FROM SILENCE TO RESILIENCE: INTERGENERATIONAL STORYTELLING, CULTURAL MEMORY, AND EPIGENETIC AND MOLECULAR ADAPTATION IN POST–NIGERIAN-BIAFRAN WAR IGBO COMMUNITIES

Abstract

This qualitative study examines how intergenerational storytelling in post Nigerian-Biafran War Igbo communities play linguistic and cultural roles in transforming collective trauma into cultural resilience. Drawing on Alexander’s cultural trauma theory (2004), Hirsch’s postmemory (2008), and interpretive models of epigenetic adaptation, the research explores the complex interplay between strategic silence, narrative performance, and gene-environment interactions in Southeast Nigeria. Through historical narrative inquiry involving 250 participants across three generational cohorts in the 5 states of Southeast Nigeria (Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo), data were collected via in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and supplementary artefacts. Thematic narrative analysis, informed by linguistic and literary tools, revealed five key patterns: the protective functions of strategic silence, intergenerational evolution of war narratives, the performative role of Igbo proverbs, metaphors, and code-switching, the consistent reframing of victimhood into stories of endurance and communal ingenuity, and participants’ perceptions of embodied intergenerational effects. Findings demonstrate that storytelling operates as a dynamic form of linguistic and cultural resilience functioning simultaneously as a carrier of trauma memory and a mediator of adaptive healing. Rather than passive transmission, Igbo oral practices actively scaffold meaning-making linguistic expressions such as Ozoemena, Osondu, Aghamere, Obialika, Nkurumumendu, Obumselogu, Oguerinwa among others, potentially influencing stress-response pathways across generations. This movement “from silence to resilience” challenges deficit models of intergenerational trauma and enriches understandings of gene-culture coevolution in postcolonial African contexts. The study contributes to Genetics and Molecular Research by providing essential sociocultural context for future epigenetic and genomic investigations in African populations. It also offers practical implications for culturally grounded mental health interventions, peacebuilding, and educational curricula in post-conflict societies. Ultimately, the research underscores the power of indigenous storytelling as both historical testimony and a living mechanism of healing and adaptation.