Insight Into The Stylistic And Thematic Features Of The Arabic Literary Writings Of Nigerian Provenance
Keywords:
Arabic literature, Styles, Nigeria, Maghribī scripts, ‘Ulamā’Abstract
Arabic writing in Nigeria is not novel. Novelty, however, is found in the variations of styles adopted by authors of different cultural and ideological backgrounds. This paper examined the main features of Arabic literature by non-Arabs in sub-Saharan Africa with specific reference to Nigeria. It employed historical and contextual methods to assess and appraise the common stylistic and thematic features of the Arabic works of the Arabic literati of Nigerian provenance, whose propensity for religiosity influenced their texts. The prologues and epilogues of the writings feature religious doxologies which strongly contrast with the early Arabic writings of the classical period in Arab history. The prevalence of Islamic writings in the curricula of traditional Arabic settings may be a contributing element. Arabic works of these scholars exhibit a strong predilection and preference for styles that are embedded in Islamic religious tradition, law and lore. This paper attempted an examination of the predisposing factors as well as the extent of the religious influence. The religious background of these writers influenced their styles and themes as reflected in the language, content and context of their texts. The common themes,especially of the traditional Arabic works by Nigerian authors are threnody, panegyric, historiography, epistolography, distress appeal, invective poetry, occasional poems and didacticism. Despite that Arabic writings are not linguistically accessible to a large number of audiences except those who understand Arabic language; critics’ efforts, especially through the medium of English, in the past and in the recent time have been making Arabic writings accessible for the understanding of their core features.
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