African awareness is inclusive and "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. An object is considered beautiful because of the truths it reveals and the communities it helps to build

1. CHAPTER 1: AFRICAN
LITERATURE
LIT 4-SURVEY OF AFRO-ASIAN LITERATURE
Prepared by:
Jeanette F. Francisco
Course Instructor

2. African Literature
Comprise of oral and written works of the continent
Composed in either African or foreign language
Has distinctive style
Oral tradition had significant effect on the written literature
(consists of folktales, myths, riddles, and proverbs)
Majority of the literary works have only been produced in
the 20th
century, most of them after World War II
Black Africa has no ancient traditions of written literature
Earliest examples are Muslim-inspired religious writings from
North Africa

3. African Writers and Poets
1. Soyinka, Wole (Born in Nigeria, July 12, 1934)
The most celebrated playwright of black Africa
His work earned him the 1986 Nobel Prize for literature
His plays achieve a ritualistic power and demonstrate the
fundamental African concern with “numinous” boundaries
His first play was “The Swamp Dwellers” which was produced in
London in 1958
Two volumes of his collected plays have been published (1973
and 1974) as well as Death and the King’s Horseman (1975),
Opera Wonyosi (1979), and a Play of Giants (1984)

4. 2. Achebe, Chinua (1930)
Nigerian novelist and poet, whose first novel, Things Fall Apart
(1958), set the theme for his subsequent work.
His works vividly portray tribal culture and the very speech of
the Ibo people.
In 1971, he has been a co-editor of Okike, one of Africa’s most
influential literary magazines.
Literary works:
The Arrow of God (1964)
A Man of the People (1966)
Girls at War (1972)
Christmas in Biafra and Other Poems (1973)

5. 3. Clark, John Peer (born April 6, 1935)
Nigerian poet, dramatist, and literary critic
Contributed significantly to the Nigerian renaissance
of the late 50’s and early 60’s
His interest in collecting traditional African oral
literature resulted in such plays as Ozidi (1966),
based on an Ijaw epic, and Song of a Goat (1961)
Representative of his poetry is the volume, A
Decade of Tongues

6. 4. Ngugi Wa Thiong’O, James
(born in Kenya, January 5, 1935)
Is considered the most important East African novelist.
He was educated in Kenya and England and taught literature for
many years.
His first two novels, Weep Not, Child (1964) and The River Between
(1965), concern the impact of colonialism, Christianity and rebellion
on the East African peoples.
Literary works:
A Grain of Wheat (1967)-Ngugi’s most successful novel about the
Mau Mau rebellion.
Petals of Blood (1977)-a novel that criticized the Kenya government
that led to his imprisonment (1978-1979)
Detain (1981)- a prison diary