| Nnorom Azuonye: My E-conversation with Emman Usman Shehu
(continued from previous page)
So it’s a basic problem across the country. The ordinary Nigerian in Maradun has the same needs which are not being fulfilled with his counterparts in Umuahia, Itakpe, Ilesha, Damaturu and Odi. Yet in his name so much looting and exploitation is taking place.
So my approach is to address those frailties which we all share and see how we can overcome them. When the individual is healed internally it is a plus for the society.
NA: What then is your view on the role of a writer in a society?
EUS: The writer by the nature of his calling is put in the position of an activist and this is reflected in his art, directly or indirectly. So much ink has been spilled on whether a writer should be political or not but I find the debate one of those annoying and time wasting preoccupations. Man is basically a political animal, and the output of a writer reflects this clearly. There is nothing like being apolitical. When a writer’s work is basically about nature, that is a reflection of his politics. Several years ago there was not much concern about the environment, but since it became a big thing environmentalists have not hesitated to use the material of writers one would not normally consider as committed writers in their campaign material. So its all relative. This was one thing I realised during the Anthill days at Nsukka. Every writer is influenced by circumstances that are peculiar to him and thus his artistic thrust has a certain distinctiveness.
I remember mentioning to Carlos Ahmad Idzia soon after QFBB came out that I was tired of writing angry poems because life is not all about anger. And anger does not make one more committed than other writers. Fifteen years later I discover I am still writing angry poems but the strategy has changed and so too have my concerns. A writer does not work in a vacuum, and this is reflected in his work. But he has the responsibility of not only reflecting the society within which he operates, but rising to the challenge of telling the truth objectively. It’s a privilege but it needs to be handled with a certain degree of responsibility.
NA: Last month, I interviewed Toyin Adewale-Gabriel, and she held the opinion that one of the main dangers facing Nigerian literature is the impending demise of writings in indigenous languages. Afterwards, as I read your essay "A Journey Of Discoveries" I found the effect of the Hausa folk tale book Dare Dubu Da Daya on you. Do you share this view, and have you attempted to write in any language other than English?
EUS: There is no doubt that many indigenous languages, especially in Nigeria, are becoming extinct. A publisher friend, Rima Shawulu, who is also a social scientist had published an article a couple of years ago showing that over a hundred languages in Northern Nigeria were already extinct, “gobbled up” by the Hausa language. To the extent that the smaller languages are not being used on a daily basis, they face the danger of dying out because usage whether verbally or in writing is the only guarantee for the survival of a language.
The major languages do not face that danger, infact they are growing from strength to strength. On radio and television, even with the democratization of broadcasting, they are being used regularly. There are newspapers, magazines and books published in the major languages, at least in Hausa and Yoruba. In the past decade there has been, thanks to the computer revolution, a deluge of novellas published in Hausa. These publications have been dubbed Kano Market Literature obviously making a link with what had happened in Onitsha many years ago. But in truth the publication of these novellas is no longer limited to Kano, and I would rather refer to them as Hausa novellas.
I certainly have tried writing in Hausa and when I was publishing a local newspaper The Envoy, there was a monthly Hausa section I was directly involved with. I have found translation from English to Hausa and vice-versa quite interesting. Sometimes I do mental off-the-cuff translations of things I am reading for the heck of it, and that has led me into pathways I would never have explored in my writings.
„
| |
