Reviving the Folktale Tradition: A Study of Bukar Usman's The Bride Without Scars and Other Stories | Chisom Okoronkwo

Abstract

This study interrogates REVIVING THE FOLKTALE TRADITION: A STUDY OF BUKAR USMAN'S THE BRIDE WITHOUT SCARS AND OTHER STORIES. As a folklorist and towards his folktale revival efforts, Bukar Usman incorporated these tales in short story form to prevent their complete extinction. Based on the purpose of this study, which is to look at Usman's attempt towards reviving the folktale tradition, two major theories of formalism and moral criticism have been adopted. Formalism stresses the close examination or reading of the text and insists that all statements about the work should be supported by reference to the text. Moral criticism on the other hand judges the value of literature based on the moral lessons and ethical teachings derived from them. The problems facing the folktale tradition in Africa include; rapid rate of urbanization, modernization and the rise of modern media, all of which are constituting serious menace to the flourishing of this tradition. This research work however, tries to solve these problems by meticulously examining the modification efforts of Bukar Usman, who in his quest to revive this age-old dying tradition, incorporated them in the form of short stories.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Folktale is one of the most popular aspect of African oral tradition in many African traditional societies. It is usually an imaginative narrative in prose form, handed down from generation to generation through orature. The stories that constitute a folktale may have a basis in real life, but generally, the stories are imaginative recreation of a memorable experience, intended essentially to entertain and teach moral lessons rather than to record history or social experience.

Henry Akubuiro and Simeon Mpamugoh, stated that the folktale in Yoruba language is heralded with chants of "Aloo, Aloo, otu n'agba kan."(Once upon a time). In Igbo language, it is" akpati war,"(chants thrice) "Onwere otu mgbe." (Tales war: Once upon a time). While in Hausa, it is started with "Tatsuniya." They all point to the same thing. Folktales are usually told by elders to the young ones when the size of the moon is big, at that point such that a drop of pin on a dry sandy soil can easily be seen. It is called "tales by moonlight," otherwise referred to as "egwu onwa," in Igbo language. Prior to the advent of and popularity of television, radio, magazines etc, families would gather around a crackling or spitting hearth, in a hamlet, and grandmas, grandpas, uncles, aunts, etc, would delight and captivate the gathering with stories passed on to them from their forebears.

Current scholarships in oral tradition has underline the fundamental roles folktales play in the earliest school of the child in many African communities. Many of the stories are told both for its riveting entertainment worth and for its education and moral values, which further enrich the child's appreciation of the culture and history of his community and those of others.

Scholars of literary studies, have revealed that folklore were drawn from the collective wisdom of forebears who vividly expressed their structure of meaning, feeling, thought and expression, and thus served as very important social structure. They were used to pass on knowledge, cultural and social values as well as collective memory and they played a crucial part in keeping culture alive. Young ones were taught manners, customs, and were imbued with the attitudes and values basic to them. This can be done through animal stories in which virtues and vices were attributed to particular species. There are different categories of folktales and each will be succinctly discussed in the preceding paragraphs.

1.1.1 MORAL TALES

Moral tales focus mainly on instilling moral behaviours. They point to attitudes and effects of behaviour. They demonstrate that good behaviour is positively

rewarded and bad behaviour punished, and hence encourage children to imbibe good attitudes. G. I. Achufusi had stated that “moral stories teach lessons about society, life, lessons of morality. Some of them teach or demonstrate that greed, stubbornness and laziness are reprehensible in African societies, that cleverness and devotion to duty are prized qualities” (3).

An example of moral tales can be seen in two Isoko tales that preach against greediness. In the tale of "Omovotutu," King Ogiso had a wife named Idiateme who was his favourite and another named Inare. Inare was jealous of them and eventually succeeded in killing Idiateme, who before her demise gave birth to Omovotutu. Inare made king Ogiso to forsake the child who began to struggle. She devised ways to end the child's life but Idiateme foiled her plans. The moral of the tale is that it is not good to be jealous, as this was what led to Inare's sudden death.

In another Isoko tale, "Ayebo and Anyoro: A good and bad wife," jealousy is frowned upon. We see how a woman, out of greed, sent her only son on a perilous journey to enhance their standard of living, just because their neighbours have been visited by luck. This serves as a lesson for those who would not want to know how much others have suffered before acquiring their wealth. This is why most of them meet their disastrous end resulting in the loss of their lives like the woman and her son who was led astray by his greedy mother.

1.1.2 AETIOLOGICAL TALE

Aetiological tales give explanations or reasons for events that are conveyed in the tales, highlighting why certain events take place, and why other things are what they are. Such tales explain the origin and give answers as to why certain things happen or come into existence. This tale category gives historical reasons for issues witnessed in the present such as; "why the sky is high." In the Dahomey tale, Legba made Mawu suffer. She had once stolen Mawu's slippers and made Mawu be held responsible for the stolen item. As a result, Mawu moved towards the sky. The sky and the earth those days were close. Mawu will always chastise Legba whenever she commits a crime. This made Legba to angrily connived with an old woman who will after washing her dishes, pour it on the sky. As a result, the sky moved further away from the earth. That was why the sky is away from the earth.

In another Dahomey tale, we are told why women are not told secret. In the tale, a hunter met his fortune from a serpent who gave him a ring and medicine, instructing him to dig his finger on the medicine when he reached home. He did as instructed and became rich. He was also instructed by the serpent never to tell any woman the secret of his wealth. One day, a girl from Togodo propped him, he told the girl the secret of his wealth. While he was asleep, the lady stole the ring and returned to Togodo where she dipped her finger in the medicine, making the man's entire wealth to come to her. The hunter, through the help of the dog and cat, was able to regain back his wealth. He summoned his family, and relatives and told them that when they marry, they should never tell their wives, the secret of their wealth. That was why women are not told secrets. The moral of the tale is that one should bridle one's tongue.

1.1.3 ANIMAL TALES

To Isidore Okpewo, in animal tales:

Animals are made to think, talk and behave like humans. The animals are ascribe language and attitudes (love, jealousy, hatred etc) peculiar to human beings. These human characteristics are introduced partly to entertain us and partly also because the experience of these animals are meant to have some relevance or message for us. (181)

Animal tales can be in the form of the trickster. Trickster tales are usually funny and feature animals playing pranks on other animals, breaking the rules to nab a free meal, accommodation or a prized possession. Various cultures have their trickster animals, the spider is the trickster animal from West African stories and tortoise is the trickster in many other African stories.

In the Kikuyu tale of "the hyena and the squirrel," we see how the squirrel cunningly killed the hyena whom he found out was after his life. Both animals had been good friends and wealthy herdsmen. The hyena, being greedy, wanted every wealth for himself and hence, started looking for ways to end the squirrel's life. One day, the squirrel, determined to kill the hyena, burnt a small stone, red hot, covered it on the meat and forced the hyena to swallow it on the later's return and demand for food. This led to the hyena's instant death. The moral of the story is that greediness kills.

1.1.4 DILEMMA TALES

Dilemma tales are narratives that leave listeners with a choice among many alternatives, such as; which of the several characters has done the best, deserves a reward or should win an argument or case in a court. The narrator ends his tale with a dilemma, often stated in the form of a question to be debated by his listeners. Achufusi, in this regard, has this to say: “this constitutes a large, diverse and widespread group of lively tales. Like other African stories, they are didactic in content and form an integral part of morals and ethical training in many African societies” (3).

From this statement, we can assert that dilemma tales evolve intellectual discourse among the listeners. There are questions such as; to what should happen to an erring character or who should be positively rewarded.

Henry Akubuiro and Simeon Mpamugoh, asserts that scholars are of the view that folktale tradition is seriously being threatened by rapid rate of urbanization, industrialization, environmental change and influence of internet age.

Globalization and rapid socio-economic change, also exert complex pressures on our rich cultural heritage. It is on record that these pressures have often eroded expressive diversity, and transformed our practices through assimilation to a more dominant ways of life.

Today in Nigeria, sciences are being treasured by majority of people in universities than the arts, this trend has continued to rise across Africa. We no longer tell stories to our children, instead they are being stuffed with laptops, Ipads and smart phones. Unlike the curiosity to hear more of our past, the present generation's attention, is fully wrapped up into these devices. No wonder Jimi Solanke, a renowned folk singer, storyteller, playwright and a teacher famed for the series such as "storyland," one of the folk storytelling tradition he promoted during his career on the screen, lamented concerning how digital technology is affecting our children in schools. Some of them can't talk or discuss freely and properly. It can be seen more with the children of the elites who deploy it to their best.

Bukar Usman, in an effort to revive the folktale tradition, modified these tales in the form of short stories and hence he wrote, The Bride without Scars and other Stories. The tales in this book act as an important means of connecting back the culture of our people with its moral allegories to the younger generations, that are increasingly becoming disinterested in the folktale tradition. He seems to be aware that books are the last bastion of this forgotten tradition. The limited number of materials for oral literature, underscores its limited verbal circulation across the country. The vision of Bukar Usman therefore, is to revive the folktale tradition, by incorporating it in short story form.

1.2 DEFINITION OF RELEVANT TERMS

Before delving further, it will be quite pertinent to define some terms that are at the heart of this project. Hence, it will be germane to define such terms as; folktale, tradition and folktale tradition, this will enable us gain better insight of this study.

'Folk' is an English word that comes from the German work 'volk' which means 'people,' hence folktale can be seen as stories about the day to day issues of humanity. Benson Eluwa defined it as “stories accepted because of the entertainment and moral lessons that could be derived from them. They can be called moonlight leisure stories which may be told on subject of great human being and animals” (21).

To Benson Eluwa, folktales are accepted because of the entertainment and moralistic lessons derived from them, and they can be stories about animals or human beings. This then gives us insight into the unique attributes of different animals in animal tales. In trickster tale for instance, we have the stories focused on such animals as tortoise, noted for its cunningness. Other animals like sheep and lions are noted for stupidity and valour respectively. The aim of such stories,

following Benson Eluwa's definition, is to teach moral lessons. Henry Akubuiro, quoting Charles Nnolim defined folktale as; “popular tales, handed down by oral tradition from a remote ambiguity and usually told either of animals or the common follies to draw attention to their plight and teach a lesson” (415).

From this definition, we can garner the fact that folktale has at its core moralism. It can be in the form of fables, which feature animals with the sole aim of teaching moral lessons. The definition acknowledges folktale as a communal property which contributes to its popularity among members of the community and it is handed down by words of mouth from one generation to another.

M.H Abrams sees folktales as a "short narrative in prose of unknown authorship which has been transmitted orally" (124). This implies that folktales are usually anonymous as no identified person can be considered as its author, and it is orally transmitted.

Tradition, according to Afam Ebeogu "is a synthesis of ideas, values and practices handed down from generation to generation amongst a family, a group or a people" (181). From his perspective, one will be compelled to see tradition as combinations of beliefs, practices, and values which are handed down from one generation to another to enable individuals to acquire such norms and practices. To Abigail Odozi; ”tradition refers to the cultural institutions, ceremonies, events and arts of African ancestors observed, practised and perpetuated by successors from generation to generation” (38).

It can be inferred from the above definition that tradition refers to the ways of life, rites, the occasion and the artistic practices handed down to the younger generations by their predecessors.

Folktale tradition, for the purpose of this study, will be seen as a tale or story, traditional among a people or folk, especially one forming part of the oral tradition of the common people generally and communally accepted because of the inherent lessons and entertainment derived from them.

1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This research, when completed, will add to existing scholarship and equally serve as framework for future researchers, who wish to conduct extensive research in the field of oral literature, folktale in particular.

The outcome of this research will be of immense benefit to students, especially those in literature, since it is geared towards the revival of the folktale tradition. It will equally enable and urge them to join the league of Bukar Usman, in reviving the folktale tradition by modifying it through incorporating it in literary form, and hence prevent its extinction from the literary world.

1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The scope of this study covers ten short stories, each from Bukar Usman's The Bride without Scars and other Stories. The study will cover stories involving human beings and ones involving animals respectively. It will meticulously look at the following five stories involving human beings; "the bride without scars," "the king and his marabout," "the old woman and the girl," "engaged to be married before her birth," and "destined to be queen." In the stories involving only animals, this study will cover; "the cat and the unfaithful rat," "a tale of short and long beaks," "stealing monkeys," "the spider and the chief," and "the hyena and the hare."

1.5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This research employs desk research, in which data was obtained from textbooks, internet and journals. It also employs the survey method where data was obtained from interviews.

1.6 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

This study will adopt two major theories. The first being formalism and the next being moral criticism.

Formalism stresses the close examination or reading of the text, and insists that all statements about the work should be supported by reference to the text. The argument here is that the meaning and value of a literary work resides in the text itself independence of the author's intents. Formalistic criticism examines plot, characterization, dialogue, point of view, setting and style to show how these elements contribute to the theme or unity of the literary work.

Formalism may be defined as a critical approach in which the text under discussion is considered primarily as a structure of words, that is, the main focus is on the arrangement of words or the language, rather than on the biographical and historical relevance of the work in question. The main technical concept of formalistic criticism is defamiliarization, which transform the way we look at, see, feel and verbalize the things within our reach. It consists largely of adopting a negative or contrastive approach to the distinctiveness of literature. It relies on technical construction of a text rather than on its effects on the reader, or on society, or on its existence as a sociopolitical entity.

Chinyere Nwahunanya, quoting Steiner, stated that the two general principles that underlie formalism in literature are first, that literature or its features that distinguishes it from other human activities must constitute the object of inquiry of literary theory; and second, that literary facts have to be prioritized over the metaphysical commitments of literary criticism, whether philosophical, aesthetic or psychological.

Moral criticism is the second theory that will be employed in this study. Folktales are usually didactic in nature as they teach moral lessons. The essence of which is to correct conducts and instill good morals on the listeners or readers. Moral criticism judges the value of literature based on the moral lessons and ethical teachings derived from them. As Plato rightly argued, literature and art have the ability to influence people. This theory sees literature as encouraging good out of the readers. In moral criticism according to Chinyere; “the critic brings the culture and religious assumptions of his or her own time to bare upon a literary work judging the text according to how well it fits the critic's own ethical value system”( 32).

Moral criticism evaluates the ethical content of literary works. Moral criticism evaluates the work in its totality, not as passages taken out of contexts. They acknowledge that literature can have positive effects on people.

To D. H. Lawrence, "the essential function of art is moral. Not aesthetic, not decorative, not pastime or creative" (107). To him, writers must have moral purpose. He said that arts are enactment not sermons. To him, critics must not only be emotionally alive in every fibre, but also intellectually capable and skilful in essential logic and then morally honest.

To F.R. Leavis, "a writer must have an intense moral interest of her own in life that is in the first place preoccupation with certain problems that life compels on her as

personal ones" (9). His contribution to moral criticism derives from Plato's moral criticism of art in The Republic, which has traditionally been presented moralistic, that is evaluating the quality of a work of art in terms of its good or bad moral consequences. A work of art, as a work of beauty, has moral consequences because it addresses people and affects their sensibilities and understanding.

1.7 AUTHOR UNDER FOCUS

Bukar Usman was born in Biu, Borno state on 10th December, 1942. He is an administrative historian, an expert on Nigerian folktales and an author of over thirty books. He retired from the presidency as a permanent secretary in 1998 and devoted his time to creative writing, cultural research and folklore revival in Nigeria. For his endeavours in these areas, he received an international award in the revival of Hausa folklore and a Linguistic Association of Nigeria (LAN) "meritorious service" award in 2013. In 2016, University of Nigeria Nsukka, honoured him with an award for ethical and value oriented leadership. He is currently the president of the Nigerian Folklore Society (NFS).

His works include the six hundred and fifty two (652) page compendium of Hausa

Language folktale titled; Taskar Tat Suniyoyi and four English language short story books, namely; The Bride without scars and other stories, Girls in search of husbands and other stories and The hyena and the squirrel. His non-fiction works include: Hatching hopes and my literary journey, The twin rivers of world heritage, Girl-child education in Biu emirate among others.

1.8 REVIEW OF RELATED SCHOLARSHIP

Kalyani Hazarita states that folktales are created with the experience of social life as it puts itself naturally on the social life of a community. Folktales are primarily created by the folklore of a society, and is a customarily orally circulated narrative literature. A folktale passes through different shapes as according to the passing of time. It expresses the experiences of the common people and it is nourished by the common attitude of the working class. Creative minds always want to narrate their work experience, their story of bravery and the beliefs towards the future generation.

To F.B.O Akporobaro, folktales are not bound up with particular occasion or ritual. They can be narrated by either men, women or children. In traditional societies, folktales are normally told during moonlight when people gather together.

William Rolle Dans asserts that the natural habitat of folktale is the people's verbal and performing arts, their oral literature and material culture, their beliefs, customs and institutions. Speaking on the essence of folktale, he stated its immense contribution to learning and social norms in African societies. These folktales serve African societies. in building and maintaining generations with strong African indigenous background and ways of life.

Shubba Tiwari avers that folktales do not endeavour to change the society. They try to find ways and means within the social pattern and convey their voice. Folktales do not demand revolution, they do not create tussle or fight. They just present the suppressed view. The style of narration in folktale is very simple. Sometimes, real incidents and real people over the centuries get adapted into folklore. To Chisom Okafor and Eunice Akpamgbo, nobody, village or group of persons can lay claim to folktale, this is because they are passed down from one generation to the other. No one knows the original storyteller. Folktales, even though rendered orally, do not lose their lessons, rather, they may lose parts of their story as the hearer carries it pending in his or her memory, till when he or she sees an opportunity to render such folktale. They, using the Igbo folktale as a case study, stated that folktale is unreal, fictitious and fable like. It is considered as painting a situation, scene or story that cannot and can never happen. Yet it carries deep meaning and teachings. The setting can be anywhere the narrator thinks is convenient for him or his audience. Behind every folktale, lies fascinating lessons and until listeners suspend their disbelief, they may not fully appreciate these tales and the lessons they convey.

To them, folktales act as corrective tools. This is because, elders used folktales in the ancient times to perform wonders in the lives of the young ones, the way a witch uses her magic wand to perform wonders. Folktale is told for many reasons. It may be for entertainment purposes. In this setting, the elderly or storyteller sits on a more elevated platform, whereas his audience, mostly children, sit around him in more of u-form. That way, he captures the faces of all his audience. They may either laugh, sing or clap along a chorus, in appreciation of the totality of the folktale. It can also be rendered to educate, instruct or instill morals. Folktales contain some lessons which serve as tool for correcting anti-social behaviours.

Olamide Babatunde on his own part states that, traditionally, African societies strive on oral traditional folktales. It had been the first school of the child, a natural and consistent method used to instill morals and values. He buttressed the moral values of folktales in Africa and lamented how modernism is eating away the folktale tradition, leaving it threadbare thin like an erosion piece of land. He praised the likes of Bukar Usman and Gabriel Sunday Afolayin, for releasing children literature series; Taiwo and his naughty friends. He praised Afolayin for plunging into traditional storytelling through hard copy, hence reminding us of the need to keep the fire burning by all means.

Anote Ajeluorou, speaking on the endangered nature of the folktale, praised it for being a useful tool of character formation, moral transformation, cultural authenticity, communal harmony and educational entertainment. He showed remorse for the little or no efforts made by the governments, communities, schools and parents to preserve and promote our rich oral heritage of folk narratives. He laments the rarity of the inter-generational transmission of these tales through nightly storytelling sessions these days.

Noting further, Anote lists the imminent threats to Nigeria's rich but neglected folk narratives which are; modern lifestyle, increasing urbanity and mother tongues that are fast disappearing in place of European languages. He notes that the traditional moonlight tale sessions whereby folk narrative thrived in the past are now things of the past. To him, America and much of Europe have seized on television and cinema to recreate through animation their folk narratives while Africa is yet to master the animation craft to the extent of deploying it to enrich Africa folk culture. The result then is that African children are fed on a diet of foreign folk narratives in the form of cartoons that boast of characters that are similar to those in African folk narratives.

To Innocent Anoruo, folktale, which is one of the pillars of Igbo culture and informal school through which children get inducted into the society, has begun to go into extinction due to; lack of documentation, wide travel, vocabularies and the incursion of Western education. Speaking on the efforts made to revive these tradition (Igbo), he pointed to the publication of 'Nchikota Akuko Ndi Igbo,' by George Chijioke Amadi, published in collaboration with Bukar Usman. This contains 317 folktales each of which ended with a moral lesson.

One major effort towards folktale revival in Nigeria that requires commendation according to Krasniewski Mariusz, is the formation of the Nigerian Folklore Society (NFS) which has its current president as Dr. Bukar Usman. The organization gears towards the promotion of the Nigerian oral literature and folklore. He stated the conclusion of the NFS at the annual conference of 2018 in which they acknowledge the role of modern media, both as a way of transporting the information and as a tool for the popularization of the folklore in modern times. The idea of establishing a grant form to support the introduction of Nigeria oral literature into the world of digital media, had to be welcomed as a step in the right direction. It will give the platform, not only for the scholars but also for the creators of cartoons and comic books, to promote and commemorate the rich heritage of folklore in Nigeria. Moreover, it will give the voice to the younger generation of artistic and culture makers and inspire them to explore the fascinating world of folkloric traditions. The team also advocated for the inclusion of the video game industry, as the area with huge adaptive features and promotional potential.

Documenting tales in book form, says Ajeluorou, is one necessary step that Bukar Usman had taken to preserve or revive the dying but significant art of folk narrative. In pursuance of the preservative motive of his work, Usman asserts that for many generations of Nigerian, the moonlight folktales they have relished as children, became the bedrock of their social, psychological and ethical development. Across Nigeria and in different families, folktale narration was a regular nightly experience. Unfortunately, the practice is dying out in villages and almost nonexistent in the cities. He lamented how parents and guardians, overwhelmed by the challenges and pressures of today's urbanized world, have little or no time to be with their children, let alone tell them stories. Young people too have their own distractions and alternative forms of entertainment. Therefore, there was an imploraion for children to read such books where folktales have been incorporated.

The aim of this work is to analyse how Bukar Usman, using his Biu's folktales, attempts to revive the folktale tradition by modifying the original tales to suit modern day short story. Usman, aware of the dying nature of this tradition, came up with the idea of gathering several tales from his Biu community and incorporate them into writing. This was how he came up with his short story collection, The bride without scars and other stories, which we will use to interrogate his attempt towards reviving this dying tradition.

CHAPTER TWO

REVIVING THE FOLKTALE TRADITION: A STUDY OF BUKAR USMAN'S THE BRIDE WITHOUT SCARS AND OTHER STORIES.

Bukar Usman had stated how he, following the encouragement he received from his publisher and others, decided to forage into existing literature on folktales, in an attempt to understand the place of folktale in global literature. He went ahead to collect tales from his Biu community, which according to him, enabled him to "collect over one thousand folktales within two years" (37).

Noting the place of folktale in national development, he encouraged men to dig into it so as to find hidden treasures, the way miners dig into the ground in order to find precious mineral resources. Going further, he invited readers to:

Take some time out and travel back to the period before television and radio, a time when families would gather around a crackling and spitting hearth and grandmas, grandpas, aunties or uncles would delight and captivate the gathering with stories passed on to them from their parents and grandparents from time immemorial. (33)

However, he noted the weakness of this statement and made us see sense as the fairly old people, who are repositories of oral literature are fast disappearing. He hence argued on the need to reduce the folktale tradition into writing so as to,

“revive the age old practice of telling children instructive tales by preserving in writing the world's best folktales, many of which are believed to be fast disappearing as their human repositories pass on”(34).

To revive this tradition, Usman works towards its modification which to him entails:

Changing key elements of the original tale in order to infuse into it fresh elements such as; new characters or subplots. Modification usually take place when there is need to amplify or modernize the folktale and build bigger story out of it without losing the essence of the original tale. (44-45)

It is in the process of modification that the short story writer, deriving material from folklore, has a great deal of creative latitude. Modification of an original tale from its oral source and retelling it in writing in another language is as creative as any short story writing effort can be.

Bukar Usman, in talking about his modification of The bride without scars and other stories, stated that "it is a modern short story with traditional roots" (46). He used the book to create an ecosystem where both animals and human beings exist to share political, socio-cultural and economic virtues.

Tales in Africa generally are the history of the ethnic group or the ethnic tales from the environment of that history. In this case, the book contains ten tales that are ethnic in content. They are stories from the Biu area of North Eastern Nigeria. They however, share close affinities with similar stories from other cultures. They had been passed on through orature from generation to generation, but were for the first time published in English and not in its original Bura language.

The Bride without scars and other stories, is a collection of folktales in short story form with moral lessons embedded in each of them. It is divided into human tales and animal tales, all of which gear towards teaching moral lessons to its readers or audience. It is on the basis of its didactic nature that it becomes pertinent to revive the folktale tradition and this, Bukar Usman successfully did.

2.1 STORIES INVOLVING HUMAN BEINGS

This section is made up of five different Biu folktales that involve human characters. Here we have; "the bride without scars," "the king and his marabout," "the old woman and the girl," "engaged to be married before her birth,' and "destined to be Queen."

The major theme in the titular "bride without scars," is pride, which an adage says "goes before a fall." Pride is the inherent flaw of the protagonist of the story which led to her downfall. Her flawless skin, made her pompous and eventually caused her to set standard to the kind of husband she wants. As a result, she rejected the proposal of all her suitors, including the hardworking Dandisheri who sustained a little scar from cutting tree on his big farm.

Also in this story is the theme of misconstrued identity. The bride, who had resorted to judging her suitors according to their physical attributes rather than their characters, mistook the snakes that disguised themselves as humans to woo her as having good motives when indeed they had ulterior motives. She mistook them as innocent, delicate and lovely human beings when they were the opposite and this made her fall prey into the hands of these harmful creatures that confined her on the hollow of a tree, where she was whipped, till she sustained lots of scars on her body. It was at this stage that the reality of her folly dawned on her.

There is also the theme of forgiveness in this tale. The tale is an imploration for mankind to have a forgiving spirit irrespective of all odds. This attribute was displayed by Dandisheri who irrespective of the bride's rejection of his innocent proposal, forgave and came to her rescue. The bride, upon seeing Dandisheri and his workers fetching fodder for their goats from her little confinement, called him for help thus:

Dandisheri, Dandisheri

Great farmer, Dandisheri

Dandisheri, Dandisheri

Hear me, Dandisheri

Dandisheri, Dandisheri

Listen to my cry. (19)

She implored the man to inform her people that he found her "swollen and sad inside the trunk of a baobab tree with snakes licking her without end" (19). Dandisheri, out of sympathy, agreed to convey the message home, not without reminding her of her folly:

Proud girl without scars

Why call Dandisheri

The farmer from your clan

Didn't I woo you

With gifts and vows?

But you mocked my love

Because of a little scar. (20)

The second story, "the king and his marabout," has the theme of man's frailties as it teaches against trusting in man but rather in God, since man has greater tendency of bloviating in his decisions like the unsteady wind. The disastrous effect of trusting in man can be seen in the action of the marabout and his wife who at a later part of the story forfeited their initial promise to the queen

At the outset of the story, the marabout's wife had appeared sympathetic towards the predicament of the barren queen. She suggested having her baby adopted by the barren queen upon delivery. The queen was elated and as advised feigned pregnancy. The news of the pregnancy spread like wildfire and she was under close scrutiny of some prying eyes, who doubted the verisimilitude of her pregnancy. As arranged, the queen had the baby on its delivery.

The frailty of man can be seen in the way the marabout and his wife abruptly changed their mind and demanded back for their baby at the event of the child's naming ceremony. The queen, to save herself from any form of ignominy ran away.

Theme of divine intervention is another predominant theme in this tale. The queen, at the direful moment of her life, got divine intervention. She ran into an abandoned baby in the forest and happily took the child home to restore her stolen joy and save herself from embarrassment. She arrived home with the baby just in time and dressed him up for the public naming ceremony. All were there including those that had given their undertakings, each expecting her to show no child. Her emergence with the baby left them dumbfounded.

When the baby was brought out for everyone to see, many agreed the handsome child resembled the king. The marabout, who had insisted on keeping his baby to humiliate the king could not believe his eyes. Those who had sworn that the king's wife could not have a child looked on dumbfounded. (28)

As agreed, they received their due punishment.

The inherent theme in the old woman and the girl is that of kindness. African folktales have the tendency of correcting norms and instilling good behaviours. Some Africans are noted for being avaricious as they prefer to live well even to the detriment of others. As a result, this particular tale hampers on kindness and the reward that comes with it. It recounts the story of a girl who shows kindness to an old woman and got the full reward of her kindheartedness in the long run. The kind nature of the girl can be seen in the way she spared her meagre fish for the old woman even when her mates hoarded theirs.

Theme of gratitude is another theme seen in this story. The old woman acknowledged the girl's kindness and displayed gratitude by guiding her to the palace, where she eventually ended up becoming a queen. The King had earlier made a declaration that whoever got and prepare a fish for him would become his wife. All the girls in the village tried their best but didn't succeed. The kind girl, through the advice and help of the old woman, succeeded in catching the biggest fish which she prepared for the king. The old woman, in the absence of the girl's parents, provided everything needed for her wedding. She showered many gifts on her with the declaration; “this is my own way of congratulating you on your wedding. As long as you don't tell anyone how you come about these gifts, I will from time to time bring you gifts which will so please the king that you will become his favourite wife”(34).

The old woman again came to her rescue when the king ordered all his pregnant wives to go to their parents house and stay throughout the duration of their pregnancy. The old woman took the girl, who had no parents, to her own house. As she predicted, the girl gave birth to a son when others had miscarriage.

Also evidenced in this story is the theme of envy and treachery. On her return to the palace, the girl took her son to a nearby stream to have a bath. There, a treacherous co wife made away with the baby whom she claimed belonged to her. The kind girl got banished. The child rejected the treacherous woman's breast milk. In the end, she was punished for her treachery while the real mother ascended the throne upon the king's death.

In "engaged to be married before her birth," we have the theme of covenant. Here, a man entered into an agreement with a pregnant woman whom he helped to lift her pot of water. The agreement was that the woman, upon delivery, will allow the man to befriend her child if he happens to be a boy. If on the other hand the child turns out to be a girl, the man will have her married to his son. The agreement was reached. However, the child upon delivery, happened to be an abnormal girl,

whose body was partly donkey. Not wanting to forfeit the covenant, the man had her married to his son.

Theme of love is also evidenced in the tale. The man's son, irrespective of his wife's abnormality, showed her love by being protective. Before he set off to farm each day, he would tether her to the pillar of their house like an animal, in order to avoid her "being harassed by neighbours and rascally minded children" (41). To reciprocate her husband's love, the abnormal woman would transform into a full-fledged woman to prepare food for her husband. This mysterious happening baffled her husband who became worried. Following the advice of an old woman, he went into hiding to witness his wife's transformation as she cook his food. At a stage, being unable to withstand the beauty of his wife, he emerged from his hideout and took hold of her, pleading for her to remain as she is. He apologised for whatever he must have done to her as a donkey.

"Destined to be queen," is the last human tale in this collection. Two major themes in this tale are the theme of love and reversal of misfortune.

The theme of love can be seen in the relentless love of prince Dawi towards the orphan and nature. Prince Dawi's love for nature can be seen in the way he frequently climbs the kurna tree to sit on one of the branches and survey the surrounding. It was from here that he saw and fell in love with the orphan who often sit beneath the tree to cry. He neglected her poor conditions and her step sister's interest in him, to declare his endearment towards the poor creature.

Theme of reversal of misfortune occurred the moment the orphan proffered a solution to the prince's ailment. It happened that the jealous stepsister buried needles she got from a witch, into the bed where prince Dawi often sit on his visit to see the poor girl. The prick from the needles made him feverish and his condition defiled all attempts by native doctors to cure him. It was the orphan who overheard the spirits' assertion, concerning the cure of the prince's sickness, that succeeded in making his health return back to normalcy. She had disguised as an almajiri to treat the prince, who afterwards regained his health. When he found out that the orphan was behind his healing, he made this known to his father, who instantly blessed their marriage with gifts. At the demise of the king, prince Dawi ascended the throne with the poor orphan as queen. This was how the girl rose from grass to grace thus bringing a reverse to her misfortune.

2.2 STORIES INVOLVING ANIMALS

In animal tales according to Isidore Okpewo:

Animals are made to think, talk and behave like humans. The animals are ascribe language and attributes peculiar to human beings. These human characteristics are introduced partly to entertain us and partly also because the experiences of these animals are meant to have some relevance or message for us. (181)

The second section of The Bride without scars and other stories, features animal characters. It is made up of five different stories involving animals. These stories are; "the cat and the unfaithful rat," "a tale of short and long beaks," "stealing monkeys," "the spider and the chief," and "the hyena and the hare."

Theme of unfaithfulness is the dominant theme in "the cat and the unfaithful rat." This theme was displayed by the rat who out of greed, resorted to devouring the food in the absence of the cat. The rat had come up with a suggestion of stockpiling food in readiness for the harmattan season. ”it is good to be wise and plan for the future. So let us stock up a room in this house with food for the extremely cold and harsh harmattan season when food is usually scarce” (57).

The cat agreed to the suggestion. However, the rat, whenever the cat travelled for any ceremony, would in secret, eat up their stockpile without the cat's awareness. Each time the cat returned from his travel, he would pester him about the ceremony. This pestering and unfaithfulness continued till the cat, out of anger, pounced on him and devoured him.

This tale is an example of aetiological tale that gives reasons for events that take place or why other things are what they are. It tells us why cats eat rats.

In "a tale of long and short beaks," there's a recurring theme of discontentment and deception. Cilakowa had a long beak that deprived her of suitors. Not contented with what she had, she resorted to living a life of falsity by living with someone else beak as hers. She had gone to Kodokodo to borrow her short beak for a wedding ceremony with the hope of getting a husband with it after the wedding. Fortunately for her, she succeeded in getting a husband for herself with the beak. As a result of the fake life she had resorted to living, she failed to return Kodokodo's beak to her until the later fished her out and angrily demanded back for her beak. With her long beak in place, her husband divorced her and remarried. He had rebuked her for her deceptive life thus: “you will no longer be my wife. If you had not hidden your real beak from me, maybe I would have still married you, but why did you deceive me all these while? (64)

This was how Cilakowa's deceptive lifestyle brought her marriage to an abrupt end. This is comparable to real life situation, where men live on deception, hiding their true identity from others. The essence of this story is to encourage men to shun such lifestyle.

There is theme of greed in "stealing monkeys." The hyena in the tale met his untimely doom due to his greed that made him neglect his friend's advice not to go for the bigger monkeys. When asked his reason for going after the big monkey, he responded that he did that because he "Is a big animal and that a small monkey will not be enough for him" (72). His greed implicated them before the monkeys who at that moment grew skeptical about the squirrel, who for long had been stealing them. It was his greed that made him went on horseback to pay condolence visit to the monkeys when the squirrel chose to go there with a grass cutter. His insensitivity and greed made him to get himself satiated with the drinks and food they were presented by their angry host. Being drunk, he couldn't escape their host' beatings which eventually left him unconscious.

This animal tale can be categorised as a trickster tale in which the animal, squirrel, used wit to obtain what he wants. The squirrel in the story can be considered as the trickster who with prank got himself free meals. He would order the monkeys to a pool where to him he, “Would play a trick on the monkeys by tying a thick rope to a heavy rock beside some shrubs growing by the edge of the pool. At the other end of the rope is a noose I use to trap the leg of the monkey. Then, I would request all the monkeys to dive into the pool…”(68).

Once he succeeded in making them dive into the pool, he would drop the noose, splash water on the faces of the swimming monkeys, guide the noose to the leg of any small monkey and capture it. He would them feast on his hunt.

Laziness is one of the themes in "the spider and the chief." Here, a lazy spider ate up what he ought to cultivate and began to steal from a chief's farm. He would

have his wife fry cow peas for him. In the farm, instead of working, he would sit comfortably to feast on the fried cowpeas and drinks after which he would watch bush rats play pranks. In the evening, he would return home and sneaked inside his room. He kept doing this until he had nothing else left to eat. On harvest period, he stole from the chief's farm to present to his wife as evidence of his hard labour. The chief, on noticing the depletion of his farm produce, made and placed a gummy effigy on his farm to catch the culprit. Unfortunately, the spider got stuck upon embracing the effigy.

Another dominant theme in this tale is that of false accusation. The spider, stuck in the effigy, wittily persuaded an innocent monkey to set him free. The monkey, after much persuasion, agreed to rescue the spider. Unfortunately, he got struck after the rescue. The spider reported him to the chief and accused him of being the thief. All the pleas of the monkey fell on deaf ears as the chief now mistook him as the thief, hence vowed to kill him. This theme of false accusation continued in the character of Zagodo who came to intervene. Zagodo narrated what really happened to the chief who then ordered him to fetch the cunny spider. The spider, upon Zagodo's revelation of his intent for coming, overfed him to the point that he found it difficult to talk. His only response was to nod his head. The spider did this to prevent Zagodo from saying anything that will implicate him to the chief. When both arrived at the chief's palace, Zagodo was ordered to reiterate all that he had said earlier, but he couldn't mutter a word aside nodding his head. Out of anger, the chief ordered the killing of both the monkey and Zagodo.

"The spider and the chief," is a trickster tale that lays bare, how the trickster animal, spider, got himself free meal from the chief's farm and went scot-free as a result of his tricks.

The last tale in this collection, "The hyena and the hare," has the theme of trust and disappointment. The hyena trusted the hare with her babies. As agreed, she would leave her babies in the care of the hare to hunt for food. Unknown to her, the hare fed both herself and her own babies alone, to the detriment of the hyena's babies, who as a result, began to look impoverished. Whenever the hyena requested to see her babies, the hare would give her flimsy excuse of their sleeping off after being fed. She got disappointed the day she saw how impoverished her babies looked. Upon enquiry, she was told by the babies how the hare maltreated them by feeding only her own children and forcing them to sleep on empty stomachs. At this revelation, "the hyena got annoyed and cried out, vowing to kill the hare and her babies" (82).

The next dominant theme in the tale is that of anger and hot-temperedness. The hyena in the tale, grew angry the moment she saw the sorry state of her children. Her hot temperedness made her to miscalculate and eventually led to her failure to retaliate the hare, for maltreating her babies. Her provocation blurred her mind from calculating the hare's trick of escape.

When the hare heard the hyena's threat, she was inside the hole and had no easy way of escape. She pleaded with the hyena to be patient and allow them to come outside the hole so that she would have ample space to explain to her what had actually happened to her children. (83)

This request angered the hyena. The hare however, after instructing her babies to escape once she found her way out of the hole, put together her two ears and pretended as if they were shoes. "I would tell him I am on my way out of the hole and that he should hold my shoes for me. I know he will get angry and come for me and wouldn't know I am already safe in his hands" (83).

This was exactly what the hare did and it worked as the hyena, out of anger flung her out from the hole, thinking it was the hare's shoes. The hyena's hot-temperedness made her to lose the retaliation, as both the hare and her children escaped from her fury, leaving her sulking in the hole with her babies.

Bukar Usman, through the tales in this collection, successfully reconnected readers back to the days when men listen to moonlight tales. The work is his indefatigable effort towards reviving the folktale tradition in an era where modernization is trying to erode this age-long tradition.

CHAPTER THREE

ASPECT OF STYLE AND TECHNIQUE IN BUKAR USMAN'S THE BRIDE WITHOUT SCARS AND OTHER STORIES

To M.H Abrams, "style has traditionally been defined as the manner of linguistic expression in prose or verse-as how speakers or writers say whatever it is that they say" (312). Style is peculiar to a particular person, hence Comte De Buffon coined the popular axiom, “style is the man.” This indicates that a person's style shows his or her major characteristics. To Edgar V. Robert and Henry E. Jacob, style means, "the way writers assemble words to tell the story, develop the argument, dramatize the play or compose the poem" (312). Style is individual, because all authors put words together uniquely to fit the specific conditions in specific works. No wonder Geoffrey Leech sees it as "the sum of linguistic features associated with texts or textual samples defined by some set of contextual parameters" (54). It’s not uncommon to hear statements like; Chimamanda's style, Soyinka's style, Achebe's style etc. To Robert DiYanni:

The way a writer chooses words, arranges them in sentences and longer units of discourse, and exploits their significance determines his or her style. Style is the verbal identity of a writer as unmistakable as his or her face or voice. Reflecting their individuality, writers' styles convey their way of seeing the world. (63)

Techniques on the other hand are the way language is used, in order to add more beauty to the work. They are the figures of speech employed to make the work more lively to the reader. This study therefore, explores the style and techniques used by Bukar Usman in his work; The Bride without scars and other stories.

3.1 DICTION

Language is the vehicle of communication. A writer's diction simply refers to his choice of words. Robert sees it as "the kind of word choices a writer makes" (63). As a literary device, diction refers to the linguistic choices made by a writer to convey an idea or point of view, or tell a story, in an effective way. The author’s selection of words or vocabulary and the artistic arrangements of these words is what constitutes the style and establishes the voice of a literary work. Every writer harnesses the language at his disposal to communicate effectively to his target audience or readers.

Bukar Usman's choice of words are easy to understand. He avoided the use of cacophonic words that are likely to pose problem of understanding to the ordinary readers. His words are apt, simple and easy to relay. He translated the Biu language in which the stories or tales were first told, to English, in such a simple way that will not make the tales lose their essence and moral allegories. However, words left in their original Biu language are indicated with asterisks with their explanations given at the end of each chapter. Instances include: "There was a king who became very close to his marabout.*...one day, the marabout's wife came to chat with the king's wife" (23). Marabout is the name fortune tellers are called among some people of the Sahel area. He also mentioned almajiri, an Hausa word used to refer to a young Islamic scholar in Northern Nigeria, who begs for alms to sustain himself while in an informal school. Aware that most of his audience will be oblivious of knowing what a kurna tree is, Usman at the end of chapter five defined it as a sahelian specie noted for its thick foliage, thorns and sweet nut. Aside these, no other word will pose problem of understanding to a non-Northern reader.

3.2 CHARACTERIZATION

Characters, to Robert, are "the imaginary people that writers create, sometimes identifying with them, sometimes judging them" (29).

David Skwire and Harvey S. Weiner stated that creating characters involves:

Telling us what human beings are like —is the whole point of writing stories. A story is only really interesting to us as readers because of what it tells us about people and what it makes us feel about them. This, character, the revelation of human human nature, is what a good story is all about. (366)

A Wikipedia entry sees characterization as the representation of persons (or other beings or creatures) in narrative and dramatic works.

Bukar Usman makes use of both human and animal characters in the short stories. In the first section of this story, Usman lays bare the various types of human beings while accentuating the moral lessons from the tales.

The first story, "the bride without scars," uses the character of the protagonist, the titular bride, to lay credence to the proud nature of some human beings. The titular bride, due to her impeccable skin, turned down the proposal of all the suitors that sought her hand in marriage. The snake used the opportunity to transform themselves into handsome, flawless beings to court her. She accepted one of them without any hesitation and this, was how she landed to her damnation. Usman, through the human character of the bride, who felt embittered on discovering her foolishness, teaches us the dangers of pride.

The marabout and his wife in the next story represent those humans that never stick to their words. Confident of being rescued from ignominy, the queen gladly did what the marabout's wife suggested to her. She feigned pregnancy, hoping the marabout's wife will stick to her word of giving her, her own baby till the end. Unfortunately, the woman demanded for her child back, at the verge of the naming ceremony. This tale through the two contrasting characters, warns against trusting in man.

The characters in "the old woman and the girl," show the different character traits of humans; the generous and kind ones, the stingy and considerate ones and those that never forget to repay good with good. In the tale, a kind girl readily parts away with the meagre fish she caught, when her mates hoarded theirs, to an old woman who demanded to have some. The old woman on the other hand, didn't forget the girl's kindness and generosity as she came to her aid at a certain point of her life. Through her advice, the kindhearted girl was able to marry the king whose criteria for marriage was having a girl catch and prepare the biggest fish for him. Through the help of the old woman, the girl's fish multiplied.

The old woman once again expressed her gratitude and advised the girl not to cook her own fish. She asked her to keep it in a pot filled with water. When she got home, the girl did as she was directed. The following day, she found out that the fish in the pot had multiplied into several fish, including big ones. Whenever she took fish out of the pot to cook her meals, the remaining fish multiplied to fill up the number. (32)

At the end, the kind hearted girl ended up as a queen in the palace due to her generosity and kindness to an old woman.

"Engaged to be married before her birth," hints on the character of a man who refused to break the covenant he entered into with a pregnant woman he had helped lift her pot of water. The man, as agreed, married the girl for her son even when she was abnormal.

The character of the step sister in "destined to be queen," reveals the jealous nature of some human being who want everything good for themselves. The step sister of the orphan, loved the prince even when the prince wasn't willing to reciprocate the love. On finding out that the prince instead, loved the orphan, she caused him to become bedridden even when it'll be of little benefit to her.

Aside using human characters, Bukar Usman also made use of animal characters in the tales. One peculiar thing about these folktales is the way the author assigns human roles to his animal characters. To Mbu Dora Nyuykighan: “animal characters are very popular because they are easier to manipulate than human characters. This helps prevent events and absurd situations as much as possible without making too much of a demand on the audience emotions” (125).

Noting further, he stated that certain animals have come to be regarded as symbols or concrete representation of particular character traits in most African folktales. For instance; “the hare is a trickster and a cheat. Elephants are depicted as huge but stupid. He is passive and often tricked by the hare... The hyena symbolizes greed and destructiveness. He only thinks of satisfying himself and his huge appetite” (126).

In folktales, names are seldomIy given to animal characters. They are often referred collectively as; 'the cat', 'the rat', 'the hyena', etc. Authors go ahead to assign a particular characteristics to them and readers are expected to know what they stand for by their physical attributes. Usman uses these animals to represent human beings and convey the necessary messages to his readers.

In "the cat and the unfaithful rat," the rat was shown to be an unfaithful fellow who ate up what he suggested they store for the future. This animal can be liken to unreliable human beings who come up with good suggestion only to thwart it for their own personal aggrandizement. In the story, the cat and the unfaithful rat were friends who lived together. The rat had come up with the suggestion of their stockpiling food for the future. The idea was welcomed by the cat who didn't budge an inch to show his approval. The rat however, resorted to devouring the stockpile whenever the cat went for a ceremony. He would always ask him about the nature of his travels on the cat's return. He however met his untimely doom when the cat couldn't bear the pestering any longer. "Unknown to the cat, the rat had greedily and dishonestly eaten up their stockpile. The cat, wearing a stern look, yelled... Thereupon, he pounced on the rat and ate her" (59).

In "a tale of short and long beaks," the author through the two bird characters; Cilakowa and Kodokodo, exposes that birds have different beaks. While Cilakowa's beak is long, Kodokodo's is short. The nature of Cilakowa's beak deprived her of suitors since they can't withstand her long beak. This animal character, Cilakowa represents discontented and deceptive set of human beings who can go to any length to hide their real identity. Cilakowa, not content with her beak, borrowed Kodokodo's beak to attend a friends wedding with the intention of finding for herself a suitor through the short beak. She, however, succeeded in getting a husband. Unfortunately, she refused to return Kodokodo's beak, to enable her stay in the marriage with her deception. Luck ran out of her the day Kodokodo came and took her beak. Her husband ended the marriage the moment he found out about Cilakowa's deceptive attitude.

In "stealing monkeys,' the two animal characters contrast each other. While the squirrel is shown to be witty, the hyena is shown to be clumsy and dull witted. The squirrel cleverly made away with the monkeys without much suspicion, not until he brought hyena to the game. The hyena, being dull witted, brought the act of the squirrel to the prominence of the monkeys. As a result, they beat him till he became unconscious while the squirrel was able to escape from their beatings.

Spiders in most African stories are shown to be cunny creatures. In "the spider and the chief," the spider would idle away his time in the farm. At harvest, he stole from the chief's farm till he got stuck by the gummy effigy the chief made to catch the culprit. Being tricky, he escaped punishment by wittily transferring the blames to an innocent monkey, whom he deceived into liberating him, and to innocent Zagodo.

The hare in "the hyena and the hare," represents the class of human being who use their position of authority for their own personal aggrandizement. The hare lay bare Mbu Dora Nyuykighan's assertion that "the hare is a trickster and a cheat," (126). In this tale, the hare had wisely suggested to the hyena their staying in a hole as expectant mothers, which the hyena innocently consented to. While the hare looked after the babies, the hyena searched for food. The hare would feed her own babies to the detriment of those of the hyena's, whom she left impoverished.

However, it turned out that the hare fed only her babies and, most of the time, neglected those of the hyena. After feeding her babies, and eating most of what remained, the hare threw to hyena's babies the leftovers. Anytime the hyena demanded to see her babies the hare said that once the babies were fed, they slept off immediately. The hare continued to give such excuses until one day the hyena insisted she must see her babies. (82)

The hyena went berserk on finding out the impoverished condition of her babies. The hare however, used her trick to escape punishment.

3.3 SONGS

Akporobaro believes that "songs are often rhythmical, melodic and evocative...songs normally assume a variety of forms. Some are rich, imaginative and elaborate in the play of words" (228). Songs help African people to express their good or bad feelings. Mbu Dora in his assertion about songs in folktales stated that:

Songs comment on the thematic concerns of a folktale and they are in themselves a vehicle to narrate the story in a folktale. The features associated with these songs include the call-and-response patterns, embellishing wordless phrases known as vocal grunts, parallel intervals and repetitive rhythmic patterns.

(123)

In storytelling, songs often form part of the narration and in practice it may often be the experts in musical skills who also tend to be the best story tellers. To A. I Ihezue:

Songs incorporated in creative writing makes reading pleasurable and serve the following functions; one of the functions of songs in the narrative is that they often mark the structure of the story in a clear attractive way. Songs add a musical aspect, an extra dimension of both enjoyment and skill. (60)

Folktales are often laced with songs. These songs serve many purposes one of which is to act as communication link between humans. Bukar Usman was able to incorporate songs in the tales. In the first story, "the bride without scars," the titular bride, who found herself caged in the hollow of the tree trunk, used song to solicit for the help of Dandisheri.

Dandishsheri, Dandisheri

Great farmer, Dandisheri.

Hear me, Dandisheri...

When you return home

To the land of my birth,

The land of my people,

To which I wish to return,

Please see my mother

And greet her for me.

Tell her you saw

The girl you wooed so long,

Who married the man,

The man without scars.

Tell her you saw me swollen and sad

Inside the trunk of a baobab tree. (19)

Dandisheri, in sympathy agreed to send home the girl's message irrespective of the fact that she had blatantly rejected his innocent proposal. He, in the same vein, used song to remind the bride of her folly.

Why call Dandisheri,

Proud girl without scars;

Didn't I woo you

With gifts and vows?

But you mocked my love

Because of a little scar

On my little finger! (19-20)

This song element in folktale occurred in the animal tale; "a tale of long and short beak." When Kodokodo went to enquire of Cilakowa's whereabouts, she used song to ask about her from the animals in the town.

You who are pounding

Have you seen Sheba,

Sheba from Dalailu house?

She had borrowed my beak

To attend her friends wedding

And from the wedding,

She got married herself

Without returning my beak. (63)

By punctuating this tales with songs, Usman not only enliven the narrative, but also enable the tales not to lose their essence as original folktales from the Biu tradition.

3.4 SUPERNATURALISM

The New International Webster's Comprehensive Dictionary of the English Language, defines supernaturalism as "belief in the supernatural, especially, the doctrine that there is a power not to be identified with nature, but which is the ground of its existences and is manifested in its forces, laws and events” (1259).

Something is said to be supernatural when, in accordance with the definition given by the Webster's dictionary and thesaurus for students, it "relates to something beyond or outside the nature or the visible universe" (402).

Nurbaiti Ali and Doni Efriza, generally sees supernaturalism as anything that goes beyond nature, reasoning, something unexplained by logical grounds. The supernatural beliefs have already existed in many cultures, tradition throughout human history. Supernaturalism, a belief in an otherworldly realm or reality that, in one or another, is commonly associated with forms of religion. The supernatural is also a topic in various genres of fiction, such as fantasy and horror. Some examples of supernatural phenomena are miracles, ghost, psychic abilities which are better classified as paranormal than supernatural.

The stories in folktales sometimes come with monster images. In such case, readers or listeners are meant to suspend their disbelief. This monster image that will warrant suspension of disbelief can be seen in "engaged to be married before her birth." In the tale, a woman gave birth to an abnormal child who was partly donkey and partly human. The man, who has entered into an undertaking with the pregnant woman had his son married the abnormal child as agreed. The son however, would tether his abnormal wife to the pillar of a house before leaving home each day. One begins to wonder how a full-fledged man would comfortably live with a monster till she returned back to normalcy.

3.4.1 MAGIC

Magic is one form of supernaturalism. Magic is the claimed art of altering things either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult natural laws unknown to science. The transformation of the snakes into flawless humans to woo the bride in "the bride without scars," is magical. They, having heard of the bride's decision not to accept any suitor with scar(s) turn themselves into handsome men.

When a snake in the forest heard about the girl's arrogance, he called his friends and all of them turned into human beings. They were all handsome and had no scars. When they approached the girl, she chose one of them and married him. She gathered her belongings and they all left for the bridegroom's place. (18)

There's also a little trace of magic in "engaged to be married before her birth." In the tale, the abnormal or monster wife, at the absence of her husband would magically untether herself and transform into a beautiful girl to perform house chores and prepare food for her husband, who got baffled at the mystery of being welcomed with food and water to bath. On enquiry, he was told by an old woman in his neighbourhood that; "the donkey...usually turn into a human being to do all the domestic work each time the boy went out" (42).

3.4.2 MIRACLE

Miracle is another aspect of supernaturalism. Nurbaiti Ali and Doni Efriza see miracle as an unexpected event attributed to divine intervention. Sometimes an event is also attributed to a miracle worker saint or religious leader. A miracle is sometimes thought of as a perceptible interruption of the laws of nature. God may work with the laws of nature to perform what people perceive as miracles. Theologians say that, with divine providence, God regularly works through created nature yet is free to work without, above, or against it as well. A miracle is often considered as a fortuitous event. There are various instances of miracles in the tales. In "the king and his marabout," for instance, the barren queen miraculously ran into an abandoned baby in the forest. She got divine intervention at a perilous stage of her life when she was about to face ignominy. The queen, having made it clear that she was pregnant, got disappointed by the marabout and his wife who broke their promise of letting her have their baby. To escape the impending doom hovering around her as a result, she decided to flee with her sister. However, God, in his infinite mercy, came to her rescue by causing them to run into a male child whom she presented as hers to the king.

In the night, under the cover of darkness, they took off. While fleeing through the forest, they heard a strange noise ahead of them. As they tried to tiptoe away, they paused to look in the direction of the noise. And behold, just close to their feet and wrapped in a piece of cloth, was a baby! The child was crying. They took it up and inspected it: it was indeed a healthy looking baby, a baby boy! (27)

We have in this chapter elaborately discussed the aspect of style and narrative technique employed by the author under study. Style is peculiar to a given author and hence, we've been able to lay bare here, the style of Bukar Usman in this collection.

CHAPTER FOUR

4.1 SUMMARY

In this study, attempt has been made to examine the efforts of Bukar Usman towards reviving the folktale tradition through his short story collection; The Bride without scars and other stories. Bukar Usman acted as a repository of this age-old dying tradition by modifying the tales to suit modern day short story.

This study examines succinctly the background of the folktale tradition which is one of the most popular aspect of African oral tradition, in many African traditional societies. It also gives an in-depth analysis of the different types of folktales with examples drawn from various African tales. We also attempt detailed discussion of the two theoretical framework adopted in this study. The first being formalism, a theory that examines literary texts with the belief that meaning of the literary work is resident in the work. The next being moral criticism, which judges the value of literature based on the moral lessons and ethical teachings derived from them. The study equally delved into a thorough examination of the nature, essence and fast disappearing trend of the folktale tradition as a result of modernism and at the same time proffered solutions towards its revival.

However, the central focus of this work is the in-depth study of Bukar Usman's revival of the folktale tradition. The work captures thematic analysis of the ten short stories in the collection; The bride without scars and other stories.

Also examined is the author's style and technique. Because every writer has his or her own unique way of writing, we focus our interest in analyzing Bukar Usman's style of diction, characterization, use of songs and supernaturalism in his work.

The study of Usman's collection of folktales in The bride without scars and other stories, shows a new era or dawn of folktale revival in print and mode of narration.

4.2 CONCLUSION

Folktale is an important aspect of African oral tradition passed from one generation to another through orature. There is usually some moral lessons embedded in the tales and children gain their informal education through these tales. Modernization or rather Western civilization, however, has bastardized some African traditional practices one of which is folktale, thus, leading to its gradual extinction.

Some writers, being repositories of this dying tradition, have wakened to the realization of the need to revive it and hence, the likes of Bukar Usman made attempts to revive these tales through modification. Among the needs to revive this tradition include its educative nature. Folktales in African societies are used to inculcate good morals on every child. They do this through the moral lessons embedded in them. Aside being educative, such tales are good means of entertainment. Modernization was one major thing that dealt a serious blow to this tradition of folktale. Children have devised modern means of entertainment while parents, on the other hand, have no time to tell such tales to their children.

In an era of modern media, where books, television, cell phones, internet etc, thrive more than oral literature, Bukar Usman decided to incorporate these tales in short story form. He seems to be aware that books are the last bastion of this dying tradition. As a result, this study focuses on reviving the folktale tradition in a modern era where it is gradually going into extinction. This is an attempt to prevent the folktale tradition from being relegated to the mud.

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