Literature of Africa

3. • Background
• Representative Authors and
• Representative Texts of Africa

6. Africa, the “Cradle of the Humankind” according to
scientists, has a literature that is filled with the human
spirit, desiring for freedom and contentment. African
literature consists of oral tradition and written literature
ranging from local languages brought by the colonizers
(English, Portuguese, and French). The experiences of
the colonization and post-colonization shape the African
literature.

7. The oral literature of Africa such as myths, stories,
riddles, proverbs, and dramas document the exploits of
the heroes of the communities, remind the people about
their culture and traditions, entertain and educate the
youth. It flourishes across the continent in the 15th century
CE until the interaction of Africa with Europe and Asia,
their trade and cultural partners, serves as the main
contributor to the African literature growth.

8. In the 19th century, European countries compete for
the colonization of the African territory to gain political and
economic edge. The colonization and slave trade has
awaken the African psyche (the soul and mind) incredibly.
The literary works are the vehicle, specifically the
newspaper, in exposing the psychological social impact of
colonization.

9. African writers express their cry for freedom from
oppression through their poetry and narrative works.
Though they use the European language to produce
their literary works, the cry for independence has
reached to the climax, so strong and effective, with
the embodiment of the spirit of nationalism, gained
worldwide acclaim.

10. In the contemporary times, African writers
experience new challenges with their new and
sovereign government. They still use their
literary works as a vehicle in expressing their
voices against their government with a constant
theme of corruption.

11. He was a Nigerian novelist, poet, critic,
and professor and was honored as
Grand Prix de la Memoir of the 2019
edition of the Grand Prix of Literary
Associations. His first novel and
masterpiece, “Things Fall Apart”, is
the most widely read book in modern
African literature. It concerns the
traditional Igbo life at the time of the
advent of missionaries and the colonial
government in his homeland.

12. He was the first black African to be
awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize for
Literature. One of his famous works is
his first important play “A Dance of
the Forests” which was written for the
Nigerian independence celebrations. It
parodies the emerging nation by
stripping it of romantic legend and by
showing that the present is no more a
golden age than it was before.

13. He was a Ghanaian novelist and poet
who wrote “This Earth, My Brother”, a
cross between a novel and a poem. It
was told on two levels each
representing a distinct reality. The first
level is a standard narrative which
details a day in the life of an attorney
named Amamu. The second level is a
symbol-laden mystical journey filled
with biblical and literary allusions.

14. East Africa’s leading novelist, a
Kenyan writer who wrote the famous
novel “Weep Not, Child”. It was the
first major novel in English by an East
African. It deals with the Mau-Mau
Uprising, a war in the British Kenya
Colony (1920–1963) between the Kenya
Land and Freedom Army.

15. He was a Ugandan poet, novelist,
and social anthropologist who wrote the
three verse collections – Song of
Lawino (1966), Song of Ocol (1970),
and Two Songs (1971). He achieved
international recognition for Song of
Lawino, a long poem dealing with the
tribulations of a rural African wife
whose husband has taken up urban life
and wishes everything to be
westernized. It was followed by the
husband’s reply, the Song of Ocol.

16. A South African writer and the
recipient of the 1991 Nobel Prize in
Literature. She wrote the joint winner of
the Booker - McConnell Prize novel
“The Conservationist”. The story is a
character study of a successful South
African industrial executive and, by
extension, a critique of South Africa.

17. He was a Malagasy playwright
and poet and one of Madagascar’s
most prominent writers. He wrote and
published his play “Les dieux
Malgaches”, the first modern
Malagasy play in French. This play
dealt with the pre-colonial past and
with the coup that unseated King
Radama II in 1863.

18. He wrote the South African classic
autobiography “Down Second
Avenue” about the story of a young
man’s growth into adulthood with
penetrating social criticism of the
conditions forced upon black South
Africans by a system of
institutionalized racial segregation.

19. He was the greatest writer from
the Sotho people in Africa. He created
the first Western-style novels in the
Basotho language. His novel “Chaka”
became a classic.
It was a historical novel about the
story of the rise and fall of the Zulu
king Shaka. Dennis P. Kunene
translated the novel from Sotho to
English.