ABSTRACT
This study interrogates REVIVING THE FOLKTALE TRADITION: A STUDY OF BUKAR USMAN’S THE BRIDE WITHOUT SCARS AND OTHER STORIES. As a folklorist and towards his folktale revival efforts, Bukar Usman incorporated these tales in short story form to prevent their complete extinction. Based on the purpose of this study, which is to look at Usman’s attempt towards reviving the folktale tradition, two major theories of formalism and moral criticism have been adopted. Formalism stresses the close examination or reading of the text and insists that all statements about the work should be supported by reference to the text. Moral criticism on the other hand judges the value of literature based on the moral lessons and ethical teachings derived from them. The problems facing the folktale tradition in Africa include; rapid rate of urbanization, modernization and the rise of modern media, all of which are constituting serious menace to the flourishing of this tradition. This research work however, tries to solve these problems by meticulously examining the modification efforts of Bukar Usman, who in his quest to revive this age-old dying tradition, incorporated them in the form of short stories.
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Okoronkwo Chisom is a first-class graduate of English Language and Literature. She is the International Advisor of the African Writers’ Submit-Afwrites, winner of the Delyork Creative Academy Writing Contest 2021, and Sound of Unity Spoken Word Poetry Competition 2023. Her works have been published in PoetryColumn, Icreatives Review, New Man Gospel Magazine, World Voices Magazine, and elsewhere.
