An African Popular Literature: A Study of Onitsha Market Pamphlets

Published in 1973, An African Popular Literature serves as a foundational academic study of Onitsha Market Literature. This unique textual phenomenon emerged in the bustling Onitsha market in southeastern Nigeria between the end of World War II and the Biafran crisis. The genre consisted of locally produced, inexpensive pamphlets that offered advice on relationships, moral discourses, how-to guides, fictional stories, and commentary on current affairs.

Emmanuel N. Obiechina analyzes the conditions that led to the rise of this literature and examines its language and themes. He argues that these accessible pamphlets provided essential guidance to a rapidly changing society. The book compares this literary explosion to the role of pamphlets in Elizabethan and eighteenth-century England during their periods of societal upheaval. An appendix includes facsimiles of original pamphlets to illustrate their practical style.

Obiechina brings immense academic weight to this study. Born in 1933, he earned his PhD in English from the University of Cambridge in 1967. Over a career spanning decades, he taught at universities across Africa and the United States, including a period as a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University. His work provides vital historical context to one of the most vibrant periods of popular publishing in West African history.