AFRICAN

LITERATURE
 African Literature
• The literary works of African writers
in English are part of the African
literature. This body of works refers
to the ones not only produced in
Afro-Asiatic and African languages,
but also to those works by Africans in
English, French, and other European
languages.
 A few of the common themes in
the works of African writers are the
oppression of African people by
the colonizers, the European
influences on the native African
culture, racial discrimination, and
pride in African past and resilience.
 WRITERS
of AFRICAN
LITERATURE
 Chinua Achebe (1930–2013)

• This Nigerian writer was

known for his novel Things Fall
Apart (1958), considered as
the best known African novel
of the 20th century.
• It deals with emergent Africa,
where native communities, like
Achebe’s Igbo community,
came in contact with white
missionaries and its colonizers.
• The novel is the first in
sometimes called The
African Trilogy. It was
followed by No Longer at
Ease, published in 1960,
and then Arrow of God in
1964.
 Wole Soyinka
 This Nigerian writer
received the Nobel Prize for
Literature in 1986, becoming
the first black African to
receive such award.
• As a playwright, he wrote
the satire A Dance of the
Forests (1963), his first
important play that depicts
the traditions of his people,
the Yoruba.
• It was staged in 1960
during the Nigerian
independence
celebrations. Also, he
wrote fiction and poetry.
 Example
“The Telephone Conversation” by Wole Soyinka

• Wole Soyinka’s poem “The Telephone

Conversation” first appeared in his
collection Modern Poetry from Africa
(1963). As the title suggests, the
poem is about a telephone
conversation between an African
man and a white woman.
The Telephone Conversation
The price seemed reasonable, location
Indifferent. The landlady swore she lived
Off premises. Nothing remained
But self-confession. "Madam" , I warned,
"I hate a wasted journey - I am African."
Silence. Silenced transmission of pressurized
good-breeding. Voice, when it came,
Lipstick coated, long gold-rolled
Cigarette-holder pipped. Caught I was, foully.
"HOW DARK?"...I had not misheard...."ARE
YOU LIGHT OR VERY DARK?" Button B.
Button A. Stench
Of rancid breath of public hide-and-speak.
Red booth. Red pillar-box. Red double-tiered
Omnibus squelching tar.
It was real! Shamed
By ill-mannered silence, surrender
Pushed dumbfoundment to beg
simplification.
Considerate she was, varying the
emphasis-
"ARE YOU DARK? OR VERY LIGHT"
Revelation came
"You mean- like plain or milk chocolate?"
Her accent was clinical, crushing in its light
Impersonality. Rapidly, wave-length adjusted
I chose. "West African sepia"_ and as afterthought.
"Down in my passport." Silence for spectroscopic
Flight of fancy, till truthfulness chaged her accent
Hard on the mouthpiece "WHAT'S THAT?"
conceding "DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT IS." "Like
brunette."
•
"THAT'S DARK, ISN'T IT?"
"Not altogether.
Facially, I am brunette, but madam you should see the rest
of me. Palm of my hand, soles of my feet.
Are a peroxide blonde. Friction, caused-
Foolishly madam- by sitting down, has turned
My bottom raven black- One moment madam! - sensing
Her receiver rearing on the thunderclap
About my ears- "Madam," I pleaded, "wouldn't you rather
See for yourself?"
• Considering to rent the
apartment owned by the
white woman, the
African man confesses,
saying “I hate a wasted
journey—I am African.” 
• Then as the conversation goes,
the woman shows her true
colors. She asks, “HOW
DARK?” then follows it up with
another question, “ARE YOU
LIGHT/ OR VERY DARK.” Then
asks again, “ARE YOU DARK?
OR VERY LIGHT?”
• Then the African man clarifies
the question, saying “You
mean—like plain or milk
chocolate?” Then he settles on
this response “West African
sepia... Down in my passport.” 
• Perhaps, out of
ignorance, the woman
says that she does not
know the color. To
simplify, the African man
says, “Like brunette.” 
Confirming what she already
thinks about the African
man, the woman says
“THAT’S DARK, ISN’T IT?” 
• Towards the end of the poetry,
the African man tries to describe
the colors of the different parts of
his body to the woman. The poem
ends with an invitation from the
African man for the white
woman, saying “Madam . . .
wouldn’t you rather see for
yourself?”
 Nadine Gordimer (1923–2014) –
• This South African writer
received the Nobel Prize for
Literature in 1991. She was
known for her works that dealt
with the effects of apartheid
on her country.
• APARTHEID was a system
in which people of color
had less political and
economic rights than that
of the white people, so the
former was forced to live
separately from the latter.
• An ardent opponent of such
system, she wrote novels that
focused on the oppression of
nonwhite characters like A World
of Strangers (1958), The Late
Bourgeois World (1966), Burger’s
Daughter (1979), and July’s
People (1981), all of which were
banned in her country.
 Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie –
• This Nigerian writer is known for
her widely-acclaimed
novels Purple
Hibiscus (2003), Half of a Yellow
Sun (2006),
and Americanah (2013), all of
which won awards.
• The story of Purple
Hibiscus is told through a
fifteen-year-old girl named
Kambili as she together
with her family endured
domestic violence in the
hands of her father.
• The story of Half of a
Yellow Sun took place
during the Nigerian
Civil War or Biafran
War (1967–1970).
• Lastly, Americanah tell
s the story of a young
Nigerian woman that
came to the US to
study and to stay for
work.
**end of slideshow