The changing face of African Literature

 African literature spans centuries, yet written forms can only be traced to the late 19^th century. Much of African literary forms were preserved as oral literature. Today, African literature can boast of both oral and written forms.
To define African Literature, one question needs to be answered first, ‘should African Literature be written in African languages’? In the 1960s, much diatribe was exchanged by African literary artists within their caucus, and outside with different scholars interested in African Literature. According to the argument, African literature must be written in an African language. To this Chinua Achebe responded, “You cannot cram African literature in a small, neat definition. I do not see African literature as one unit but as associated units – in fact, the sum total of all the national and ethnic literatures of Africa”, (Mbagwu, 2011).

In defining African Literature, one therefore needs to search deeper than the surface, to find the essence of what is truly African. There is need to go beyond the impression that has been created about a continent that holds a wealth of knowledge, carefully embedded in its culture and people. African Literature should be described holistically and not in parts. Many attempts have been made at defining African Literature. The definition that stands out is that it is written or unwritten forms of valuable literature that has incorporated cultures, languages, norms and practices of people and societies that hail from Africa. It is work of the African continent. African Literature has been written in what has been referred to as colonial languages, such as English, Portuguese and French, (Mbagwu, 2011). 

African literature has undergone a lot of change since the pre-colonial era. In discussing the changes, it is important to recognise what have been the major influences. For example, what have been the major themes over the centuries? How have different writers handled the various literary forms? 

Pre-colonial literature comprised oral traditional forms for the most part. However, there were written literatures from all over Africa. In east Africa, Ethiopia to be precise, literature was written in Ge’ez as far back as the fourth century AD, the most renowned work being the Kebra Negast or the Book of kings. Folklores were also written among the Ashanti of Ghana, Yoruba of Nigeria, (Stephanie Newell, 2002). The popular hare stories can be traced back to central and southern Africa. More works came out of North Africa and from the Swahili coast. From the University of Timbuktu alone, 300,000 manuscripts tucked away in various libraries and private collections, mostly written in Arabic but some in the native languages (namely Fula and Songhai),  (Encarta., 2009).

In the 18^th century written works that marked the colonisation period and the slave trade included Olaudah Equiano’s ‘The interesting narratives of the life of Olaudah Equiano, written in 1789. Most the themes centred on the arrival of the Europeans and narratives about the slave trade. The major influence during this era, is the language, as most writers started to write in the language of the Europeans. During this period, African plays written in English began to emerge. Herbert Isaac Ernest Dhlomo of South Africa published the first English-language African play, The Girl Who Killed to Save: Nongqawuse the Liberator in 1935. In 1962, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o of Kenya wrote the first East African drama, The Black Hermit, a cautionary tale about "tribalism" (discrimination between African tribes). The most acclaimed novel, ‘Things Fall Apart’ is a product of the early colonial period, (Dashu, 2013). The themes bordered on the arrival of the Europeans and the conflicts that arose thereafter.

With the turn of the century, liberation struggles were strong influence on writing. Themes about independence and freedom became part of African literature. Writers faced either faced jail time or were killed because of their ideas. Among Africans in French-controlled territories) négritude. One of the leaders of the négritude movement, the poet and eventual President of Senegal, Léopold Sédar Senghor, published in 1948 the first anthology of French-language poetry written by Africans, (Mboya, 1970).

Modern African literature has significantly changed. There are a lot of literary productions in Africa, even though there are not as many readers and followers. Certain writings have appeared that have broken the academic style. There is a lot of pressure on the modern African writer. For example, the competition for readership, awards and so on.

There is a future for African literature. Africans are yet to tell their own story. For the modern writer, there is need to maintain balance between the demands of literary world in modern days and the need to maintain what is African in all literary forms.

REFERENCES

Gunner, H. S. (2018). Britannica . Retrieved from Britannica.com

Kenya LIterature Bureau . (1985). Literature for Children and Young People in Kenya . Nairobi: Kenya Literature Bureau.

Mbagwu, C. E. (2011). Promoting Access to African Research . Retrieved from African Journals online : https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ujah/article/view/71748

Mboya, T. (1970). The Challenge of Nationhood. Oxford : Heinemann Educational Books .

Scheub, E. A. (2018, December 31). Encoclopaedia Britannica . Retrieved from Britannica.com: https://www.britannica.com/art/African-literature

Sparknotes . (2018). Sparknotes. Retrieved from https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/things/themes/

Stephanie Newell. (2002). Stephanie Newell, Literary Culture in Colonial Ghana: 'How to Play the Game of Life' , BloominEthical Fiction. Indiana: Indian University Press.

Stokes, R. H. (1931, July 30). Amazon . Retrieved from www.complete-review.com/reviews/safrica/mofolot.htm

Williamson, J. (2007). The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself. Vol. I. Documenting the American South, 1-3. Retrieved from https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/equiano1/summary.html

FAKE ACCENTS, WEAVES AND BLEACHED SKINS

There is one incident that has stuck permanently like a scar on my mind. It happened in the era of the rush for ‘greener pastures’, when teachers left public schools to join the private sector. It was the period of the popular ‘brain drain’, when most professionals crossed borders to the side where the grass was watered ‘very well’. ‘To cut to the chase’ one of my frantic efforts to liberate myself from the ‘peanuts’ that government offered at that time, ushered me in front of a panel of interviewers, all British. During that time, I figured that one of the female panellists picked up my struggle to catch the quick spoken, semi-swallowed words. She spoke slowly and tried to pronounce every syllable.  How I wish she could have taken up the entire discussion because the rest of her team got bored with my constant interjections of ‘pardon me’ or ‘could you repeat that’. Suffice to say that I was not successful because my failure to catch the British accent made it seem like I did not know how to speak English. After twelve years in school and an additional four years in university, learning English, I had failed lamentably at the former colonial master’s language because of intonation. In the desire to overcome this setback I promised to teach myself the British way of speaking. Now, thinking in retrospect, that is just the problem, what is the acceptable manner of articulation? Some people travel abroad and after two weeks come back with a different accent, which does not sound like the people they try to imitate and is miss for the locals - wasted effort.  What was inherited from the colonial days still haunts the country. Zambia must start believing in its manner of speaking. It is one the countries in Africa where citizens do not need to constantly repeat themselves in order for others to understand what is being said.

English is not a first language in Zambia. By the time, most people are beginning to learn how to speak it, they would have learned their mother tongue first. Therefore, no one can be expected to speak like a British or American. Unfortunately, mispronunciations, poor intonations are scorned and looked down upon. English will remain the official mode of communication for a long time to come. However that is what it will always be, a means of communication and not a standard to measure our literacy, our speaking and listening skills. It is one way of remaining connected to the global village but is not a measure for belonging to an elite social class. It is important to have a common acceptable standard way of speaking without looking down on the interference from the local language. If we are to head ‘Toward a Zambian genre’, then we should consider acceptable forms of English that will not necessarily dilute common rules of grammar, spelling and pronunciation. Creative writers should be allowed to make use of Zambian phrases and expressions as a way of authenticating the culture and beliefs of the people being written about.  The millennials are caught up between many accents as a result of the influence of technology. The challenge to young people is that there is power in being yourself. The effort of trying to be like someone else can be exhausting, it devalues a person. Make your point without making your listener think that you do not know what you are talking about. The only pressure you will have is to be the best version of yourself. So when it comes to pronunciation, let us not judge one another harshly, English is just one of the many languages in the world.