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Oluwagbemiga Ogboro-Cole
Mami Wata
Short Stories in Nigerian Pidgin
English
(Literaturen und Kulturen
Afrikas, herausgegeben von Yomb May, Bd. 7)
1. Auflage 2009, 74 Seiten,
Format 21 x 13,8 cm
ISBN 978-3-89896-354-1, Broschur, 11,90 Euro, 21,00 sFr
Best.-Nr. 354
Mami Wata – Short Stories in Nigerian Pidgin English seeks to facilitate the use of Pidgin English as a National
Language in Nigeria, and to create dialogue among young
people in Nigeria. Also, the purpose of producing the work
is to provide these young people an opportunity to read and
write in a language my generation was deprived of using.
Similarly, the subject and the language choice of this book
give emphasis on the use of Pidgin English as a language
rather than being perceived in the manner linguistic
researchers once did. Those researchers relegated it, with
respect to other languages, to a lower rung. Today, in
Nigeria, statistics show that four out of every five people
can speak and understand Pidgin English. Every two people
can read Pidgin English texts. In addition, the Nigerian
entertainment industry has ›pidginized‹ its productions in
order to reach as many people as possible, in spite of the
languages such people may speak. This aspect has caught on
in the Nigerian Hip Hop scene, the home video industry, the
news media etc.
Mami Wata – Short Stories in Nigerian Pidgin English is the
very first book on Yoruba folktales written in Nigerian
Pidgin English. It is hoped that this book will help to
correct wrong and past notions that the Nigerian Pidgin
English is part of a passive resistance scheme adopted by
educated elites and missionaries in Nigeria for their
various interests; in other words an »outcast language.« |
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