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1. AFRICAN
LITERATURE

2. AFRICAN LITERATURE
•African literature, literary works of
the African continent. African
literature consists of a body of work
in different languages and various
genres, ranging from oral literature
to literature written in colonial
languages (French, Portuguese, and
English).

3. HISTORY
•The first African literature is circa 2300-2100,
when ancient Egyptians begin using burial
texts to accompany their dead. These include
the first written accounts of creation -the
Memphite Declaration of Deities. Not only
that, but 'papyrus', from which we originate
our word for paper, was invented by the
Egyptians, and writing flourished. In contrast,
Sub-Saharan Africa feature a vibrant and
varied oral culture.

4. •To take into account written literary
culture without considering literary
culture is definitely a mistake,
because they two interplay heavily
with each other. African oral arts are
"art's for life's sake" (Mukere) not
European "art's for art's sake", and
so may be considered foreign and
strange by European readers.

5. •However, they provide useful knowledge,
historical knowledge, ethical wisdom,
and creative stimuli in a direct fashion.
Oral culture takes many forms: proverbs
and riddles, epic narratives, oration and
personal testimony, praise poetry and
songs, chants and rituals, stories, legends
and folk tales. This is present in the many
proverbs told in Things Fall Apart, and
the rich cultural emphasis of that book
also is typically African.

6. THE PERIOD OF COLONIZATION
•With the period of Colonization, African
oral traditions and written works came
under a serious outside
threat.Europeans, justifying
themselves with the Christian ethics,
tried to destroy the "pagan" and
"primitive" culture of the Africans,
to make them more pliable slaves.

7. •In 1948, African literature
came to the forefront of the
world stage with Alan Paton's
publishing of Cry the Beloved
Country. However, this book
was a somewhat paternalistic
and sentimental portrayal of
Africa.

8. AFRICAN WRITERS
•Postcolonial African writers have made an
enormous contribution to world literature.
•These writers frequently examine such issues
as emerging identities in the postcolonial
climate, neo-colonialism and new forms of
oppression, cultural and political hegemonies,
neo-elitism, language appropriation, and
economic instability.

9. •During the last decade, their works
have elicited increasing critical
attention. This reference book
overviews the richness of
postcolonial African literature. The
volume focuses on how post
colonialityis reflected in the novels,
poetry, prose, and drama of major,
minor, and emerging writers from
diverse countries in Africa.

10. •The reference book begins with an
introductory essay on postcolonial
criticism and African writing. The volume
then presents alphabetically arranged
profiles of approximately 60 writers, such
as Chinua Achebe, AmaAta Aidoo, Tsitsi
Dangarembga, BuchiEmecheta, Nadine
Gordimer, Bessie Head, TabarBen
Jelloun, Doris Lessing, Peter Nazareth,
Gabriel Okara, Femi Osofisan, and Efua
Theodora Sutherland.

11. •the poets Christian L. Leipoldt, Christiaan
M. van derHeever, and Eugene Marais.
A. A. Pienaarunder the pseudonym
Sangirowrote nature stories. UysKrige
was extremely versatile; his works
include novels, short stories, poems, and
plays in both Africans and English.
Important poets who have written in
Africans include W. E. G. Louwand his
brother N. P. van WykLouw, Adam Small,
IngredJonker, and Elisabeth Eybers.

12. STYLES OF WRITERS
•Alex La Guma, Time of the Butcherbird
When the government trucks had gone, the dust
they had left behind, hung over the plain and
smudged the blistering afternoon sun
so that it appeared as a daub of white-hot metal
through the moving haze.
This was no land for plowing and sowing;
it was not even good enough to be buried in.

13. •WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE
THEME OF THE WRITER IN HID
POEM?
•CAN YOU TELL WHAT KIND OF
PERSON IS ALEX LA GUMA AND
HIS EXPERIENCES?

14. •This text is a sample of literature by an
African writer. The author is Alex la
Guma, who was born and lived in South
Africa. He was one of the defendants in
the Treason Trials of 1956 and was kept
under house arrest for four years;
eventually he was forced into exile and
lived outside Africa. He used literature as
a means of seeking to understand the
painful racial divisions of South Africa
during the dark years of apartheid.

15. Themes of africanliterary works
•Oral literature, including stories,
dramas, riddles, histories, myths,
songs, proverbs, and other
expressions, is frequently
employed to educate and
entertain children.

16. •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.

17. •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 OlaudahEquiano
or GustavusVassa, the African
(1789), which described vividly the
horrors of slavery and the slave
trade.

18. •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(tr. 1931),
about the famous Zulu military
leader, in Susuto.

19. •Since the early 19th cent. writers
from western Africa have used
newspapers to air their views.
Several founded newspapers that
served as vehicles for expressing
nascent nationalist feelings
After World War II, as Africans began
demanding their independence,
more African writers were published.

20. •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.

21. •Much of contemporary African
literature reveals disillusionment
and dissent with current events.
For example, V. Y. Mudimbein
Before the Birth of the Moon
(1989) explores a doomed love
affair played out within a society
riddled by deceit and corruption.

22. •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.
Others, such as Senegalese novelist
OusmaneSembene, have moved into
films to take their message to people
who cannot read.

23. David Diop
•David MandessiDiop(July 9, 1927-1960)was
one of the most promising French West
African poets known for his contribution to
the Négritudeliterary movement. His work
reflects his hatred of colonial rulers and his
hope for an independent Africa.

24. AFRICA
The very first poem I ever read on stage
Africa, my Africa
Africa of proud warriors in ancestral savannahs
Africa of whom my grandmother sings
On the banks of the distant river
I have never known you
But your blood flows in my veins
Your beautiful black blood that irrigates the fields
The blood of your sweat
The sweat of your work
The work of your slavery

25. •Africa, tell me Africa
Is this you, this back that is bent
This back that breaks
Under the weight of humiliation
This back trembling with red scars
And saying yes to the whip under the midday sun
But a grave voice answers me
Impetuous child that tree, young and strong
That tree over there
Splendidly alone amidst white and faded flowers
That is your Africa springing up anew
Springing up patiently, obstinately
Whose fruit bit by bit acquires
The bitter taste of liberty.