1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background Of The Study
Reading through African novels, this research work was triggered by a lot of borrowing from oral traditional aesthetics in to the written form by African novelists. The transfer of traditional aesthetics is a common feature in African novels. According to Bodunde (2001) “…. aesthetic transfer investigates the transformation of different aspects of indigenous heritage….” (p.7)
African traditional setting in general comprises cultural activities that constitute the concept of beauty or aesthetics. These aesthetics are enriched in the belief of or custom handed down from one generation to another. The aesthetics can be found in the people’s early beliefs, religions, customs, festival, myth, legends, laws, folktales, settings, communities, metaphysics and magical ceremonies of the people. African novelists mostly source their raw materials from African traditions. This is why the transferred aesthetics were formally oral.
TRADITIONAL AESTHETIC TRANSFER AND THE AFRICAN NOVELISTS
Many African novelists owe much to traditional aesthetics. There are many examples of African novelists that their works show evidence of traditional aesthetic. Good examples are: Wole Soyinka, Amos Tutuola, Sembene Ousmane and Ngugi wa Thiongo. These writers are African novelists and they are competent in using traditional aesthetics in their works. Amos Tutuola in his novel The Palm wine Drunkard makes use of lots of traditional aesthetics. Amos Tutuola writes about African cosmology, myth, legend, folktales, belief in supernatural powers and the African sociology. The novel is rich in morals, rituals, and entertainment. The novel brings out rich cultural elements Just as Chinua Achebe and Camara Laye had brought about the cultural elements in Things fall Apart and The African Child.
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