Daniel Olorumfemi Fagunwa

Daniel Orowole Olorunfẹmi Fagunwa (* 1903 in Okeigbo , Ondo state ; † December 9, 1963 in Bida , Niger state ), mostly Daniel O. Fagunwa , was a Nigerian teacher and author. He wrote the first novel in Yoruba .

Life

Like his father who owned land, Fagunwa was chief ( oloye ) of the Yoruba . Fagunwa's date of birth was previously given as 1910. The converted father sent his son to teach at St. Andrew's College in Oyo . Fagunwa attended college from 1926 to 1929 and became headmaster of a newly established elementary school, where he worked until 1939. He received a fee of £ 25 for his first book , which he had never expected. From this fee he financed the wedding with his first wife. He later became chief interpreter for the governor of the Nigerian western region. In 1961 he took over the representation of the British publisher Heinemann in Oke-Ado, a district of Ibadan .

In 1963, Fagunwa drowned in an accident in a river.

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In 1938 he wrote the novel Ògbójú Ọdẹ nínú Igbó Irúnmalẹ̀ (actually: "The Forest of the Four Hundred Gods") as part of a competition of the Nigerian Ministry of Education , which is generally considered to be the first major work in Yoruba and one of the first novels in an African language . Allegedly he began to write the work on a lonely bush path under a tree whose dense branches did not let sunlight through. There a woman initially mistook him for a ghost and called in helpers who almost killed him. The book has been reprinted several times. Wole Soyinka translated it into English in 1968 ( The Forest of A Thousand Demons; A Hunter's Saga ), which he said was a very difficult undertaking. Fagunwa's other works were Igbo Olodumare ( The Forest of God , 1949), Ireke Onibudo ( The Sugar Cane of the Guardian , 1949), Irinkerindo ninu Igbo Elegbeje ( Expedition to the Mount of Thought , 1954) and Adiitu Olodumare ( The Secrets of the Almighty , 1961), the second part of which he was unable to finish.

Often Fagunwa would leave the house at night and be inspired by ghosts in cemeteries and other places. If an animal crossed its path, he followed it and indicated the direction as a sign.

Fagunwa's novels are based on traditional folk tales and contain many magical, supernatural, and bizarre elements. Their heroes are mostly Yoruba hunters who interact with kings, wise men, witches or spirits. The often humorous dialogues contain many puns. Stylistically, they are characterized by the use of the traditional rhetorical elements of the Yoruba language. Their repetitions and variations correspond to an increasing drum sound. Fagunwa's novels also reflect the conflict between traditional and Christian religions. Other Nigerian authors like Amos Tutuola were influenced by him.

Honors

Fagunwa received the Margaret Wrong Prize of the International Committee on Christian Literature for Africa (ICCLA) in 1955 and has been the holder of the Order of the British Empire since 1959 . The Fagunwa Memorial High School in Okeigbo was named after him.

literature

• Simon Gikandi: Encyclopedia of African Literature. London 2003, pp. 252-255.
• Emmanuel K. Akyeampong, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (Eds.): Dictionary of African Biography . Volume 2. Oxford University Press, New York 2012. Online

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Fagunwa wrote his first novel in the bush , in www.vanguardngr.com, June 18, 2016.
2. ↑ Published 1968 by Random House, new in 2013 by City Lights.
3. ↑ Albert von Haller: Introduction to: Nigeria. Modern storytellers of the world. Tübingen and Basel 1973, p. 17 f.
4. ↑ Fagunwa wrote his first novel in the bush , in www.vanguardngr.com, June 18, 2016.
5. ↑ Albert von Haller: Introduction to: Nigeria. Modern storytellers of the world. Tübingen and Basel 1973, p. 22.