INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN LITERATURE

Summary

This video explores the rich tapestry of African literature, highlighting its history, forms, and famous works. It delves into the continent's diverse cultural heritage, the influence of slavery and colonization, and the emergence of unique literary movements like Negritude. The script discusses oral traditions and the evolution of written literature, showcasing the themes of cultural clash, colonialism, and African identity. Notable authors and their works are mentioned, emphasizing the importance of African literature in understanding the continent's past and present.

Takeaways

• 🌍 African literature encompasses the diverse histories, cultures, and traditions of the 54 nations that make up the African continent.
• 📜 The roots of African literature date back to ancient Egypt, with the development of hieroglyphs and the influence of Arabic poetry during the Arab conquest.
• 🌐 The blending of African, Arabic, and European cultures has resulted in a unique literary form that reflects the continent's rich history.
• 📚 Colonization and the African Diaspora have significantly impacted the themes of African literature, often focusing on the struggle against oppression and the desire for independence.
• 📖 The introduction of written literature in sub-Saharan Africa was facilitated by missionaries who established language schools to translate religious texts.
• 🖋 The Negritude movement of the mid-20th century was a literary and philosophical response to the cultural erasure by French colonialism, celebrating African values and identity.
• 🎭 African literature includes both oral and written forms, with oral literature playing a crucial role in cultural transmission through stories, myths, and proverbs.
• 📝 The themes of African literature often revolve around the clash between indigenous and colonial cultures, the condemnation of European subjugation, and the hope for an independent future.
• 📚 The three waves of literacy in Africa include the early discovery of written books in Autopia, the spread of Islam, and the influence of European trade, missionary activities, and colonialism.
• 📚 Famous African literary works include slave narratives, novels, and poems that have gained attention in the West, often reflecting on the horrors of slavery and the struggle for freedom.
• 📚 Prominent African writers, such as Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, and Alice Walker, have contributed significantly to the richness and diversity of African literature.

Q & A

What are the common features of African literature?

African literature is built upon the history of slavery, colonization, violation, and humiliation, and it often reflects the disgustful life led by Africans.

How does African literature's history date back to ancient times?

African literature's history dates back thousands of years to ancient Egypt, with the use of hieroglyphs, which are pictures representing words.

What is the significance of the Arab conquest of Egypt in the 7th century CE to African literature?

The Arab conquest of Egypt led to the spread of Arabic poetry, which blended with African culture and contributed to the development of African literature.

How did colonization impact the themes of African literature?

Colonization, which involved the exploitation of indigenous people and resources, left an impact on the themes of African literature, often focusing on the clash between indigenous and colonial cultures.

What is the Negritude movement, and how did it emerge?

Negritude was a literary movement initiated by black intellectuals in the 1930s, emerging from a sudden grasp of racial identity and cultural values, and an awareness of the discrepancies between the promise of French assimilation and the reality.

What was the purpose of the 'Présence Africaine' journal founded by Alioune Diop in 1947?

The 'Présence Africaine' journal aimed to define African originality and highlight its introduction into the modern world.

How did the African Diaspora affect African literature?

The African Diaspora, which involved the forced splitting of African people and their enslavement in Western countries, influenced themes of African literature, often leading to a focus on the horrors of slavery and the slave trade.

What are the two kinds of literary forms in African literature?

The two kinds of literary forms in African literature are oral literature and written literature.

What is the role of oral literature in African culture and tradition?

Oral literature, which includes folktales, myths, epics, and proverbs, has flourished in Africa for centuries and plays a crucial role in transmitting culture and tradition to the next generation.

How did the spread of Islam contribute to the literacy wave in Africa?

The spread of Islam contributed to the literacy wave in Africa by establishing itself in North Africa and moving eastward, with believers writing in Arabic and contributing to the development of written literature.

What are some famous works and authors in African literature?

Some famous works in African literature include 'Things Fall Apart' by Chinua Achebe and 'Heart of Darkness' by Joseph Conrad. Notable authors include Wole Soyinka, Nadine Gordimer, and Alice Walker.

Outlines

00:00

🌍 Introduction to African Literature

This paragraph introduces the channel and the video's focus on African literature, which encompasses a rich history and diverse literary forms from the continent's 54 nations. It highlights the common features of African literature, such as its roots in the history of slavery and colonialism, and the expression of African life through written works. The paragraph also touches on the origins of African literature, dating back to ancient Egypt and the influence of Arabic poetry, leading to a unique blend of African, Arabic, and European cultures. The impact of colonization and the African Diaspora on literature is discussed, as well as the development of written literature in sub-Saharan Africa due to missionaries and the emergence of the Negritude movement in the mid-20th century.

05:02

📚 Literary Forms and Themes in African Literature

This paragraph delves into the two main forms of African literature: oral and written. Oral literature, which has been a staple in African culture for centuries, includes myths, epics, funeral dirges, praise poems, and proverbs, serving as a means of cultural transmission across generations. The paragraph also discusses the various forms of oral literature, such as myths explaining natural phenomena and involving supernatural beings, epics recounting heroic deeds, and praise poems celebrating achievements. The written form includes novels, plays, poems, and hymns, and the paragraph outlines the three waves of literacy in Africa, from the earliest written works to the spread of Islam and the influence of European colonization. The paragraph concludes with a mention of famous African literary works and authors, emphasizing the themes of colonialism, liberation, nationalism, tradition, and displacement.

10:02

🎭 Notable Works and Writers in African Literature

The final paragraph highlights some of the most famous works and authors in African literature, providing a brief overview of the themes and historical periods they represent. It mentions famous poems and novels, such as 'Season of Migration to the North' and 'Things Fall Apart,' and notable authors like Chinua Achebe, Nadine Gordimer, and Alice Walker. The paragraph also discusses the features of African literature, including its use of both African and European languages, its documentation of different periods in African history, and its inclusion of both oral and written forms. The paragraph concludes with a suggestion to read the cover pages of some famous books for a deeper understanding of African culture, tradition, life, and history.

Keywords

💡African Literature

African Literature refers to the body of written works produced by Africans or concerning Africa. It encompasses a wide range of themes, styles, and historical periods, reflecting the continent's diverse cultures and experiences. In the video, African literature is discussed in the context of its historical development, from ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs to modern works influenced by colonization and the struggle for independence, showcasing the rich tapestry of African storytelling and cultural expression.

💡Oral Literature

Oral Literature is a form of literature that is transmitted orally from one generation to another, without the use of a written record. It includes myths, legends, folktales, and proverbs. In the video, oral literature is highlighted as a significant aspect of African culture, where stories are passed down through generations, preserving history, values, and traditions. The script mentions that oral literature has flourished in Africa for centuries, taking various forms such as epics, funeral dirges, and praise poems.

💡Colonization

Colonization refers to the process by which a nation or government establishes control over a dependent territory or people. In the context of the video, colonization had a profound impact on African literature, leading to themes of resistance, identity, and the struggle for independence. The script discusses how colonization resulted in the exploitation of African people and resources, which is reflected in the literature of the time, often depicting the clash between indigenous and colonial cultures.

💡Negritude

Negritude is a cultural and literary movement that emerged in the 1930s among black intellectuals in Paris. It aimed to celebrate African heritage and culture in response to the devaluation of black identity during the colonial era. The video script describes how Negritude writers used French to express African traditions and cultures as equal to European culture, marking a significant moment in African literature's assertion of cultural identity.

💡African Diaspora

The African Diaspora refers to the widespread dispersion of African peoples outside of the African continent, primarily due to the transatlantic slave trade. The video script mentions the African Diaspora as a result of forced migration, which has had a lasting impact on African literature, influencing themes of identity, displacement, and the search for roots.

💡Indigenous Languages

Indigenous Languages are the languages spoken by the original inhabitants of a particular region. The video discusses the importance of indigenous languages in African literature, noting the role of missionaries in translating religious texts and creating written literature in these languages. This led to the development of written literature in both European and indigenous languages, reflecting the linguistic diversity of Africa.

💡European Languages

European Languages, such as English, French, and Portuguese, have been used in African literature due to historical colonial ties. The script highlights how many African writers have written in European languages, often to reach a wider audience or due to the influence of colonial education systems. This has led to a rich body of work that bridges African and European literary traditions.

💡Slave Narratives

Slave Narratives are first-person accounts of the experiences of enslaved individuals. The video script mentions that some of the first African writings to gain attention in the West were slave narratives, which vividly described the horrors of slavery. These narratives played a crucial role in raising awareness about the brutal realities of the slave trade and are an important part of African literature's historical record.

💡Literary Forms

Literary Forms refer to the genres or styles in which literature is written, such as novels, poetry, plays, and essays. The video script distinguishes between oral and written literature, highlighting the diversity of African literary forms. Oral literature includes myths, epics, and proverbs, while written literature encompasses novels, plays, and poems, each serving different cultural and communicative functions.

💡Themes in African Literature

Themes in African Literature are the central ideas or subjects that authors explore in their works. The video script identifies major themes such as the clash between indigenous and colonial cultures, condemnation of European subjugation, pride in the African past, and hope for the continent's independent future. These themes reflect the historical and cultural experiences of Africa and are prevalent in both oral and written literature.

Highlights

African literature encompasses the rich history, culture, and traditions of the 54 African nations.

African literature has its roots in the history of slavery, colonization, and the African Diaspora.

Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs and Arabic poetry influenced the development of African literature.

Colonization had a profound impact on African literature, leading to themes of subjugation and resistance.

The Negritude movement of the 1930s sought to rediscover and celebrate African values within French culture.

African literature includes both oral traditions and written works, reflecting a blend of cultures.

Oral literature in Africa includes myths, epics, funeral dirges, praise poems, and proverbs.

The written literature of Africa includes novels, plays, poems, and hymns, often in both European and indigenous languages.

Literacy in Africa has evolved through three waves, influenced by Islam, European contact, and missionary activities.

Early African writings in European languages often served as a form of testimony or revolt against colonialism.

Famous African literary works include 'Things Fall Apart' by Chinua Achebe and 'Heart of Darkness' by Joseph Conrad.

African writers have used their works to address themes of colonialism, liberation, nationalism, tradition, and displacement.

Notable African writers include Wole Soyinka, Nadine Gordimer, and Nelson Mandela, among others.

African literature is characterized by its diversity, reflecting both oral and written traditions in multiple languages.

The African literary tradition has been shaped by historical events and the interplay of various cultural influences.

Contemporary African literature often reveals disillusionment with current events and a critical examination of societal issues.

The transcript provides a comprehensive introduction to the breadth and depth of African literature, including its history and famous works.

Transcripts

hello everyone welcome to my channel on

English literature this is a video on

African literature which includes its

history literary forms famous works etc

so let's go through the slides African

literature there are 54 nations which

make up Africa each of these separate

countries have their own history culture

tribes and tradition there are some

common features shared by literature

which comes from the continent as a

whole African literature was built upon

the history of slavery of trician

violation and humiliation African works

were written out of the disgustful life

led by the Africans next slide is about

the history of African literature

African literature has origins dating

back thousands of years to ancient Egypt

and hero glyphs are writing which uses

picture to represent words these ancient

Egyptian begins led to Arabic poetry

which spread during the Arab conquest of

Egypt in the 7th century CE and through

western Africa in the Nansen jury see

these African and Arabic culture

continued to blend with European culture

and literature to form a unique literary

form Africa experienced several hardship

and its long history which left an

impact on the themes of its literature

one hardship which led to many others is

that of colonization colonization is

when people leave their country and

settle in another land often one which

is already inhabited the problem which

colonization is when the incoming people

exploit the indigenous people and

resources of the inhabited land

colonization led to slavery millions of

African people were enslaved and brought

to Western countries around the world

from 16th to 19th centuries the

splitting of African people largely

against their will is called the African

Diaspora sub-saharan Africa developed a

written literature during the 19th and

early 20th century

this development came as a result of

missionaries coming to the area the

missionaries came to Africa to build

churches and language schools in order

to translate the religious texts this

led to Africans writing in both European

and indigenous languages next heading is

Negritude all the 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 occurred in the mid 20th

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 and an awareness of the

right discrepancies which existed

between the promise of the French system

of assimilation and the reality the

movements founders looked to Africa to

rediscover and Rehab late 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 after this

philosophical a literary movement came

the creation of presents Africa name by

Ali on a job in 1947 the journal

according to its founder was an attempt

to define African originality and to hey

Stan its introduction into the modern

world other Negritude others include

Leopold Sanka Eames Isaiah and Leon

demmas some of the first African

writings to gain attention in the West

were the slave narratives which

described vividly the horrors of slavery

and the slave trade as Africans became

literate in their own languages they

often reacted against colonial

repression in their writings since the

early 19th century writers from West

Africa have used newspapers to air their

views french-speaking Africans in French

led by Leopold's ago

in the negative moment after World War 2

as Africans began demanding their

independence more African writers were

published Willis Linga Chinua Achebe

Gujarati Anka Ben Ali were some of the

writers all of these writers were

writing in European languages and often

they shared the same themes the major

themes were the clash between indigenous

and colonial cultures condemnation of

European subjugation pride in the

African past and hope for the continents

independent future much of contemporary

African literature reveals

disillusionment and disent with current

events Senegal's novelist ousmane

sembène have moved into films to take

their messages to people who cannot read

literary forms there are two kind of

literary forms or literature's in

African literature the first one is the

oral literature and the second one is

the reader literature so first we can

look at the oral literature oral

literature also called as a Reacher have

flourished in Africa for many centuries

and take a variety of forms including

cocktails myths epics funeral dirges

plays poems and proverbs these are the

portraits of African oral tradition the

elders used to tell stories to the

children and their culture and tradition

is followed of transmitted to the next

generation like this through the oral

stories now let's examine the various

forms of oral literature in detail the

first one is myth myth is a traditional

story especially one concerning the

early history of people are explaining

and natural or social phenomenon and

typically involving supernatural beings

or events the major characters in myths

are the supernatural humans gods and

warriors epics epics are elaborate

literary forms usually performed only by

experts on special occasions

they often recount the heroic exploits

of ancestors funeral dirges

these funeral dodges which

during funeral ceremonies lamented

Buttered praised his or her memory and

asked for his or her predation praise

points praise poems are epithets called

out in reference to an object a person

and animal a disease and so on in

celebration of its outstanding qualities

and achievements these poems have a

variety of applications and functions

professional groups often create points

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 a small

fees the last category is proverbs

proverbs are short with D or ironic

statements metaphorical in its

formulation which aimed 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 written literature written

literature includes novels plays poem

hymns and tales all the 50 percentage of

Africa's population is illiterate and

hence many Africans cannot access to the

literature scholars have identified

three waves of literacy in Africa the

first occurred in Autopia were written

books have been discovered that appeared

before the earliest literature's in thus

cultic and Germanic languages of Western

Europe the second wave of literacy moved

across Africa with the spread of Islam

soon after the emergence of Islam in the

7th century its believers established

themselves in North Africa through a

series of holy was in the eleventh and

twelfth centuries

Islam was carried into the Kingdom of

Ghana the religion continued to move

eastward through the 19th century the

encounter with Europe through trade

relationships missionary activities and

colonialism propelled the third wave of

literacy in Africa in the 19th and 20th

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 morale details and

other literature's in African languages

concerned with propagating Christian

values and morals the first of these

Christian spur African writings emerged

in South Africa the written literature's

novels plays and poems in the nineteen

fifties and sixties have been described

as literature's of testimony the African

others who produced literature's in

European languages have been described

as literature's of revolt these texts

move away from the project of free

curating and reconstructing an African

past and focus on responding and

revolting against colonialism and

corruption these literature's are more

concerned with the present realities of

African life and often represent the

past negatively famous literary works I

had included a list of famous poems and

novels in African literature the famous

poems are Paris in the snow taught them

let us do Martha trained Johnny

telephone conversation Africa song of

Latino etc there are a lot of famous

poems in African literature and Here I

am just mentioned some of them famous

African normals the house boy Things

Fall Apart heart of darkness era of God

a grain of wheat antlers of Savannah and

the joys of motherhood

some of the famous African writers are

Shinawatra Bay Nadine Gordimer busy head

good GM a cheetah nerudin Farah Nelson

Mandela Denis Brutus and Alice Walker of

course there are many other writers too

but I am not including all of their

names here because it is just a brief

intro team South African literary works

the African writers published their

works based on the common themes some of

the teens

were colonialism liberation nationalism

tradition and displacement features of

African literature African literature is

written in both African and European

languages most of the African works

represent different periods in African

history it also includes oral and

written literature we already discussed

about this point and last point is that

during colonization written slave

narratives documented horror of slavery

in the coming slides I included the

cover page of some famous books if you

are interested to know more about

African culture tradition life and their

history you can read these books