of identity, belief, and belonging are increasingly explored through nuanced and emotionally resonant narratives. Chinelo Okparanta’s Under the Udala Trees presents a compelling site for such exploration, particularly through the lens of metamodernism, a theoretical framework marked by oscillation between sincerity and irony, belief and doubt, tradition and transformation. This paper applies a metamodernist critical lens to examine the novel’s treatment of same-sex desire, religious ideology, emotional authenticity, and maternal resistance. It explores how a constant tension between the inherited structures of faith and culture and the innate human desire for love, truth, and self-expression shapes Ijeoma’s journey toward self-acceptance. Central to the analysis is the symbolism of the Udala tree as a site of love, resistance, and rebirth, representing both nature’s solidarity and its role as a metaphorical refuge for queer existence. The study also foregrounds the role of motherhood, not as a vehicle for overt rebellion, but as a form of quiet revolution, where emotional sincerity and intergenerational hope become acts of resistance. Through its restrained tone, spiritual ambiguity, and symbolic depth, Under the Udala Trees reflects the metamodern impulse to reconstruct meaning without abandoning complexity. By situating Okparanta’s narrative within a metamodern paradigm, this paper reveals how the novel navigates the emotional and ideological terrain of a society in flux, offering not certainty, but a resilient and ethical hope grounded in the sincerity of lived experience.

Keywords: Faith, Desire, Metamodernism, Udala Tress.