Igbo literature

Igbo literature is the spoken and written literature of the Igbo people. Before the advents of writing, Igbos practiced oral literature, folk songs and poetry.[1][2][3]

Writing

Although there are records that Igbo literature began as far as 1857,[4][5] this was a 17 pages primer which was written by Samuel Ajayi Crowther.[6][7] From 1872 to 1913, several religious books were written and translated in some dialects of Igbo, particularly Onicha and Isuama dialects.[8] In 1924, Israel E. Iwekanuno published a 262-page history book titled Akuko Ala Obosi which narrated the history of Obosi town.[8]

The first Igbo novel Omenuko was written by Pita Nwana in 1932 and published in 1933 by Longman, Green and Co.[9][10] Pita Nwana's Omenuko was regarded as the bedrock for fiction in Igbo literature.[11] It was subsequently followed by Ije Odumodu Jere by Henry Leopold Bell-Gam which was published in 1966 also by Longman.[11] Other early writers of Igbo fiction include Tony Ubesie,[12] F. C. Ogbalu, Ude Odilora, Julie N. Onwuchekwa and Mmuotulummanya J. Okafo.[11]

References
  1. Green, M. (1948). "The Unwritten Literature of the Igbo-Speaking People of South-Eastern Nigeria". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. Cambridge University Press. 12 (3–4): 838–846. doi:10.1017/S0041977X00083415. S2CID 162905333.
  2. Sylvester, Nwokedi (5 September 2015). "Omaricha Abu Umuaka: The Return Of Igbo Folk Poetry For Children". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  3. Emanajo, E.N. (1986). "The artist and his society: the situation in creative literature in Igbo". Black Orpheus: A Journal of African and Afro-American Literature. 6 (1): 8–16. ISSN 0067-9100. OCLC 769353992.
  4. Emenyonu, Ernest N. (1978). The Rise of the Igbo novel (first ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 212. ISBN 9789781540233. OCLC 489876242.
  5. Emenyonu, Ernest (1973). "Early Fiction in Igbo". Research in African Literatures. Indiana University Press. 4 (1): 7–20 (14 pages). JSTOR 3818610. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  6. Adedeji, J.A (1971). "The Church and the Emergence of the Nigerian Theatre, 1866-1914". Journal of Historical Society of Nigeria. 6 (1): 25–45. JSTOR 41856915.
  7. Olatunbosun, Michael (8 September 2021). "True, Samuel Ajayi Crowther authored first ever book written in Igbo Language". Dubawa. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  8. Abanobi, Chika (4 August 2018). "F.C. Ogbalu: Father of Igbo language, literature". The Sun. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  9. Campbell, George L (1998). Concise compendium of the world's languages. Routledge. p. 242. ISBN 978-0-415-16049-0.
  10. Dathorne, O.R. (1975). African literature in the twentieth century. University of Minnesota Press. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-8166-0769-3.
  11. Akolisa, Uche (15 January 2021). "Igbo Literature: Omenuko, Ije Odumodu, Mbediogu na akwụkwọ Igbo ndị ọzọ ị gaghị echefu echefu maka mwelite ha welitere asụsụ Igbo". BBC Igbo (in Igbo). Lagos. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  12. Nwachukwu-Agbada, J. O. J. (1997). "Tradition and Innovation in the Igbo Novels of Tony Ubesie". Research in African Literatures. The Oral-Written Interface. Indiana University Press. 28 (1): 124–133 (10 pages). JSTOR 3819923. OCLC 38214509.
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