African literature
African literature
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
African literature refers to literature of and from Africa. While the European perception of literature generally refers to written letters, the African concept includes oral literature(or "orature", in the term coined by Ugandan scholar Pio Zirimu).[1]
As George Joseph notes in his chapter on African literature in Understanding Contemporary Africa, whereas European views of literature often stressed a separation of art and content, African awareness is inclusive:
"Literature" can also imply an artistic use of words for the sake of art alone. ...traditionally, Africans do not radically separate art from teaching. Rather than write or sing for beauty in itself, African writers, taking their cue from oral literature, use beauty to help communicate important truths and information to society. Indeed, an object is considered beautiful because of the truths it reveals and the communities it helps to build. [2]
Contents
[hide]
1 Oral literature
2 Precolonial literature
3 Colonial African literature
4 Postcolonial African literature
5 Noma Award
6 Major novels from African writers
7 Notable African poets
8 Secondary literature
9 See also
10 References
11 External links
Oral literature[edit]
Oral literature (or orature) may be in prose or verse. The prose is often mythological or historical and can include tales of the trickster character. Storytellers in Africa sometimes use call-and-response techniques to tell their stories. Poetry, often sung, includes: narrative epic, occupational verse, ritual verse, praise poems to rulers and other prominent people. Praise singers, bards sometimes known as "griots", tell their stories with music.[3] Also recited, often sung, are love songs, work songs, children 's songs, along withepigrams, proverbs and riddles. A revised edition of Ruth Finnegan 's classic Oral Literature in Africa was released by the Cambridge-based Open Book Publishers in September 2012. [4]
Precolonial
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
African literature refers to literature of and from Africa. While the European perception of literature generally refers to written letters, the African concept includes oral literature(or "orature", in the term coined by Ugandan scholar Pio Zirimu).[1]
As George Joseph notes in his chapter on African literature in Understanding Contemporary Africa, whereas European views of literature often stressed a separation of art and content, African awareness is inclusive:
"Literature" can also imply an artistic use of words for the sake of art alone. ...traditionally, Africans do not radically separate art from teaching. Rather than write or sing for beauty in itself, African writers, taking their cue from oral literature, use beauty to help communicate important truths and information to society. Indeed, an object is considered beautiful because of the truths it reveals and the communities it helps to build. [2]
Contents
[hide]
1 Oral literature
2 Precolonial literature
3 Colonial African literature
4 Postcolonial African literature
5 Noma Award
6 Major novels from African writers
7 Notable African poets
8 Secondary literature
9 See also
10 References
11 External links
Oral literature[edit]
Oral literature (or orature) may be in prose or verse. The prose is often mythological or historical and can include tales of the trickster character. Storytellers in Africa sometimes use call-and-response techniques to tell their stories. Poetry, often sung, includes: narrative epic, occupational verse, ritual verse, praise poems to rulers and other prominent people. Praise singers, bards sometimes known as "griots", tell their stories with music.[3] Also recited, often sung, are love songs, work songs, children 's songs, along withepigrams, proverbs and riddles. A revised edition of Ruth Finnegan 's classic Oral Literature in Africa was released by the Cambridge-based Open Book Publishers in September 2012. [4]
Precolonial
References: Colonial African literature[edit] The African works best known in the West from the period of colonization and the slave trade are primarily slave narratives, such as Olaudah Equiano 's The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (1789).