Onitsha Market Literature

Onitsha Market Literature is a term used to designate the popular pamphlets that were sold at the large market in Onitsha, Nigeria, in the middle decades of the 20th century. Written by and intended for "common" or "uneducated" people, this literature covered a range of genres including fiction, current events, plays, social advice, and language study. Starting in the 1960s, European and American scholars began to take an interest in this form of popular literature, especially insofar as it reflected African social conditions. IU possesses approximately 170 of these pamphlets. They are uncataloged and do not circulate, but anyone interested in consulting them can contact the Librarian for African Studies, Main Library E660.