DOI: 10.36347/sjahss.2018.v06i04.024

Pages: 948-956

Literate love poetry in Hausa differs, in some respects, from other genres. In the first instance, it is not among the well recognised literate Hausa genres like wa’azi (exhortatory), madahu (praise) or even siyasa (political) ones that have been handed down since the 19th century [1]. Its themes are not aimed at conveying any important message to the audience. The message is targeted to an individual only rather than the society as a whole. Similarly, most writers of love poetry rarely reveal themselves to the general audience. It is the purpose of this paper to discuss the categories of this genre.