CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
The life and activities of every community draw its vitality from the Weltanschauung of such a people otherwise called their worldview. This worldview as it is, underlies the basic tenets, norms and activities of a people; giving them a unique identity such that it marks them out as a people distinct from the rest of humanity. A people’s worldview is considered to be the cultural universal which is seen to be the nucleus of a culture that admits of no change even while the particular aspects of the culture (cultural particulars) constantly change. Language is a central aspect of culture that derives from the very heart of the worldview of the people that upholds such culture. This is to the extent that language is seen as typical representation of culture in signs and symbols (both oral and written). This is typical of literature across the world that portray contextual cultural values of the culture from which they are written. The African experience does not differ from this fact.
Since the emergence of Things Fall Apart till now, Nigerian writers have always resorted to what readers deem as verifiable in their narratives via various realistic aids and indices. In an effort to carve a niche for what could be validly regarded as African Literature, it has been the interest of authors to build on the African experience. In this effort, some authors have even set language barriers for what should constitute African literature in its real sense. Ngugi (1986) states in The Language of African Literature that it is an aberration to have African literature in English language or African literature in French. He argues that “the diplomatic way out of this problem is to ‘panel-beat’ the European languages – English and French – so that they function just as languages for us but not as carriers of our culture; then we infuse our culture in them. It is therefore imperative that the English language is brought home (tailored) to meet the demands of the aesthetics of the African languages – the Igbo-African aesthetics or the Zulu-African aesthetics; this is also true of all other tribes in Africa”. All this is an effort to relate a literary experience that is truly African. (Ngugi, 1986. P.14)
Besides the use of language, African writers have tried also to contextualize their works; drawing them from the lived experiences and cultural aspects of what are truly adjudged African. This projects in a simpler manner the fact that some African novelists employ myth in making their literary impacts.
Scholars have engaged the question of myth and how African literature employs it. Many of them consider myth as an integral part of a larger definition of oral tradition which they take as the fulcrum of African literary thematic preoccupation. Others have devoted intellectual energy to a thorough analysis of myths and their paramount place in the African worldview; Soyinka (1976) and Okpewho (1981) are classical examples. Myths, according to Akporobaro (2001):
Symbolize human experience and embody the spiritual values of a culture. Every society preserves its myths because the beliefs and worldview found within them are crucial to the survival of that culture…Myths often include elements from legend and folklore. They depict humans as an integral part of a larger universe, and they impart a feeling of awe for all that is mysterious and marvelous in life (emphases, added). (P.24)
Myths, legends and heroism are usually in the realm of oral literature which according to Akporobaro (2001) refers to “the heritage of imaginative verbal creations, stories, folk-beliefs and songs of pre-literate societies which have been evolved and passed on through the spoken word from one generation to another.” (P.26) it is also the unwritten traditions of a nation, their religious beliefs, stories, myths, and legends which express the artistic life and moral beliefs of the people. Oral literature includes folktales, ballads and songs, epic narratives, myths and legends, songs, riddles, proverbs, recitations, etc. These forms constitute in a real and significant sense, the literary traditions and achievements of indigenous African societies. They are the manifestations of traditional creative imagination beliefs and perceptions of social reality. They are modes which construct and deconstruct the social-cultural milieu of the people. These are the verbal, auditory manifestations of man’s creative impulse expressing his innate creative sensibility.
Emphasizing the importance of myths, Owomoyela (1979) explains the interrelationships of all things that exist and provide for the group and its members a necessary sense of their place in relation to their environment and the forces that order events on earth. From the assertion of Owomoyela (1979), it could be affirmed that the use of myths in literary works has both cultural and literal impacts. Culturally, such mythical works of literature help in the promotions of the values and heritage of such culture. Another important point to note is the literary import of the use of mythical method of writing. With the story telling approach, the reader is glued to the literary piece. Therefore, the use of myths is capable of capturing and sustaining the attention of the reader. The evidence of the benefits of the mythical method could be shifted from the number of authors who do not hesitate in taking advantage of the mythical method of novel writing.
