by Akpoezoukumor Sarakiri
NAVIGATING LITERATURE IN AFRICA
To be African is to have a story, to be a storyteller and a character in a story. Stories of struggle, of liberation, a story of colonialization and decolonization, of self-destruct, a story of cultural identity, tradition, of nationalism and a battle to survive. These are the fulcrum upon which African Literature mostly stands.
My first sight of love for African Literature came in secondary school, the Nigerian educational system, as a product of British colonial rule is polarized with lots of foreign attributes in our curriculum, and this was profound in Literature, even the titling of the subject itself, tells you all that you need to know, “Literature in English”, this is the name of the subject. In Literature in English, we learned stories of Macbeth, Sherlock, Romeo and Juliet, stories of snow, cold, of Autumn, stories of people eating grapes, strawberries, ice-cream, sandwiches, stories that someone like me find it difficult to relate to albeit, we could only imagine.
Then came the big masquerade, that faithful day in class we were introduced to the bright and shining world of “African Literature”, as our Literature in English teacher would call it. The topic was African Poetry, J. P. Clark and Wole Soyinka’s “Abiku” was read and discussed. This is me, we could so easily relate, the poems were speaking of our reality, our story, the habitant, it speaks of bamboo walls, fresh fish, thatch roof, harmattan, reincarnation and divinity.
For someone like me who love stories, this was my initiation to the world of African Literature and the beginning of my love affair with literature in the context of Africa. These stories of deity, of punitive expenditure into Africa by foreign people and the taken away of our cultural identity, the stories of harmattan, rain and dry seasons, the stories of people eating eba, fufu, plantain, garri, mango, cassava and yam. These stories speak to me, they did not give me anything to imagine. Unlike the earlier stories of snow, Autumn or Winter that are alien to me, things that existed only in my imagination or in the pages of books at best.
I’d like to say most often that, African literature is a rich and diverse fabrication of Africa’s cultural, social, and political enterprise, reflecting the continent’s history, cultures, and people’s experiences. It encompasses an extensive spectrum of genres, styles, and voices.
African literature is classified into four types: oral literature, precolonial African literature, colonial African literature, and postcolonial literature.
The oral tradition of African literature passed down through generations in forms of storytelling, is one of the distinguishing traits of African literature. Many African cultures have a significant literature tradition in which myths, folktales, and epics are passed down orally. This oral tradition has inspired written forms of African literature, contributing to the distinctive storytelling styles of many African authors.
African writers began to use literature as a potent weapon for addressing social, political, and cultural issues as the written tradition grew. Postcolonial literature, in particular, addresses colonialism’s legacy and its impact on African societies. Authors such as Chinua Achebe, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, and Wole Soyinka played pivotal roles in shaping the narrative of postcolonial African literature.
More contemporary writers have emerged in this era and have address more modern themes like identity, migration, and the intersection of tradition and modernity which have become a recurrent theme in African literature. Writers like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Tsitsi Dangarembga, explores these themes with nuance and depth.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who is my personal favourite, is much more vocal, daring, and fearless in her literal illustration of the ills in African society. She has embedded in her works issues most people are afraid to talk about. Issues of systematic violence/state violence (e.g. her collection of short stories), war (Half of A Yellow Sun), religious extremism (Purple Hibiscus), feminism (We Should All be Feminist), and the sad reality of what young Africans go through in trying to find greener pastures abroad (Americana).
Flora Nwapa who was a generation before Chimamanda demystifies divinity, deity, and spirituality in Igbo tradition in her works most prominent is her book “The Lake Goddess”.
Finally, African literature is an enduring and evolving tradition that embodies the essence of the continent’s history, cultures, and people’s aspirations. African literature continues to inspire and enlighten readers across the globe, from oral storytelling to contemporary novels.
