African literatureAfrican literatureisliteratureof and
fromAfricaand includesoral literature(or "orature", in the term
coined by Ugandan scholarPio Zirimu). As George Joseph notes in his
chapter on African literature inUnderstanding Contemporary Africa,
whereas European views of literature often stressed a separation of
art and content, African awareness is inclusive:"Literature" can
also imply 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. Indeed, an
object is considered beautiful because of the truths it reveals and
the communities it helps to build. Oral literatureOral literature
(ororature) may be in prose or verse. The prose is often
mythological or historical and can include tales of
thetrickstercharacter. Storytellers in Africa sometimes
usecall-and-responsetechniques to tell their stories. Poetry, often
sung, includes:narrative epic,occupational verse, ritual
verse,praise poemsto rulers and other prominent people. Praise
singers, bards sometimes known as "griots", tell their stories with
music.Also recited, often sung, arelove songs,work songs,children's
songs, along withepigrams,proverbsandriddles. A revised edition of
Ruth Finnegan's classicOral Literature in Africawas released by the
Cambridge-basedOpen Book Publishersin September 2012. Oral
literatures have flourished in Africa for many centuries and take a
variety of forms including, in addition to the folk tales found in
this lesson, myths, epics, funeral dirges, praise poems, and
proverbs. Myths, according to Oyekan Owomoyela, usually "explain
the interrelationships of all things that exist, and provide for
the group and its members a necessary sense of their place in
relation to their environment and the forces that order events on
earth" (2). Epics are elaborate literary forms, usually performed
only by experts on special occasions. They often recount the heroic
exploits of ancestors. Examples of epics include the Mwindo epic
and the epic of Sundjiata. Versions of both of these epics have
been transcribed and published in book form and may be available
through public or university libraries. Dirges, chanted during
funeral ceremonies, lament the departed, praise his/her memory, and
ask for his/her protection. Praise poems are "epithets called out
in reference to an object (a person, a town, an animal, a disease,
and so on) in celebration of its outstanding qualities and
achievements" (Owomoyela 14). Praise poems have a variety of
applications and functions. Professional groups often create poems
exclusive to them. Prominent chiefs might appoint a professional
performer to compile their praise poems and perform them on special
occasions. Professional performers of praise poems might also
travel from place to place and perform for families or individuals
for alms or a small fee. The following is quoted from a praise poem
to Shaka, the Zulu warrior and king:Shaka went and erected
temporary hutsBetween the Nsuze and the Thukela,In the country of
Nyanya son of Manzawane;He ate up Mantondo son of Tazi,He felt him
tasteless and spat him out,He devoured Sihayo.He who came dancing
on the hillside of the Phuthiles,And he overcame Msikazi among the
Ndimoshes.He met a long line of hah-de-dahs [ibis birds]When he was
going to destroy the foolish Pondos;Shaka did not raid herds of
cattle,He raided herds of buck. (qtd. in Owomoyela 15)Most well
known of the African oral forms is probably the proverb, a short
witty or ironic statement, metaphorical in its formulation, that
aims to communicate a response to a particular situation, to offer
advice, or to be persuasive. The proverb is often employed as a
rhetorical device, presenting its speaker as the holder of cultural
knowledge or authority. Yet, as much as the proverb looks back to
an African culture as its origin and source of authority, it
creates that African culture each time it is spoken and used to
make sense of immediate problems and occasions.One final point:
oral literary forms must not be conceptualized as simply
pre-colonial, ancient, or traditional. Oral literary forms, such as
folktales and praise-songs, flourish in contemporary Africa. For
example, performances of oral tales are featured on radio,
television, and in films. Oral literatures are performed and
created by women and men, and many African written literary
expressions incorporate the forms and tropes of oral
literatures.Precolonial literatureExamples ofpre-colonialAfrican
literature are numerous. Oral literature of west Africa includes
the "Epic of Sundiata" composed in medievalMali, and the older
"Epic of Dinga" from the oldGhana Empire. InEthiopia, there is a
substantial literature written inGe'ezgoing back at least to the
4th century AD; the best-known work in this tradition is theKebra
Negast, or "Book of Kings." One popular form of traditional African
folktale is the "trickster" story, where a small animal uses its
wits to survive encounters with larger creatures. Examples of
animal tricksters includeAnansi, aspiderin the folklore of
theAshantipeople ofGhana;Ijp, atortoiseinYorubafolklore ofNigeria;
andSungura, aharefound in central and East African folklore.Other
works in written form are abundant, namely in north Africa,
theSahelregions of west Africa and on theSwahili coast.
FromTimbuktualone, there are an estimated 300,000 or more
manuscripts tucked away in various libraries and private
collections,mostly written inArabicbut some in the native languages
(namelyFulaandSonghai).[7]Many were written at the famousUniversity
of Timbuktu. The material covers a wide array of topics, including
Astronomy, Poetry, Law, History, Faith, Politics, and Philosophy
among other subjects.]Swahili literaturesimilarly, draws
inspiration from Islamic teachings but developed under indigenous
circumstances. One of the most renowned and earliest pieces of
Swahili literature beingUtendi wa Tambukaor "The Story of
Tambuka".In Islamic times, North Africans such asibn
Khaldunattained great distinction withinArabic literature. Medieval
north Africa boasted universities such as those ofFesandCairo, with
copious amounts of literature to supplement them.Colonial African
literatureThe African works best known in the West from the period
of colonization and the slave trade are primarily slave narratives,
such asOlaudah Equiano'sThe Interesting Narrative of the Life of
Olaudah Equiano(1789).In the colonial period, Africans exposed to
Western languages began to write in those tongues. In1911,Joseph
Ephraim Casely Hayford(also known as Ekra-Agiman) of theGold
Coast(now Ghana) published what is probably the first African novel
written in English,Ethiopia Unbound: Studies in Race Emancipation.
Although the work moves between fiction and political advocacy, its
publication and positive reviews in the Western press mark a
watershed moment in African literature.During this period,
Africanplaysbegan to emerge.Herbert Isaac Ernest DhlomoofSouth
Africapublished the first English-language African play,The Girl
Who Killed to Save: Nongqawuse the Liberatorin1935. In1962,Ngg wa
Thiong'oofKenyawrote the first East African drama,The Black Hermit,
a cautionary tale about "tribalism" (racismbetween African
tribes).Among the first pieces of African literature to receive
significant worldwide critical acclaim wasThings Fall Apart,
byChinua Achebe. Published in 1958, late in the colonial era,Things
Fall Apartanalyzed the effect of colonialism on traditional African
society.[10]African literature in the late colonial period (between
the end ofWorld War Iand independence) increasingly showed themes
ofliberation, independence, and (among Africans in
French-controlled territories)ngritude. One of the leaders of the
ngritude movement, the poet and eventual President ofSenegal,Lopold
Sdar Senghor, published in1948the first anthology of
French-language poetry written by Africans,Anthologie de la
nouvelle posie ngre et malgache de langue franaise(Anthology of the
New Black and Malagasy Poetry in the French Language), featuring a
preface by the FrenchexistentialistwriterJean-Paul Sartre.[11]For
many writers this emphasis was not restricted to their publishing.
Many, indeed, suffered deeply and directly: censured for casting
aside his artistic responsibilities in order to participate
actively in warfare,Christopher Okigbowas killed in battle
forBiafraagainst the Nigerian movement of the 1960s'civil
war;Mongane Wally Serotewas detained under South Africa'sTerrorism
Act No 83 of 1967between 1969 and 1970, and subsequently released
without ever having stood trial; inLondonin 1970, his
countrymanArthur Norjecommitted suicide;Malawi'sJack Mapanjewas
incarcerated with neither charge nor trial because of an off-hand
remark at a university pub; and, in 1995,Ken Saro-Wiwawas hanged by
the Nigerian junta.
Postcolonial African literatureWith liberation and increased
literacy since most African nations gained their independence in
the 1950s and 1960s, African literature has grown dramatically in
quantity and in recognition, with numerous African works appearing
in Western academic curricula and on "best of" lists compiled at
the end of the 19th century. African writers in this period wrote
both in Western languages (notablyEnglish,French, andPortuguese)
and in traditional African languages such asHausa.Ali A. Mazruiand
others mention seven conflicts as themes: the clash between
Africa's past and present, between tradition and modernity, between
indigenous and foreign, between individualism and community,
between socialism and capitalism, between development and
self-reliance and between Africanity and humanity.Other themes in
this period include social problems such as corruption, the
economic disparities in newly independent countries, and the rights
and roles of women. Female writers are today far better represented
in published African literature than they were prior to
independence.In1986,Wole Soyinkabecame the first post-independence
African writer to win theNobel Prizein literature.
Previously,Algerian-bornAlbert Camushad been awarded the 1957
prize.Literacy in AfricaA discussion of written African literatures
raises a number of complicated and complex problems and questions
that only can be briefly sketched out here. The first problem
concerns the small readership for African literatures in Africa.
Over 50% of Africa's population is illiterate, and hence many
Africans cannot access written literatures. The scarcity of books
available, the cost of those books, and the scarcity of publishing
houses in Africa exacerbate this already critical situation.
Despite this, publishing houses do exist in Africa, and in
countries such as Ghana and Zimbabwe, African publishers have
produced and sold many impressive works by African authors, many of
which are written in African languages.Many of the works identified
by teachers and researchers in North America and Europe as African
literature, Chinua Achebe'sThings Fall Apart, for example, are
texts published by presses outside of Africa. Some of these works
are not even available to African readers. Likewise, what an
American teacher might recognize as an African novel might be very
different from the locally produced, popular novels that are sold
to and read exclusively by people living in Africa.Scholars have
identified three waves of literacy in Africa. The first occurred in
Ethiopia where written works have been discovered that appeared
before the earliest literatures in the Celtic and Germanic
languages of Western Europe (Gerard 47). The second wave of
literacy moved across Africa with the spread of Islam. Soon after
the emergence of Islam in the seventh century, its believers
established themselves in North Africa through a series of jihads,
or holy wars. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries, Islam was
carried into the kingdom of Ghana. The religion continued to move
eastward through the nineteenth century (Owomoyela 23).Remnants of
narrative poetry in Swahili have been recovered from as early as
the eighteenth century. The poems, in epic form, describe the life
of Mohammed and his exploits against Christians. In West Africa,
manuscripts in Arabic verse have been dated to the fourteenth
century. Several literatures, known as ajami, written in the Arabic
script for non-Arabic languages have been discovered from the
eighteenth century. The literatures were written in Fulani (West
Africa), Hausa (northern Nigeria), and Wolof (Senegal).The
encounter with Europe through trade relationships, missionary
activities, and colonialism propelled the third wave of literacy in
Africa. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, literary
activity in the British colonies was conducted almost entirely in
vernacular languages. Missionaries found it more useful to
translate the Bible into local languages than to teach English to
large numbers of Africans. This resulted in the production of
hymns, morality tales, and other literatures in African languages
concerned with propagating Christian values and morals. The first
of these "Christian-inspired African writings" emerged in South
Africa (Owomoyela 28). Thomas Mofolo studied theology at the Bible
School of the Paris Evangelical Mission at Morija (in present-day
Lesotho). He worked as a teacher and clerk and was a proofreader
for the Morija Printing Press. The Press published his novel,Moeti
Oa Bochabella(The Traveler of the East) as a serial in the
newspaperLeselinyanain 1906. The novel reveals the influence of
Bunyan'sPilgrim's Progress, and tells the story of Fekesi, who,
tired of all of the sinfulness he sees around him, tries to find a
perfect kingdom to the East. West African writers, such as Chief
Fagunwa who wrote in Yoruba, produced similar works in African
languages. Writers also recorded proverbs, praise-poems, and other
pieces of oral literature during this period.NegritudeAlthough
Africans had been writing in Portuguese as early as 1850 and a few
volumes of African writing in English and French had been
published, an explosion of African writing in European languages
occured in the mid-twentieth century. In the 1930s, black
intellectuals from French colonies living in Paris initiated a
literary movement called Negritude. Negritude emerged out of "a
sudden grasp of racial identity and of cultural values" (Gerard 51)
and an awareness "of the wide discrepancies which existed between
the promise of the French system of assimilation and the reality"
(Owomoyela 37). The movement's founders looked to Africa to
rediscover and rehabilitate the African values that had been erased
by French cultural superiority. Negritude writers wrote poetry in
French in which they presented African traditions and cultures as
antithetical, but equal, to European culture. Out of this
philosophical/literary movement came the creation ofPresence
Africaineby Alioune Diop in 1947. The journal, according to its
founder, was an endeavor "to help define African originality and to
hasten its introduction into the modern world" (Owomoyela 39).
Other Negritude authors include Leopold Senghor, Aime Cesaire, and
Leon Damas. Below is an excerpt from Senghor's poem "Prayer to
Masks":Masks! Masks!Black mask red mask, you white-and-black
masksMasks of the four points from which the Spirit blowsIn silence
I salute you!Nor you the least, Lion-headed AncestorYou guard this
place forbidden to all laughter of women, to all smiles that
fadeYou distill this air of eternity in which I breathe the air of
my Fathers.Masks of unmasked faces, stripped of the masks of
illness and the lines of ageYou who have fashioned this portrait,
this my face bent over the later of white paperIn your own image,
hear me! (Owomoyela 42).In the mid-60s, Nigeria replaced French
West Africa as the largest producer and consumer of African
literature, and literary production in English surpassed that in
French. Large numbers of talented writers in Francophone Africa
came to occupy important political and diplomatic posts and gave up
creative writing. Furthermore, the tenets of Negritude seemed far
less relevant after independence and as newly independent nations
found themselves facing civil wars, military coups and corruption
(Gerard 53).The vastness in size and population of Nigeria gave it
an advantage over smaller countries. In the 1950s, a large
readership made up of clerks and small traders and a steadily
increasing number of high schools students developed in Nigeria,
and this readership enabled the emergence of Onitsha market
literatures. Ibadan college, founded in 1957, produced some of the
writers that came to the forefront in the 60s. East Africa followed
West Africa, and in the 60s, Makerere College became a productive
center for East African literature. By the mid-70s, after the coup
that brought General Idi Amin to power in Uganda, Kenya became the
literary center in East Africa.An African Literary TraditionThe
written literatures, novels, plays, and poems in the 1950s and 60s
have been described as literatures of testimony. (See Kenneth W.
Harrow'sThresholds of Changein African Literature, Portsmouth and
London: Heinemann and James Curry, 1994.) Novels such asNgugiwa
Thiong'o'sA Grain of Wheat, Wole Soyinka'sThe Interpreters, Chinua
Achebe'sThings Fall Apart, and Flora Nwapa'sEfuruare a few of the
novels that might be described as literatures of testimony. These
works, in part, attempt to respond to derogatory representations
of, and myths about, African culture. Frequently written in the
first person, literatures of testimony are concerned with
representing African reality and valorizing African culture.The
following generation of African authors produced literatures in
European languages that have been described as literatures of
revolt. These texts move away from the project of recuperating and
reconstructing an African past and focus on responding to, and
revolting against, colonialism, neocolonialism, and corruption.
These literatures are more concerned with the present realities of
African life, and often represent the past negatively. As Harrow
explains, "instead of a past, a family, and a cultural background
being reconstructed in positive terms, exemplary of African
culture, the past is often viewed negatively, as something from
which the protagonist has to escape" (84). Mariama Ba'sUne si
longue lettre(So Long a Letter), Birgo Diop'sL'Aventure
Ambigue(Ambiguous Adventure), and Peter Abrahams'Tell
Freedomexemplify these literatures.The final group into which one
can organize African authors is post-revolt writers. These writers
move away from the use of realism and aim to develop new discourses
and literary styles. They often focus on oppressive African regimes
and employ an ironic style. The work of Sony Labou Tansi, Henri
Lopes, Yambo Ouloguem, and Ahmadou Kourouma illustrate the style
and content of post-revolt literatures.Women and African
LiteratureAfrican women, although receiving less notice from
scholars and historians, have been producing literature alongside
African men. Women oral artists and performers continue to create
oral literatures, and a few examples of these texts have been
included in this lesson. In the early years of the twentieth
century, African women such as Lillith Kakaza, who wrote in Xhosa,
Victoria Swaartboo, who wrote in Xhosa, and Violet Dube working in
Zulu produced works of literature in African languages. Adelaide
Casely-Hayford, born in Sierra Leone, educated in England and
Germany, and married to the well-known lawyer Joseph Casely-Hayford
represents the first generation of women writing in European
languages. Her short story "Mista Courifer," published in 1961,
examines the collision between African and Western cultures. These
women, from elite backgrounds and educated in colonial schools,
began writing at about the time many of their countries gained
independence. They include Mabel Dove Danquah, from the Gold Coast,
Grace Ogot and Noni Jabavu of Kenya, and Flora Nwapa of Nigeria.
Since the 1970s, African women have written a wide array of works
that have been well received by readers and teachers of African
literature. A few of these include Ama Ata Aidoo, Buchi Emecheta,
Bessie Head, Mariama Ba, Miriam Tlali, Nafissatou Dialo, Aminata
Sow Fall, Zulu Sofola, Fatima Dike, Rebeka Njau and Micere
Mugo.Noma AwardInaugurated in 1980, theNoma Award for Publishing in
Africais presented for the outstanding work of the year in African
literatures.TheNoma Award for Publishing in Africa(French:Le Prix
Noma de Publication en Afrique), which ran from 1980-2009, was an
annual$10,000 prize for outstanding African writers and scholars
who published inAfrica. Within four years of its establishment, the
prize "had become the major book award in Africa".[1]It was one of
the series ofNoma Prizes.The prize was established in 1979
byShoichi Noma(died 1984), president ofKodanshaLtd, the largest
publishing house in Japan, to encourage the publication of works by
African authors.[2]The award was annual and given to any new book
published in three categories: literature, juvenile and scholarly.
The award was sponsored by Kodansha Ltd, administered by the
quarterlyAfrican Book Publishing Record,[3]and presented under the
auspices ofUNESCO. Books were admissible in any of the languages of
Africa, whetherlocalorEuropean. The award was ended in 2009 after
the Noma family ceased its sponsorship.[4]Winners 1980:Une Si
Longue LettrebyMariama B 1981:Health Education for the
CommunitybyFelix C. Adi 1982:The Brassmans SecretbyMeshack Asare
1983:Criminal Procedure in GhanabyAustin N.E. Amissah
1984:Mesandiki wa Mau Mau Ithaamirio-in[prison memoirs in Gikuyu]
byGakaara wa Wanjau,Fools and other storiesbyNjabulo Ndebele
1985:La Trahison de MariannebyBernard Nanga 1986:Sobreviver em
Tarrafal de Santiago[poetry] byAntnio Jacinto 1987:Villes de Cte
dIvoire, 1893-1940byPierre Kipr 1988:Working Life. Factoris,
Townships, and Popular Culture on the Rand, 1886-1940byLuli
Callinicos 1989:BonesbyChenjerai Hove 1990:Uprooting Poverty: The
South African ChallengebyFrancis Wilson&Mamphela Ramphele
1991:Waiting Laughters[poetry] byNiyi Osundare 1992:A comme
Algriennesby Souad Khodja;One Day, Long Ago. More Stories from a
Shona ChildhoodbyCharles Mungoshi, illustrated by Luke Toronga
1993:Third World ExpressbyMongane Wally Serote 1994:A Modern
Economic History of Africa. Volume 1: The Nineteenth
Century(Dakar:CODESRIA, 1993) 1995:TriomfbyMarlene van Niekerk
1996:Destins parallelesbyKitia Toure 1997:Mfantsipim and the Making
of Ghana: A Centenary History, 1876-1976byA. Adu Boahen 1998:The
Politics of Liberation in South Sudan: An Insider's ViewbyPeter
Adwok Nyaba 1999:L'interpretation des reves dans la region
Senegambienne. Suivi de la clef des songes de la Senegambie de
l'Egypte pharaonique et de la tradition islamiquebyDjibril Samb.[5]
2000:Ufundishaji wa Fasihi: Nadharia na MbinubyKimani
Njogu&Rocha Chimera 2001:Odun Ifa/Ifa FestivalbyAbosede Emanuel
2002:The Arabic Novel: Bibliography and Critical Introduction,
1865-1995byHamdi Sakkut 2003:Walter and Albertina Sisulu. In Our
LifetimebyElinor Sisulu 2004: In 2004 the jury decided not to
select a winner, but did give four titles Honourable Mention: The
Cry of Winnie Mandelaby Njabulo Ndebele The Plays of Miracle and
WonderbyBrett Bailey Lanre and the Queen of the Streamby Tunde
Lawal-Solarin A Dictionary of Yoruba Personal Namesby Adeboye
Babalola & Olugboyega Alaba 2005:La mmoire amputebyWerewere
Liking 2006:In a Ribbon of RhythmbyLebogang Mashile
2007:StrifebyShimmer Chinodya 2008:Beginnings of a DreambyZachariah
Rapola 2009:Lawless and Other StoriesbySefi Atta[6]
Major novels from African writers Peter Abrahams(South
Africa):Mine Boy,This Island Now,A Wreath for Udom Deon
Opperman(South Africa):Donkerland(Dark
Land),Kruispad(Crossroad),Hartland(Heartland) Chinua
Achebe(Nigeria):Arrow of God,No Longer At Ease,Things Fall Apart
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie(Nigeria):Purple Hibiscus,Half of a Yellow
Sun Andre Brink(South Africa):'n Droe Wit Seisoen(A Dry White
Season),Gerugte van Reen(Rumours of Rain) K. Sello Duiker(South
Africa):Thirteen Cents,The Quiet Violence of Dreams Jos Eduardo
Agualusa(Angola):Rainy Season,Creole,The Book of Chameleons,My
Father's Wives Mohammed Naseehu Ali(Ghana):The Prophet of Zongo
Street Germano Almeida(Cape Verde):O dia das calas roladas,The Last
Will and Testament of Senhor da Silva Arajo Elechi
Amadi(Nigeria):The Concubine,The Great Ponds,Sunset in Biafra Karel
Schoeman(South Africa):n Ander Land(Another Country),Na die
Geliefde Land(Promised Land) Ayi Kwei Armah(Ghana):The Beautyful
Ones Are Not Yet Born Sefi Atta(Nigeria):Everything Good Will Come
Ayesha Harruna Attah(Ghana):Harmattan Rain Athol Fugard(South
Africa):Tsotsi Mariama B(Senegal):Une si longue lettre(So Long a
Letter) Mongo Beti(Cameroon):The Poor Christ of Bomba J.M.
Coetzee(South Africa):Disgrace,Life & Times of Michael K Mia
Couto(Mozambique):Terra Sonmbula(A Sleepwalking Land) Tsitsi
Dangarembga(Zimbabwe):Nervous Conditions Mohammed Dib(Algeria): "La
grande maison" Assia Djebar(Algeria):Les Enfants du Nouveau Monde
Buchi Emecheta(Nigeria):The Bride Price,The Joys of Motherhood
Daniel Olorunfemi Fagunwa(Nigeria):Ogboju od ninu igbo irunmal(The
Forest of a Thousand Demons) Nuruddin Farah(Somalia):From a Crooked
Rib,Maps,Sweet and Sour Milk Nadine Gordimer(South Africa):Burger's
People,The Conservationist,July's People Alex La Guma(South
Africa):In the Fog of the Seasons' End,The Stone Country,Time of
the Butcherbird,A Walk in the Night Marlene van Niekerk(South
Africa):Triomf(Triumph) Bessie Head(Botswana):When Rain Clouds
Gather Moses Isegawa(Uganda)Abyssinian Chronicles E. K. M.
Dido(South Africa):'n Stringetjie Blou Krale(A String of Blue
Beads),Die Storie van Monica Peters(The Story of Monica Peters)
Tahar Ben Jelloun(Morocco):The Sacred Night,The Sand Child,This
Blinding Absence of Light Cheikh Hamidou Kane(Senegal):L'Aventure
Ambigu Yasmina Khadra(Algeria):The Swallows of Kabul Camara
Laye(Guinea):The Radiance of the King Naguib Mahfouz(Egypt):The
Beginning and the End,Cairo Trilogy,Children of Gebelawi,Midaq
Alley Charles Mangua(Kenya):A Tail in the Mouth Sarah Ladipo
Manyika(Nigeria):In Dependence Dambudzo Marechera(Zimbabwe):The
House of Hunger Dalene Matthee(South Africa):Kringe in 'n
bos(Circles in a Forest) Thomas Mofolo(South Africa/Lesotho):Chaka
Meja Mwangi(Kenya):Carcase for Hounds,Going Down River Road,Kill Me
Quick Lewis Nkosi(South Africa):Mandela's Ego,Mating
Birds,Underground People Nnedi Okorafor(Nigeria):Zahrah the
Windseeker Ben Okri(Nigeria):The Famished Road Yambo
Ouologuem(Mali):Le Devoir de Violence Olive Schreiner(South
Africa):The Story of an African Farm Alan Paton(South Africa):Cry,
The Beloved Country Pepetela(Angola):Muana Pu, Mayombe,A Gloriosa
Famlia Nawal El Saadawi(Egypt):Woman at Point Zero Tayeb
Salih(Sudan): "Season of Migration to the North" Zakes Mda(South
Africa):Ways of Dying,The Heart of Redness Benjamin
Sehene(Rwanda):Le Feu sous la Soutane(Fire under the Cassock)
Ousmane Sembne(Senegal):Xala,The Black Docker(Le Docker Noir),God's
Bits of Wood(Les Bouts de Bois de Dieu),The Last of the Empire(Le
dernier de l'Empire),Tribal Scars(Voltaque) Wole
Soyinka(Nigeria):The Interpreters,Seasons of Anomy, Ngg wa
Thiong'o(Kenya):A Grain of Wheat,Matigari,Petals of Blood,Weep Not,
Child,Wizard of the Crow Sol Plaatjie(South Africa):Mhudi Yvonne
Vera(Zimbabwe):Butterfly Burning Chris Barnard(South
Africa):Bundu,Mahala Jos Luandino Vieira(Angola):Luuanda Birhanu
Zerihun(Ethiopia):Ye'imba debdabbwoch"Yearful Letters" Rayda
Jacobs(South Africa):The Slave Book,Eyes of the Sky,Confessions of
a Gambler Joseph Jeffrey Walters(Liberia):Guanya Pau, A Story of An
African Princess, 1891 Bai Tamia Moore(Liberia):Murder in the
Cassava Patch Wilton K. Sankawolo(Liberia)Birds Are Singing
Notable African poets
Antjie Krog(South Africa) Chinua Achebe(Nigeria) Georges
Andriamanantena (Rado)(Madagascar) Ama Ata Aidoo(Ghana) Jared
Angira(Kenya) Kofi Anyidoho(Ghana) Kofi Awoonor(Ghana)
Sahlesillasse Birhanemariam(Ethiopia) Dennis Brutus(South Africa)
Glynn Burridge(Seychelles) Abena Busia(Ghana) John Pepper
Clark(Nigeria) Jos Craveirinha(Mozambique) Viriato Clemente da
Cruz(Angola) Tsegaye Gebremedhin(Ethiopia) Abbe Gubenga(Ethiopia)
Don Mattera(South Africa) Jonathan Kariara(Kenya) Joseph
Kariuki(Kenya) Susan Kiguli(Uganda) Ahmadou Kourouma(Ivory Coast)
Togara Muzanenhamo(Zimbabwe) Arthur Nortje(South Africa) Gabriel
Okara(Nigeria) Ingrid Jonker(South Africa) Patricia Jabbeh
Wesley(Liberia) K. Moses Nagbe(Liberia) Bai Tamia Moore(Liberia)
Prof. Jack Mapanje(Malawi) Nii Parkes(Ghana) Christopher
Okigbo(Nigeria) Ben Okri(Nigeria) Okot P'Bitek(Uganda) Lenrie
Peters(Gambia) Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo(Madagascar) Jacques
Rabemananjara(Madagascar) Elie Rajaonarison(Madagascar) Breyten
Breytenbach(South Africa) Ny Avana Ramanantoanina(Madagascar)
Pierre Randrianarisoa(Madagascar) Jean Verdi Salomon Razakandraina
(Dox)(Madagascar) David Rubadiri(Malawi, Uganda) Lopold Sdar
Senghor(Senegal) Vronique Tadjo(Ivory Coast) Wole Soyinka(Nigeria)
Hadraawi(Somalia) Dagnachew Werku(Ethiopia) Bewketu
Seyoum(Ethiopia) Adam Small(South Africa) Getinet Eniyew( Ethiopia)
Debede Seyfu( Ethiopia) Eugene Marais(South Africa) Armnio
Vieira(Cape Verde)
WORLD LITERATURE(AFRICA)
Submitted by:Group 2 Manalang, RuwieDuenas, Angelo Evangelista,
AlvinGadiane, ChristianNalang, Feliza JSallegue, Sarah Rose
BSBA MM 4-5D