THE BEGINNING OF WRITTEN LITERATURE IN NIGERIA

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 INTRODUCTION

In this unit we will study the beginning of written literature in Nigeria. This unit links us with Introduction to Nigerian Literature 1, where we examined all aspects of orality that culminated in the rise of written literature in Nigeria. In the course preceding this we studied the types and  the  various  influences  that  led  to  the  emergence  of  Nigerian literature.  Nigerian   oral  tradition   carries  the  Nigerian   storytelling tradition with it. It embodies the beliefs and general attitudes to life. They transmit and store the values of their experiences by telling the tales to the younger generations as guide. In this unit, we will look at the beginning of written Nigerian literature in all genres as influenced by the preceding oral traditions – forms like the folktales, fables, proverbs, clichés and idioms in order to establish the true development of Nigerian literature after the emergence of writing through colonial education.

3.1     General Overview

In  the  colonial  period,  some Nigerians  exposed  to  English  language began  to  write  literatures  in  English. Nigerian  writers  in  this period wrote both  in  Western  language  (notably  English)  and  in  traditional Nigerian languages. One interesting thing about these early works is the absorption of the oral arts in them. D.O. Fagunwa pioneered the Yoruba language novel.  In  1938, Fagunwa wrote his  Ogboju  Ode  ninu Igbo Irunmale, the first novel written in the Yoruba language and one of the first to be written in any African language; Wole Soyinka translated the book  into  English  in  1968  as  The  Forest  of  A  Thousand  Demons. Fagunwa's  later works  include Igbo  Olodumare  (The Forest of  God, 1949),   Ireke    Onibudo    (1949),   Irinkerindo   ninu   Igbo   Elegbeje (Expedition  to  the Mount  of  Thought,  1954),  and Adiitu  Olodumare (1961). Again, Fagunwa's novels draw heavily on folktale traditions and idioms, including many supernatural elements. His heroes are usually Yoruba hunters, who interact with kings, sages, and even gods in their quests.  Thematically,  his novels  also  explore  the  divide between  the Christian beliefs  of Nigeria's  colonizers  and  the  country’s  traditional religions.  Fagunwa  remains  the  most  widely-read  Yorùbá  -language author, and a major influence on such contemporary writers as Amos Tutuola.  Amos  Tutuola’s  The Palm  wine Drinkard was  also  written based on the style of African Orature. In Igbo area, Pita Nwana wrote Omenuko which is regarded as the first Igbo epic. The same occurred in the Hausa literature especially the works of Samanja Mazan Fama, and Karo-da-Goma.  In   all   these   early   written   literatures   in  Nigerian languages,  we  see  the  re-enactment  of the  oral  narrative  power  of Nigerian. We see the mystical and the mundane intermingling in many ways. We see the supernatural forces determining the fate of humans, humans marrying strange beings and other mythical realities. Nigerian Orature  is  richly  drawn  from  the  people’s  way  of living  and  belief system which form the basis for the moral undertone of oral tales which are evident in the early written literatures. Western education enabled the African people the opportunity to put down their oral narratives into written words.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

Explain how  orature metamorphosed  into  literature  in  early Nigerian literature.

3.2     Nigerian Orature in Nigerian Literature

Nigerian oral literature, like other forms of popular culture, is not merely a form  of entertainment  but  a  medium  for  commenting  on  contemporary social  and political  events. It  can  also be  a  significant  agent  of change capable of storing the people’s historical experiences. This is how myths and legends  emerged. Myths  are  stories  of origin  or  creation.  They are stories  about the beginning  of a people,  a race  or  a  community. Many communities  attribute  their  greatness  to  their  beginning.  Legends  are records  of  a  community’s  heroes.  They  are  stories  about  those  who founded  a community and how brave they were. Ruth Finnegan  (1980) expresses  that  myths  and  legend  capture  the  most  valued  history  of a people by tracing how they began and how their beginning affected their situation. It also traces the beginning of traditions, cultural rites, worship and the discovery of food, craft, and other lore. We also have different forms of myths and legends recounted in most African novels set in the rural  backgrounds.  Myths  and  legends  are  fictional  but  have  traces  of reality  as  each  of them has  a physical  referent  in  the  real  world.  This referent  guides  the  members  of the  community  in  certain  observances. Myths  and  legends help to  store  or preserve  a people’s  cultural beliefs about nature and their natural habitats. This is one of the sources of truly African novels as one of the earliest novels to have come out of Africa called  The  Palmwine  Drinkard  by  Amos  Tutuola  which  is  truly  an embodiment  of African  orature  in  the  written  form.  Myths  have  often occurred in African novels such as the origin of Ulu in Arrow of God, the exploits of the great Umuofia men in Things Fall Apart, the story of Osu Caste in No Longer at Ease etc. It seemed impossible for the early Nigerian writers to extricate themselves from the clutches of Orature.

Folktales  are  animal  stories.  They  are  stories  about  select  animals personified  to  carry  certain  human  attributes  in  order  to  play  out  a needed role for moral lessons. In folktales, there are heroes and villains. The heroes are human or animals that play the major roles. A common type  of Nigerian  folktale  is  also  called the  "trickster"  story, where  a small animal uses its wits to survive encounters with larger creatures. Some animal tricksters include Ijàpá or Mbe, a tortoise in Yoruba or Igbo folklore of Nigeria. One interesting thing about the folktale is the manipulation   of   animals   as   humans   playing   out   their   political, sociological and cultural roles in a fictional community. We have seen the folktale forms occurring in African novels. In folktales the essence of poetic justice  is  expressed  and this  is  a recurring  feature  in  some African novels. D.O. Fagunwa’s My Life in a Forest of a Thousand

Demons  is  purely  a  written  folktale,  similar  to  the  form  in  Amos Tutuola’s The Palmwine Drinkard. The form of the folktale has a great influence on the present form of the Nigerian novels. The folktale form is arranged in a manner that there is a beginning in a distant land with different wrongs being committed by a given animal at the end of which poetic justice occurs. This thematic form is often the structure of most African novels. The effects of oral narratives on the written literatures in Africa are mostly structural and thematic.

There  seems  to  be  the  impossibility  of discussing  the  African  story without a link at the traditional values. These values are stored in the various tales: myths, legend, oral narratives of different sorts, songs and acts. The early African writers attempt in various ways to blend these oral values in the written contexts. It seemed to work. This is because it helps in marking out a true African literary tradition where the written absorbs  the  unwritten  values  in  the  quest  for  making  literatures  the totality of the people’s rites of passage.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

How does the folktale tradition influence the writing of African novels?

3.3     Orature in/as Early Nigerian Literature

Orature occurs in various ways in early Nigerian literatures. Unlike the western  literature, African  literature  contains the  oral heritage  of the African people. In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, we have various oral heritage of the Igbos in the novel. There is the form of drama which manifested  in  the  form  of wrestling  and  the  Egwugwu  Masquerade group. We also see the belief in the existence of changelings as revealed in Ezinma’s search for her iyiuwa. There are sessions where folktales are narrated and various songs are rendered according to the required circumstance.  These  are  oral  narratives  manifesting  in  the  written literature. The same occurred in other novels especially in novels set in rural  background  in  Africa.  In  Achebe’s Arrow  of  God,  we  see  the tradition  of religious worship, how  gods  are  created  and how poetic justice  prevails   in   a   community.  Elechi  Amadi’s   The   Concubine presents  a typical eastern Nigerian village with all their  arts:  stories, songs and dances. There is the typical exposition of the traditional belief regarding the intermingling of humans and the supernatural forces.

Considering the root of the Nigerian writers first as Nigerians brought up in the Nigerian society and secondly as the fortunate recipients of western education, they can not avoid expressing their art forms in their new  found  form  of expressing  art.  The  resultant  effect  is  that  they represent the Nigerian personality and culture. Some of them who could write in their native languages using English alphabetic forms attempted original works in their first languages as can be seen in Fagunwa and Nwana. Although, English served as the only language that could make their  message  reach  wider  audience,  the  writers  tried  as  much  as possible to incorporate the oral literary forms in their works. It is not surprising though that the early literatures in Nigeria are mostly works generated from the oral tradition of the people. We see this strongly in the works of Fagunwa, Tutuola, Amadi, Achebe and Soyinka, among others.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 3

Explain  how  oral  traditions  manifested  in  and  as  early  Nigerian literature

4.0     CONCLUSION

It  is  clear  that  Nigeria  has  a  rich  oral  tradition.  Besides,  there  are patterned  literary  forms  akin  to  the  western  types  in  Africa.  The difference is that African literature then was oral. Western education marked the rise  of African  literature.  There  was  a  smooth  transition

from orature to literature. Africans did not hear of literature for the first time from the Europeans. The three genres of literature also manifest in African orature in various forms. The epic and legends of Africa have often  occurred  in  the  written  literature.  The  other  forms  like  songs, masquerades, rituals, incantations, folktale narration, the application of proverbs  and  anecdotes  amongst  other  African  oral  heritage  have become a regular form in African novels. All these reflect the influence of the oral tradition in the Nigerian literature. In the beginning, after the encounter with western education, the early Nigerian writers began with the writing of orature as literature. The works of Fagunwa, Tutuola, and Achebe  among  others  reveal  a  leaning  towards  the  oral  art  as  an expression of a true Nigerian literature. The application of these forms has been tagged ‘local colour tradition’ by critics of Nigerian literature. They are local colour because they capture the original oral art in its entirety in the written form. We notice today that Nigerian literature is identified mainly by the oral forms and inherent lore. There are elements of orature in most genres of Nigerian literature and Nigerian literature embodies all the genres as the storyteller uses every means to reach out to his immediate audience.

5.0     SUMMARY

Orature is African heritage in storytelling, songs and masquerades. It is the most significant way of transmitting the cultural values and belief systems of the people. Orature like literature has several genres. These genres  manifest  in  various  forms.  African  writers  imbibe  the  oral tradition in the writing of literature. Early novels began as a revisit of the African tradition. This is evident in the works of the early Nigerian writers like Fagunwa, Tutuola, Achebe and Amadi among others. They reflect the African oral tradition in their works. It is thoroughly evident that  Nigerian  literature  began  from  the  oral  literary  tradition  of the Africans. We have the application Nigerian myths and legends, folktale forms,  fable  forms,  proverbs,  idioms,  dance,  songs,  incantations  and masquerade  forms  in  African  novels.  This  is  because  a  writer  is  a product  of his  environment  and  reflects  that  in  his  works.  Western education only prepared the African writer for the task of transmitting his   cultural   values   to   a   wider   audience   beyond   his   immediate environment. Quite often, not surprising though, the Nigerian literature still  reflects  the  Nigerian  orature  in  various  forms  to  reflect  a  true Nigerian literature.

6.0     TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

Answer these questions carefully:

1)         Explain the various effects of orature in Nigerian literature.

2)         How does Nigerian orature manifest in Nigerian literature?

3)         Explain why orature has been termed ‘local colour tradition’ .

4)        Must Nigerian literature be written in Nigerian languages?

5)         Discuss the link between orature and literature in Nigerian.

7.0     REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS

Finnegan,   Ruth   (1980).   Oral   Literature   in   Africa.   Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.

Finnegan, Ruth. (2007). The Oral and Beyond. Doing Things with Words in Africa. Oxford: James Currey.

Obiechina, Emmanuel (1975). Culture, Tradition and Society in the  West AfricanNovel. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Okuta, Ahmad.  (2013). “Nigerian Drama in Arabic: Between

Inidigenisation and Performance.” Journal of the Literary Society of Nigeria: JLSN, 5, 181-190.

Taiwo, Oladele (1976). Culture and the Nigerian Novel. London: Macmillan.