Deconstructing Cultural Hegemony in Chuma Nwokolo's The Extinction of Menai

This study investigates the subtle mechanisms of social control and linguistic displacement within the postcolonial Nigerian landscape. Specifically, it addresses matters of cultural hegemony in Chuma Nwokolo’s The Extinction of Menai by exposing how dominant groups shape cultural norms, values and language so that their authority comes to be accepted as natural, universal and common sense. Theoretically, the study uses a dual theoretical framework that integrates Michael Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) and Karl Marx’s Critical Theory to examine how dominant state actors and institutional elite structures systematically manufacture consent to erode minority linguistic and cultural identity. Methodologically, the study employs a qualitative approach through purposive sampling of text and operates across the SFL grammatical rank scale – specifically at the word, phrase, and clause complex levels – primarily to identify how transitivity processes can help to process and decode systemic power dimensions. The textual analysis reveals that language and cultural imperialism operate as potent ideological tools that disguise biological and cultural erosion as naturalised, inevitable reality. The findings in this work demonstrate that the tragic displacement witnessed in the localised Menai community serves as a striking microcosm for a broader national trajectory, and warns that even majority indigenous Nigerian languages are increasingly threatened by globalised capitalist systems, elite-driven education standards, and structural marginalisation.