African literature facts for kids

African literature is all the amazing stories, poems, and plays that come from Africa. It can be told out loud (this is called orature) or written down in African languages or other languages like English or French.

Some of the earliest African literature dates back over 1,600 years! A famous example is the Kebra Negast, or "Book of Kings."

During the time when many African countries were ruled by European powers, a lot of stories were about slavery. These were often written in English or French for people in other parts of the world to read. One of the first African books to become famous worldwide was Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, published in 1958. As countries started gaining their freedom, African literature began to focus more on themes of freedom and independence.

Today, African literature is very diverse. Some writers are choosing to write in their native languages again. Common themes include the differences between old traditions and new ways, how individuals fit into their communities, and topics about politics and development. More women writers are also publishing their work now than ever before. The internet has also changed things, making it easier to read and publish books online through platforms like OkadaBooks.

What is African Literature?

African literature is special because it often mixes art with teaching. Unlike some other types of literature that are just for beauty, African writers often use beautiful words and stories to share important truths and information with their communities. A story or poem is considered beautiful because of the lessons it teaches and how it helps people connect.

Oral Stories and Poems

Oral literature, or "orature," means stories and poems that are told out loud instead of being written down. This term was created by a scholar from Uganda named Pio Zirimu.

• Prose stories are often about myths, history, or funny tales about "trickster" characters. Storytellers sometimes use a "call-and-response" style, where the audience joins in.
• Poetry is often sung. It can include long stories (epic poems), songs about different jobs, poems for rituals, or "praise poems" that celebrate rulers and important people.
• Praise singers or "griots" are special storytellers who share their tales with music.
• You can also find love songs, work songs, children's songs, short sayings (epigrams), proverbs, and riddles in oral traditions.

These oral traditions are found in many languages, including Fula, Swahili, Hausa, and Wolof. For example, in Algeria, oral poems called Isefra were very important for the Berber people, especially when most people couldn't read or write. These poems covered religious topics like prayers and stories about saints, and everyday life like celebrations or heroic warriors. In Mali, traditional folktales are even broadcast on the radio in the local language!

Ancient African Writings

There are many examples of African literature from before the colonial period.

• In Ethiopia, there are writings in an ancient language called Ge'ez that go back to at least the 300s AD. The most famous work is the Kebra Negast, or "Book of Kings."
• A popular type of traditional African folktale is the "trickster" story. In these stories, a small animal uses its cleverness to outsmart bigger creatures.

* Anansi the spider is a trickster from the Ashanti people of Ghana. * Ijàpá the tortoise is a trickster in Yoruba stories from Nigeria. * Sungura the hare is found in stories from central and East Africa.

Many written works also come from North Africa, the Sahel regions of West Africa, and the Swahili coast. In Timbuktu alone, there are believed to be over 300,000 old manuscripts! Most are in Arabic, but some are in local languages like Fula and Songhai. Many were written at the famous University of Timbuktu. These writings cover many subjects, including astronomy, poetry, law, history, religion, politics, and philosophy.

Swahili literature also got ideas from Islamic teachings but grew in its own unique way. One of the oldest and most famous Swahili works is Utendi wa Tambuka, or "The Story of Tambuka."

In North Africa, writers like Ibn Khaldun became very famous in Arabic literature. Medieval North Africa had great universities in cities like Fes and Cairo, which produced a lot of literature.

Literature During Colonial Times

The African writings best known in Western countries from the time of colonization and the slave trade are mostly "slave narratives." These are true stories written by people who were enslaved, like Olaudah Equiano's The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano from 1789.

As Africans learned Western languages, they started writing in those languages too. In 1911, Joseph Ephraim Casely Hayford from the Gold Coast (now Ghana) published Ethiopia Unbound: Studies in Race Emancipation. This was probably the first African novel written in English. It was a big moment for African literature.

Plays written in English also started to appear. Herbert Isaac Ernest Dhlomo from South Africa published the first English-language African play in 1935. Later, in 1962, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o from Kenya wrote the first East African play, The Black Hermit, which warned about discrimination between different African tribes.

One of the most famous African novels, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, was published in 1958. This book explored how colonialism affected traditional African society.

In the later colonial period, African literature often focused on themes of freedom and independence. For French-speaking African writers, a movement called "négritude" became important. Léopold Sédar Senghor, a poet who later became president of Senegal, was a leader of this movement. In 1948, he published the first collection of French poetry by African writers.

Literature After Independence

After most African nations gained independence in the 1950s and 1960s, African literature grew a lot. Many African books are now studied in universities around the world. African writers during this time wrote in Western languages like English, French, and Portuguese, as well as in traditional African languages like Hausa.

Writers explored many themes, including:

• The differences between Africa's past and present.
• The clash between old traditions and modern life.
• The balance between individual needs and community needs.
• Social problems like corruption.
• Economic differences in newly independent countries.
• The rights and roles of women.

More women writers are publishing their work now than before independence.

In 1986, Wole Soyinka from Nigeria was the first African writer after independence to win the Nobel Prize in literature. Other African Nobel winners include Naguib Mahfouz (Egypt) in 1988, Nadine Gordimer (South Africa) in 1991, John Maxwell Coetzee (South Africa) in 2003, Doris Lessing (UK/Zimbabwe) in 2007, and Abdulrazak Gurnah (Tanzania) in 2021.

Modern Changes in African Literature

Since 2010, there has been a lot of new literature from Africa. More and more people are reading books online. Online platforms like Brittle Paper have become very popular for sharing African stories and poems. The internet has truly changed how people find and read African literature.

Books Published in Africa

From 1980 to 2009, there was an award called the Noma Award for Publishing in Africa. It celebrated excellent African writers and scholars whose books were published in Africa.

Famous Novels by African Writers

Famous African Poets

See Also

In Spanish: Literatura africana para niños

• Grand Prix of Literary Associations
• List of African writers by country
• List of African novelists
• Literature by country
• African cinema
• Poetry in Africa
• Nigerian literature
• International Research Confederacy on African Literature and Culture
• African-American literature
• Asian literature
• European literature
• Oceanian literature
• Latin-American literature
• Liberian literature
• African language material archive
• The Journal of Commonwealth Literature