African Literature

African Literature simply describes the literature of Africans. The course details are examined in subsequent sections and subsections.

African Literature refers to those works which are written by African writers including those in the Diaspora to depict social-cultural, moral and political values of the continent. It includes literary works of Africans originating from Africa, or of Africans based outside the continent. Thus, works from North Africa, South Africa, East and West Africa are included in most studies of African Literature. Most countries from Africa share the burden of colonial ideology and issues that surround crises of cultural identity.

Considering the significance of the oral genre to modern African Literature, it will be incorrect to say African Literature began in the 20th century. In the early part of the twentieth century, Africa was exposed to Western education. Many African writers of the 20th century who returned to their countries after their studies abroad to produce literary works have been praised for their thematic concerns and issues. In this course, the focus is to examine the concept, types and genres of African literature.

This course aims to expose learners to African Literature in terms of types and genre. At the end of the course, learners should be able to:

i. define African Literature;

ii. discuss the background to African literature;

iii. distinguish between different types of African literature; and

iv. typify African literature based on genre

African Literature includes literary works of Africans originating from Africa, or of Africans based outside the continent. Thus, works from North Africa, South Africa, East and West Africa are included in most studies of African Literature. Several scholars have conceptualized African Literature, In his description of African Literature, Abiola Irele (1989)stated that the term, 'Africa' appears to correspond to a geographical notion but we know that, in practical terms, it also takes in those areas of collective awareness that have been determined by ethnic, historical and sociological factors, all these factors, as they affect and express themselves in our literature, marking off for it a broad area of reference. Within this area of reference then, and related to certain aspects that are intrinsic to the literature, the problem of definition involves as well a consideration of aesthetic modes in their intimate correlation to the cultural and social structures which determine and define the expressive schemes of African peoples and societies (1981,10).

There are three types of African Literature: the Pre-colonial, Colonial and Postcolonial or Modern African Literature.

Pre-colonial African Literature are those literature that exemplify and mirror the culture and traditions of the African peoples before the advent of the colonialists. Many examples of pre-colonial African literature can be found in Ethiopia, where there is a substantial literature written in Ge’ez which goes back to the fourth century AD. The best-known Ethiopian literary work in this tradition is the Kebra Negast(“Book of Kings”). One popular form of traditional tale is the “trickster” story, in which a small animal uses its wits to survive when facedby larger creatures.

Some of these tales are Anansi, a spider in the folklore of the Ashanti people of Ghana; Ijàpá, a tortoise in Yoruba folklore of Nigeria; and Sungura, from central and East African folklore. Other works in written form appear in the Sahel regions of west Africa and on the Swahili coast. From Timbuktu, historians say that there are about 300,000 manuscripts in many libraries and private collections, most of them written in Arabic and some in the native languages (Fula and Songhai).Much of this work was produced at the University of Timbuktu. In Islamic times, North Africans like Ibn Khaldun had great distinction within Arabic literature. The universities of Fes and Cairo, in turn, had great amounts of literature.

Colonial African Literature relates the African experiences during the period of colonization. During the period of colonization, the African works best known in the West are slave narratives, such as Olaudah Equiano’s The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (1789).In 1911, Joseph Ephraim Casely Hayford (also known as Ekra-Agiman) of the Gold Coast (now Ghana) published what is the first African novel written in English, Ethiopia Unbound: Studies in Race Emancipation. Although the book moves between fiction and political pamphletarism, it marks a watershed moment in African literature.

During this period, the first African plays written in English began to emerge. Herbert Isaac Ernest Dhlomo, from South Africa, published The Girl Who Killed to Save: Nongqawuse the Liberator, in 1935, maybe the first English-language African play. In 1962, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, from Kenya, wrote the first East African drama, The Black Hermit. Among the first pieces of African literature to receive an international critical acclaim was Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe (ver Aula 4).

Postcolonial African Literature also regarded as Modern African literature is  the literature written in indigenous African languages and in European languages used in Africa.  Modern African literature has gained recognition worldwide with such classics as Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, Ngugi wa Thiongo's Weep Not Child, and Wole Soyinka's Death and the King's Horseman. This recognition was reinforced by Soyinka's winning of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986.  Written African literature is very new compared to the indigenous oral tradition of literature which has been there and is still very much alive.

While there are literary works in Yoruba, Hausa, Zulu and Sotho, among others, this literature in African indigenous languages is hardly known outside its specific linguistic frontiers. Writers such as Mazisi Kunene, Ngugi wa Thiongo and the late Okot p'Bitek first wrote some of their works in African languages before translating them into English. Most African writers, however, write in English, French, and Portuguese. There is the Eurocentric temptation to see modern African literature written in these European languages as an extension of European literature. However, after modern imperialism, language alone cannot be the sole definer of a people's literature.

Achebe, Chinua. 1958. Things Fall Apart. London: Heinemann.                        

Alkali, Zainab. 1984. The Stillborn. Harlow/Lagos: Longman.

Amadi, Elechi. 1964. The Concubine. London: Heinemann.

Angira, Jared. 1979. Cascades. London: Longman.

Anyidoho, Kofi. 1984. A Harvest of Our Dreams. London: Heinemann.

Awoonor, Kofi ed. 1974. Guardians of the Sacred Word. New York: NOK.

Ojaide, Tanure. 1983. "Poetic Imagination in Black Africa." The Syracuse Scholar    (Spring): 83-90.

Okigbo, Christopher. 1971. Labyrinths. London: Heinemann.

Osofisan, Femi. 1988. Another Raft. Lagos: Malthouse.

Osundare, Niyi. 1983. Songs of the Marketplace. Ibadan: New Horn.

Osundare, Niyi. 1986. The Eye of the Earth. Ibadan: Heinemann Nigeria Ltd.

Osundare, Niyi. 1988. Moonsongs. Ibadan: Spectrum.

Osundare, Niyi. 1990. Waiting Laughters. Lagos: Malthouse