The History of African Literature (Part 2: Post-Colonial Literature)| 20th Century African Writers
Summary
TLDRThis script delves into the history of African literature, focusing on the post-colonial period from the Berlin Conference of 1884 to Africa's independence in 1960. It discusses the impact of colonization and missionaries on traditional African storytelling, the rise of written literature in colonial languages, and the emergence of movements like Negritude that celebrated African identity. The script highlights key literary works and authors who addressed themes of racism, identity crisis, and the struggle for freedom, leading to the era of Pan-Africanism.
Takeaways
- 📚 The script discusses the history of African literature, focusing on the transition from pre-colonial to post-colonial literature.
- 🗣️ It highlights the impact of the Berlin Conference of 1884, which marked the beginning of the colonial period and the subsequent influence on African literature.
- 🌍 The script emphasizes the division and occupation of African lands by European colonizers and the resulting oppression and exploitation of African people.
- 🎓 The arrival of Christian missionaries introduced Western languages to Africa, leading to a shift from oral traditions to written literature in colonial languages.
- 📖 The script mentions 'Ethiopia Unbound' by Joseph Ephraim Casely Hayford as the first African novel written in English, addressing the issues of colonization and emancipation.
- 💪 The Negritude movement is discussed as a literary and cultural response to demeaning colonial ideas, celebrating African heritage and identity.
- 📚 Post-World War II literature is noted for its strong themes of liberation, freedom, and independence, reflecting the growing awareness and resistance to colonial rule.
- 📖 'Things Fall Apart' by Chinua Achebe is highlighted as a landmark novel that respectfully and complexly portrays African society, countering racist narratives like Joseph Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness'.
- 🌐 The script touches on the role of literature in fostering nationalism and the push for independence across African nations.
- 🎉 The script concludes by looking forward to the next installment, which will explore the evolution of literature in the post-independence era of Africa.
- 🌟 The video is part of a series by 'Mimsy Africa', an online brand that explores African art, culture, and history in a modern and engaging way.
Q & A
What is the focus of the second part of the MIMC Africa special on the history of African literature?
-The focus of the second part is on post-colonial literature, covering the period from the Berlin Conference in 1884 to the year of Africa in 1960.
Why is the literature from the period after colonization referred to as 'post-colonial' rather than 'colonial' literature?
-The term 'post-colonial' is used to signify literature that emerged as a response after the colonization, emphasizing that it came 'after' the colonial period and does not necessarily mean the end of colonial influence.
How did European colonizers treat the lands and people they occupied during the colonial period?
-European colonizers occupied and divided African lands without regard for the original inhabitants, often through oppressive means, extracting natural resources, and enforcing their own religious and cultural beliefs.
What impact did Christian missionaries have on the African continent during the colonial period?
-Christian missionaries exposed Africans to Western languages, often dismissing local customs and traditions, and promoting Western values and beliefs, which led to the decline of traditional storytelling practices and the rise of written literature in colonial languages.
Can you provide an example of the racial brutality and exploitation during the colonial period as mentioned in the script?
-One example is King Leopold of Belgium's rule over the Congo, where he is said to have wiped out around half of the native population through brutal, slave-like governing while claiming to be a civilized, god-fearing Catholic.
What was the significance of the Negritude movement in West African literature?
-The Negritude movement was significant as it opposed demeaning ideas about African culture by celebrating the essence, beauty, and magnificence of African traditional ways through poetry and literature.
What is the first African novel written in English and who is its author?
-The first African novel written in English is 'Ethiopia Unbound: Studies in Race Emancipation' by Joseph Ephraim Casely Hayford.
How did the literature of the post-colonial period address the predicament of African people under colonial rule?
-Post-colonial literature often addressed themes of liberation, freedom, and independence, interrogating the negative impacts of colonialism and advocating for the recognition and preservation of African culture and identity.
What is the significance of 'Things Fall Apart' by Chinua Achebe in the context of African literature?
-'Things Fall Apart' is significant as it was a response to Joseph Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness' and provided a respectful and dignified portrayal of African society, becoming one of the most influential and well-known African novels.
How did literature contribute to the push for African nationalism and independence?
-Literature contributed by highlighting themes of identity crisis, Western satire, racism, oppression, cultural clashes, unity, solidarity, spiritualism, black pride, and freedom, which helped to form a collective push for nationalism and independence.
What themes are commonly found in post-colonial African literature?
-Common themes include racism, identity crisis, cultural clashes, unity and solidarity, the negritude movement, spiritualism, black pride, and the struggle for freedom and independence.
Outlines
📚 Introduction to Post-Colonial African Literature
This paragraph introduces the theme of the video, which is the history of African literature, focusing on the post-colonial period. It sets the stage by referencing the previous discussion about pre-colonial literature and transitions into the impact of colonialism on African storytelling. The speaker emphasizes the shift from oral traditions to written works in colonial languages and the challenges faced by African writers in the late 19th century, particularly around the time of the Berlin Conference in 1884. The paragraph also touches on the broader context of European colonization, including the division of Africa among European powers and the resulting cultural and racial oppression.
🌍 Impact of Colonization and the Emergence of African Literary Voices
This paragraph delves into the profound effects of colonization on African literature and the emergence of African authors who began to challenge the European narrative. It discusses how Christian missionaries introduced Western languages to Africa, leading to the decline of traditional oral storytelling and the rise of written literature in foreign tongues. The paragraph highlights the oppressive conditions and racial brutality faced by Africans, using the example of King Leopold's rule in the Belgian Congo. It also mentions the first African novel written in English, 'Ethiopia Unbound' by Joseph Ephraim Casely Hayford, and the Negritude movement, which celebrated African culture and identity through poetry and literature, as a response to the demeaning stereotypes perpetuated by colonial powers.
📖 The Rise of Post-Colonial Literature and Themes of Liberation
This paragraph explores the rise of post-colonial literature and the strong themes of liberation, freedom, and independence that emerged as a response to colonization. It discusses the works of various African authors who used literature to address racism, identity crises, and the struggle for self-determination. The paragraph mentions landmark works such as 'Things Fall Apart' by Chinua Achebe, which countered the racist portrayal of Africans in Joseph Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness', and 'The Black Messiah' by Godfrey Mwakikagile, which warned against the divisive tactics of colonial powers. The paragraph also highlights the role of literature in fostering a sense of unity and solidarity among Africans, ultimately contributing to the push for nationalism and independence.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Post-Colonial Literature
💡African Literature
💡Oral Tradition
💡Negritude
💡Colonialism
💡Heart of Darkness
💡Independence
💡Cultural Clash
💡Pan-Africanism
💡Identity Crisis
💡Solidarity
Highlights
Introduction to the history of African literature, focusing on the transition from pre-colonial to post-colonial literature.
Discussion of the Berlin Conference of 1884 and its impact on the division of Africa among European colonizers.
The introduction of Western languages and the decline of traditional African storytelling due to colonization.
The oppressive and brutal conditions faced by Africans during the colonial period, exemplified by King Leopold's rule in the Congo.
The role of Christian missionaries in promoting Western languages and dismissing African cultural practices.
The emergence of the first African novel written in English, 'Ethiopia Unbound' by Joseph Ephraim Casely Hayford, addressing colonization.
The Negritude movement, celebrating African culture and identity in opposition to colonial demeaning views.
The influence of European literature, such as Joseph Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness,' on the perception of Africa.
The rise of African authors writing about themes of liberation, freedom, and independence post-World War II.
The significance of 'Things Fall Apart' by Chinua Achebe, a landmark novel responding to colonial narratives.
The exploration of internal conflicts within African characters due to colonization in various novels.
The role of white authors in Africa who empathized with the black majority and critiqued dehumanization.
The importance of African literature in the push for nationalism and independence.
The预告 of the third and final installment of the series, focusing on post-independence literature.
Introduction of the Mimc Africa brand, exploring African art, culture, and history in a modern and engaging way.
Transcripts
i knew that something
needed to be done something needed to be
done
yes and what was that that was
my place in the world my story
the story of myself
the story of my people
welcome to this part two mimc africa
special on the history of
african literature last time we
discussed the pure traditional
african art of pre-colonial literature
in their untouched
form from oral tradition to even dance
they were prominent in many ethnic
groups
if you missed it you can totally check
it out and then come back
so as promised our attention in part two
of these series would tend to
post colonial literature around the
period of 1884 around that period of the
dreaded berlin conference to the year of
africa in 1960
and please note some scholars may call
this the colonial period
but for better arrangement of this
theology we called it post-colonial
literature since post means after
we're looking at it in the context of
literature that came as a response
after the white men came after we got
colonized from the late 19th century
besides post doesn't necessarily mean
something has ended
it just means after something has
happened
but if you still want to call it
colonial literature it's you okay hey
whatever floats your boat a period well
lane was occupied and divided
amongst the european colonizers such as
britain portugal france
germany with no regard of who
owned it before how do you think your
ancestors got these
you think they paid a fair price or did
they take it like they took everything
else
and note since the independent dates
vary a lot
in this section we will not necessarily
look at the period though
but more of the texts that were written
before a particular nation
reached its independence much like
slavery in the usa
the african natives in countries like
mozambique rwanda zambia nigeria
south africa togo senegal were being
oppressed and faced
severe brutality they took out lands
while many africans were being screwed
about how jesus died for them on the
cross
the rest of the europeans extracted
natural resources like gold
timber coal and took the land and not to
mention
there was incredible racial brutality
and slavery while they did it too
one notorious example is that of king
leopold of belgian congo
this guy wiped out around half of the
natives in the gold coast
during the brutal slave-like governing
yet
still claiming to be a civilized
god-fearing catholic
the coming of the missionaries had a
huge impact on the continent the
christian missionaries exposed
africans who were in their colonized
territory to western languages which
were mainly
french in such countries like cameroon
senegal burundi
portugal in mozambique and of course
english
zambia nigeria south africa since most
of these missionaries immediately
dismissed basically everything about
africans to even their names when i went
to school
the lady teacher miss dingani
asked what is your name i told you my
african name
says no i don't want that one you must
have a christian
so i say no i don't have one she says
you and from today you're going to be
nursing
it meant historically sacred
storytelling practices like oral
tradition
and folktales and other african
traditions were forced to take a
backseat as written literature in
colonial languages simultaneously
rose to take its place since the
europeans were teaching many africans to
read and write in these foreign
languages
as africa was being colonized also in
this period these christian missionaries
labeled most of the traditional customs
we discussed
in the last video as being called and
civilized
backward demonic
and of course savage who can forget the
word
savage especially if you have read
joseph conrad's 1902 novel based on
africa
heart of darkness they were called
criminals
and the outraged law like the bursting
shells had come to them
an insoluble mystery from the sea
all their meager breasts panted together
the violently
dilated nostrils quivered the eyes
stared stonely uphill they passed me
within six inches
without a glass with that complete
death-like
indifference of unhappy savages
exquisitely oh
sorry about that had tripped over some
emotion i'm all right i'm alright
as you can see heart of darkness could
have either been really accurate on the
white men's biased perception of
africa or just an over-the-top pile of
racist but one thing is for sure it is a
classic example of just how little these
settling europeans understood afghans
and even worse
understanding them as human beings at
that time
thus much of the literature written in
this era was written to address
this serious predicament in 1911 joseph
ephraim casely hayford
of the gold course published what is
recorded as the first african novel
written in
english ethiopia unbound studies in race
emancipation
which interrogated colonization from the
angle of an
educated black man and solutions to
battle it and assuring his native
phantom people
that one day they would see independence
and get their freedom
this was one of the earliest works to
discuss
these new issues of agitation for black
freedom
with the bad rep african culture was now
getting
many emerging authors real reason to
uphold african art
history and culture such as thomas munoz
when he wrote shaka
published in 1925 in susutru in
similar traditional aesthetic fashion in
1935
the girl who killed to save nontrau said
the liberator
it was a spiritual south african story
about tulsa prophetess
but perhaps from 1934 a more prominent
movement
was that of the negritude in west
african countries such as senegal
which was defined as this paved a way
for a movement that
opposed these demeaning ideas by writing
poetry that showed the essence
the beauty the magnificence and the
glory of
african traditional ways led by
prominent
west african french writers like leopold
senior
leo dama and i mean in 1948 leopold
seducing your fate antology of french
poetry written by an
african anthology
this movement also included the poetic
masterpiece
black woman with such classic lines like
naked woman black woman covered with
your skin that is life
with your phone that is beauty the light
of the mind the glitting of the red gold
against your watered skin
under the shadow of your hair my k is
enlightened
by the neighboring sounds of your eyes
your beauty that passes
the form that i fixed in the eternal
before the jealous fate
turn you to ashes to feed the roots of
life
so beautiful
[Applause]
as you can see these points were
dedicated to glorifying praising and
celebrating the very things europeans
despised
such as our dark skin our thick hair the
shape of our women the nature the dance
the rhythm
the life that is african
so later in 1948 the late colonial
period
as the racial tensions and wars
intensified this was in part because
especially for the black french citizens
who realized they could fight for their
own independence
in the medias of fighting for their
colonial settlers in world war
ii the mindset is the barbarians are
backward and inferior and for their own
benefit we have to uplift them
and civilize them and educate them and
so on
i don't know when you've got your boot
on someone's neck
and you're crushing them you can't say
to yourself
i'm a son of a and i'm doing it for my
own benefit
so what you have to do is figure out
some way of saying i'm doing it for
their benefit as more african writers
became
enlightened and educated they started to
see further and further through this
hypocrisy
of colonization after world war ii
recently
written literature rose sharply again
and it progressively showed
strong themes of liberation freedom and
independence
as big as africa is from even early on
the fascinating thing is most of the
strongest themes discussed in the books
were
quite consistent such as the theme of
racism
became a prominent theme in such books
such as south africa's cry
the beloved country which interrogated
the same topic
osmani wrote in his first french novel
le doka noir about dial an
african stevie doll who faced racism on
the docks of
marseille it is also important to know
there were white authors in africa who
empathize with
with the black majority in the light of
the dehumanization they were going
through
such as legendary writers nadine goddima
of south africa
and nobel prize winner doris lessing of
zimbabwe
whose ass actually got deported for a
racially liberal writing shenanigans
it would further set the pace for black
pride and other talented enlightened
novelists
who would soon follow novels that would
offer more detailed descriptions of
internal conflicts of their black
characters
faced usually at the hands of
colonization
these included internally conflicted
characters such as tau
only from house boy by ferdinand oyono
and
merza from mission to color by mongol
bet
which portrayed lead native characters
who had trouble reconciling their true
african south
with their colonially tempered versions
of themselves
in 1958 became a landmark here for
african literature as nigerian
chinguaches
in 1958 published it then i claimed
things fall apart
which was included in new york times 100
best english language novels from
1923 to 2005 and one of the most
influential
and well-known african novels of all
time
the book was written as a response to
joseph conrad's racist
novel heart of darkness that portrayed
afghans to be little more than
savage animals the hurt [ __ ] moaned
feebly somewhere nearby
and then fetched a deep side that made
me mend my pace away from there
okay okay i heard you the first time it
was told the story of a textured and
complex main character okonkwo
whose traumatic experiences as a child
influenced
his bad decisions in his adulthood
as well as detailing the negative impact
colonization he had on his igbo family
community and natural way of life on top
of having a fascinating plot with
fascinating characters
the book comprehensively dealt with
african society in a respectful and
dignified way
that was rare before in 1962 is when
legendary kenyan writer google wrote the
first east african drama the black emit
a cautionary tale
that discusses on top of racism
tribalism
this warned afghans about the white
man's poe to divide
and conquer therefore encouraging black
solidarity
to fight the colonizer some express the
physical struggles of colonized black
men
both in poetry a great example is that
of lucifer poetry
of antonio jacquinto in the classic poem
letter from a contract worker though
written in angola
it strangely pinpointed the experiences
and feelings of
alienation black south african miners
faced
or charles mugoshi is hugely
metaphorical waiting for the rain
that followed the suffering both
mentally and physically of
a native family that has been alienated
from their ancestral land with a dry and
barren one
further works that were more direct in
their messages like googies the trap of
tida and kemati
postman
had black heroes leading the struggle in
directly fighting against colonization
as you can see afghanistan in this age
was very important it helped open the
door to early independence of states
like
ghana benin mauritiana rwanda
burundi malawi because it spread the
message
of solidarity collectively all these
literal themes and movements such as
identity crisis western satire racism
oppression cultural clashes unity
solidarity
the negritude spiritualism black pride
and freedom as i discussed before would
fuse
together to form a final push for
nationalism and
independence and welcome a new era to
africa
the era of pan-africanism
so thank you for watching our take on
the history of post-colonial literature
be sure to join us on our third and
final installment which will be the
history of post independence literature
where we will discuss the evolution and
forms of literature that came when
and after african nations eventually
freed themselves
from the bondage of colonization see you
there
and as always thanks for watching
mimsy africa
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