TYPES OF AFRICAN LITERATURE

 Oral African literature - African oral literature was performative. Its themes were
usually mythological and historical. Performance, tone, riddles, and proverbs were key
components of oral African literature.
 Pre-colonial African literature - is the literature written between the 15th and 19th
centuries and includes the Atlantic slave trade. These stories were based on the folklore
of different regions in African countries.
 Colonial African literature - was produced between the end of World War I and African
independence. It contained themes of independence, liberation and négritude.
 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.
These can further be divided into three periods of African literature: during African liberation,
colonialism of Africa, and Africa after colonialism.
CHARACTERISTICS OF AFRICAN LITERATURE
1. Slave narratives: this is written by fugitive slaves on how they lived in the south.
(ex.Harriet)
2. Protest colonization: African writers aimed at revealing the horrid side of the rule of
colonial. Topics that are sometimes written under this literature informs about the
stereotypes of Africans as “primitive” or dangerous people. Examples: Hidden Figures
3. Calls for independence. Back in the days, as most of us know that colored people are
treated like another creature that lives in the earth. With this characteristic of literature,
colored people call for their own independence.
4. African Pride: African people tend to create their name by showcasing their unique and
rich culture from any other.
5. Hope for the future: focuses on the literature of hope and despair over the betrayal of
the goals of liberation struggles in Africa
David Diop - was one of the most promising French West African poets and known for his
contribution to the Négritude literary movement.
Négritude literary movement - aim of promoting an appreciation of the history and culture of
black people.
Nadine Gordimer - South African novelist and short-story writer whose major theme was exile
and alienation. She received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1991.
Mabel Ellen Dove Danquah - was a Gold Coast-born journalist, political activist, and
creative writer, one of the earliest women in West Africa to work in these fields.
Short stories are self-contained works of prose fiction whose function is to impart a moral,
capture a moment, or evoke a certain mood.
Short stories are a very important part of African culture, as they can be told orally and be
passed one from generation to generation. Storytelling includes dance, music, costumes and
acting, not just reading.
ELEMENTS OF A SHORT STORY
 Characters
 Settings
 Plot
 Conflict
 Theme
ONCE UPON A TIME BY: NADINE GORDIMER (Summary)
“Once Upon a Time” by Nadine Gordimer is a modern fairy tale. It tells the story of a once happy
family living in an affluent suburb of South Africa who move emotionally from contentment to fear
as they protect and isolate themselves from the rest of the population who are the disadvantaged and
poor “people of another color.” Gradually they add more protection to their home as their fear grows.
Ultimately and ironically, the protection they install boomerangs back and injures, perhaps kills their
son. Although the story has several obvious fairy tale elements, a “once upon a time” beginning, a
happy family of good law, abiding people, who license their dog, insure against fire, flood and
damage, and a wise old witch, the author employs several other fairy tale devices in the story. First,
there is the use of simple, repetitive language like that in a fairy tale: “in a house, in a suburb, in a
city there was a man and his wife who loved each other very much and were living happily ever
after. They had a little boy and they loved him very much. They had a cat and a dog” Phrases such as
“trusted housemaid”, “you are right, said the wife ”and” We are told “they no longer paused to
admire this show of roses or that perfect lawn; these were hidden behind an array of different security
fences, walls and devices. In this story, there are no talking animals, but there are burglar alarms. The
young son assumes the role of Prince in a fairy tale when he re-enacts a bedtime story that has been
read to him and attempts to scale the barbed wire wall, braving a “terrible thicket of thorns,” to
rescue Sleeping Beauty, itinerant gardener” are repeated many times. Lastly, most fairy tales have a
royal character. A deeper and sharper hooking and tearing of flesh,” “. Many traditional fairy tales
have magical occurrences and warnings and three is considered a magical number. There are three
references to a neighborhood watch “YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED” sign that reappears in the tale.
Unlike a traditional fairy tale with a happy ending, the son becomes entrapped in the barbed wire
until a “bleeding mass of the little boy was hacked out”. There are numerous examples of this: “And
there is another sign on a wall: “Consult DRAGON’S TEETH… The People for Total security” that
could also be interpreted as a mystical message with its dragon allusion. The addition of more height
to the walls and sharper, deadlier artifacts to the tops of the walls foreshadows a growing negative
energy.” As the family progresses to feel more and more under siege, they build higher and higher
walls around their “castle”, removing themselves from society and from participating in or
generating a possible solution to the social and economic imbalance that is creating their fear and the
black people’s misery and desperation.” And “under the jacaranda trees that made a green tunnel of
the street.
EGYPTIAN LITERATURE
The literature of Ancient Egypt was literary works dated between the Pharaonic period up to
the end of the Roman domination over Egypt.
Types and Forms of Egyptian Literature
3 Forms of Egyptian Writings
• Hieroglyphs - are small symbols or images of objects that represent a concept, these
hieroglyphs could stand alone and there were more than 700 different hieroglyphs.
• Hieratic - the writing style of hieratic is the cursive form of hieroglyphs. Hieratic was also
used in religious texts and in sacred ceremonies and was used most in funeral papyri.
• Demotic - was created for every day, informal writings as hieroglyphs and hieratic was still
used for monumental, religious writings. This was the first alphabetic script in the Egyptian
language.

MYTHS AND LEGENDS

Legend - a traditional story or group of stories told about a particular person or place.
Myth - are stories that answer questions about the working of natural phenomenon.
Egyptian mythology - is the collection of myths from ancient Egypt, which describe the actions
of the Egyptian gods as a means of understanding the world around them.
Tale of Sinuhe- is the most famous, old in forty stanzas of poetic verse. The story is narrated in
the first-person voice by Sinuhe. The premise is that the tale is Sinuhe’s autobiography.
Sinuhe is dehydrated and believes the dryness in his throat is "the taste of death."
The most significant gods to know are listed here:
Osiris - was the deity of the underworld. He also represented the cycle of Nile floods.
 Osiris was a king of Egypt who was murdered and dismembered by his brother Seth.
Isis - was the wife of Osiris and the mother of Horus. She was the goddess of the moon, a healer,
and a defender of women and children.
Horus- was a sky god linked with battle and hunting, sometimes shown as a falcon or as a man
with a falcon's head.
Seth was the god of chaos, violence, deserts, and storms. In the Osiris myth, he is the murderer
of Osiris. In the Osiris myth, he is the murderer of Osiris.
Ptah- the head of a trio of gods venerated at Memphis. Ptah’s original association seems to have
been with craftsmen and builders.
  Sekhmet- Ptah's wife
 Nefertem- son of Ptah
Re- was usually represented with a human body and the head of a hawk.
Hathor- was frequently shown as a cow, a woman with a cow's head, or a woman with cow's
ears.
Anubis - one of the most well-known characters in Egyptian mythology is Anubis. The god was
frequently related to death and the afterlife and had the menacing black head of a jackal.
Thoth- the god of writing and wisdom
Bastet- a woman with the head of a lion or a wild cat
Amon- was a god of the air.
THE LEGEND OF ISIS AND OSIRIS
 Osiris – Protagonist. Egyptian Pharaoh who reigned over Egypt in the very early
beginnings. The king of the dead.
 Isis – Protagonist. Sister and wife of Osiris.
 Harpocrates – Protagonist. Horus the Infant, sun of Osiris
 Seth – Antagonist. Evil Brother of Osiris. Cruel and jealous of Osiris
 Ra – King of the Gods
 Nut – Sky goddess. Mother of Osiris
 Geb – Earth God. Father of Osiris
 Thoth – God of wisdom
 Silence – Moon Goddess
 Horus – Brother of Osiris
 Nephthys – Sister of Osiris
The Thousand and One Nights or Alf Laylah Wa Laylah in Arabic is commonly known as
The Arabian Nights. It is a collection of stories of uncertain date and authorship that is very
well known to readers worldwide.
It is constructed as a “frame story” in which all the other tales are subsequently added. These
tales include fables, adventures, mysteries, love-stories, dramas, comedies, tragedies and so
on. One of the famous stories in The Thousand and One Nights is Aladdin.
The frame story of the Arabian Nights presents King Shahryar discovered his wife's
unfaithfulness, he kills her and those with whom she betrayed him. As a consequence, he decided
to marry and kill a new wife each day until no more candidates can be found. His advisor has
two daughters, Shahrazad and Dunyazad; and the elder, Shahrazad, cameup with a plan to save
herself and others. Dunyazad help Shahrazad about her plan. Shahrazad insists her father to give
her hand in marriage to the king. Then each evening she tells him a story, leaving it incomplete
and promising to finish it the following night. Shahrazad told these stories every day for 1,001
nights. The king is eager to hear the end, so he puts off her execution from day to day and finally
impressed by her intelligence and eloquence and also by the lessons from her stories. He decided
to abandon his original cruel plans and married Shahrazad.

The Lady and Her Five Suitors is an Arabian Literature that took place in the land of Persia. Its
main characters were the married woman, the handsome young man, and the five suitors.
The most powerful men on the land: the Kazi, Wali, Wazir, and King.

What does the word Qur’an mean?

- According to the encyclopedia, the word qurʾān, which occurs already within the Islamic
scripture itself, is derived from the verb qaraʾa—“to read,” “to recite”.
- The Qur'an, the holy book or in other words sacred scripture of Islam.
- Allah is the Arabic word for God.
- According to Islamic belief, the Qurʾān was revealed by the angel Jibril (Gabriel) to the
Prophet Muhammad. It was found in the West Arabian towns Mecca and Medina beginning
in 610 and ending with Muhammad’s death in 632 CE. After the Prophet's death, his successors
compiled these divine revelations in a manuscript.
- The Qur'an contains prayers, moral guidance, historical narrative, and promises of
Paradise. It opens with a short prayer called the Fatiha, the most widely recited passage, and is
divided into 114 chapters (suras) organized in descending length.
- Every chapter of the Qur'an (except one) begins with the bismillah, the collective name for the
invocation "In the name of God, the Compassionate, and the Merciful." Muslims often
repeat this phrase at the start of an event or task—before giving a speech, beginning a meal, or
even boarding a bus.
The Five Pillars are the core beliefs and practices of Islam:
 Profession of Faith (shahada). The belief that "There is no god but God, and
Muhammad is the Messenger of God" is central to Islam.
 Prayer (salat). Muslims pray facing Mecca five times a day: at dawn, noon, mid-
afternoon, sunset, and after dark.
 Alms (zakat). In accordance with Islamic law, Muslims donate a fixed portion of their
income to community members in need.
 Fasting (sawm). During the daylight hours of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic
calendar, all healthy adult Muslims are required to abstain from food and drink.
 Pilgrimage (hajj). Every Muslim whose health and finances permit it must make at least
one visit to the holy city of Mecca, in present-day Saudi Arabia.