Introduction to African Literature

by
Sabah Alassiri
Hessah Alghannam
Taif Alsenan
Reem Alotaibi
 Definition
African literature: literary works of the African continent. It consists of a body of work in different
languages and various genres, ranging from oral literature to literature written in colonial
languages (French, Portuguese, and English).

Modern African literature: literature that were born in the educational systems imposed by
colonialism, with models drawn from Europe rather than existing African traditions.
 History (origin and
development)
• African literature has origins dating back thousands of years to Ancient Egypt and
hieroglyphs or writing which uses pictures to represent words.

• Africa experienced several hardships in its long history which left an impact on the
themes of its literature. One hardship which led to many others is that of colonization.
 History (origin and
development)
• Colonization led to slavery. Millions of African people were enslaved and brought to
Western countries around the world from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries.
(African Diaspora)= (Modern African literature)

• Négritude movement. It began among French-speaking African living in Paris as a protest

against French colonial rule and the policy of assimilation.
AFRICAN POETRY IN ITS ORAL AND
WRITTEN FORMS HAS ADDRESSED A
VARIETY OF THEMES
 Colonialism
Colonialism also resulted in cultural displacement,
Africans were forced to adopt westerns traditions
and it affected their belief system they abandon their
own faith and adapt the Christianity religion for
material benefits.
 cultural values
Negritude Movement It aimed at artistically voicing
African cultural values. it a powerful literary movement founded by
Aimé Césaire of Senegal. Among other things, the Negritude poets favored the theme of glorification of

Africa. They worshipped anything African in brilliant rhymes.

 African poets and the power of
their poetry
poetry has became a powerful medium through which
African poets conveyed to the world audience, not
only their "despairs and hopes, the enthusiasm and
empathy, the thrill of joy and the stab of pain..." but
also a nation's history as it moved from "freedom to
slavery, from slavery to revolution, from revolution to
independence and from independence to tasks of
reconstruction which further involve situations of
failure and disillusion".
 History Of Mozambique
• After 100 AD Bantu speaking people arrived in what is now
Mozambique, and they were organized into small kingdoms.

• During the 16th century, the Portuguese established trading

posts along the coast of Mozambique. They also took over some
of the lands and divided it into large estates called Brazos.
However, for centuries Portugal only had very limited control
over Mozambique.
 History Of Mozambique

• In the late 19th century when Europeans carved up Africa

between them. In 1891 Britain and Portugal signed a treaty.
• The British recognized the borders of Portuguese East Africa
(Mozambique). A network of railways was built in Mozambique
but nothing was done for the native people.
 History Of Mozambique
• In the 1950s and early 1960s, the situation in Africa changed
and many African countries became independent.
• The war went on for 10 years with the Portuguese gradually
losing ground. Finally, on 25 June 1975 Mozambique became an
independent nation.
• Mozambique recovered from the war and today it is developing
rapidly.
 Carolina Noémia Abranches de
Sousa Soares
• Carolina Noémia Abranches de Sousa Soares (20 September
1926, Catembe - 4 December 2002) was a poet from
Mozambique who wrote in the Portuguese language. She is also
known as Vera Micaia. She is of mixed Portuguese and Bantu
descent.
 Carolina Noémia Abranches de
Sousa Soares
• She was born of mixed-race heritage in Catembe, on the south
side of the bay across from the capital Maputo. Her father was
descended from a Luso-Afro-Indian family from the island of
Mozambique; her maternal grandfather was German. Her father
taught her to read at the age of four by her father, four years
before he died.
 Carolina Noémia Abranches de
Sousa Soares
• Moving to Portugal at the age of 25, she lived in Lisbon,
working as a translator from 1951 to 1964. She then left for
Paris, where she worked for the local consulate of Morocco. She
went back to Lisbon in 1975 and became a member of the
ANOP, and she worked with several newspapers and magazines
throughout her life.
 Analysis of the Poem
• Noemia De Souza has strongly used literary devices
• (if you want to know me) have a mysterious and carefree title
• She written this poem in defense of the colonization of Africa
and oppression. It also showcases the struggle for cultural and
political autonomy along with hybridity
• In the beginning of the poem, she establishes her lost identity
due to colonization and uses the image of “empty sockets”. the
eye is one part of the body that best expresses emotions
 Analysis of the Poem
• She goes on to tell us the harsh past experiences and marks that
she has to live with it for the rest of her life. The marks all over
her body seem like tattoos that last forever leaving marks of
slavery.
• The usage of words like magnificent and torture together,
beautiful and marred shows how she proudly goes on to say
“Africa from head and foot and this is what I am”.
• The colonization, slavery, all forms of violence, abuse, every
single experience that she has ever gone through is what gives
her identity
Thank You
 References
• http://princehamilton.blogspot.com/2009/06/what-is-african-literature.html

• https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwi34vb7kPfzAhWSDuwKHVTMD1AQFnoECAUQAw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fstudy.com%2Facademy%2Flesson%2Fafrican-literature-history-characteristics.html&usg=AOvVaw22v46X5KRQKFarFydiboif

• https://www.britannica.com/art/Negritude

• http://www.postcolonialweb.org/africa/jvrao5.html