Attempting to place African Literature amongst its literary compatriots proves to be something of a conundrum in the 21st century. Indeed, as pointed out by journalist Lucianne Englert in her article African Literature: A Topic As Vast As The Continent, “just as the single continent of Africa contains more than fifty countries and inspires unique interpretations for every visitor or student, so too does a conversation about African literature extend into a myriad of subtopics.”
Over the last hundred years, African writers have written of their lives, culture, history and myth in varying styles and forms. Yet until relatively recently, the majority of these works have remained unknown and uncelebrated amongst their own people. Globally however, modern African writers have been published, and their translated works have sold convincingly. However few works by African writers are actually available to those living in the countries being written about.
So what factors have contributed to this contradictory turn of events? And in what ways has the situation improved in recent times, if indeed it has?
Chinua Achebe, author of the classic novel Things Fall Apart and considered by many to be the father of modern African literature, once stated in exasperation that the “African people did not hear of culture for the first time from Europeans…their societies were not mindless but frequently had a philosophy of great depth and value and beauty… they had poetry and, above all, they had dignity.” A dignity he felt many African people had all but lost under the brutal yoke of colonialism.
And a dignity which Chinua Achebe believed the African writer played an integral part in helping reclaim. In a collection of his thoughts entitled Chinua Achebe on the Role of the African Writer he explains that through writing about their shared experiences, “the writer’s duty is to help [the people] regain their dignity by showing them in human terms what happened to them”. Yet at seemingly every turn, a number of factors have conspired to keep much of the body of African literature from assuming its rightful place in its own cultural construct.
Add to that the fact that historically, African literature in printed form, is a relatively new phenomenon. According to the information source Wikipedia: “Because literacy did not become widespread in Africa until the arrival of Christian missionaries in the 1800’s much of the pre-colonial African literary canon was oral.” This includes songs, poems, and folk tales used to entertain children and to pass on histories through the generations.
And in the opinion of noted travel writer David Mozer, this oral tradition has been a large part of the problem in the dissemination of African narratives. Mozer noted that although the practise of oral history may run rich and deep with epic legends and parables, only a few of these tales have been picked up by publishing houses. The process of turning oral into text has failed significantly here. And in the end, the material does not conform to the style sought by Western publishers.
Thematically, the style of African literature has also changed significantly over the last century, particularly as social change and the emancipation of many African nations has come about. Some of the first African writings to gain attention in the West were poignant slave narratives, such as The Interesting Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African which described vividly the horrors of slavery and the slave trade.
So too, as Africans became literate in their own languages, they often reacted against colonial repression in their writings. As noted by Eileen Julien, professor of Comparative Literature at Indiana University Bloomington, in her article African Literature: A Topic As Vast As The Continent, “intellectuals throughout Africa thought their cultures were being misrepresented in European texts, so they wrote their own perspectives.” Julien also realised that once independence was achieved in each African country, the literary output saw an emphasis on local politics, gender politics, [and] ethnic politics rather than colonisation.
According to scholar Margaret Laurence, 1950’s Africa witnessed “the flourishing of a new literature which drew sustenance from both traditional oral literature and from a rapidly changing society.” In her book Long Drums and Cannons: Nigerian Dramatists and Novelists, Laurence argues that this seeming freedom of expression has not become the creative breeding ground for literature that many African writers such as Achebe once dreamt of once Africa freed itself from colonialism.
Pen USA, an American based organisation that looks to build interest in the written word and defend writers, is working particularly towards assisting many contemporary African writers to publish their work and reflect their realities freely. A freedom that is often severely curtailed by a reality that sees government repression, censorship, imprisonment, and exile. Such realities have led to many of the African nation’s most talented writers such as Chenjerai Hove to flee their homelands, not only in order to write what they choose, but in many cases, to stay alive.
Criticism of African governments and their policies has often been dealt with harshly by dictators and political powers bent on controlling the dissenting voices of the people through control of the written word. One of the best known examples of this repression was the state sanctioned execution of Nigerian writer Ken Saro-Wiwa who was killed by political forces in 1995 in retaliation for bringing the plight of his country to the attention of the world in works such as Nigeria, The Brink of Disaster and Genocide in Nigeria. Shortly before his death, the Nigerian writer stated: “The most important thing for me is that I’ve used my talents as a writer to enable (my) people to confront their tormentors. I was not able to do it as a politician or a businessman. My writing did it.”
So too, many modern day Africans find it near impossible to avail themselves of the works of fellow countrymen as a result of the unavailability of African texts. In a recent BBC News online article African Writer Wants Books Not Bridges, the exiled Zimbabwean writer Chenjerai Hove lamented how current day Africa is seemingly on the road to illiteracy due to the unavailability of African literature.
“It is sad when I realise that African books are read more outside the continent than inside”, said Chenjerai Hove. Tellingly, he also pointed out that African governments only view development in terms of bridges, school buildings, clinics, hospitals and roads. “The African mind is the least of their priorities.”
