African Literature From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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)
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.
Poetry in Africa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Africa, being a continent containing 55 countries, each with a wealth of cultures and particular histories, encompasses a wide variety of traditions and evolving trends, within the different literary genres. Poetry in Africa is a large and complex subject, not least "because there are literally thousands of indigenous languages spoken in Africa and many more dialects, every African country has an official language (or 11 in the case of South Africa). This official language acts as the ‘lingua franca’ for (at least) a reasonably sized region."
Slavery and colonization, with its devastating impacts on the majority of these countries, also resulted in English, Portuguese and French, as well as Creole or pidgin versions of these European languages being spoken and written by Africans across the continent.
According to Dr Joseph A. Ushie of the Department of English, University of Uyo, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, "Modern written African poetry has a double
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)
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.
Poetry in Africa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Africa, being a continent containing 55 countries, each with a wealth of cultures and particular histories, encompasses a wide variety of traditions and evolving trends, within the different literary genres. Poetry in Africa is a large and complex subject, not least "because there are literally thousands of indigenous languages spoken in Africa and many more dialects, every African country has an official language (or 11 in the case of South Africa). This official language acts as the ‘lingua franca’ for (at least) a reasonably sized region."
Slavery and colonization, with its devastating impacts on the majority of these countries, also resulted in English, Portuguese and French, as well as Creole or pidgin versions of these European languages being spoken and written by Africans across the continent.
According to Dr Joseph A. Ushie of the Department of English, University of Uyo, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, "Modern written African poetry has a double