Economic Trauma as Catalyst for Violence and Social Survival in E.E. Sule’s Sterile Sky

Abstract

Through the prism of Marxist literary theory, this research examines the themes of socioeconomic pain and the battle for existence in E.E. Sule’s Sterile Sky. The novel depicts the real-life experiences of people locked in a cycle of poverty, alienation, and ethno-religious strife against the backdrop of violence and economic instability in Northern Nigeria. This paper explores how class conflict and economic hardship are portrayed, and influence characters’ perceptions and behaviour. Through the affordance of Marxist literary theory, it demonstrates how the novel’s capitalist structures feed violent and unstable cycles of society while also systemically marginalising the working class. This study also looks at how the novel’s prevailing worldview supports the status quo while also emphasising moments of defiance and prospective revolutionary awareness. In order to critically analyse the socio-political commentary present in Sterile Sky and place it within larger discourses on class struggle, inequality, and postcolonial African literature, the study will focus on the intersection of socio-economic trauma and survival.