The role of creative writing in preserving and promoting traditional values

Creative writing plays an important role in preserving histories and various forms of culture. Creative writing is defined as writing that goes outside the bounds of professional or technical forms of literature. The emphasis is on the narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary tropes or with various traditions of poetry and poetics, (English Oxford Living Dictionaries , 2019). It is this ‘freedom’ of expression within the creative writing forms that give impetus to include or adapt elements from the environment and society to include in the writing. A creative writer is at liberty to develop characters or underlying themes that not just entertain but also serve as learning points. Some examples include personal essays, descriptive essays, and persuasive essays. Storytelling: One of the most popular types of creative writing is storytelling. Storytelling lends itself to both fiction and nonfiction. Popular forms include flash fiction, short stories, novellas, and full-length novels, (Gunner, 2007).

During the pre-colonial era, African literature was preserved through oral forms. Through storytelling, dance, song, poetry and traditional ceremonies, cultural values were passed on from generation to generation. In some societies, the trend has continued, where only few privileged members are custodians of histories and cultural values of ethnic groups. Creative writing can bridge gaps and carry these almost extinct values forward to the next generations.

 In ‘Things Fall Apart’ and ‘Arrow of God’, Chinua Achebe depicted the environment in which the Ibo culture thrived. In showing the conflict between western and Ibo cultures, both Achebe explicitly proves the importance of traditions that had existed for centuries, (Achebe, 1952). ‘Arrow of God’ represents the struggle for power and authority between the African and the missionaries and within the Igbo clan. The identity issues are continued by Achebe as the sequel to the issues reflected in Things Fall Apart during the colonial era. He points out the continuity of African cultural disruption with the same insight and involvement in the 1920s after the arrival of the missionaries in Nigeria, (Chinua, 1964). These much acclaimed novels, together with Ngugi Wa Thiogo in ‘River Between’, (Ngugi, 1965), have significantly contributed to the preservation of culture and history.

Modern African writers have a responsibility to carry forward what the early writers started. By embedding traditional African values in modern writing, creative writing will play a pivotal role in ensuring the documentation of what is slowly being lost to the modernity and westernisation.

Works Cited

Achebe. (1952). Things Fall Apart; 50th Anniversary edition. Heinneman.

Chinua. (1964). Arrow of God. Heinemann.

Dashu, M. (2013). Suppressed Histories . Retrieved from http://www.suppressedhistories.net/purchase/prints2.html

English Oxford Living Dictionaries . (2019, January 31). Retrieved from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/writing-help/top-tips-for-creative-writing

Gunner, H. S. (2007). Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/art/African-literature#ref280660

Ngugi. (1965). River Between. Heinemann.

Thiogo, W. (n.d.). River Between . Heinneman.

A ZAMBIAN GENRE

On literary arts in Zambia-focus on fiction writing

 

M

ost countries in Africa have effectively shared their fundamental nature through works of art. Countries like Zimbabwe, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, just to mention but a few, have developed specific genres of fiction over the years, rendering this group of countries leaders in African literature. Nigeria and South Africa for instance has gone from the script to the big screen, leaving Zambia trailing far behind.

Zambia does not have a specific genre of fiction that she can be identified with. Any form of literature especially prose, drama and poetry should be a conduit for the transmission of people’s culture, language, religion, traditional values and any other aspect that defines their lifestyle and evolution. In the absence of sound literary identification, a country is likely to experience gaps in the development of the things that describe its core existence. Nations have preserved their history, morals, beliefs and customs through writing. The absence of Zambian fiction writing has contributed to a large extent the lack of proper documentation of its cultural development and the transmission of such cultural beliefs through the passing of time. ‘If the current Zambian authors are anything to go by, Zambia is still miles away from literary autonomy. There is a notable dearth of authentic Zambian authors’. ^[1]. It can be said that the present generations are easily swayed by so called western cultures because of the absence of a strong literature that should have otherwise transmitted the beliefs that should act as a backbone of cultural identity in every generation.   

Where are we coming from? Despite the few collections of fiction, the country can still trace its literary history back to the colonial days, when selected Zambian die-hards, put together some work and had them published.  However, the lack of documentation makes it very difficult for some of these works to be traced. By the 1960s, the likes of Steven A. Mpashi had published a few books that people still refer to as being the most entertaining stories that were narrated with such great skill. ^[2] There were also other colonial writers like Fwanyanga Mulikita. By the 1970s, there were only about twelve known published works of fiction.

One would ask, what has been the challenge for Zambia? Is it the lack of authors? Could it be that there is nothing to write about? Every country has something to say about itself.  Recently, there has been a rise in Zambian writers both within the country and in the diaspora. Although growing at a slow rate, there is literary potential in the country. The problem has not really been who or what to write but the issues lie deeply in the lack of support systems for those who aspire to take up this noble undertaking. Zambia for instance has a young publishing industry. The existence of private publishing companies can only be traced to the 1990s, when Zambia’s economy was liberalised. Before then only one publishing house had the monopoly, Kenneth Kaunda Publishing House and priority then was the provision of educational materials to schools in the post independent era. With the coming of private publishing companies like Macmillan and Longman, the situation has not improved because the publishing costs are still very high. In recent times, more publishing companies have been established and they mostly want to survive on a guaranteed education market. Besides, without regulatory bodies, the quality of material goes unchecked more often.

Some individual writers have opted to self-publish. With the internet providing so many opportunities, several works have found themselves on the open market and sadly some are substandard. Well, even if someone succeed at publishing an excellent piece, there are still more hurdles to jump; the poor reading culture and low literacy rates. If we are to head ‘Toward a Zambian Genre’, the writing industry must be made a reality for those who are ready to take it up. Both government and the private sector must invest in making the journey from the script to the book shelf a reality.

MAY THE DAY BREAK- CULTURAL VALUES AND WRITING

Photo credit: Kafula Mwila

When I was in senior secondary school, I remember how I learned about some of the cultural practices of the Ibo. My friends and I picked up a few phrases that we used often. For instance, 'may the day break', became more popular than 'good night'. No, we had not traveled to West Africa, neither had we any friends from there. Writing has an important role in the promotion of traditions and cultural values and the likes of Chinua Achebe, Ngugi Wa Thiogo and many others  today have strongly contributed to ensuring that their world became known to others. Their writings had painted a wonderful picture of a people whose world had been disturbed by the arrival of another culture. 

 Creative writing is a sure way of preserving key practices and ensuring continuity for generations to come. Zambia has a rich history, but most of it, if not all has been told by non-Zambians. Every writer has got their own priority when they are putting work together. They also have a perspective that they wish a reader to have on a particular topic. For example, when the missionaries arrived in Northern Rhodesia, their aim was to evangelise. They wrote about the religious practices that they found and called them barbaric and the people pagans. However, would an indigenous Zambian hold the same views? What made Africa a 'Dark Continent' and yet it was and still is exploding at its seams with wealth. Writing has strong influence on people's thoughts, and when it is negative,  it can lead them to resign to hopelessness. When you travel to developed countries, it is amazing that much of their cultural values have been upheld and infact they are churning revenue through tourism.
In Zambia, the main sources for its history are academic books and these are preserved for those that pursue studies in that line. Most of the systems that were used to pass on history and other important cultural values have died with modernization and rapid urbanization. The television has replaced story telling. The internet has forcefully taken the place of being the main source for entertainment and knowledge. With modernization most of the cultural values have been watered down and if left unattended, will be lost forever. If we must head ‘Toward a Zambian genre’, creative writing must take center stage of incorporating critical cultural values and symbols in all the literary forms. This means casting key elements of Zambia’s cultures in the various forms of writing. May the day break 'TOWARD A ZAMBIAN GENRE'.

Photo Credit: Kafula Mwila