Nishad'in Hululu (Hausa Popular Culture)

The flurry of literary activities by Hausa youth (aged 18-32) in vernacular (Hausa) prose fiction in Northern Nigeria drew a flak of criticism — both for and against. This post presents a distilled perspective of the criticisms from the popular press in Northern Nigeria in 1999. Sources: Abdalla Uba Adamu, “Hausa Literature in the 1990s”, New Nigerian Weekly, Saturday April 24 and Saturday, May 1, 1999. Ibrahim Malumfashi, “Beyond the Market Criticism”, New Nigerian Weekly, Saturday May 15 1999. Abdulaziz S. Malumfashi, “Babinlata: A Writer with a Difference”, New Nigerian Weekly, Saturday May 22 1999. Ibrahim Sheme, “Of Market Forces and the Hausa Novel”, New Nigerian Weekly, Saturday June 5 1999. Abdalla Uba Adamu, “Idols of the Marketplace: Literary History, Literary Criticism and the Contemporary Hausa Novel”, New Nigerian Weekly Saturday June 12, 1999 Ibrahim Malumfashi, “Dancing Naked in the Market Place”, New Nigerian Weekly, Saturday July 17, 1999 ************ “…most of t...

This entry is an annotated list of critical debates and perspectives on Hausa prose fiction, often referred to as "soyayya novels". The debates occured on the pages of northern Nigerian newspapers (mainly in the Hausa language) in the early 1990s to 2002. The debates virtually stopped because the attention of the critical established had shifted to the Hausa video film which was getting established as the new focal point of cultural attack. Hausa prose fiction is produced predominantly by young men and women in the Hausa language. The main dominant theme is romance (soyayya -- hence the label, Soyayya novels). The predominance of romantic theme in novels aimed at teen population in an Islamic society is seen as an attempt to corrupt the morals of youth in the society. These debates capture the two camps -- both pro and against the novels. For more specific details of this Hausa prose fiction genre, see Adamu, A. U. 2006, Loud Bubbles from a Silent Brook: Trends and Tendencies...

Published as “Hausa Literature in the 1990s”, New Nigerian Weekly , April 24 and May 1, 1999) Introduction The recent debates that punctuated the pages of this paper about the merits or demerits of the more or less recently created Hausa soyayya genre of creative writing, I feel, loses sight of many salient and very significant points in the literary development of the Hausa nationality and how it reflects on the uses of the novel. In this presentation, I intend to take the position of a protagonist of the Hausa literary expression in general, but the soyayya genre in particular, situating my arguments within the analytical framework of at least four uses of the novel in any society. The Hausa ethnic nationality has established themselves as great travelers and scholars spread all over the West African sub-region. Their iterant mercantile capitalism has established the dominance of the Hausa language all over sub-Sahara. And yet despite long tradition of Islamic scholarship, the Hausa ...