Obatala‟s Children: Marginal Figures in Third Generation Nigerian Fiction

Abstract

Obatala, the Yoruba creator deity, is credited with the variation in human appearance, hence, is called father to individuals with physical impairments and disabilities. An acceptance of these individuals had been ingrained in the indigenous Yoruba society to the extent that they often featured prominently in precolonial literature which was notably in its oral-aural form. Since literature, especially in the African setting, is thoroughly didactic and should mirror every part of society, this study, carried out from the perspective of the Yoruba worldview, attempts to reveal how society has been shaped, albeit unconsciously, to understate people under the category of the marginalized and investigate why and how culturally significant forms which used to constitute the bedrock of Nigerian literature have become subject to critical marginalization with the advent of colonialism in its newly emergent generations.