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KINNAIRD COLLEGE FOR WOMEN (KCW)

PRE MID ASSIGNMENT NO. 1

SUBMITTED TO Ms. Zahra Hamdani

SUBMITTED BY Amna Ahad
MAJOR English Literature
SUBMISSION DATE 27th August, 2019
SEMESTER 7th
COURSE TITLE Introduction to African Literature
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Amna Ahad

Introduction to African Literature

Ms. Zahra Hamdani

27th August, 2019

According to your research on African Literature, does it follow the European literary
Canon as the ultimate standard or does it defy its canonical status.

If yes, support your answer through relevant examples.

If not, then does this link to colonial wounds?

The European canon basically represents the excess of high literature, art, music,
philosophy, anything that has reached the title of being a "classic". A certain rule and principle
considered the basis of accurate judgment. However the works belonging to these genre don't
specifically belong to Europe or the West, but rather from all over the world and hence also
valued and enjoyed universally as well. At some stage in the 20th century there was a developing
interest in the West, as well as globally, in predominant creative works of the cultures of South
America, Africa, the Scandinavian countries, the Middle East and Asia, specifically the prior
European colonies.

The Western scholarly ordinance began to incorporate black writers additionally from the
more extensive black diaspora of journalists in Europe, Africa and Latin America. This is to a
great extent because of the move in social and political perspectives during the social equality
development in the United States. Worldwide acknowledgment came in mid 1900's when
Gwendolyn Brooks was the pioneer African American to win a Pulitzer Prize for Literature.
Moreover, Chinua Achebe's epic Things Fall Apart helped attract consideration regarding
African writing. Nigerian Wole Soyinka was the main African to win the Nobel Prize in
Literature in late 1980's, and American Toni Morrison was the first black woman to win in early
1990's. Initial American Black journalists were propelled to resist omnipresent racial preference
by substantiating themselves equivalent to white American creators. African-American authors
were additionally endeavoring to subvert the abstract and power customs of the United States. A
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few researchers attest that composing has generally been viewed as an asset characterized by the
predominant norm as a white male motion hence indicating that in American culture, scholarly
acknowledgment has customarily been personally connected to the elements which executed
racial segregation. By obtaining from and joining the non-composed oral customs and society
life of the African diaspora, African-American writing broke the persona of association between
artistic expert and male centric power. In creating their own writing, African Americans had the
option to set up their very own abstract conventions without the white scholarly channel. This
perspective on African-American writing as an instrument in the battle for Black socio-political
freedom has been expressed for a considerable length of time.

African literature does not completely follow the criteria of the European Canon and
defies it as the standard criteria of principle as the this high culture and standard has been defined
fundamentally by the whites, only recently black writers and many composers of various
ethnicities were made into the criteria. This includes a huge gap between then and now as the
black community had to strive and pave its way into the intellectual literary attention due to their
global status being reduced by white supremacy and slavery. Yet still people such as Mansa
Musa, the richest man to ever live who introduced sugar, salt and gold as "cash" to form trading
alliances. then scholars such as Olaudah Equiano who although was initially taken into slavery
but freed himself and worked hard in the abolitionist movement in London along with other
black intellectuals who were against the trans-atlantic slave trade thus forming a group called
"Sons of Africa". Equiano wrote an autobiography called "The Interesting Narrative of the Life
of Olaudah Equiano" in 1789 hence highlighting his struggles and hard work he put to free his
people and to put a collective narrative out there about the dangers and sufferings of people who
fall prey to the slave traders and often die between voyages. Similarly, Omar Ibn Said was an
African writer and Islamic scholar who enslaved in childhood and brought to America. While
enslaved he composed a number of series of history and theology. His religious loyalties has
been a topic of debate as if keeping his works in perspective he is often found quoting the Bible
and different places one sees him praising the Quran. He died still in slavery. Furthermore,
Langston Hughes, an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from
Missouri, made his career as one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form
called jazz poetry, Hughes is also best known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance. Similar to
many African Americans, Hughes had a complex ancestry. Both of Hughes' paternal great-
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grandmothers were enslaved African Americans and both of his paternal great-grandfathers were
white slave owners in Kentucky. As far as his literary career is concerned, Hughes and his
contemporaries had different goals and aspirations than the black middle class. Hughes and his
fellows tried to depict the low-life in their art, that is, the real lives of blacks in the lower social-
economic strata. They criticized the divisions and prejudices within the black community based
on skin color. His poetry and fiction portrayed the lives of the working-class blacks in America,
lives he portrayed as full of struggle, joy, laughter, and music. Permeating his work is pride in
the African-American identity and its diverse culture. Although Hughes was often criticized for
writing in favor of America and how he resonates with it more than looking into and showing
importance for his roots, he was a supporter of the Martin Luther King Jr. mindset of having a
dream of unity and an unbiased nation, yet still his works such as his poetry including Cross, The
Negra Speaks of Rivers has surely left its mark among the Western Canon as African Literature
has progressed.

Black/African literature stands out as indeed the wounds, even after decades and
centuries, are still fresh and this history is something that cannot be forgotten easily thus w see
the sentiment apparent in the works black writers such Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou and the
writers mentioned above. The topics they choose to write on are although based on history yet
are still found relevant today as sadly racial discrimination and hate crimes/genocide has not
completely vanished as it should by now, hence more passion, sentiment and zeal is found in
African literature to move its perusers and work in the path for making the world around them a
better place for everyone to live in.
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References and Citations

 Guest, Africa in Words. “African Literature and the next Generation of Writing
Back.” Africainwords.com, 6 Feb. 2017,
https://africainwords.com/2017/02/06/african-literature-and-the-next-generation-
of-writing-back/.
 Amoko, A. O. “The Problem with English Literature: Canonicity, Citizenship,
and the Idea of Africa.” Research in African Literatures, vol. 32, no. 4, 2001, pp.
19–43. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3820805.
 Herald. “What Defines African Literature?” The Herald, The Herald, 12 July
2015, https://www.herald.co.zw/what-defines-african-literature/.