HAUSA LITERATURE AT 50: THE INTERFACE OF TRADITION, ARAB AND COLONIAL HERITAGES

1. IBRAHIM MALUMFASHI LECTURER USMANU [ANFODIYO UNIVERSITY, SOKOTO 8TH DECEMBER 2010 HAUSA LITERATURE AT 50:THE INTERFACE OF TRADITION, ARAB AND COLONIAL HERITAGES

2. BEFORE THE INTERFACE The assertion by the colonialist that there was no �literature� when they arrived Hausa land, presupposes two things: There was no written �creative� literature Or alternatively, no literature of European coloration But then the land, its people and literature: cohabit as an amalgam of orature/cum tradition. Even without that, there was still substantial corpus of literature in Arabic and Ajami scripts In summation then, Hausa literature is not about the last 50 years, more can be gleaned further than that. 2

3. WHY THE INTERFACE? The maxim that no nation or people are an island suffices here People and nations through out history influence each other: Through linguistic interaction or the meandering of cultures Or better still by intermingling with other nations that have advanced in civilization, most especially those with extant writing system We see that happening through: Trade and commerce Religious evengelism And opf course colonial conquest. That was the tradation in early Europe: Latin was the in-thing. 3

4. WHY THE INTERFACE? From that interface, Spanish and Portuguese become masters in Latin America. In the same vein English and its literature overwhelmed the world. Checklist: Europe, America, Asia and Africa. English language and its literature is far more pronounced in China and the African continent than in UK itself. Ditto America and other parts of the world. The same scenario with Arabic language and literature: Why? It is a religious language. Has been to most nooks and crannies of the world. �Colonized� in a way, most people and nations. 4

5. AFTERMATH OF THE INTERFACE The Arabs and English people and their attendant literature ramarkedly impacted on the Hausas and their literature. They are the overlords Researches have testify to their overwhelming influences . They are not the only influencers, others did, but indirectly. In all these intermingling of cultures and civilizations, the Hausas: Never abandoned their language, literature or culture completely. When they write in Arabic and even use its alphabet to document, it is still Hausa ideas they relish. When they write using Roman alphabets, the soul of the wordings are ideologically Hausa. 5

6. HAUSA LITETATURE AND ARABIC OVERLORDSHIP The bulk of modern Hausa literature can be found in Arabic. The existence of Hausa written poetry can be seen in two forms: The thematic conflagration Praise Exhortation Islamic Doctrine Obligations History Politics The metric composition This gave rise to poets of high caliber Abdullahi Suka Abdulkadir Tafa 6

7. HAUSA LITETATURE AND ARABIC OVERLORDSHIP Wali Danmsani Wali Danmarina Muhammadu Na Birnin Gwari Shi�itu Dan Abdura�ufu With the Jihad of 1804, other notable poetic personalities emerged: Shehu [anfodiyo Abdullahi Fodiyo Muhammadu Bello Isan Kware And other viziers and assoiciates 7

8. HAUSA LITETATURE AND ARABIC OVERLORDSHIP During the jihad and after, the literary horizon included women and girls Hadiza Shehu Danfodiyo (1782-1846) composed poems like,�Ta�aziya,��Gargadi� and �Mahadi�. Nana Asma�u (1793-1864) is of course the most well known Maryam , her younger sister, (1810-1890) Husaina , the daughter of Emir Dabo of Kano,(1846-1900) were prominent in poetic composition. Then and after many women writers, often daughters of Islamic scholars, local Muslim women clerics, and teachers wrote poems in Arabic, Ajami, and Hausa. The environment that the women operated was scholastic in nature, consequently, women sometimes taught the men that become famous At a later stage many other poets pervaded the literary landscape. 8

9. HAUSA LITETATURE AND ARABIC OVERLORDSHIP Aliyu Namangi Nasiru Kabara Akilu Aliyu Sa�adu Zungur Ummaru Nasarawa Bello Gidadawa Mu�azu Hadeja Aliyu Dan Sidi Hassana Ahmad Sufi Hawwa Gwaram At the last count, nearly 200 poets in Arabic, Ajami and Boko are receiving critical acclaim in Hausa land. 9

10. HOW ABOUT HAUSA PROSE FICTION AND DRAMA? It has been a bountiful harvest in poetic rendition: How about prose fiction? During the Arabic hold-up, there was non? May be! Why? It is not in the character of the Hausa to lie, talk less of writing it down? Their association with the Arabs make them abhor beautifying lies. Is that true? No! His tales and traditions are pack of lies. If fiction signify lies, how about dramatic texts, are they lies also? Why then there was non during the Arabs domineering campaign? Probably because the Arabs only got to know about modern written drama in the 18 century! If the originators of the written literary materials are also ignorant of it since the incursion of the Islam way back in the 8th and 9th century, there is no way people like Wali [anmarina or Muhammadu Bello will bother about it? In short it is only poetry that had an upper hand during that stage. 10

11. THE COLONIALIST AS A CIVILIZER? If indeed there is anything called civilizing mission in Hausa land then it is in the emergence of Hausa written drama and prose fiction. But was it or is it! Was colonialism good or bad? To some it was a civilizing development. To others, it was give and take. According to most critical literature ,colonialism was a �one armed bandit.� To most discerning minds, the colonialist didn�t come to Africa to rehash development . The African Association of 1788 did not help matters also: They came to Africa to re-engineer science. To explore an unidentified continent. To make life better for the locals. Was that possible or achievable? Yes, well to some extent! The African Society from 1901 gave an insight. 11

12. THE COLONIALIST AS A CIVILIZER? It was the same colonialism that documented the lot we see today about linguistics, cultural, religious, as well as our historical antecedents. Of course including the capitalistic tendencies in trade and commerce. And the emergence of modern written drama and prose. In this instance can we then surmised that colonialism helped in the transformation of Hausa drama and prose fiction? We have seen how far the Hausas went with poetry under the Arabs, but nothing about drama or prose fiction. Rudimentary Hausa written drama came with the colonialists, while prose fiction was virtually imposed later; when schools were introduced. 12

13. THE COLONIALIST AS THE HERBINGER Lets look at the situation better Hausa written drama: There are two facets: Way back in 1936 there was Six Hausa Plays by R.M. East, Abubakar Imam and Malam Basankare. It was an admixture of folktales, folklores and histories. But then there were others written even before colonialist came to Hausa land by Muhammadu Ajingi Kano: Turbar Turabulus Turbar Kudus �Yan Matan Gaya How about prose fiction? The popular thinking is always the fiction contest of 1933 which brought fore Ruwan Bagaja. That is another fallacy, before Imam there were others too! 13

14. THE COLONIALIST AS THE HERBINGER The first set of prose fiction writers from Hausa land appeared through another competition organized by the African Society and its journal in 1931. The winners: H.B.G Nuhu Hausa Stories Malam Dodo Hausa Stories Malam Ahmet Metteden Zaman Dara Malam Nagwamatse Takobin Gaskiya Though these books got honorable mention, they were not published. As such the first Hausa prose fiction book is Fatima by Walter Miller in1933. 14

15. THE COLONIALIST AS THE HERBINGER Imam�s Ruwan Bagaja is not the first, in terms of appearance, but�. Gan]oki by Bello Kagara, his older brother in1934. Followed by Idon Matambayi , Muhammadu Gwarzo in 1934. Then Jiki Magayi by East and Tafida, in 1934. The Shaihu Umar by Tafawa Balewa also in 1934. And lastly Ruwan Bagaja by Imam in 1935. Consequently we can say most of the developmental efforts in Hausa literature took place before independence. That was the period new poets and themes emerged. That was the time prose fiction reared its head. And it was the same period that drama books saw the light of the day. 15

16. HAUSA LITERATURE AT 50 ? I have cause to delve into history so as to lay everything bare. Most of the critical interventions that brought us to the present situation are products of pre - independent Nigeria. Where probably things changed much is in poetry. The Arabic influence is now very minimal, except in the use of Arabic metre. With over 200 poets one hastened to ask: How many are still extant? How many are fresh poets? How many anthologies? How many are individual collections? Not many in fact! The most recent, Gadar Zare a collection by Awwalu Anwar. Or Muryoyin Zuciya , by Sa�adatu Baba Fagge. 16

17. HAUSA LITERATURE AT 50 ? The poetic renditions of the 1940�s and 1950�s helped in the fight against colonialism. With independence the voices resonated elsewhere, propaganda, sensitization, as well as indexing societal ills like corruption, prostitution and armed banditry. What about the dramatic texts? From 1936, or from even 1898, we have very little collection, about 30 at the last count! The impact of these few texts cannot be quantified. Most of the themes are misplaced or disjointed such that giving them critical appraisal is herculean amongst most experts. The most current: Bar Ni da Mugu Yaro A.K 1986 Mugunta Guzurin Wuya Maigari G. I 1986 Gani Ga wane Soron]inki. A 1990 Kukan Kurciya Mahmoud Bambale 1996 17

18. HAUSA LITERATURE AT 50 ? This to most experts may have to do with the resurgence of KANNYWOOD The Kannywood phenomenon has overshadowed the dramatic text not only in churning out films after films, but in the way and manner the screen has taken over the scribal. This trend has in the long run dwarfed the written aspect of Hausa drama. How about prose fiction? With the coming of independence Hausa prose fiction writing took a completely new direction. From the very beginning it was the missionaries as well as the colonial state apparatuses that made it possible to blossom. 1931, the African Society 1933, the Translations Bureau/CMS 1936/1937, the Literature Bureau 1945-1953, Gaskiya Corporation 1953-1959, the NORLA 18

19. HAUSA LITERATURE AT 50 ? With independence in 1960, it was total black out. No agency, or bureau to the rescue. In 1966, the new kid on the block NNPC was formed. It was during that period that Hausa literature made reached its zenith. Books on various aspects of the literature continued their ascendancy. By 1978, things changed dramatically, especially with the sudden withdrawal of the backer of NNPC, Macmillan of UK. With very little funding the NNPC had to find alternative source of revenue. That brought again fiction writing competition and the appearance in 1980 of: Mallakin Zuciyata by Sulaiman Ibrahim Katsina. So Aljannar Duniya by Hafsat Abdulwaheed. Amadi na Malam Amah by Magaji Dambatta. In the same vein, in 1980 the Federal Council of Arts and Culture organized another fiction writing competition and the books that won were published by NNPC in 1982. 19

20. HAUSA LITERATURE AT 50 ? Turmin Danya by Sulaiman Ibrahim Katsina Tsumangiyar Kan Hanya by Mohammed Yahuza Karshen Alewa Kasa by Bature Gagare Zabi Naka by Mannir Mamman Katsina Dausayin Soyayya by Bello Sa�id Soyayya Ta Fi Kudi by Hadi Alkanci Wasa Kwakwalwa In 1988, another fiction writing competition surfaced, organized by the Kaduna State Council for Arts and Culture: Two themes were prominent: Societal Ills Kowa Ya Bar Gida Mahmoud Barau Bambale Kifin Rijiya Ibrahim Sheme Dukan Ruwa Yusuf Adamu 20

21. HAUSA LITERATURE AT 50 ? Love Stories Jamilu Mijin Jamila Shafi�u Magaji Usman Kome Nisan Dare Mahmoud Barau Bambale Dabaibayi N A This was the era of diversification of themes and ideas. The authors explore a litany of thematic conflagration that encapsulate the civil war that ravaged the country, smuggling, armed banditry, sex escapades, and what not. 21

22. THE KANO MARKET LITERATURE As the literary situation was taking a new turn, at the same time government and its agencies were taking their eyes off the literary stage, then steps in the current trend referred to variously as the Kano Market Literature/ Hausa Popular literature/Soyayya novels etc. How it all began is a long history. It is a conjecture of popular uprising and neglect by those concerned. The question then is, is there any thing called Market Literature? Semblance of it in the 18th Century England. Elizabethan literature of 1558 -1603 was popular in outlook. Tottel and his Miscellany , 1557 gave rise to a literature for the masses and the leadership. 22

23. THE KANO MARKET LITERATURE Similar thing happens with Kitsch literature in Germany of 18th and 19th centuries. It was the paintings, arts and literature developed for the middle class Literature for a particular class, not every body. Literature for a particular time milieu or period. Ditto for Onitsha Market Literature. It was popular, it was market driven. Ikolo Wrestler by Cyprian Ekwensi in 1947, made a significant impact, both in origination and subsequent emergence of the so called literature in English. The bottom line: Popular literature as a literature for a particular period. For a particular people and place. 23

24. THE SEED THAT GERMINATES 24

25. THE SEED THAT GERMINATES 25

26. WHAT IS THE INTAKE? The intake in terms of quantity is enormous: In between 1990-1995: About 110 writers In between 1996 - 2001: About 355 writers In between 2002 - 2008: About 234 writers How many books so far? The count is still on: Furniss, Buba & Burgess (2004): In between 1987- 2002, had about 1,850. Gidan Dabino, A.A (2008): Over 2000 Malumfashi (2010): Almost 3,500. 26

27. LAST WORD? AS IF THE WOMAN IS NOT HUMAN! They say, the religions we follow come about so that they can subjugate the woman. All cultures are organized in such a way that women become slaves. Politics is there for the woman to be dominated. They say, the women are weaklings, but we give birth to the strong ones that sit, wine and dine, over our fate, while we continue to suffer. They say, women are the most populous among the human specie, but then women do not have the veto power to do things the way they should be done. They say, our own children are more intelligent than we are, but whose responsibility is it to bring up these intelligent ones! They say this; they say that against us without end. All things bad you find them in the midst of women. They do not want us to know and understand the religions; they do not want us to know how to confront life and live it to the fullest, because if we are to do that, then they are in trouble. 27