Frontiers of African Diaspora Studies
FADS, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2026, pp.120-136.
Print ISSN: 3107-1805; Online ISSN: 3107-1813
Journal homepage: https://www.fadsjournal.com
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64058/FADS.26.01.09atamr
陈平（Chen Ping）
摘要：阿莫斯·图图奥拉是非洲魔幻现实主义的奠基人，却长期被贴上“剽窃者”“洋泾浜英语”“逃避现实”的标签。本文认为，这些批评恰恰忽略了其创作的核心——对约鲁巴口头传统的“创造性变异”。从《棕榈酒鬼》到《偏远小镇的巫医》，图图奥拉迫使英语适应非洲句法与宇宙观，将人、神、鬼、兽共存的等效世界植入书面文学。他并非机械翻译民间故事，也不是贩卖异域奇观，而是在殖民语言的夹缝中，为非洲文化复兴开辟了一条独特的魔幻路径。本文进一步借助加纳阿肯族的桑科法哲学（Sankofa philosophy）——“返回并取回”祖先的智慧以建设未来——重新阐释图图奥拉对约鲁巴口头传统的创造性转化，揭示其“向前行进、回望过去”的美学结构。重估图图奥拉，就是重新理解非洲魔幻现实主义的生成逻辑。
关键词：阿莫斯·图图奥拉；非洲魔幻现实主义；民间故事；口头传统；桑科法哲学
作者介绍：陈平（通讯作者），文学博士，北京大学外国语言文学博士后，美国康奈尔大学访问学者，电子科技大学外国语学院副教授，研究方向为西方文学、比较文学和非洲文学，电子邮箱：chenping@uestc.edu.cn。
Title: Amos Tutuola (1920–1997): African Magical Realist Writing in the Retrospect of Sankofa Philosophy
Abstract: Amos Tutuola is a foundational figure of African magical realism, yet he has long been stigmatized as a “plagiarist,” a user of “pidgin English,” and an “escapist” from reality. This article argues that such criticisms precisely miss the core of his creative practice—namely, his “creative variation” of the Yoruba oral tradition. From The Palm-Wine Drinkard to The Witch-Herbalist of the Remote Town, Tutuola forces English to accommodate African syntax and cosmology, inscribing into written literature an equivalent world where humans, gods, ghosts, and animals coexist. He neither mechanically translates folktales nor peddles exotic spectacles; rather, within the interstices of colonial language, he carves out a unique magical path for African cultural renaissance. Furthermore, drawing on the Akan Sankofa philosophy— “return and fetch” ancestral wisdom to build the future—this article reinterprets Tutuola’s creative transformation of the Yoruba oral tradition, revealing his aesthetic structure of “moving forward while looking back.” To reassess Tutuola is to re‑understand the generative logic of African magical realism.
Keywords: Amos Tutuola; African magical realism; folktales; oral tradition; Sankofa philosophy
Author Biography: Chen Ping（corresponding author）, PhD, Associate Professor at the School of Foreign Languages, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. His research interests include Western literature, comparative literature, and African literature. E-mail: chenping@uestc.edu.cn.
