An African Night's Entertainment
 | |
| Author | Cyprian Ekwensi |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fiction |
| Published | 1962 |
| Publisher | African Universities Press |
| Publication place | Nigeria |
| Pages | 96 |
An African Night's Entertainment is a 1962 folktale novel by Nigerian author Cyprian Ekwensi.[1][2][3]
Plot
[edit]The novel is set in Northern Nigeria and is narrated by an old storyteller. it tells the story of Abu Bakir and his quest for vengeance after Mallam Shehu, a wealthy merchant who is in need of a child and marries Zainobe, the girl betrothed to him and the love of his life.
Despite Abu losing an eye and ear and roaming different towns in order to make Kyauta the child of Mallam Shehu and Zainobe worthless, he achieves his goal to make Kyauta a thug and kill his father. Later, Abu is killed by Kyauta who is now free of the spell cast on him earlier in the story by Abu.
Themes
[edit]Major themes in the novel include desire, vengeance and child marriage.[2][4]
Controversy
[edit]The novel was the subject of different controversy when its author Cyprian Ekwensi was accused of plagiarising Jikin Magayi a 1934 novel by Rupert East and John Tafida Umaru written in Hausa but he defended it calling it his own retelling of a folktale once told to him by an old Hausa mallam.[5][6]
References
[edit]- ^ Ekwensi, Cyprian (1996). An African night's entertainment. London: John Murray. ISBN 0-7195-7126-X. OCLC 59651912.
- ^ a b "An African Night's Entertainment". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 2021-08-20.
- ^ "Remebering [sic] Cyprian Ekwensi And His Phenomenal Works". The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News. 2018-09-24. Retrieved 2021-08-20.
- ^ "An African Night Entertainment". Adeboyefa blogspot.
- ^ "African Writing Online; Tribute; Remembering Cyprian Ekwensi by Amanze Akpuda". www.african-writing.com. Retrieved 2021-08-20.
- ^ "Could This Be Literary Fraud? Dissecting Cyprian Ekwensi's An African Night Entertainment And John Tafida's Jiki Magayi By Ibrahim Musa". Sahara Reporters. 2016-01-18. Retrieved 2021-08-20.
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