The first novels written in Hausa were the result of a competition launched in 1933 by the Translation Bureau in northern Nigeria. One year later the bureau published Muhammadu Bello’s Gandoki, in which its hero, Gandoki, struggles against the British colonial regime. Bello does in Gandoki what many writers were doing in other parts of Africa during this period: he experiments with form and content. His novel blends the Hausa oral tradition and the novel, resulting in a story patterned on the heroic cycle; it also introduces a strong thread of Islamic history. Didactic elements, however, are awkwardly interposed and severely dilute Gandoki’s aesthetic content (as often happened in other similarly experimental African novels). But Bello’s efforts would eventually give rise to a more sophisticated tradition of novel writing in Hausa. His experimentation would also find its most successful expression in Amos Tutola’s English-language novel The Palm-Wine Drinkard (1952).

It is possible that written Hausa goes back as far as the 14th or 15th century. Arabic writing among the Hausa dates from the end of the 15th century. Early poets included Ibn al-Ṣabbāgh and Muhammad al-Barnāwī. Other early writers in Arabic were Abdullahi Sikka and Sheikh Jibrīl ibn ʿUmar. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Hausa language was written in an Arabic script called ajami. In 1903, under the influence of the British, the Latin alphabet was added. Nana Asma’u wrote poetry, primarily religious, in Arabic, Hausa, and Fula in Arabic ajami script.

Islamic Hausa poetry was a continuation of Arabic classical poetry. There was also secular poetry, including the war song of Abdullahi dan Fodio. Usman dan Fodio, Abdullahi’s older brother and the founder of the Fulani empire in the first decade of the 19th century, wrote Wallahi Wallahi (“By God, By God”), which dealt with the clash between religion and contemporary political reality. Social problems were also considered by Alhaji Umaru in his poem Wakar talauci da wadata (1903; “Song of Poverty and of Wealth”). There was poetic reaction to the presence of British colonial forces: Malam Shi’itu’s Bakandamiya (“Hippo-Hide Whip”) and Alhaji Umaru’s Zuwan nasara (“Arrival of the Christians”). Much poetry dealt with the Prophet Muhammad and other Islamic leaders. There was mystical poetry as well, especially among the Sufi. Religious and secular poetry continued through the 20th century and included the work of Garba Affa, Sa’adu Zungur, Mudi Sipikin, Na’ibi Sulaimanu Wali, and Aliyu Na Mangi, a blind poet from Zaria. Salihu Kontagora and Garba Gwandu emphasized the need for an accumulation of knowledge in the contemporary world. Mu’azu Hadeja wrote didactic poetry. Religious and didactic poetry continue to be written among the Hausa.

The novel Shaihu Umar, by Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, a prime minister of the Federation of Nigeria, is set in a Hausa village and Egypt. Jiki magayi (1955; “You Will Pay for the Injustice You Caused”), also a Translation Bureau prizewinner, was written by Rupert East and J. Tafida Wusasa. It is a novel of love, and it moves from realism to fantasy. Idon matambayi (“The Eye of the Inquirer”), by Muhammadu Gwarzo, and Ruwan bagaja (1957; The Water of Cure), by Alhaji Abubakar Imam, mingle African and Western oral tradition with realism. Nagari na kowa (1959; “Good to Everyone”), by Jabiru Abdullahi, is the story of Salihi, who comes to represent traditional Islamic virtues in a world in which such virtues are endangered. Nuhu Bamali’s Bala da Babiya (1954; “Bala and Babiya”) deals with conflicts in an urban dwelling. Ahmadu Ingawa’s Iliya ʿdam Maikarfi (1959; The Story of Iliya Dam Maikarfi) has to do with Iliya, a sickly boy who is cured by angels and then embarks on a crusade of peace. Sa’idu Ahmed Daura’s Tauraruwar hamada (1959; “Star of the Desert”) centres on Zulkaratu, who is kidnapped and taken to a ruler; it is a story with folkloric elements. Da’u fataken dare (“Da’u, the Nocturnal Merchants”), by Tanko Zango, deals with robbers who live in a forest; the story is told with much fantasy imagery. In Umaru Dembo’s Tauraruwa mai wutsiya (1969; “The Comet”), Kilba, a boy, travels into space.

Hausa drama has been influenced by the oral tradition. Dramatists include Aminu Kano, Abubakar Tunau, Alhaji Muhammed Sada, Adamu dan Goggo, and Dauda Kano. In the 1980s there began to appear littattafan soyayya (“books of love”), popular romances by such writers as Bilkisu Ahmed Funtuwa (Allura cikin ruwa [1994; “Needle in a Haystack”], Wa ya san gobe? [1996; “Who Knows What Tomorrow Will Bring?”], and Ki yarda da ni [1997; “Agree with Me”]) and Balaraba Ramat Yakubu (Budurwar zuciya [1987; “Young at Heart”], Alhaki kuykuyo ne [1990; “Retribution Is Inescapable”], and Wa zai auri jahila? [1990; “Who Will Marry the Ignorant Woman?”]). These works deal with the experiences of Hausa women and address such subjects as polygamy, women and education, and forced marriages.

Shona

Feso (1956), a historical novel, was the first literary work to be published in Shona. An account of the invasion of the Rozwi kingdom and an expression of longing for the traditional past, it was written by Solomon M. Mutswairo. Another early novel, Nzvengamutsvairo (1957; “Dodge the Broom”), by Bernard T.G. Chidzero, has to do with themes that dominate prose writing in Shona: the attempt to remain true to Shona tradition, the breaking down of Shona culture, the ugly aspects of Western ideas, and the Christian who attempts to blend past and present. In 1959 Mutswairo’s novel Murambiwa Goredema (“Murambiwa, the Son of Goredema”; Eng. trans. Murambiwa Goredema) was published; it depicts the conflict between the African past and the urbanized, Westernized, and Christianized contemporary world, with an emphasis on the need to establish roots within the reality of the world as it is. Also in 1959 John Marangwanda published a novel, Kumazivandadzoka (“Who Goes There Never Comes Back”), which describes the effects of Western-style education and the consequent alienation from traditional society: Saraoga, a boy, is attracted to the city, becomes corrupted, changes his name, and is arrested and jailed. He again changes his name, having renounced his mother, who nevertheless continues to seek him. Education is also a danger in Xavier S. Marimazhira’s Ndakaziva haitungamiri (1962; “If I Had Known”): Kufakunesu is a wicked teacher, but in the end Christianity brings him to a new life. The loss of traditional values is treated in Kenneth S. Bepswa’s Ndakamuda dakara afa (1960; “I Loved Her unto Death”), with its emphasis on love and a desire to cultivate Christian ideals of love: Rujeko and Taremba embody Christian love, but evil in the form of the jealous Shingirai assaults that relationship. The conflict between Christianity and tradition is also the subject of L. Washington Chapavadza’s Wechitatu muzvinaguhwa (1963; “Two Is Company, Three Is None”), an attack on polygamy: Mazarandanda, married to two women, becomes angered as his wives compete with each other. Giles Kuimba’s Gehena harina moto (1965; “Hell Has No Fire”) depicts a woman who is wholly evil; the forces of good and evil struggle, revealing inner conflicts in other characters in the novel. Emmanuel F. Ribeiro’s Muchadura (1967; “You Shall Confess”) is a reassessment of traditional Shona views of the ancestral spirits.

The major Shona writer of novels during the 20th century was Patrick Chakaipa. His Karikoga gumiremiseve (1958; “Karikoga and His Ten Arrows”) is a blend of fantasy (it is based on a tale from the Shona oral tradition) and history, a love story focusing on conflicts between Shona and Ndebele peoples. Pfumo reropa (1961; “The Spear of Blood”) depicts the dangers of the misuse of power in traditional times: a chief, Ndyire, manipulates the traditional system to his own selfish advantage. This novel resembles the Nyanga epic Mwindo: a son of the chief, Tanganeropa, escapes his father’s murderous wrath to return later and overcome the tyrant. Christianity becomes a theme in Chakaipa’s third novel, Rudo ibofu (1962; “Love Is Blind”), having to do with the conflict between tradition and Christianity: Rowesai is beaten by her father when she decides to become a nun. She is later mauled by a leopard. At a dramatic and climactic movement, she returns home as a nun, and her father converts to Christianity. Garandichauya (1963; “I Shall Return”) and Dzasukwa mwana-asina-hembe (1967; “Dzasukwa Beer-for-Sale”) focus on contemporary urban life and its vicissitudes. In the former, Matamba, a boy from the country, falls into the clutches of a prostitute, Muchaneta. When he returns to his rural home, having been rendered moneyless by Muchaneta and blinded by her male friends, he finds his wife awaiting him. In the latter, the corrosive effects of colonialism on Shona tradition are dramatized.

In Nhoroondo dzokuwanana (1958; “The Way to Get Married”), Paul Chidyausiku attempts to bring into union traditional Shona beliefs and Christianity: using marriage as the focal point, it describes a modern African couple, Tadzimirwa and Chiwoniso, moving into their married life within the context of the two conflicting forces. Chidyausiku’s novel Nyadzi dzinokunda rufu (1962; “Dishonour Greater than Death”; Eng. trans. Nyadzi dzinokunda rufu) has its hero, Nyika, move from the traditional world into an urban setting where he is debased and disgraced. Chidyausiku wrote the first published Shona play, Ndakambokuyambira (1968; “I Warned You”), which also deals with the contest resulting when perceived notions of traditionalism are placed within an urban context. His novel Karumekangu (1970), which takes as its setting urban locales in Zimbabwe and South Africa, is an effort to blend tradition and urbanism.

The first published poetry in Shona was Soko risina musoro (1958; “The Tale Without a Head”; Eng. trans. Soko risina musoro), by Herbert W. Chitepo, a somewhat allegorical poem about a wandering African who must make a decision whether to preserve custom or to move in new directions. Wilson Chivaura wrote poetry as well, some of which was published in Madetembedzo (1969). Shona poetry also appeared in such journals as Poet, Two Tone, and Chirimo.