- Amos Tutuola
Amos Tutuola (
June 20 ,1920 -June 8 ,1997 ) was aNigeria nwriter famous for his books based in part on Yoruba folk-tales.Early history
Tutuola was born in
Abeokuta , Nigeria, in 1920, where his parents Charles and Esther were YorubaChristian cocoa farmers. When about 7 years old, he became a servant for F.O. Monu, anIbo man, who sent Tutuola to theSalvation Army primary school in lieu of wages. At age 12 he attended the Anglican Central School in Abeokuta. His brief education was limited to six years (from 1934 to 1939). When his father died in 1939, Tutuola left school to train as a blacksmith, which trade he practised from 1942 to 1945 for theRoyal Air Force in Nigeria. He subsequently tried a number of other vocations, including selling bread and acting as messenger for the Nigerian Department of Labor. In 1946, Tutuola completed his first full-length book, "The Palm-Wine Drinkard ", within a few days. In 1947 he married Victoria Alake, with whom he had four sons and four daughters.Writing
After he had written his first three books and become internationally famous, he joined the
Nigerian Broadcasting Company in 1956 as a storekeeper inIbadan , Western Nigeria. Tutuola became also one of the founders ofMbari Club , the writers' and publishers' organization. In 1979, he held a visiting research fellowship at theUniversity of Ife (nowObafemi Awolowo University ) atIle-Ife , Nigeria, and in 1983 he was an associate of the International Writing Program at theUniversity of Iowa . In retirement he divided his time between residences at Ibadan andAgo-Odo . Tutuola died at age 77 onJune 8 ,1997 fromhypertension anddiabetes .Despite his short formal education, Tutuola wrote his novels in English. His most famous novel, "The Palm-Wine Drinkard and his Dead Palm-Wine Tapster in the Deads' Town", was written in 1946, published in 1952 in
London byFaber and Faber , and translated and published inParis as "L'Ivrogne dans la brousse" byRaymond Queneau in 1953. The noted poetDylan Thomas brought it to wide attention, calling it "brief, thronged, grisly and bewitching". Although the book was praised inEngland and theUnited States , it faced severe criticism in Tutuola's native Nigeria. Part of this criticism was due to his use of "broken English" and primitive style, which supposedly promote the Western stereotype of "African backwardness". "The Palm-Wine Drinkard" was followed up by "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" in 1954 and then several other books in which Tutuola continued to explore Yoruba traditions and folklore. However, none of the subsequent works managed to match the success of "The Palm Wine Drinkard". Many of Tutuola's papers, letters, and holographic manuscripts have been collected at theHarry Ransom Humanities Research Center at theUniversity of Texas, Austin . "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" later became an inspiration for the experimental musicianBrian Eno , and led to his recording My Life in the Bush of Ghosts in 1981.elected bibliography
* "
The Palm-Wine Drinkard " (1946, published 1952)
* "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" (1954)
* "Simbi and the Satyr of the Dark Jungle" (1955)
* "The Brave African Huntress" (1958)
* "Feather Woman of the Jungle" (1962)
* "Ajaiyi and his Inherited Poverty" (1967)
* "The Witch-Herbalist of the Remote Town" (1981)
* "The Wild Hunter in the Bush of the Ghosts" (1982)
* "Yoruba Folktales" (1986)
* "Pauper, Brawler and Slanderer" (1987)
* "The Village Witch Doctor and Other Stories" (1990)Trivia
The name of a detective on the television show "Law and Order:SVU" is Odafin Tutuola. In the first pages of the introduction of "The Palm Wine Drinkard," Michael Thelwell writes that the author's grandfather was an odafin, a spiritual leader, and Tutuola was the given name of Amos Tutuola's father.
Brian Eno and David Byrne took the title of the book "My life in the bush of ghosts" for their 1981 album.
For further information
* Collins, Harold R. "Amos Tutuola". Twayne's World Author Series (TWAS 62). New York: Twayne Publishers, 1969.
* Lindfors, Bernth. "Amos Tutuola" in Twentieth Century Caribbean and Black African Writers. "Dictionary of Literary Biography", Vol. 125. Detroit: Gale Research, 1983.
* Owomoyela, Oyekan. "Amos Tutuola Revisited". Twayne's World Author Series (TWAS 880). New York: Twayne Publishers, 1999.External links
* [http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/tutuola.htm Amos Tutuola at Pegasos]
* [http://www.qub.ac.uk/en/imperial/nigeria/amos.htm Amos Tutuola at The Imperial Archive]
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