African Literature

tended Learninng Outcomes: At the end of this chapter, the students are expected to:
1.

Intended Learning Outcomes: At the end of this chapter, the students are
expected to:

1. Describe African literature.

2. Recognize various African writers.
3. Criticize African literary works in English relative to its socio-historical,
philosophical, and literary underpinnings.

2.1. Introduction

African literature comprises the oral and written works of the continent,
composed in either African languages or foreign ones. Most formal African literature is
still developing distinctive styles. The widespread African oral tradition, however, is rich
in folktales, myths, riddles, and proverbs that not only convey an imaginative view of
the world but also serve as a religious, social, and educational function. The oral
tradition has had significant effect on the written literature. Although some African
poetry was written more than a thousand years ago, the majority of African literary
works have only been produced in the 20th century, most of them after World War II.

Unlike Europe, the Middle East and parts of Asia, black Africa has no ancient
traditions of written literature. The earliest examples are Muslim-inspired religious
writings from North Africa. Much of sub-Saharan Africa was illiterate until Christian
missionaries arrived in the 19th century. Therefore, little African literature has existed
for more than a hundred years; the major exceptions are an Arabic literature in Western
Sudan, Swahili literature on the East African coast, and Ge’ez literature in Ethiopia.

2.2. African Languages

Linguists estimate that more than a thousand languages are

spoken in Africa. Written, creative literature novels, short
stories, pay and poetry – have been produced in about 50 of
these languages. Because most early works were published
by missionary presses, they are heavily imbued with
Christian didacticism. The first full-length narratives in
Sesotho, Yoruba, and Ibo were modeled on John Bunyan’s
17th-century allegory Pilgrim’s Progress. The first written
literature in several other languages consisted of translated
church hymns and retold biblical stories.
 Later, as more of the population became literate and government agencies
began to publish books, newspapers, and magazines in local languages, a secular
literature emerged, much of it focusing on problems of personal adjustment to Western
ways or modern institutions. Today, diverse themes are treated in some African
language, literature, but topics such as sex and politics are seldom explored, possibly
because publication is still strictly censored in many countries.

2.3. African Literature in English

The first major works in West Africa appeared in the 1950s at the end of the
colonial era and were primarily concerned with reinterpreting African History from an
indigenous point of view that stressed the dignity of the African past.

Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall

Apart (1958) documents the disintegration
of a rural community under the impact of
Westernization and is a classic statement
of this archetypal theme. Another
celebrated classic is Amos Tutuola’s The
Palm-Wine Drunkard (1952). After
independence, the literary emphasis in
West Africa changed from a preoccupation
with the past to a confrontation with the
present. Wole Soyinka, Achebe and Ayi
Kwei Armah wrote bitter satires aimed at
contemporary evils in their own societies,
and in recent years Nigerian poets,
novelists, and dramatists have described
the horrors of the Nigerian-Biafran war
and its aftermath, a period of military rule.

Under South African apartheid, writing in English by blacks and by Coloureds

(racially mixed South Africans) was impeded by racial oppression and censorship. The
novelist Peter Abrahams found conditions so repressive that he left South Africa in 1939
at the age of 20. The Harsh Publications and Entertainments Act of 1963, the first of
many such censorship laws, severely limited publishing by non-whites and the most
talented South African black writers began to leave their country. By the mid-1970s
even black poetry was banned; many poets were imprisoned; and many others –
including the famous poet Dennis Brutus and the novelist Alex La Guma – fled to less
hostile environments (Brutus returned for a visit in the more liberal climate of 1992).
The literary works of white South Africans, even those critical of the regime, were
generally better received.

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2.4. African Writers and Poets

Soyinka, Wole (Born in Nigeria, July

13, 1934) is perhaps the foremost English-
language post and certainly the most
celebrated, playwright of black Africa. His
work earned him the 1986 Nobel Prize for
literature. Combining Western dramatic forms
with the music, dance, and mime of Africa, his
plays achieve a ritualistic power and
demonstrate the fundamental African concern
with “numinous” boundaries:
Those between the human and the divine,
between life and death.

From his first play, The Swamp Dwellers, which was produced in London in 1958,
most of Soyinka’s theatrical works have been seen on English and American as well as
Nigerian stages. Two volumes of his collected plays have been published (1973 and
1974) as well as such later plays as Death and the King’s Horseman (1975), Opera
Wonyosi (1979), and a Play of Giants (1984).

Wole Soyinka won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1986 – the first time a black
African writer had been so honored and, in fact, the first international honor in
literature ever won by a black African. Soyinka’s fame created a new interest in black
African literature; to date, very little is available to Western readers. (Nadine Gordimer
became the second sub-Saharan African winner of the Nobel Prize, in 1991.)

Achebe, Chinua (1930), Nigerian novelist and

poet, whose first novel, Things Fall Apart (1985), set the
theme for his subsequent work: the impact of Western
influences on traditional African society. Achebe’s other
works include the The Arrow of God (1964) and A Man of
the People (1966). Unsentimental, often ironic, they
vividly portray tribal culture and the very speech of the
Ibo people. Achebe’s later works include a short-story
collection, Girls at War (1972), and Christmas in Biafra
and other Poems (1973). Since 1971 he has been co-
editor of Okike, one of Africa’s most influential literary
magazines.

Clark, John Peer – Nigerian poet, dramatist, and

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

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 Ngugi Wa Thiong’O, James (born in Kenya,
January 5, 1938) is considered the most important East
African novelist. Educated in both Kenya and England,
he taught literature for many years. His first two
novels, Weep Not, Child (1964) and The River Between
(965), concern the impact of colonialism, Christianity,
and rebellion on the East African peoples. Both novels
were influenced by the realism of West African writer
Chinua Achebe. In A Grain of Wheat (1967), however –
Ngugi’s most successful novel about the Mau Mau
rebellion – his style is more mature. His criticism of the
Kenya government in the novel, Petals of Blood, (1977) led to his imprisonment (1978-
79) and to the prison diary, Detain (1981). He has written books in Kikuyu; the play, Will
Marry When I Want; and the novel, Devil on the Cross (both 1980; Eng. trans., 1982);
and the critical work, Decolonising the Mind (1986).

USMKCC-COL-F-050
Module (Eng Ed 224) Name:
Activity No. 2 Program/Year: Date Submitted:

Self – Check Test

I. Multiple Choice. Select the best answer among the choices given per item.

1. The following are the forms of African Oral tradition, except.

A. epic
B. folktales
C. myths
D. riddles

2. Which of the following topics was not explored by African writers?

A. Love
B. Nationality
C. Politics
D. Women

3. Which of the following African writers did not wrote bitter satires?
A. Ayi Kwei Armah
B. Chinua Achebe
C. Peter Abrahams
D. Wole Soyinka

4. It is one of the plays of Wole Soyinka which was produced in London in 1958.
A. Death and the King’s Horseman
B. Opera Wonyosi
C. Play of Giants
D. The Swamp Dwellers

5. It is one of the novels written by Ngugi Wa Thiong’O, James, which concerns with
the impact of colonialism, Christianity, and rebellion on the East African peoples.
A. A Grain of Wheat
B. The River Between
C. Things Fall Apart
D. Weep Not

Activity

Instructions:

1. Paraphrasing a poem

1.1. Paraphrase the poem entitled “Africa.” (Please refer to Appendix A)

1.2. Consider the criteria below.

 When you paraphrase a poem, use your own words to explain the major
ideas line-by-line. Paraphrasing isn't the same as explicating or analyzing a
poem. The goal is to rephrase the ideas in your own words without

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USMKCC-COL-F-050
Module (Eng Ed 224) Name:
Activity No. 2 Program/Year: Date Submitted:

evaluating or addressing the author's hidden messages or underlying

themes. A paraphrased poem is a literal translation in regular prose
without rhyme or meter.

Criteria Points
1. Literal Translation
Read the entire poem once or twice to get a broad understanding of the
storyline, characters and setting. Then, break the poem dwn word-by-
word, phrase-by-phrase. Tead a line or stanza, look away from the poem
5
and think aout what the author is literally saying. Translate the words by
restating them in a new way, using common, everyday language. Use
languge that you might use when talking to a teacher or an adult. Avoid
slang and clichés and focus on the literal meaning of the words.
2. No replacement of words with synonyms
Do not just replace all the important words with synonyms. You might
use synonyms occasionally to identify important terms, but exchanging
5
the author’s original words for synonyms is not paraphrasing. Consider
ways to rearrange the words and substitute your own words to get
across
the same meaning.
3. Text are with details
Expand the lines and stanzas in the poem by using full sentences to
explain the poet’s ideas. Poets often condense their ideas to make tem fit
within the meter and rhythm of the poem. When you paraphrase, fill in
pieces that the author hints at but does not fully explain in detail. For
example, if Emily Dickinson’s poem “Because I Could not Stop for Death”
5
she say, “Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me.”
A paraphrased version might say, “I realize that death is a natural part of
life, and I can not delay or stop its inevitability. Fortunately, death is a
polite, respectable force that does not treat me unfairly. “Dickinson
wants readers to feel comfortable with death, without fearing it, and
realize that it is normal part of human existence.
4. Same Point of View
Maintain the same point of view as the poet. Your paraphrase should
parallel the poet’s voice, tone and overall mood. For example, when
paraphrasing, “Two roads diverged in a yellow word, And sorry I could
not travel both…” by Robert Frost in “The Road Not Taken,” you might
say, “I had a hard time choosing between two paths in the colorful 5
autumn forest. I wish I could have taken both routes to see where they
would take me.” Forest wants readers to understand that life presents
choices, and at any given time, you will have to choose which path to
take. In this example, you should maintain the first-person point of view
throughout your entire paraphrase.

USMKCC-COL-F-050
Module (Eng Ed 224) Name:
Activity No. 2 Program/Year: Date Submitted:

Example

2. Criticizing Literary Pieces

2.1. Criticize the story entitled “Anticipation” with the following questions:
(Please refer to Appendix B)

2.1.1. To what extent does the representation of women (and

men) in the work reflect the time and place in which the
work was written?

2.1.2 Does the author present the work from within a

predominantly (mainly) male or female perspective?
Support you answer.

2.2. Criticize the novels entitled “Things Fall Apart” and “The River
Between” with the following questions:
(Please refer to Appendix C and D)
(Each novel should be criticized separately)

2.2.1 How do characters overcome oppression?

2.2.2 What does the work say about oppression; or are social
conflicts ignored or blamed elsewhere?

Criteria:

3 to 5 sentences 2 pts.
Content 3 pts.
Total 5 pts./question

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