His writing has won multiple awards including the Caine
Prize and Commonwealth Writers Prize, his latest novel Oil on Water being shortlisted for three different awards, too. Celebrated
Nigerian novelist and poet Helon Habila talks about the commonalities between
Indian and African writing and how African literature is the ‘new Indian
literature’ in an exclusive interaction with Zehra Naqvi at the Jaipur
Literature Festival:
How would you
describe the ‘African novel’ if such a categorization can be made?
The African novel is a hybrid form. It is a combination of
the African folkloric tradition with the western novel form. The novel is a
western creation; it came to Africa through colonisation. The Africans had an
oral storytelling tradition. So the African novel is a new entity created by
the fusion. It uses the structure of the novel, in terms of character, the
dialogue and the setting and the folkloric such as proverbs, songs, morality
tales. You put them in the western novel and you have the Afrcian novel.
What is your greatest
inspiration to write?
It’s been the stories I was told while I was growing up, the
folktales from my mother, the women in my compound where I grew up. See, what a
story does to you, it explains the world to you. It makes the world less chaotic,
less formless. The idea of novel is structure; you can’t have a story without
structure, because there are so many things to talk about. So a story makes the
world more structured, it becomes manageable. That’s the reason why writing
appeals to me.
You’ve earlier said
that when you were writing a ‘nice, apolitical’ novel, it seemed irrelevant in
the face of the conflict around you. In a conflict-ridden region, is there
certain compulsion to write political novels?
Conflict is good for novels, it makes stories exciting! Actually,
this pressure is more internal, it’s not like someone is forcing you to do it. It’s
just me—who I am as a person. I can’t keep quiet while all this is happening
around me. But I cannot respond by going there to actively fight. So I respond through
what I know best, which is art. This is how I protest.
Do you read Indian
authors? Who are your favorites among them?
The one I like the most is White Tiger by Arvind Adiga ! It’s
almost as if he’s writing about Africa, you know! I see the same bureaucracy,
corruption, the same injustice. He’s writing about the things I write about, the
things that concern me. I relate to it.
What other
commonalities do you perceive between Indian and African literature?
We both have post-colonial identities. We have the same
history—being subjugated , wanting to protest.
And we want to show the world that we are not what you think we are. We
have our own culture and our distinct identity—so you show that through your
writing. There’s a very strong historical sense in the fiction of both.
Is there a
predominant message in your writing?
It varies from book to book.
I am influenced by different things at different times. I’m sure some
reader who would read all my books would say, oh, this is the thing you’re trying
to say! But I don’t look for unity. I always come to each new book thinking
this is something I haven’t done before. I try to challenge myself. What I really
want to do is to create more convincing characters, get better with the craft
itself. It’s not just about the message. It’s about the art, the aesthetics—what
I make the reader feel.
Do you think African
literature is coming more into focus now?
Yes, it’s definitely on the rise. African literature is the ‘new
Indian literature’! Earlier Indian writers were all the rage, now it is African
writers. It’s good for us! And it’s also good for everyone else to see that the
world is complex and diverse. This is a good moment to be an African writer.
But it’s not going to last forever! So the thing is to be a good writer,
period.
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