Loud Bubbles from a Silent Brook: Trends and Tendencies in Contemporary Hausa Prose Writing

Abstract

This paper traces the transformation of Hausa popular fiction, a genre created predominantly by young Muslim Hausa of Northern Nigeria. It specifically explores the interface between creative fiction and conservative society and shows how creativity and media technologies combine to reflect a transformational stage of an aspect of popular culture in a conservative African society. Contemporary Hausa prose fiction evolved as the product of British colonial policies which acted as the midwife at the birth of vernacular Hausa creative writing in 1933. State patronage was however removed and a massive independent publishing industry emerged among young Hausa novelists. Reacting against the staid conservatism of mainstream Hausa society, and embracing new media technologies they opted for a creative route different from their literary forefathers. Their open treatment of romantic themes drew the ire of the Muslim Hausa conservative establishment, and graphically illustrated a society in turbulent transition.

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