Novel
Omenuko
Pita Nwana · 1935
Synopsis
Omenuko began as an apprentice to a merchant, then set up on his own and prospered on the trade routes. One day, a bridge gives way under his carriers and his goods end up at the bottom of the river. To recover, he sells as slaves those of the carriers who survived. His people regard the act as an unforgivable offence, and he has to leave the country with his kin.
Context
The manuscript, titled Akuku Banyere Ndu Omenuko, was sent to the competition for African languages opened by the International Institute in London. Sources differ on the rank it obtained: first for some, second according to a scholarly article. The book came out from Longman two years later, in the Protestant orthography of the time, and other orthographies followed with its success. Its hero, a trader from Arondizuogu, really existed. It took eighty years for a complete English translation to appear, in 2014.
Who it is for
A short text, in Igbo, of which there is an English version accessible online but none in French. It is worth knowing that the Aro controlled the great trade of the interior, slaves included.
Prizes and reception
Prize in the competition of the International Institute of African Languages in 1933. First novel published in Igbo, and first historical novel in that language.