Introduction to

African Literature
English II

Important Facts about the African

continent

Second to Asia in size

12 million square
miles

Humans originated in
Africa
1,000 languages are
spoken by hundreds
of ethnic groups
5,000 years ago,
earliest civilization
developed in Egypt

Religious Beliefs

Hundreds of different
religious systems.
Polytheistic with a
supreme god and lesser
gods.
Belief in ancestral spirits;
souls of ancestral spirits
spoke on their behalf
Personal god (chi) controls
a persons destiny
Christianity came to
Ethiopia in 350
Islam came to northern
Africa in 640-710

African Music
Polyrhythmic-

complex, interlocking
rhythms by beating drums, striking
bells, clapping hands, and stamping
feet
Call and response- chorus repeats a
lead singers words in response
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F
sDKKY6vmjE

Masked Dances

Events in
agricultural year
Ceremonies
marking rites of
passage
Rites of secret
societies
Curing the sick

Oral Literature

The griot is a learned

storyteller, poet,
entertainer, historian
They have been
handing down their oral
culture for over 4,000
years
Griots accompany their
stories with music
It takes them years to
learn the vast repertoire
of traditional songs,
melodies and rhythms

Transmission of the Stories

Use

of mnemonic devices
Refrains- repeated lines
Repeat and vary- lines or phrases are
repeated with slight variations
Tonal assonance- tones in which
syllables are spoken determine the
meaning of words
Call and response

Different Themes of Oral

Tradition
Histories

of ethnic and kingship

devices
Legends of cultural heroes
Trickster stories
Animal fables
Proverbs and riddles
Songs of praise for chiefs and kings

Chinua Achebe

Born Albert
Chinualumogu Achebe
on Nov 16,1930 in a
large village in Nigeria
Child of a Protestant
missionary
Received early
education in English
Went to college and
studied history and
theology
In college, he dropped
Christian name for
native name

One of the founders of

Nigerian literary
movement that drew
upon indigenous
culture

Things Fall Apart

Written in 1950s but

set in the 1890s
(just before
colonization)
A backlash to Joseph
Conrads Heart of
Darkness which
represents African
culture as primitive
Uses simple
sentences, imagery,
and African

proverbs and
folktales

Anticipation Guide
Agree or Disagree?

When a man cries,

it shows he is weak.
An effective way to
deal with your
problems is to
ignore them.
New and innovative
ways of doing
things are better
than old traditions.

Justice is more
important than
mercy.
What is best for the
community is more
important than
individual needs or
wants.
What is right is right,
regardless of time
and situation.