LIT 411: The African Novel

Purpose of the course

The purpose of the course is to equip students with knowledge of the

characteristic features of the African novel, its thematic concerns and its
evolution and development

Expected Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course the learner should be able to:

1. Discuss thematic preoccupations of African fictional writers

2. Evaluate aesthetic trends in the African novel
Course Content

 Introduction to characteristic features of African novel

 Thematic concerns
 Development novel of African novel
 Novel and social criticism in post independence Africa: focus on
prominent African novelists like Achebe, Armah, Ngugi, Ousmane,
Abrahams

Mode of Delivery

Lectures, Tutorials, Class Discussions

Instructional materials/Equipment

Chalkboards/whiteboards, handouts

Course Assessment

This will consist of three Continuous Assessment Tests (30%) and an end of
semester exam (70%)

Peer Review

Observation of lessons by the Head of Department and other lecturers,

evaluation forms completed by students

Core reading material

1. Armah, K. A. (1988) The Beautyful Ones are Not Yet Born. London:
Heinemann
2. Achebe, C. (1987) Anthills of the Savannah. Lagos: Anchor Books
3. Mariama B. (2008) So Long a Letter. London: Heinemann
4. Thiong’o, N. (1977) Petals of Blood. London: Heinemann
5. La Guma, A. (1972) In the Fog of the Season’s End. London: Heinemann
Recommended reading material

1. Thiong’o, N. (1981) Writers in Politics. Nairobi: EAP

2. Gikandi, S. (1987) Reading the African Novel. New York: James Currey

The rise of African novel

As the title indicates, African novel refers to the literature of African peoples.
While western views of literature tend to stress the separation of art and
content, African awareness is all inclusive. Art for art’s sake stresses the
artistic use words for the sake of art alone. Without denying the important
role of aesthetics in Africa, it should be borne in mind that art is not radically
detached from teaching in African context. Africans normally deploy beauty,
as in oral literature, to help communicate important truths.

African novel is seen as having gained momentum during 1950s and 1960s
at height of intense nationalist activities challenging colonialism. The African
bourgeoisie or elite then were the product of the missionary education. The
white colonialists had then acquiesced to granting political, but not economic
and cultural independence to their colonies. As a result the local elite
engaged in artistic form inherited from the west but inspired by the local
tradition. Amos Tutuola’s The Palmwine Drinkard (1952) was based on
Yoruba Mythology, using folktale tradition as form. This was closely followed
by Camara Laye’s L’Enfant noir (later translated The African Child and later
in American edition The Dark Child, an episodic novel which relied on African
oral tradition to vaunt the merits of African past, tradition and civilization.
Chinua Achebe’s Thing Fall Apart joined the list of novels which sought to
correct the ugly perception of Africans while Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Weep Not
Child published in 1964 called upon Africans of the newly independent Kenya
to embrace education and enterprise as a way of Western imperialism and
Indian entrepreneurship. African novel therefore claims to be legitimate heir
to traditional legends through which griots chronicled community’s history.
As already mentioned it has much in common with African oral tradition
which if often referred to as the African classical tradition.
The success of the African novel therefore is attributed to the elite’s ability to
use western form to herald African values within and outside and within the
continent. The novelist often relied on oral legends and tradition as their
springboard in their creative work. The work of renowned novelist like
Ousmane, Ngugi, Achebe, Oyono, Armah, Beti, Laye and many others in
some way is seen as having occluded or overshadowed the impact of other
genres.

African fiction has also been written by non Africans, African slaves and by
Africans in Diaspora. But some of these works lack authentic African form
and content. This aspect therefore challenges their inclusion in African fiction
category. Fiction is an imaginative reproduction of real life experiences. This
implies that the subject matter in every must reflect the social realty of its
milieu( environment where it emanated).certain novels written by non
Africans like Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Joyce Cary’s Mister
Johnson contain distorted image of African society that need to be corrected.

There are also African fiction written by African slaves and Africans who are
in the Diaspora. Some of these works do not reflect African culture, style and
tradition and can hardly be defined as authentic African fiction. Some
African fiction writers like Wole Soyinka, Chimamanda Adichie, Ngugi wa
Thiong’o, Ben Okri and Chinua Achebe; however, have made an impact even
though they write from outside of the continent.

The themes dealt with by African novelist range from art, religion, urban life,
tradition and culture, apartheid, ironies of life, to pre-colonial, colonial, and
Neo-colonial reality etc.
Points to note in the rise of African novel

 Art for art’s sake stresses the artistic use words for the sake of art
alone
 Without denying the important role of aesthetics in Africa, it should be
borne in mind that art is not radically detached from teaching in
African context
 African novel is seen as having gained momentum during 1950s and
1960s at height of intense nationalist activities challenging colonialism
 As a result the local elite engaged in artistic form inherited from the
west but inspired by the local tradition
 Early novels while relying on western for ultilized african oral fors like
folktale, mythology etc. Oral legends and tradition as their
springboard in their creative work
 Earliet african novels include Palmwine drinkard(1952), african child,
Things fall apart and Weep not child


Early novels (colonial times)

  Daniel O. Fagunwa’s Ogboju Ode Ninu Igbo Irunmale,(in Yoruba- in
1938), Igbo Olodumare (The Forest of God, 1949), Ireke Onibudo
(1949), Irinkerindo ninu Igbo Elegbeje (Expedition to the Mount of
Thought, 1954), and Adiitu Olodumare (1961).
 Amos Tutuola’s The Palmwine Drinkard(1952), My Life in the Bush of
Ghosts(1954),

Novels of the city

 Cyprian Ekwensi’s People of the City(1954), Jagua Nana and Jagua
Nana’s daughter (a sequel )
 Ben Mtobwa’s (Achebe, 1958) (Achebe, No Longer at Ease, 1964) Dar
es salaam by Night
Novels of the rural setting

 Things Fall Apart

 Elechi Amadi’s The Concubine

Classless novels

They are located to city as well as rural setting and engender the qualities of
the two locations. The juxtaposition allows the authors to make analogies
between the two settings and afford readers opportunity to see the tragic
effects of colonialism on African culture and values. Such novels include:

 Chinua’s No Longer at Ease

 Buchi Emecheta’s Joys of Motherhood
 Ngugi wa Thiongo’s Weep not Child and Grain of Wheat

Post Independence Novels

1. Chinua Achebe’s No Longer at Ease, A Man of the People and Anthills

of the Savannah
2. Armah’s The Beautyful Ones are Not Yet Born
3.

Themes and concerns

1. Politics of Land
2. Politics of Apartheid
3. Independent Africa
4. Politics of Corruption
5. Politics of Militarism

The politics of land

The politics of land is a common feature of East African novels especially in
the novels of Ngugi wa Thiong’o. East African land is very fertile for the
production of coffee and other cash crops like cabbage, carrot, cucumber,
onions and other edible vegetables and fruits. The British and Indian
immigrants and colonial masters decided to disinherit the Africans of their
land. This they converted to personal farms and employed the Africans as
slaves to work in their disinherited land. The situation resulted in anarchy
and other forms of land policies that never favoured the Africans. The matter
became more worrisome when some Africans became agents for the whites
in this disinheritance business. The Africans reacted by organizing
themselves into guerrilla groups to fight these whites and regain their lands.
Many African writers wrote to express their displeasure at this critical
situation. Other African writers also wrote about the issue of land but in
different forms from what the East African writers did. Some other writers
wrote about land from the point of view of identity and patriotism. For the
purposes of this course, we shall concentrate on the politics of land in East
African novels for this unit.
Some of the novels which address this theme include:
1. Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Weep Not ,Child
2. Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s A Grain of Wheat
3. Peter Abraham’s Mine Boy

Conclusion

The issue of land is an age-long fact relating to the essence of African culture
and personality. There is no African community without recourse to land as a
high spiritual essence. In Ngugi Wa Thiong’o’s novels: Weep Not Child and A
Grain of Wheat, we see how Kenyans fought to recover their land because of
the way the white settlers took over their land and use them as manual
labourers on their land. The trauma was unbearable to the extent that the
people decided to take up arms to fight for their land. This led to the years of
guerrilla wars in East Africa until the demise of colonialism in the region.
Ngugi Wa Thiong’o presented the realities of the war of land in Kenya and
the fight for Uhuru (Independence). The other writers reflected politics of
land in other ways as in Achebe’s Arrow of God and Amadi’s Concubine
novels earlier treated. There are other treatments of politics of land in
African novels but none can be seen as very serious like the East

The politics of apartheid

The policy of apartheid was introduced by the Africaner in South Africa who
took over the power from the majority blacks and coloureds. Apartheid
means separateness. The policy of separateness was a form of racial
discrimination which imposed racial segregation in residential areas, public
facilities, and development agenda. Interracial marriages and sexual were
outlawed under the law and Africans were forced to live in native reserves
known as the Bantustans.

Under the policy of apartheid Africans and to a certain extent, the coloureds
got a raw deal. The country was rich in terms of resources which were fully
exploited, and economy was strong but the white got unfair advantage over
the majority black Africans in terms of resource allocation and development
agenda. Legislations enacted by the minority government in power were
often oppressive to the nonwhites. As a result many African leaders notably
the Late Nelson Mandela, Oliver Thambo, Walter Sisulu, Robert Sobukwe ,
Steve Biko and many other elite spearheaded the struggle against the
apartheid regime. The novelist were not left behind; they also participated in
the struggle mainly by in exposing the ills of South African apartheid to the
world. The ANC has had to transform itself rapidly from a liberation
movement espousing revolutionary socialism to a political party defending a
culture of human rights, and Mandela reveals his indebtedness to several,
not always compatible discourses that in both South Africa and the world
opposed apartheid. After a struggle with his own early African nationalism,
Mandela acknowledges that he was fighting for a truly united country devoid
of class, race or colour.

Peter Abrahams Mine Boy is the first written novel to highlight conditions of
black South African under the apartheid system. Some have said that
Abrahams is the first novelist in South Africa to pose possible solution to
continuing crisis of black experience in industrial city. Abrahams present us
with characters who negotiate the uncertain and often tragic terrain of the
colonial experiences introduced and induced by diseases. In particular,
characters confront and deal, as best as they can, with somatic,
psychological, and psychosomatic diseases in ways that highlight the racism
of colonial South Africa.

Alex La Guma’s A walk in the Night describes the political existence of

coloured people in district six slums in cape Town. He explores the pathetic
situation of slum life through the actions of four characters one night.
Throughout his fictional writings about South Africa, La Guma explores the
tension between human rights and social responsibility against the backdrop
of the nation's separatist policies.

The novels in independence

The independence initially brought so much optimism to many Africans who

had suffered decades of terrible injustices under white domination.
Revolutionary African leaders who were the vanguard of Pan -Africanist
ideals like Kwameh Nkrumah and Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba inspired
this optimism. But by 1970s the optimism had started waning as the
challenges of corruption and mismanagement paralyzed the budding African
economies. The few well connected individuals at the high echelons of power
started looting the economy as the poor masses became even poorer. Under
this backdrop, the artist and activists started highlighting the situation and
prescribing solutions some of which, as Man of the People, might be
considered extremely radical indeed.

Armah’s Beautyful Ones Are not yet Born (1968) tells of an unnamed rail
worker who is under pressure to accept bribe in order to support his family.
Other workers accepted bribes and were able to live comfortable lives with
their families. He perceives himself as a failure and social misfit for not being
able to provide for his family. His honesty turns him a social misfit. The book
is filled with images of birth, decay and death, most notably in the form of
a manchild who goes through the entire life cycle in seven years. This
manchild is a metaphor for post-independence Ghana. The novel depicts with
bewildering harshness post independence Ghanaian society. The temporal
setting coincides with the twilight of Kwame Nkrumah’s administration.

{See also Ngugi’s Wizard of the Grow (2006)}

Politics of corruption

Achebe’s No longer at Ease

No Longer at Ease is a 1960 novel by Chinua Achebe. It is the story of Obi

Okonkwo, who leaves his village for a British education and a job in the
Nigerian colonial civil service, but who struggles to adapt to a Western
lifestyle and ends up taking a bribe. The novel is the sequel to Achebe's
Things Fall Apart, which concerned the struggle of Obi Okonkwo's
grandfather Okonkwo against the changes brought by the English people.

No Longer at Ease by Chinua Achebe is the story of a young Ibo man

educated on scholarship in England, whose fine civil service job with perks
and a beautiful fiancé get him caught up in a system he loathes and swiftly
causes him to lose all.

Twenty-six-year-old Obi Okonkwo is convicted of accepting bribes as a civil

servant. His boss, who testifies against him, and another British colonial
official wonder what it is in the African makeup causes such aberrations,
while Obi's people in the Umuofia Progressive Union (UPU) see it being
merely a case of an inexperienced young person not going about it in the
established manner. How Obi comes to this end is examined.

Obi meets beautiful Clara Okeke at a dance in England where both are
studying, but makes no impression on her. They meet again travelling home
to Nigeria, and their first kiss is interrupted. Obi's first contact with the UPU
upon arrival goes as poorly as his first dance with Clara: he dresses casually
and fails to prepare a grand speech. He prefers to room with an old friend
than to be put up in a shoddy Nigerian-run hotel. UPU officers discuss how
bribery works but doubt someone like Obi who knows "book" will need to
resort to it. Obi's job interview turns into a literary discussion, and he visits
his village while waiting for the verdict. The offering of kola nuts to honour
his homecoming becomes an occasion for conflict between his
fundamentalist Christian father and "heathen" villagers. Old Isaac is ready to
"depart in peace", having seen his son returned. Mother Hannah is waiting
for Obi's first child before she leaves. Why Clara wants Obi not to mention
her is a growing concern.

Obi's boss, Mr. Green, is a European frustrated by living in times when he

cannot treat Africans as he pleases. Obi receives special allowances that
make him feel financially flushed. He insists on buying Clara an engagement
ring after she reveals she is a member of an untouchable caste, the "osu".
Obi is confident that love conquers all, setting up conflict with his parents.
He is first confronted by the UPU, which he asks for a four-month grace
period before beginning to repay his loan. When Clara is mentioned, Obi
loses his temper and proudly rescinds the request. Obi gradually befriends
an English secretary, Marie Tomlinson, with whom he shares an office. He is
proud of overcoming his first temptation to take a bribe, but finds it hard to
live on his wages. Obi and Clara conflict over a bank overdraft he takes, and
she gives him £50 to cancel it.

Obi's friend Christopher emerges as an icon of male chauvinism and an

adaptation to Nigeria's double cultural heritage. Christopher joins Obi's
parents in objecting to Clara. He goes home to visit his dying mother, argues
from scripture with his father about there being no longer "slave and free",
but has no answer to his mother's threat to commit suicide if he marries
Clara. Returning to Lagos, Obi's finances worsen as Clara needs money for
an abortion. Obi begins taking the bribes, monetary and sexual, that he has
resisted so valiantly—and in Christopher's view stupidly. The novel concludes
with Clara's disappearance and Obi's mother's death. He goes through the
grieving process rapidly, accepting realities, and achieving unexpected
peace. Obi gets stung by the police on a small bribe, and the last paragraph
refers back to the opening chapter: "an educated young man and so on and
so forth".

The Politics of Corruption in Armah’s The Beautiful Ones are not

Yet Born

In The Beautyful Ones are Not yet Born, this deeply symbolic book
published in 1968, Ayi Kwei Amar vividly captures the seemingly endless
spiral of corruption, moral decadence and spiritual death in post-colonial
Ghana.
The book tells the story of a nameless man who struggles to reconcile
himself with the reality of post-independence Ghana. Referred to throughout
the book, as simply, “The Man”, he refuses to take a bribe, something that
angers his wife.

The Man keeps a humble job, and despite the constant naggings of his wife,
he lives an honest life, even if that condemns him to a life of poverty. He
represents the lot of the common man in Ghana – who has no choice, but to
reside in the poorest slums and live from hand to mouth.

On the other hand are Ghana’s new leaders, “the black masters” who prove
to be worse than the colonialists. They partake of corruption and other vices
with such impunity that it has become the way of life for some. Koomson,
The Man’s friend, is one such politician. His immense wealth results from his
corrupt activities.

Similar stories of corruption and moral decadence abound throughout the

book. In another incident, we are told of a bus conductor who is abusive to
his passengers and other road users, including a pedestrian crossing the
road. The abusive conductor and his derelict bus are symbolic of the newly
independent Ghana, heavily ridden by corruption and indigence.

Other notable characters in the book include “the teacher”. Like “the man”
he abhors the corrupt society that Ghana has become. He chooses to stay
away from it all by becoming a recluse. He has given up hope that society
will ever shake off corruption, hence his symbolic exit from the society.

When a military coup occurs, there is some hope that things might change,
but sadly, life continues as usual. The military officers join in and start to
take bribes too.

The Man helps Koomson, the politician escape from the country through a
faeces-ridden toilet-bucket crevice. Ironically, The Man also follows Koomson
through the ‘shit-hole’ implying that even those who have avoided corruption
are affected by those who engage in it.

Although The Beautyful Ones are Not Yet Born focuses on post independence
Ghanaian society, it is symbolic of many other developing countries, where
corruption remains a major problem at all levels.

For the common man, there seems to be no end to the scourges of

corruption and moral decadence. Indeed, it appears the saviours or the
“beautiful ones” as Armah calls them, are not yet born”
Other novels which feature corruption include: Dambudzo Marechera House
of Hunger, Ngugi wa Thiong’o Devil on the Cross, Petals of Blood, Mongo
Beti’s Mission to Kala etc.

Conclusion

According to Walter Rodney, “The educated Africans were the most alienated
Africans on the continent. At each further stage of education, they were
battered and succumbed to the white capitalist system, and after being
given salaries, they could then afford to sustain a style of life imported from
outside . . . That further transformed their mentality."
(96) This was the case with Obi Okonkwo in Achebe’s No Longer at
Ease. He was a man from the great lineage of Okonkwo who would do
anything positive to retain his image in his community. Okonkwo is a man
who believes in self struggle rather than cheap accolades. He rose to the
highest position in his society by hard work and dedication. But obi Okonkwo
seemed different from him. He was pushed to take bribe and even to marry
an Osu (outcaste). In The Beautiful Ones are not yet Born, we see The Man
struggling to come to terms with the rot in his society. He discovers that the
colonialists have implanted corruption and other types of social vices on the
African society. Before colonialism and with their indigenous learning mode,
Africans had a system of justice and decency; truth and sincerity were the
order of the society.

Politics of the Militarism

Military takeover was a common phenomenon in many independent African

nations .It was commonly believed that military rulers who tasted the power
never wanted to relinquish it. A very clear example is Nigeria where military
leaders led the nation for thirty years. Many military leaders became
dictators and exceedingly corrupt.

Achebe’s Man of the People has been described by several people as

prophetic novel for it was launched at the brink of the first military coup
d’état in Nigeria. Achebe apparently thought that the high level corruption
going on among the first republic politicians might trigger possible coup as a
corrective strategy .the dream however turned into a nightmare as military
junta started siphoning off people’s resources to foreign accounts and
employing military repression to stave off any opposition.

A Man of the People was written by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe in 1966.
The book is narrated by Odili, a young teacher in an unnamed African
country run by greedy and corrupt politicians. His own former teacher,
referred to as both “Mr. Nanga” and “Chief Nanga,” is now an elected official
and the Minister of Culture of the country. When Chief Nanga comes to visit
his home village, he and Odili meet again, and Chief Nanga invites Odili to
stay at his home in the capital city while the Chief makes arrangements to
help Odili study abroad. Despite his dislike for Chief Nanga’s politics and his
way of doing business, Odili is somewhat charmed by the man. He is also
attracted to a young woman, Edna, who travels with Chief Nanga and is
supposed to become the Chief’s second wife.

Odili accepts Chief Nanga’s invitation, and spends time with him in the
capital city. Odili learns that Chief Nanga lives in luxury as a result of his
corrupt practices and knows very little about culture, despite his position.
Odili has had an affair with a young woman, Elsie, whom he brings to Chief
Nanga’s home with the intention of spending the night with her. However,
she sleeps with Chief Nanga instead. Chief Nanga doesn’t understand why
this makes Odili angry. Odili decides he will take revenge on Chief Nanga by
seducing Edna, the young woman the official plans to marry.

Odili becomes involved in a new political party that seeks to replace the
current ruling party. As he becomes more and more opposed to Chief Nanga,
Odili decides to run for office in an attempt to take Chief Nanga’s position.
The members of the new party believe they will provide more effective, more
honest government. However, Odili learns the people of his country are quite
cynical. They expect politicians will take bribes and make themselves rich. In
fact, many of the people Odili meets are primarily interested in getting a
share of the money gathered by corrupt officials.

Odili struggles with a number of moral decisions as he wages his campaign,

for example having to decide whether to take money as a payment for
withdrawing from the election. He tries to show the people the present
government is lying and stealing, but no one seems to care. In fact, Odili is
threatened and bullied as he tries to run his campaign, and his father and his
village are punished for his actions.

Odili realizes he is genuinely in love with Edna, and his desire for her is no
longer just a result of his wish to get revenge on Chief Nanga. Edna,
however, feels obligated to marry the Chief because he has given her family
money and her father is pressuring her.

Odili decides to attend the event that launches Chief Nanga’s campaign,
where Odili is recognized and beaten nearly to death. During the weeks of
his recovery in the hospital, things change in Odili’s personal life and for the
entire country. Although Chief Nanga’s party wins the election, the aftermath
is unrest and chaos, and ultimately the military overthrows the government.
Then the people of the country come forward and talk about how terrible the
former government was, despite their support for the same elected officials
when they were in power. Edna stands by Odili through his recovery, and
eventually his family makes arrangements for Odili to marry her. Odili is sad
to learn of the death of his friend Max, who was killed by a former
government official, but reflects an honourable death is about the best, one
can hope for in so corrupt a country.

The Politics of Militarism in Achebe’s Anthills of the

Savannah

The post-colonial world of “Anthills of the Savannah” is a world like that of “A

Man of the People.” The novel is set in “a backward West African state called
Kangan,” and concerns three English-educated friends who, after a military
coup, abruptly find themselves in the roles of president, commissioner of
information and editor of the nation’s principal newspaper -- and friends no
longer.

His Excellency, called Sam by his old classmates Chris Oriko and Ikem Osodi,
has surrounded himself with a ludicrous executive council, “a solid wall of
court jesters,” one of whom, the attorney-general, proclaims, “We have no
problem worshipping a man like you.” He insinuates that Chris, the
commissioner for information, is not “one hundred percent behind you.”
Added to Sam’s fear of betrayal is his anger at the failure of Abazon
Province, the home of his classmate Ikem, to approve a referendum to make
him president-for-life. And now, as the novel opens, a delegation from a
village in the province has come to demand help for their drought-stricken
land. “Your greatest risk,” says the Attorney-General, “is your boyhood
friends, those who grew up with you in your village.”

And how true this is, for Ikem, now editor of The National Gazette, is a
crusading poet-journalist who, in scathing editorials, opposes the circus-like
public executions in Kangan as well as Sam’s personal bids for deification by
having his face placed on the national currency. He is also Achebe’s alter-
ego, believing that “a genuine artist, no matter what he says he believes,
must feel in his blood the ultimate enmity between art and orthodoxy.” Ikem
longs for union “with earth and earth’s people.” His love of truth and people
transcends political ideology, and he becomes a popular hero among
students after Sam dismisses him from the Gazette. In a speech at the
University of Bassa, his passion rises to the level of poetry:

“You must learn for a start to hold your own student leaders to responsible
performances; only after you have done that can you have the moral
authority to lecture national leadership . . . I see too much parroting, too
much regurgitation of half-digested radical rhetoric . . . Revolutions are
betrayed just as much by stupidity, incompetence, impatience and
precipitate actions as by doing nothing at all.”

During this speech Ikem severely criticizes His Excellency. Sam retaliates by
making him and the Abazon delegation scapegoats for all Kangan’s ills, and
then has Ikem arrested. His “accidental death” follows. Chris, his lover
Beatrice Okoh, a secretary in the Ministry of Finance, and Ikem’s pregnant
lover Elewa, know their incarceration is next. As Chris goes into hiding,
hoping to escape to Abazon Province, Achebe’s novel achieves nearly
unbearable suspense, as the entire country collapses into student revolt,
midnight raids by Sam’s secret police -- the State Research Council -- and a
coup d’état.

Awhile later, Chris too is charged with treason and becomes a fugitive for
real. After a couple of weeks hiding, he decides to travel away from the
capital to the province of Abazon. When he reaches the province, it turns out
that there has been some kind of a coup d'état and the President has fled
the country. Upon hearing this he joins a celebration on the street and meets
a drunken policeman. By accident, the man shoots him dead.

Conclusion

The role of the military in Africa has been more of the negative. As seen in
the two novels under study, they come to correct but end up destroying what
they ought to correct. A 'post-colonial' view of African history is an entirely
ugly record because of the ugly military imposition of power. This study
enables us to understand what a people have become in the process of a
particular form of political and cultural contact. It tells of an important, even
crucial, moment in a process of becoming a stable political nation. It
acknowledges that colonialism was a fact of history that Africans cannot
dismiss urgently. Post colonialism, in this sense, is an age after innocence.
But though not irrelevant, this approach to history can be a limiting, and
possibly a misleading, one.
Post-colonial African history thus becomes the story of the end of old history,
of old identities, and of moral standing.
The military created regimes of trauma. In such regimes, national identity is
a mere fabrication, defined by passports and legal instruments merely, a
form of identity. In such a situation, history is the account of the post-colonial
encounter because there are no longer nations and peoples, and there is
nothing to remember or recall. The military reminds us that the experience
of colonialism dissolves all identities, erases nationalities, makes destiny
irrelevant and even problematic. It is different from the condition created by
national histories, even when that history is rife with exile and dispersal. That
is why it helps to see that
Anthills of the Savannah is not about nation-building in the post-colonial era,
but about the destiny of particular peoples, a destiny conceived as having a
life and purpose of its own. The anthills of the savannah are eternal
reminders of the many wild fires of every national history. Their only theme
is renewal, a renewal that crashes at the point of hope. The coup in A Man of
the People which ought to bring respite to the people ended up bring up a
regime more traumatic than the preceding government.
Major blocs of African novels

While African novels have classified based on thematic preoccupation, they

can also be grouped according to the region or bloc where they were
produced. Thus we have:
 The Francophone African fiction
 Anglophone African fiction
 Lusophone African fiction
 North African novels
 West African novel
 East African novel
 Ethnic novels in Africa(especially west Africa)

Each category of African fiction shown above has certain unique features
determined mainly by history, culture, religion, and socioeconomics policies
that define the region where literature is produced.

The Francophone African fiction

 The Francophone African fiction is produced from the region that was
occupied by the French during the scramble for and partition of Africa.
 This fiction is characterised by its use of the French language.
 The earlier novels like Ahmadou Mapaté Diagne’s Les trois volontés de
Malik
(Malik’s Three Wishes, 1920) and Ousmane Socé’s Mirages de Paris
(Mirages of Paris, 1937), is typical of early Francophone fiction in its
admiration of the French.
 The novels written much later in the years leading to independence,
however, were markedly different in their attitudes towards France: the
fiction such as Une vie de Boy (1956; Houseboy, 1966) by Ferdinand
Oyono of Cameroon and Le pauvre Christ de Bomba (1956; The Poor
Christ of Bomba, 1971) by another Cameroonian writer, Mongo Beti.
Both books direct merciless satire at French colonialism.

In order to get a better glimpse into the Francophone fiction we shall

consider colonial Francophone Experience in Oyono’s House boy and Post-
Colonial Francophone Experience in Ousmene’s Xala (see pg 146, 149)

Colonial Francophone Experience in Oyono’s House boy

The story starts in Spanish Guinea with a Frenchman on vacation, who finds
a man named Toundi, who has been injured and soon dies. The Frenchman
finds his diary, which is called an "exercise book" by Toundi. The rest of the
story consists of the diary (exercise book) that the Frenchman is supposedly
reading. There is no further discussion of the Frenchman after this point.

The first "exercise book" starts with Toundi living with his family. His father
beats him constantly, and one day Toundi runs away from home to the
rescue of Father Gilbert, a priest who lives nearby. His father comes back for
him, telling Toundi that everything will be all right if he comes back. He
rejects his father's offer and after this point no longer acknowledges his birth
parents.

Toundi treats Father Gilbert as his new father. Father Gilbert teaches Toundi
to read and write, and about Catholicism . Toundi believes in Catholicism, but
as the story progresses he drifts from his beliefs until the end, when he does
not believe in God.

Father Gilbert dies in a motorcycle accident a few months after meeting

Toundi. Toundi is eventually taken to live with the Commandant, the man in
charge of the surrounding colony. Toundi serves as houseboy for the
Commandant. It becomes very clear that the events that go on in the house
are more important to Toundi than his own life.

About six months after Toundi comes to live with the Commandant, Madame,
the Commandant's wife, arrives from France. She initially is a warm and
caring woman, who is very beautiful. She catches the eye of almost every
man in town, much to the Commandant's dismay.

Soon after Madame arrives the Commandant leaves to go on tour again.

Toundi is left with Madame to take care of the house. As time goes on,
Madame becomes more and more hostile and disrespectful towards Toundi.
When the Commandant returns, she is portrayed as a ruthless woman. While
the Commandant was still on tour, it becomes obvious that she is bored with
her life. She begins an affair with M. Moreau, the man in charge of the prison.
M. Moreau is perceived to be ruthless against the Africans. One of Toundi's
first experiences with M. Moreau was him whipping two other Africans nearly
to death.

The Second Exercise book

The Commandant returns from touring, and it is later discovered that he

knew about his wife's affair and returns because of it. The Commandant has
a terrible argument with her, but after a few days they are getting along
again.

Madame becomes very disrespectful towards Toundi, partly because she

does not like being there anymore, but mostly because she knows that he
knew about her affair. Sophie, the lover of the water engineer, is accused of
stealing his workers' salaries with the help of Toundi. He is taken to prison,
where he is tortured into confessing to a crime he has not committed.

Toundi is held in a hut near the police headquarters. Fortunately he has a

friend who works there named Mendim, who is described as a very muscular
man. He is feared by most other people but he soon comes to be known as
Toundi's ally. M. Moreau orders Mendim to beat up Toundi, but Mendim
throws ox's blood on him to make it look like he is injured. They spend the
rest of the day playing cards.

Toundi becomes sick and Mendim takes him to the hospital. They have to
wait a very long time to see a doctor because the black doctor is the only
doctor there, the other white doctor having been promoted to captain. The
doctor finds out that Toundi's ribs are broken and have punctured his
bronchi.

While Toundi is still at the hospital, in a dazed state, M. Moreau returns with
the white doctor and talks about punishing Toundi some more. After M.
Moreau has left, Toundi escapes the hospital and heads to Spanish Guinea,
where he was first introduced in the beginning of the novel.

Post-Colonial Francophone Experience in Ousmene’s Xala

Xala narrates several weeks in the life of an African businessman, Abdou

Kader Beyè, called “El Hadji.” The brief novel traces his rapid decline from
affluence to total humiliation and ruin.

As the novel begins, El Hadji is at the peak of his career, a rich man
respected and even envied by his fellow businessmen. He is about to be
married to his third wife, N’Gone, a pretty young woman who has flattered
him with her attentions. Taking a third wife marks him as a “captain,” a
leader in West African culture, in which a man’s success is measured by the
number of wives he can support. Each of El Hadji’s wives has her own villa
and well-appointed household, complete with cars, a chauffeur, and many
money-hungry children.

El Hadji collects his two wives and takes them (as custom dictates) to his
wedding party, where they are to meet the new wife and welcome her
without jealousy. The first two wives—Adja Awa Astou and Oumi N’Doye,
respectively—leave, and as the party descends into raucous ribaldry, El Hadji
is taken away by Yay Bineta, his new wife’s officious aunt, who has
functioned as the matchmaker. It is Yay Bineta’s responsibility to prepare the
husband and wife for their wedding night, and she therefore encourages El
Hadji to perform certain tribal rituals to ensure his potency. He refuses,
dismissing the acts as foolish superstition.
Alone with his new bride, El Hadji is filled with desire, but the unthinkable
happens: He is impotent. Never before has such a thing happened to him.
When he admits his failure to Yay Bineta, she tells him that someone must
have put a curse of impotence, a xala (pronounced “hala”), upon him. For
days El Hadji agonizes over his problem, consulting countless marabouts
(healers) and paying exorbitant fees to them, with no result. None are able
to help him and El Hadji continues to obsess over his sexual loss, ignoring his
business and financial affairs, which he discovers are failing miserably. His
colleagues pounce on his misfortune and vote him out of their business
group.

The next morning, a beggar comes to El Hadji's door. He's the same beggar
who has haunted El Hadji's office building for several years. The beggar is
accompanied by other diseased beggars who pillage the villa.
The beggar reveals to El Hadji that it was he who cursed him with the xala
because El Hadji had ruined his life years before. The only cure to the curse
is for all the beggars to spit twice upon El Hadji while he stands naked.
Desperate, El Hadji agrees. As El Hadji endures this abuse, the police,
expecting a riot, surround the house with loaded guns.

Summary

The Francophone African states have been under severe identity problem.
The blacks are meant to see themselves as poor, underdeveloped and
without a thought system. The novel Houseboy reveals to a large extent, the
maltreatment of the blacks during the colonial era. It shows how uncaring
the colonists were to the Africans. It also exposes the trauma of the blacks in
the hands of the whites who perpetuate evils in the name of religion. Xala is
a call to black sanity. It calls on the black elite to avoid colonial behaviours of
class consciousness. It calls for the need to bring in the real African
communal living where the rich and the poor co-exist in harmony. It attacks
the rulers who want to hold firmly to power in order to achieve more
economic advantage. The xala disease is a reaction by the people, a
response by their gods and a revelation of impending tragedy in the people’s
polity if things are not properly done. Francophone African experiences, as
revealed in these colonial and post colonial novels, are not easy traumas by
which the French colonials acting on economic pretences enslaved them.

North African novel

Introduction

North Africa had an early literate indigenous civilization (Ancient Egypt)

some of whose hieroglyphic writings survive. North Africans also contributed
to writing in Phoenician, Greek and Latin. Phoenician material, from
Carthage and other colonies on the continent, has been very largely lost.
Encouraged by the royal patronage of the Ptolemaic rulers, scholars in
Alexandria assembled the famous Library of Alexandria and Alexandrian
writers contributed significantly to the material housed in this institution.
North Africans writing in Latin include Apuleius and Saint Augustine.
In Islamic times, North Africans, such as Ibn Khaldun attained great
distinction within Arabic literature.

Maghrebian literature is the literature of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.

'Maghreb' is also the Arabic word for Morocco and comes from the word that
means 'the place where the sun sets,' to distinguish it from the eastern part
of the Arab world. The area has long been a crossroads of north-south and
cultural commerce between Europe and Africa south of the Sahara and east-
west religious/intellectual exchange. French, Arabic and Berber are the major
literary languages. The so-called Greater
Maghreb includes Mauritania and Libya, but the linguistic bonding through
French has tended to cause people to group the first three countries, despite
great differences in their internal political and social structures.

Literature written in French by Arabs and Berbers exploded on the scene in

the 1950s and '60s, with the writings of Moroccans Ahmed Sefrioui and Driss
Chraibi, Algerians Mouloud Feraoun, Mohammed Dib, Mouloud Mammeri, and
Kateb Yacine, and Tunisian Albert Memmi. Some of these novelists, like
Feraoun, wrote in an ethnographic vein, describing from the inside cultural
attitudes and events which had previously been ignored or misrepresented
by European writers. Others, like Chraibi, Kateb, and the later Dib, analyzed
the implications of colonization and cultural hybridization. The major works
of this early period are Kateb Yacine's masterpiece Nedjma (1956), Dib's Qui
se souvient de la mer (Who Remembers the Sea, 1962), Chraibi's Le passé
simple (The Simple Past, 1954) and Succession ouverte (Heirs to the Past,
1962), Mammeri's La colline oubliee (The Inspired Hill, 1952), Albert
Memmi's La statue de sel (The Pillar of Salt, 1953) and several essays on the
psychology of colonization, and Feraoun's Le fils du pauvre (The Poor Man’s
Son, 1950, new ed., 1954), a novel widely read today in Algerian schools.

The strength of Berber literature lies in its strong allegiance to orality and
the popular traditions of the folk tale and poetry; and the drama of Berber
literature lies in the fact that the Berbers (or Imazighen) have long had to
struggle to vouchsafe the survival of their language and its cultural
corollaries. Despite the community’s age-old presence in the north of the
continent, the Berber's "literature" has, in many areas, remained an
"orature" and does not have an extensive written tradition or canon.

For a closer insight into northern African literature we shall study Colonial
Literature in North Africa: Driss Chraibi’s The Simple Past and Post-Colonial
North Africa: Hisham Matar's in the Country of Men
Prepared by Robert Sum

Some References

Achebe, C. (1958). Things Fall Apart. London: Heineman.

Achebe, C. (1963). Arrow of God. . London: Heineman.

Achebe, C. (1964). No Longer at Ease. London: Heineman.

Amadi, E. (1966). The Concubine. London : heineman.

Gikandi, & Simon. (2003). Encyclopedia of African Literature. New York:

Routledge.

Tackle the following tasks

CAT 1: Discuss development of Africa novel in terms of themes

CAT 2: Discuss Postcolonialism as background to African novel