African

Literature
Presented by: Teacher Dinah
 Objectives:
• Gain insights about African life
through their Literature;
• Distinguish the characteristics of
the African Literature; and
• Identify most known African
writers and poets.
 Let’s Play!

WikaRambulan
High Row G Lips
Hieroglyphs
Hieroglyphs
- Type of writing which uses
pictures to represent words.
Sleeve Narra Tea V

Slave Narrative
Slave Narrative
- A type of literary genre about
enslavement.
Call On Knee Say Shawn

Colonization
Colonization
- Process of settling among and
establishing control over the
indigenous people of an area.
Oh Roll Lit Rate Sure

Oral Literature
Oral Literature
- a term generally applied to spoken
literary traditions such as folk tales, musical
theater, proverbs, riddles, epic poems and
historical recitations.
Up Free Can Lit Rate Sure

African Literature
African Literature
- literary works of the African
continent.
African Literature:

History
 Africa
•• Africa
Africa is
is the
the world's
world's second-largest
second-largest
and
and second-most
second-most populous
populous continent,
continent,
after
after Asia.
Asia.

•• Africa
Africa has
has 54
54 countries
countries and
and each
each of
of
these
these separate
separate countries
countries has
has their
their own
own
history,
history, cultures,
cultures, tribes,
tribes, and
and traditions.
traditions

•• All
All of
of this
this country
country shares
shares commonality
commonality
when
when it
it comes
comes to
to their
their Literature.
Literature.
 African
Africa:

Literature
 Africa Literature
•• African
African Literature
Literature has
has origins
origins dating
dating
back
back thousands
thousands of
of years
years from
from Ancient
Ancient
Egyptian
Egyptian hieroglyphs.
hieroglyphs.

•• The
The Ancient
Ancient Egyptian
Egyptian beginnings
beginnings led
led to
to
the
the forming
forming and
and creation
creation of
of Arabic
Arabic
Poems.
Poems. The
The African
African and
and Arabic
Arabic
cultures
cultures continued
continued toto blend
blend with
with
European
European culture
culture to
to may
may result
result to
to aa
unique
unique form
form of
of literature.
literature.
Ancient Egypt Hieroglyphs
 Africa Literature
TAKE NOTE:
• Through Ancient Egyptian beginnings,
it led to the creation of Arabic
Poems. Arabic Poems or Arabic poetry
is the earliest form of Arabic
literature.

• These two cultures blended with

European culture to create this
unique form of African Literature.
 Africa
•• Africa
Africa experienced
experienced several
several hardships
hardships
throughout
throughout the
the years
years which
which left
left
impact
impact to
to the
the theme
theme of
of its
its literature.
literature.

•• One
One of
of the
the hardships
hardships which
which led
led to
to
many
many others
others is
is colonization.
colonization. They
They were
were
colonized
colonized by
by many
many European
European countries
countries
and
and it
it resulted
resulted toto slavery
slavery of
of millions
millions
of
of African
African people.
people.
 Pre- Post-
Colonial
Colonial Colonial
Literature
Literature Literature

African Literature Timeline

 Pre-Colonial Literature:

Oral Narrative
Pre-Colonial Literature
• An oral narrative is a spoken story.

• Oral narratives are the stories people

tell. People have been telling stories for
a long time. Some oral narratives are
thousands of years old. These stories
were told before writing was invented.
Long ago adults told stories to children.
Pre-Colonial Literature

• African storyteller is called “griots” and

the process of storytelling is called
“Orature”.
 Oral Narratives
• Griots are not just telling stories; they
have an art form that they are
following. The storyteller’s art is to
mask the past, making it mysterious,
seemingly inaccessible. It is considered a
time of masks. Sometimes, when a griot is
telling a story they are being
accompanied by a music.
• The relationship between oral
and written traditions and in
particular between oral and
modern written literatures is
one of great complexity and
not a matter of simple
evolution.
• Modern African literatures were
born in the educational systems
imposed by colonialism, with
models drawn from Europe rather
than existing African traditions.
But the African oral traditions
exerted their own influence on
these literatures.
 Colonial Literature:

Slave Narrative
 Colonial Literature
• Slave narrative is a type of
literary genre involving the
autobiographical accounts of
the physical and spiritual
journey from slavery to
freedom.
 Autobiography
• An autobiography is a self-
written life story. It is
different from a biography,
which is the life story of a
person written by someone
else.
 Slave Narrative
• The first slave narrative to
become an international best-
seller was the two-volume
“Interesting Narrative of the
Life of Olaudah Equiano; or,
Gustavus Vassa, the African”,
Written by Himself (1789).
 Slave Narrative
• The narrative has a strong
abolitionist stance and detailed
description of life in Nigeria.

• It was so popular that it ran

through nine English editions
and one U.S. printing and was
translated into Dutch, German,
and Russian.
 Abolition Movement
• The abolitionist
movement was an
organized effort to end
the practice of slavery in
the United States.
 Post-Colonial Literature:

Slave Narrative
Post-Colonial Literature

• It focuses on the clash

between indigenous and
colonial cultures,
expressing hope for
Africa's future.
 Frederick Douglass
• An America slave write his own
narrative as he escaped the slavery
of Europeans.
• His narrative was used as an
instrumental figure in the
abolitionist movement, His
narrative was titled, “Narrative
of the Life of Frederick Douglass,
an American Slave.”
African Writers and Poets.
Chinua Achebe
Wole Soyinka
Maya Angelou
Chinua Achebe
• Albert Chinualumogu
Achebe, was born in
November 16, 1930, at Ogidi,
Nigeria and died in March 21,
2013 at Boston,
Massachusetts, U.S.
 Chinua Achebe
• Chinua Achebe was a
Nigerian novelist, poet, and
critic who is regarded as
the most dominant figure in
modern African literature.
 Chinua Achebe
• His first novel and magnum
opus, Things Fall Apart, occupies
a pivotal place in African
literature and remains the
most widely studied, taught and
read African novel.
 Chinua Achebe
• Along with Things Fall
Apart, his No Longer at
Ease and Arrow of God
complete the so called
"African Trilogy".
African Writers and Poets.
Chinua Achebe
Wole Soyinka
Maya Angelou
 Wole Soyinka
• Akinwande Oluwole
Soyinka, was born July
13, 1934, at Abeokuta,
Nigeria.
 Wole Soyinka
• He was a Nigerian playwright
and political activist who
received the Nobel Prize for
Literature in 1986.

• He sometimes wrote about

modern West Africa in a
satirical style.
 Wole Soyinka
• A Dance of the Forests
is one of Wole Soyinka's
best-known plays and was
commissioned as part of a
larger celebration of
Nigerian independence.
 Wole Soyinka
• When Soyinka won the Nobel
Prize for Literature in 1986, A
Dance of the Forests was named
as one of his crowning
achievements, and he was named
"one of the finest poetical
playwrights that have written in
English.”
African Writers and Poets.
Chinua Achebe
Wole Soyinka
Maya Angelou
 Maya Angelou
• Marguerite Annie Johnson,
born in April 4, 1928 at St.
Louis, Missouri, U.S. and she
died in May 28, 2014 at
Winston-Salem, North
Carolina.
 Maya Angelou
• She was an American poet,
memoirist, and actress
whose several volumes of
autobiography explore the
themes of economic, racial,
and sexual oppression.
 Maya Angelou
• She has been referred to
as “people’s poet” and
as “the black woman’s
poet laureate”.
 Maya Angelou
• In 1993, Angelou recited her
poem “On the Pulse of
Morning” at President Bill
Clinton’s inauguration. She
was the first female poet and
the second ever after Robert
Frost to be so honored.
 Maya Angelou
• The poems of Maya Angelou have
been called “the anthems of
African Americans”.
• Her poem, Still I Rise was
recited by Nelson Mandela at his
presidential inauguration.
 Maya Angelou
• Maya Angelou is the most
famous black poet till
date.
 Maya Angelou
• The traumatic sequence
of events of her early
life is the focus of her
first autobiographical
work.
 Maya Angelou
• I Know Why the Caged Bird
Sings (1969; TV movie 1979),
which gained critical acclaim
and it was nominated in
National Book Award.
 Maya Angelou
• She became one of the first
African American women to have a
screenplay produced as a feature
film.
• In 2011, Angelou was awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Activity Time!
Convert this direct sentence into a
figurative sentence.
a. You are beautiful.
b. I like you.
c. Will you marry me?
 Quiz:
Read the instructions
carefully.
https://forms.gle/Rjnwu4caZQCWCSeZ8
Thank You
For Listening!