AFRICAN

LITERATUR
E
 FACTS AND TRIVIAS
• Africa is the 2nd largest continent next to
Asia.
• It covers more than one-fifth of all the
earth’s surface.
• It comprises 46 countries and territories.
• Suez canal, The Gulf of Suez and The Red
Sea separate Africa from Asia.
• The largest religion in Africa is Islam,
followed by Christianity.
• The longest river in the world is located in
Africa. The Nile River.
• Madagascar is the largest island in Africa and
the 4th largest island in the world.
• Africa is the hottest continent on Earth with
deserts and drylands covering 60% of land
area. (Kalahari, Sahara, Namib)
INTRODUCTION
• As George Joseph notes in his chapter on African literature
in Understanding Contemporary Africa, whereas European
views of literature often stressed a separation of art and
content, African awareness is inclusive:
"Literature" can also simply mean an artistic use of words
for the sake of art alone. Traditionally, Africans do not
radically separate art from teaching. Rather than write or
sing for beauty in itself, African writers, taking their cue
from oral literature, use beauty to help communicate
important truths and information to society. Indeed, an object
is considered beautiful because of the truths it reveals and
the communities it helps to build.
• African literature consists of a body of
work in different languages and
various genres, ranging from
ORAL LITERATURE to WRITTEN
LITERATURE in colonial languages
such as French, Portuguese and
English.
• Some of the first African writings to gain attention in
the West were the poignant slave narratives, such
as The Interesting Narrative of the Life and
Adventures of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa,
the African (1789), which described vividly the
horrors of slavery and the slave trade. As Africans
became literate in their own languages, they often
reacted against colonial repression in their writings.
Others looked to their own past for subjects. Thomas
Mofolo, for example, wrote Chaka,about the famous
Zulu military leader, in Susuto.
• Since the early 19th century. Writers from Western
Africa have used newspapers to air their views.
Several founded newspapers that served as vehicles
for expressing nascent nationalist feelings. French-
speaking Africans in France, led by Léopold
Senghor, were active in the negritude movement
from the 1930s, along with Léon Damas and Aimé
Cesaire, French speakers from French Guiana and
Martinique. Their poetry not only denounced
colonialism, it proudly asserted the validity of the
cultures that the colonials had tried to crush.
• After World War II, as Africans began demanding their
independence, more African writers were published. Such
writers as, in Western Africa, Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe,
Ousmane Sembene, Kofi Awooner, Agostinho Neto, Tchicaya
u tam'si, Camera Laye, Mongo Beti, Ben Okri, and
Ferdinand Oyono and, in eastern Africa, Ngungi Wa
Thiong’o, Okot p’Bitek and Jacques Rabémananjara
produced poetry, short stories, novels, essays, and plays. All
were writing in European languages, and often they shared
the same themes: the clash between indigenous and colonial
cultures, condemnation of European subjugation, pride in the
African past, and hope for the continent's independent future.
• In South Africa, the horrors of apartheid
have until the present, dominated the
literature. Es'kia Mphahlele,
Nadine Gordimer, Bessie Head,
Dennis Brutus, J. M. Coetzee, and
Miriam Tlali,all reflect in varying degrees
in their writings the experience of living in
a racially segregated society.
• Much of contemporary African literature reveals
disillusionment and dissent with current events. For example, V.
Y. Mudimbe in Before the Birth of the Moon (1989) explores a
doomed love affair played out within a society riddled by deceit
and corruption. The Zimbabwean novelist and poet Chenjerai
Hove (1956–2015), wrote vividly in English and his native
Shona of the hardships experienced during the struggle against
British colonial rule, and later of the hopes and disappointments
of life under the rule of Robert Mugabe . In Kenya Ngugi wa
Thiong'o was jailed shortly after he produced a play, in Kikuyu,
which was perceived as highly critical of the country's
government. Apparently, what seemed most offensive about the
drama was the use of songs to emphasize its messages
• The weaving of music into the Kenyan's play points
out another characteristic of African literature.
Many writers incorporate other arts into their work
and often weave oral conventions into their writing.
p'Bitek structured Song of Iowino (1966) as an
Acholi poem; Achebe's characters pepper their
speech with proverbs in Things Fall Apart (1958).
Others, such as Senegalese novelist Ousmane
Sembene, have moved into films to take their
message to people who cannot read.
• The relationship between oral and written
traditions and in particular between oral and
modern written literatures is one of great
complexity and not a matter of simple
evolution. Modern African literatures were
born in the educational systems imposed by
colonialism, with models drawn from Europe
rather than existing African traditions. But the
African oral traditions exerted their own
influence on these literatures.
PERIODS OF
AFRICAN
LITERATURE
PRE-COLONIAL
LITERATURE
• Examples of pre-colonial African literature
are numerous. In Ethiopia, there is a
substantial literature written in Ge'ez going
back at least to the fourth century AD; the
best-known work in this tradition is
the Kebra Negast, or "Book of Kings."
• One popular form of traditional African folktale is
the "trickster" story, in which a small animal uses
its wits to survive encounters with larger creatures.
• Examples of animal tricksters include Anansi a
spider in the folklore of the  Ashanti people of 
Ghana;  Ijàpá, a  tortoise in Yoruba folklore
of Nigeria; and Sungura, a hare found in central
and East African folklore.
• Other works in written form are abundant,
namely in north Africa, the Sahel regions of
west Africa and on the Swahili coast.
From Timbuktu alone, there are an estimated
300,000 or more manuscripts tucked away in
various libraries and private collections,
mostly written in Arabic but some in the
native languages.
• Many were written at the famous University of
Timbuktu. The material covers a wide array of topics,
including astronomy, poetry, law, history, faith,
politics, and philosophy. Swahili literature similarly,
draws inspiration from Islamic teachings but
developed under indigenous circumstances. One of
the most renowned and earliest pieces of Swahili
literature being Utendi wa Tambuka or "The Story of
Tambuka".
 COLONIAL
AFRICAN
LITERATURE
• The African works best known in the
West from the periods of colonization
and the slave trade are primarily slave
narratives, such as Olaudah
Equiano's :The Interesting Narrative
of the Life of Olaudah Equiano(1789).
•In the colonial period, Africans exposed to Western
languages began to write in those tongues. In 1911, Joseph
Ephraim Casely Hayford (also known as Ekra-Agiman) of
the Gold Coast (now Ghana) published what is probably the
first African novel written in English, Ethiopia Unbound:
Studies in Race Emancipation. Although the work moves
between fiction and political advocacy, its publication and
positive reviews in the Western press mark a watershed
moment in African literature.
• During this period, African plays written in English
began to emerge. Herbert Isaac Ernest Dhlomo
of South Africa published the first English-language
African play, The Girl Who Killed to Save:
Nongqawuse the Liberator in 1935. In 1962, Ngũgĩ
wa Thiong'o of Kenya wrote the first East African
drama, The Black Hermit, a cautionary tale about
"tribalism" (discrimination between African tribes).
• Among the first pieces of African
literature to receive significant worldwide
critical acclaim was Things Fall Apart,
by Chinua Achebe. Published in 1958,
late in the colonial era, Things Fall
Apart analyzed the effect of colonialism
on traditional African society.
• African literature in the late colonial period (between
the end of World War I and independence)
increasingly showed themes of liberation,
independence, and (among Africans in French-
controlled territories) négritude. One of the leaders
of the négritude movement, the poet and eventual
President of Senegal, Léopold Sédar Senghor,
published in 1948 the first anthology of French-
language poetry written by Africans, Anthologie de
la nouvelle poésie nègre et malgache de langue
française (Anthology of the New Black and Malagasy
Poetry in the French Language), featuring a preface
 POST
COLONIAL
AFRICAN
LITERATURE
• With liberation and increased literacy since most
African nations gained their independence in the
1950s and 1960s, African literature has grown
dramatically in quantity and in recognition, with
numerous African works appearing in Western
academic curricula and on "best of" lists compiled at
the end of the 20th century. African writers in this
period wrote both in Western languages
(notably English, French, and Portuguese) and in
traditional African languages such as Hausa.
• Ali A. Mazrui and others mention seven
conflicts as themes:
The clash between Africa's:
-Past and present
-Tradition and modernity
-Indigenous and foreign
-Individualism and community
-Socialism and capitalism
-Development and self-reliance
-Africanity and humanity.
• Other themes in this period include
social problems such as corruption, the
economic disparities in newly
independent countries, and the rights
and roles of women. Female writers are
today far better represented in
published African literature than they
were prior to independence.
CONTEMPORARY
DEVELOPMENTS
• There are a lot of literary production
in Africa since the beginning of the current
decade (2010), even though readers do not
always follow in large numbers. One can
also notice the appearance of certain
writings that break with
the academic style. In addition, the shortage
of literary critics can be explored on the
continent
• Literary events seem to be very
fashionable, including literary
awards, some of which can be
distinguished by their original
concepts. The case of the Grand
Prix of Literary Associations is
quite illustrative.
 FAMOUS
AFRICAN
AUTHORS AND
THEIR WORKS
 1. WOLE SOYINKA

English Language Poet.

He won the Nobel Prize for
Literature in 1986 .
He is the 1st African writer who won
the novel prize in 1986.
WORKS: -The Trials of Brother
-Death and the King’s Jero,
horse man -The Interpreters,
- Opera Wonyosi, -Season of Anomy,
-Play of Giants, -Poems from Prison
-A Dance of the -A Shuttle in the Crypt
Forests, - Mandela’s Earth.
-The Lion and the
Jewel,
 2. CHINUA ACHEBE
Was a Nigerian novelist, poet, professor, and critic.
His first novel Things Fall Apart (1958), often
considered his best, is the most widely read book in
modern African literature.
He won the Man Booker International Prize in
2007.
He has been co-editor of Okike
-OKIKE-Africa’s most influential literary
magazines.
WORKS:
-Things fall apart (his first novel)
-The arrow of God
- A man of the people
-Girls at war
- Christmas in Biafra
-and other poems
 3. JOHN PEPPER CLARK

• Nigerian poet, dramatist and literary critic.

• PLAYS:
-OZIDI AND SONG OF GOAT
• WORK:
- A Devade of Tounges
 4. NGUNGI WA THIONG’O
In Kenya, he is the most important East-African novelist.
He has written everything from children’s literature to
social criticism.
He also wrote the 1st East African Drama.
WORKS:
-BLACK HERMIT- 1st East African Drama
- Weep not
- Child and the River Between
 5. CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE

A Nigerian writer who writes poems, short

stories and novels.
One of her stories called “That
Harmattan Morning” was chosen as a
joint winner of the BCC Short Story
Awards.
She also won the O. Henry prize for her
story “The American Embassy.”
 6. AYI KWEI ARMAH
Notable Ghanaian writer who writes
novels.
He has written 6 novels, all of which
have been fairly well received.
His most well known work is called
“Fragments.”
 7. BUCHI EMECHETA
Nigerian novelist.
She has published over 20 books.
SOME WORKS:
- Second Class Citizen
-The Bride Price
-The Slave Girl
-The joys of Motherhood.
 8. LEOPOLD SEDAR SENGHOR
He is a poet and statesman who was a co-founder of the Negritude
movement in African Art and Literature.
Senghor discovered the unmistakable imprint of African art on
modern painting sculpture, and music, which confirmed his belief in
Africa’s contribution to modern culture. 
He became Negritude’s foremost spokesman and edited an
anthology of French language by black African that became a
seminal text of the Negritude movement. (1906)
WORKS: Songs of Shadows, Black Offerings, Major Elegies, and
Poetical Work.
 9. BARBARA KIMENYE

She wrote twelve books on children’s

stories known as the Moses Series,
which are now a standard reading fare
for African school children.
WORKS:  Kalasanda Revisited, The
Smugglers, The Money Game. (1940)
 10. BESSIE HEAD

She described the contradictions and shortcomings of

pre- and post-colonial African society in morally
didactic novels and stories.
She suffered rejection and alienation from an early age
being born of an illegal union between her white mother
and black father.
WORKS: When Rain Clouds Gather, A Question of
Power, The Collector of Treasures, Serowe. (1937 –
1986)
FORMS AND
GENRES OF
AFRICAN
LITERATURE
 ORAL
LITERATURE
 ORAL LITERATURE
• Also called as “orature” have flourished
in Africa for many centuries and take a
variety of forms including stories, dramas,
riddles, histories, myths, songs, proverbs,
and other expressions, is frequently
employed to educate and entertain
children.
 ORAL LITERATURE
• Oral histories, myths, and proverbs additionally
serve to remind whole communities of their
ancestors' heroic deeds, their past, and the
precedents for their customs and traditions.
Essential to oral literature is a concern for
presentation and oratory. Folktale tellers use
call-response techniques. A griot (praise singer)
will accompany a narrative with music.
1. MYTHS
- usually explain the interrelationship
of all things that exist and provide for
the group and its members a necessary
sense of their place in relation to their
environment and the forces that order
events on earth.
2. EPICS
- elaborate literary forms,
usually performed only by experts
on special occassions. They often
recount the heroic exploits of
ancestors.
3. FUNERAL DIRGES
- Dirges, chanted during
funeral ceremonies, lament the
departed, praise his/her memory
and ask for his/her protection.
4. PRAISE POEMS
- are epithets called out in
reference to an object in
celebration of its outstanding
qualities and achievements.
5. PROVERBS
- are short, witty or ironic statements,
metaphorical in its formulation
which aim to communicate a
response to a particular situation, to
offer advice or to be persuasive.
 WRITTEN
LITERATURE
 WRITTEN LITERATURE
• Includes :
-Novels
-Plays
-Poems
-Hymns
-Tales.
The written literatures, novels, plays, and poems in the
1950s and 60s have been described as literatures of
testimony.
FAMOUS 21
ST

CENTURY
LITERARY
PIECES
• CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE: Purple
Hibiscus (2003), Americanah (2013)
• AMINATTA FORNA: The Devil That Danced
on Water (2003), The Memory of Love (2010)
• NGUNGI WA THIONG’O: Wizard of the
Crow (2007),
• CHINUA ACHEBE: Things Fall Apart(2009)
• FRANCIS B. NYAMJOH: The Disillusioned
African(2007), Souls Forgotten(2008), Stories from
Abakwa(2007),
• TANURE OJAIDE: Stars of the Long Night(2012)
• JONATHAN TIM NSHING :Twists and Turns:
Tale of an African Intellectual(2011)
• NURUDDIN FARAH: Close Sesame(2006),
Sardines(2006), Sweet and Sour Milk(2006)
• THOMAS JING: Tale of an African Woman (2007)