International Journal of English Literature and Culture
 

International Journal of English Literature and Culture

Vol. 2(11), pp. 277-290, December, 2014

 ISSN: 2360-7831

DOI: 10.14662/IJELC2014.075

Review

EXPLORING AND BIBLIOGRAPHING THE NIGERIAN ONITSHA MARKET LITERATURE AS POPULAR FICTION

Stephen O. Solanke, PhD.

Department of History and Languages, Faculty of Humanities and Management Sciences, Elizade University,

Ilaramokin, Ondo State, Nigeria. Phone:  +2348036661540. E-mail: myacada@gmail.com

Accepted 1 December 2014

The lack of local literature bedevilled African and Nigerian literatures for a long time. This contributed in no small measure to a few critics averring that Africa and Nigeria lack literature of any major type especially of the traditional form. The twentieth century Onitsha Market Literature in Nigeria which came in pamphlets, novellas, and chap-books is just an example to disprove this assertion. Within this traditional but regional literature is a compilation of oral literary sourced works and documented solutions to modern life issues. It is a potpourri of life experiences of Nigerians within the colonial and post-colonial life. This paper, through pedagogical and bibliographical modes, situates the development and effect of this onerous popular fictional phenomenon as a relevant precursor to the origin and development of not only present day Nigerian Literature but also to a large extent, to the Anglophone West African Literature.

Keywords: Popular Fiction, Onitsha Market Literature, Nigerian Literature, Pamphlets, Novellas, Pedagogical, Bibliographical

 

Cite This Article As: Solanke SO (2014). EXPLORING AND BIBLIOGRAPHING THE NIGERIAN ONITSHA MARKET LITERATURE AS POPULAR FICTION. Inter. J. Eng. Lit. Cult. 2(11): 277-290

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