AFRICAN LITERATURE

ETYMOLOGY


AFRICA TERRA – Land of the afri

AFRI(Plural)
AFER(Singular)
AFER May be from:
PHOENICIAN AFAR – Meaning dust
or
 ETYMOLOGY


GREEK APHRIKE –
Meaning without cold or
LATIN APRICA – Meaning
sunny
And later became Africa
 INTRODUCTION

AFRICA – 2nd largest continent next to
Asia
It covers more than ONE – FIFTH Of
all the earth’s surface
It comprises 46 COUNTRIES
AND TERRITORIES
 INTRODUCTION

 SUEZ CANAL, THE GULF OF SUEZ AND THE
RED
SEA – Separate Africa from Asia
 SRAITS OF GIBRALTAR AND MEDITERRANEAN
SEA – Separate Africa from Europe
 ATLANTIC OCEAN – West
 INDIAN OCEAN - East
 LANGUAGES


FIVE MAJOR LANGUAGES:

1. Afroasiastic languages
2. Click languages
3. Niger – congo languages
4. Sudanic languages
5. Austronesian languages
 RELIGION


ISLAM – Dominant
religion of northern
Africa
It replaced Christianity in the
17thcentury
 EDUCATION

LITERARY RATES FOR MEN Are
higher than women
URBAN EDUCATION Are higher than
rural education
RICHEST Countries invest more than
poorest countries in terms of education
Only a small fraction of afica’ s young
 AFRICAN LITERATURE

It includes ORAL LITERATURE
They called it as ORATURE
ORATURE – Was coined by PIO ZIRIMU
PIO ZIRIMU – Ugandan scholar
 AFRICAN LITERATURE

PROSE – Mythological or
historical, written or
spoken language

CALL-AND RESPONSE
–
Spontaneous verbal and
non-verbal interaction
between the speaker and
 PRE-COLONIAL LITERATURE

EPIC OF SUNDIATA –
Composed in medieval Mali

EPIC OF DINGA – From Old

Ghana empire
 PRE-COLONIAL LITERATURE

KEBRA NAGAST OR THE BOOK
OF KINGS – The best known work
in this tradition

TRICKSTER STORY – One of the popular

form of traditional African folktale
 COLONIAL LITERATURE

JOSEPH EPHRAIM CASELY
HAYFORD – Published the
1st African novel written in
English
ETHIOPIA UNBOUND –
1st African novel written in
English
 COLONIAL LITERATURE

HERBERT ISAAC ERNEST
DHLOMO– Published 1st
English- language
African play

THE GIRL WHO LIKED TO SAVE –

1st
English-language African play
 COLONIAL LITERATURE

NGUGI WA THIONG’O – Wrote
1st east African drama

BLACK HERMIT – 1st east

African drama
 COLONIAL LITERATURE

 THINGS FALL APART BY CHINUA ACHEBE –
Receive significant worldwide critical acclaim
 COLONIAL LITERATURE

LEOPOID SEDAR SENGHOR –
President of Senegal published the
1st anthology of French language poetry

ANTHOLOGY OF THE NEW BLACK

AND MALAGASY POETRY IN THE
FRENCH LANGUAGE – 1st anthology of French
language poetry
 POST-COLONIAL LIT

ALI A. MAZRUI – Mention 7 CONFLICTS As
THEMES:
- The clash between Africa's past and present
- Between tradition and modernity
- Between individualism and community
- Between socialism and capitalism
- Between development and self-reliance
AFRICAN RITERS AND POETS

 WOLE SOYINKA (JULY
13, 1934 IN NIGERIA)
- Foremost ENGLISH
LANGUAGE
POET
- He won the NOBEL PRIZE
FOR LITERATUREIN
1986
- 1ST AFRICAN WRITER
Who
won the novel prize for
 AFRICAN RITERS AND POETS

- The 2ND AFRICAN WRITER Winner of the
novel Prize was NADINE GORDIMER In
19991
- 1ST PLAY: The swamp dwellers.
- OTHER PLAYS: Death and the king’s horse
man, opera wonyosi and play of giants.
AFRICAN WRITERS AND POETS


CHINUA ACHEBE
- Nigerian novelist and
poet
- His 1st novel was
entitled THINGS FALL
APART
- He has been co-editor of
okike
 AFRICAN WRITERS AND POETS


- OKIKE (Was of Africa's most influential
literary magazines)
- Other works: THE ARROW OF GOD, A
MAN OF THE PEOPLE, GIRLS AT
WAR, CHRISTMAS IN BIAFRA AND
OTHER POEMS
AFRICAN WRITERS AND POETS

JOHN PEPPER CLARK
- Nigerian poet, dramatist, and
literary critic
- Born: APRIL 6, 1935
- Plays: OZIDI AND
SONG OF GOAT
- Representative of his poetry
was the volume, A DEVADE
OF TONGUES.
 AFRICAN WRITERS AND POETS


NGUGI WA THIONG’O
-Born: JANUARY 5, 1938
IN KENYA
-The most important east
African novelist
- 1st two novels: WEEP NOT, CHILD
BY CHINUA ACHEBE
 CHARACTERS:

OKONKWO – Respected and influential
leader
UNOKA – Okonkwo’s father
IKEMEFUNA – He was given to the village
as a peace offering by neighboring mbaino
NWOYE – Okonkwo’s son
OJIUGO – Youngest wife of okonkwo
 CHARACTERS:

OGBUEFI EZEUDER – Oldest man in
the village
OBIERIKA – Okonkwo’s best friend
EZINMA – Daughter of Okonkwo and
his wife Ekwefi
EGWUGWU – Nine clan leaders,
also represent nine villages of
Umuofia
MGBAFO – Had been severely beaten
 CHARACTERS:


CHIELO – Toldcaves okonkwo

that agbala needs to see
ezinma
AGBALA – The oracle of the hills
and caves
UCHENDU – Uncle of okonkwo
 CHARACTERS:


EFULEFU – 1st recruits of the

missionaries; they are weak and
worthless men of the village
MR. BROWN – The
white missionary
REVEREND JAMES
 VOCABULARY:

VOLATILE – Liable to change rapidly and
unpredictably , especially for the worse
APT – Having a tendency to do something
PROVOCATION – Action or speech that
makes someone annoyed or angry, especially
deliberately
EXILE – Expel, banish, drive out, throw out;
to be away from one’s home
 VOCABULARY:

KINSMAN – A man who is one of person’s
blood relations
MACHETE - A broad knife used as
an implement or weapon
BEHEADS – Form of execution
CLANSMAN – A male member of a
clan
ORACLE – Authority, mentor, and
 SETTING:


UMUOFIA – Located in
eastern nigeria
MBANTA – Native village
of okonkwo’s mother
 
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