genral issue on the african literature

I Introduction

African Literature, oral and written literature produced on the African continent. Africa has a long literary tradition, although very little of this literature was written down until the 20th century. In the absence of widespread literacy, African literature was primarily oral and passed from one generation to the next through memorization and recitation.
Most of Africa’s written literature is in European languages, owing to European colonization of the continent from the 16th century to the mid-20th century. During that period European languages supplanted African languages in government, education, business, and, to a great extent, in daily communication. By far the most widely used European language in African literature is English, followed by French and Portuguese, respectively. Works written in African languages and traditional oral texts went virtually unacknowledged until the late 20th century, but today they are receiving increased recognition. Many scholars prefer to speak of African literatures, rather than African literature, to emphasize the many different literary traditions the term encompasses.
This survey covers only African literatures south of the Sahara. The literatures of North Africa are not included because North African cultures share greater affinities with the Arab world than with sub-Saharan peoples and cultures (for more information, see Arabic Literature). The literature of white South Africa is similarly excluded, as it is more closely linked with the European literary heritage (see South Africa, Republic of: Literature).

II Oral Traditions

Modern African literatures have been influenced to a remarkable degree by the continent’s long tradition of oral artistry. Before the spread of literacy in the 20th century, texts were preserved in memory and performed or recited. These traditional texts served many of the same purposes that written texts serve in literate societies—entertainment, instruction, and commemoration, for example. However, no distinctions were made between works composed for enjoyment and works that had a more utilitarian function. Africa’s oral literature takes the form of prose, verse, and proverb, and texts vary in length from the epic, which might be performed over the course of several days, to single-sentence formulations such as the proverb. The collective body of oral texts is variously described as folklore, verbal art, oral literature, or (more recently) orature.


foremost among prose forms in African literature is the myth. Like myths everywhere, African myths typically explain the creation of the universe, the activities of the gods at the beginning of creation, the essence of all creatures, and the nature of their interrelationships. Next in importance is the legend, intended to enhance a listener’s understanding of the constitution of the universe. Legends, which deal with events that occurred after the era of the gods, describe such heroic human feats as establishing dynasties or single-handedly preventing disaster. The African legend has much in common with the epic, in that both focus on heroism. However, unlike epics, legends are less elaborate and are not performed on special occasions or in formal settings. Instead, these prose works are shared in the context of everyday life.
The folktale, another prose form, is usually told for nighttime entertainment. Folktales feature human beings and animals, either separately or together. They are often employed for social commentary and instruction and also serve as a potent means of affirming group values and discouraging antisocial behavior. A popular type is the trickster tale, which features a small but wily animal that employs its cunning to protect itself against much larger and more powerful animals. Examples of animal tricksters are Anansi, a spider in the folklore of the Ashanti people of Ghana; Àjàpá, a tortoise in Yoruba folklore of Nigeria; and Sungura, a hare found in central and East African folklore.
The epic is not prevalent in Africa, and scholars disagree on whether the term should even be applied to African texts. What is beyond question is that the African texts described as epics are extended celebrations of heroic figures. A good example available in print is The Mwindo Epic (1969) of the Nyanga of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, formerly Zaire).
When the integrity of a text is important, it is cast in verse. Certain myths, for example, must be recited exactly as part of the sacred cult of a divinity or chanted in the process of divination (foretelling future events or interpreting omens). Texts in verse form are more easily committed to memory and recalled. Various devices to aid recall are embedded in the text, as in the Zulu izibongo performed in praise of chiefs.
Finally, several African cultures possess a rich repertoire of epigrams, including proverbs and riddles. In many African societies effective speech and social success depend on a good command of proverbs. These treasured sayings convey the demonstrated wisdom of the ages and therefore serve as a reliable authority in arguments or discussion. Closely related to proverbs are riddles—both are based on principles of analogy that require the listener to decipher the intended meaning. American linguist Albert Scheven’s Swahili Proverbs (1981) offers examples of proverbs from East Africa.
Despite the major transformations that have taken place in Africa in the past few centuries, a large number of people remain in close contact with traditional cultures and institutions. Oral traditions continue to play important roles in their lives. For the westernized elite, oral traditions are useful resources for placing an authentic African stamp on writings and they can aid in reconstructions of traditional life.
III Written Literature
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With a few exceptions, literacy came to sub-Saharan Africa from elsewhere. In a handful of instances, rudimentary forms of writing were developed and used by secret societies and other exclusive groups. The major exception to this rule is Amharic, which for centuries has been used in written form in the Horn of Africa.
Literacy in Arabic came to Africa with the introduction of the Islamic religion into the kingdom of Ghana in the 11th century by the Tuaregs, a tribal people of the Sahara. As Islam spread into other parts of West Africa through jihads (holy wars), literacy spread as well. Islam depended on the Qur'an (Koran), its sacred scripture, and required converts to memorize passages from it. From the 7th century on, Arab influence was also prevalent on the east coast of Africa, where Arab traders and slavers were active. The Arabic script was eventually adapted for Swahili, which in central and East Africa served as the lingua franca (language for trade and other cross-cultural communication).
Christianity was a second means for introducing literacy to sub-Saharan Africa. Christian missionaries became active on the continent in the second half of the 19th century, especially after the abolition of the slave trade and the rise of interest among Europeans in other types of trade. The schools that they established were intended to train local helpers for the missionaries, but they later served European colonial administrations and commercial concerns by preparing low-level functionaries. In the areas where Muslims introduced literacy, the literature produced is mainly in African languages. In countries where literacy was introduced by Christian missionaries, the majority of literature is in English, French, or Portuguese.

Literatures in African languages have received little scholarly attention, in part because of a Western bias in favor of literature in European languages. Another barrier is that few scholars of African culture know any African languages, and few Africans know an African language other than their own. The best-known literatures in African languages include those in Yoruba and Hausa in West Africa; Sotho, Xhosa, and Zulu in southern Africa; and Amharic, Somali, and Swahili in East Africa.
In West Africa, Yoruba writing emerged after Bishop Ajayi Crowther, a former slave, developed a script for the language and in 1900 published the first Yoruba translation of the Bible. Isaac Babalola Thomas published the first work of fiction in Yoruba, Sègilolá eléyinjú egé (Segilola of the Seductive Eyes, 1929). It appeared in serial form in Akéde Èkó, a newspaper in Lagos, Nigeria, and warns of the woes in store for women who live a life of prostitution. The most important Yoruba writer, Daniel Olorunfemi Fagunwa, used his writings to commend Christian virtues to the public. His first work is also the first full-length novel published in Yoruba: Ògbójú ode nínú igbó irúnmalè (1938) was translated by Nigerian Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka as The Forest of a Thousand Daemons: A Hunter’s Saga (1968). It tells of the exploits of Akara-Ogun, a fearless hunter in a forest infested with a myriad of unnatural creatures, and draws extensively on Yoruba folklore. Writing emerged in the Hausa language earlier than in the Yoruba language, with such works as Wakar Muhammadu (Song of Muhammad, 1845?), a portrait of the prophet Muhammad by poet Asim Degel.
In southern Africa as well, writing was introduced by missionaries who established themselves in the 1820s at Lovedale, near Alice (now in Eastern Cape Province). In addition to the Bible, one of the texts the missionaries translated for instruction was ThePilgrim’s Progress (1678 and 1684)by English author John Bunyan. This work provided the model for the first South African work of fiction, Thomas Mofolo’s Moeti Oa Bochabella (1906; translated as TheTraveller of the East, 1934). Like Bunyan’s book, this Sotho-language work uses allegory to tell the story of a man’s spiritual journey after converting to Christianity. Also associated with the Lovedale mission is Samuel Edward Krune Loliwe Mqhayi, whose Xhosa-language novel Ityala lamawele (The Case of the Two Brothers, 1914) recreates the legal proceedings he observed at the court of his great-uncle, a chief. He is also known for his poetry, for which admirers named him Imbongi yesizwe jikelele (the poet of the whole nation). In the Zulu language, Abantu abamnyama lapha bavela ngakhona (1922; The Black People and Whence They Came, 1979), by Magema ka Magwaza Fuze, tells of Zulu history and presents an early plea for black unity in Africa.
In East Africa, a system of writing for the Somali language was not developed until the early 20th century, long after writing in Arabic had become widespread among Somali-speaking peoples. Literature in Somali is predominantly in verse, and its greatest figure is Sayyid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan, who was born in the mid-19th century and died in 1921. He criticized the European colonizers and their native collaborators in such poems as “Xuseenow caqligu kaa ma baxo idam Ilaahaye” (O Xuseen, God willing may good sense never leave you). The short novel “Qawdhan iyo Qoran” (Qawdhand and Qoran, 1967), by Somali writer Axmed Cartan Xaarge, is about two lovers who cannot marry because a marriage for the woman had already been arranged. Although literature in Amharic, now the official language of Ethiopia, did not flourish until the 20th century, much earlier writings do exist, including the anonymous 17th-century religious works Mazmura Dāwit (The Psalter of David) and Waddaseē Māryām (Praises of Mary).
Literature in Swahili dates back to the 17th century. Early writings, by Muslim scholars and clerics, consist largely of celebrations in verse of religious figures. Modern Swahili literature, in prose and in verse, dates from 1925, when the countries then forming British East Africa (now Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda) adopted Swahili as the only African language for use in their schools. The first important modern Swahili writer was Tanzania’s Shaaban Robert, who wrote in prose and verse, praising his traditional culture. Very different in subject and style is the later Simu ya kifo (Phone Call to Death, 1965), a police thriller by Tanzanian writer Faraji Katalambulla.