D.O. Fagunwa

D.O. Fagunwa (born 1903 or c. 1910, Okeigbo, near Ondo, Yorubaland, Southern Nigeria [now in Nigeria]—died December 9, 1963, near Bida, Nigeria) was a Yoruba chief whose series of fantastic novels made him one of Nigeria’s most popular writers. He was also a teacher.

Fagunwa’s first novel, Ogboju Ode Ninu Igbo Irunmale (1938; The Forest of a Thousand Daemons), was the first full-length novel published in the Yoruba language. His second novel, Igbo Olodumare (“The Forest of God”), was published in 1949. He also wrote Ireke Onibudo (1949; “The Sugarcane of the Guardian”), Irinkerindo Ninu Igbo Elegbeje (1954; “Wanderings in the Forest of Elegbeje”), and Adiitu Olodumare (1961; “The Secret of the Almighty”); a number of short stories; and two travel books.

Fagunwa’s works characteristically take the form of loosely constructed picaresque fairy tales containing many folklore elements: spirits, monsters, gods, magic, and witchcraft. His language is vivid: a sad man “hangs his face like a banana leaf,” a liar “has blood in his belly but spits white saliva.” Every event points to a moral, and this moral tone is reinforced by his use of Christian concepts and of traditional and invented proverbs. Fagunwa’s imagery, humour, wordplay, and rhetoric reveal an extensive knowledge of classical Yoruba. He was also influenced by such Western works as John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, which were translated into Yoruba by missionaries.

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Some Yoruba intellectuals disliked Fagunwa’s lack of concern with contemporary social issues. Other critics pointed to his knowledge of the Yoruba mind, his careful observation of the manners and mannerisms of his characters, and his skill as a storyteller.