On the Demise of African Traditional Oral Literature

Abstract: This article aims at analysing the true causes of the demise of African oral traditional literature in general, and that of Zarma oral literature in particular. This article contends that contrary to the allegations of some scholars—according to which Islam is the cause of the death of oral literature in Africa—Islam does not condemn or prohibit oral literature across the board; it is, indeed, good to note that in its early history, Islam was conspicuously a religion built upon orality. The Holy Book of Islam—The Qur’an—itself was revealed orally before being written down. How, then, can anyone contend that Islam indiscriminately condemns oral literature? Is Islam, then, the true cause of the demise of African literature, or more specifically, is it the cause of the obsolescence of the Songhay-Zarma oral literature? What then are the real causes of this demise? To answer these questions, we adopt a hermeneutic approach as a theoretical framework. The article concludes that the causes of the demise of African oral literature are manyfold—Islam playing but a very marginal role in this. Keywords: African, Literature, Islam, Demise, Literature.