Light, Camera and Action

• The teacher will

The class will be assigned with tasks:
group the
The Researchers
The researcher organize the source and content students to two.
The Developer
• The teacher will
The developer will prepare the presentation making it creative
let the team
The Discussant
The discussants will share the important concept and key information
leader to pick 1
topic to be
The Participant
The participant will listen and will answer the question of the other group performed by
The Assessor them at the end
The Assessor will ask question to the other group
of the lessons.
• The Monitors
The monitor will give feedback and score to the other group
AFRICAN
LITERATURE
REPORTER: UTTO, MONERA K.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the lesson the students can:

a. characterize African Literature

b. Share representative literary works by early and

contemporary African writers; and

c. discuss the prevailing ethos, ideas and philosophies behind

the chosen literary text.
 African literature
African literature reflects the stories of
people from hundreds of years ago and the
people who live now. It is a hugely important
part of the literary world as it brings
underrepresented voices to the fore and
allows them to re-tell their experiences of the
world.
Language
African literature not only comes in the written form but also as oral
literature. Before colonialism, Africans would tell their stories orally and
through performance, sometimes using music as well.

After colonialism, the African writers started to write in European

languages such as English, Portuguese, and French. Their stories
would share similar themes such as denouncing European colonisation
of the African countries, the greatness of their African past before the
European countries invaded, and hope for independence in the future
of Africa.

African authors who wrote in European languages were many times

accused of trying to cater for a western audience but the true reason
behind their intentions was to portray their experience in a language
Characteristics of
African Literature
 Characteristics of African Literature
The basic characteristics of African Literature are:

1)Written in both African and European languages. The predominant African

languages used are Amharic,Zulu, Hausa, and Swahili.

2)Encapsulates different periods in African history, from ancient Africa to the

period of Imperialist domination (15th-19th centuries), and from the post-
colonialist and reconstruction period (19th-mid-twentiethcentury) to the post-
independent/contemporary period (mid-twentieth century-present).

3)Includes oral and written literature from more than 3,000 ethnic African
groups.
 Characteristics of African Literature
4) May be regionally-based, such as West African Literature, North African
Literature, South AfricanLiterature, or East African Literature

5) Oral literature comes in varied forms such as myths, folk tales,

proverbs, dramas, songs, and folk tales. Theyoften involve stories about
the creation of the world and legends about how various powerful
dynastiesoriginated in African regions.

6) During the colonization period, written slave narratives documented

European atrocities and the horrors of slavery. Nationalist newspapers as well
as resistance/liberation poetry critiqued European colonizers and their
practices.
 Characteristics of African Literature
7)In the 19th century, various African authors produced works in English
criticizing colonialistambitions and advocating for independence. These
authors include Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, and Ngugiwa Thiong’o.

8)During the post-colonialist era, various authors denounced the practice of

apartheid. These authors include Nadine Gordimer, Bessie Head, and J.M.
Coetzee.

9) Last, but not least, contemporary African literature often documents how
corrupt, modern Africangovernments perpetuate the suffering of the African
people
 THEME OF AFRICAN
LITERATURE
African literature concern themes related
to:
1.Colonisation
2.African Independence
3.Liberation
4.African Pride
Types of African
literature
The different types of African literature can be divided into four groups:
• Oral African literature
Oral African literature was versatile and communal. Performers could at
times even introduce pieces of their older stories into their new stories or create
completely new content and structures in their stories.
• Pre-colonial African literature
Pre-colonial African literature covers the time between the fifteenth and nineteenth
centuries and includes the Atlantic slave trade. These stories were based on the
folklore of different regions in African countries.
It Is important to understand that before colonial rule, African literature existed.
Africans wrote in Africa as well as in the west and they also wrote in their native
languages.
• Colonial African literature
Colonial African Literature was produced between the end of World War I and
African independence (the date of which depends on the different countries, such
as Ghana's 1957 independence from British control and Algeria's independence in
1962 from France). It contained themes of independence, liberation and négritude
( raising awareness of 'Black consciousness').
• Post-colonial literature
Writers in this period wrote in both western languages and African languages. The
main themes that African authors explore in post-colonial African Literature are the
relationship between modernity and tradition, the relationship between Africa’s past
and Africa’s present, individuality and collectivism, the notion of foreignness and
indigenous, capitalism and socialism, and what it means to be African.
 THANK YOU!!!
REFERENCES:

1.Aneeta Joseph, ‘Themes in African Literature,’ Academia, 2016.

2.Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Purple Hibiscus, 2003.
https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/english-literature/literary-devices/
african-literature/
https://www.scribd.com/document/430577524/Characteristics-and-themes-of-
African-Literature