The Influence of Arabic on Nigerian Literature: a study of selected works of Abubakar Imam in Hausa
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Date
2014-11-02
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Abstract
The heritage of a people is, without doubt, the bedrock of their identity. The sheer size of the
Northern part of Nigeria makes it a very important part of the country. This vast region has been
having a common identity forged by literacy in the Arabic language. For many centuries before
the coming of the imperialists, Arabic provided universal understanding among people of the
Northern Nigeria. It was so important that even the imperial agents studied Arabic language in
order to penetrate the culture of the people of the area they wanted to colonize. When the foreign
power eventually succeeded in enthroning its own language as the official language, Arabic still
remains very visible not only as a religious language but also as a springboard for literary
endeavors in both local and foreign languages of the North. This paper therefore intends to study
the influence of Arabic on the Nigerian Literature using Magana Jari Ce and Ruwan Bagaja by
the renown Hausa writer, late Alhaji Abubakar Imam, as a case study. The paper is divided into:
introduction, short biography of Abubakar Imam, Arabic influence on selected stories, general
analysis of the stories, conclusion and recommendation.