African literature  

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African literature refers to the literature of and for the African peoples. As George Joseph notes on the first page of his chapter on African literature in Understanding Contemporary Africa, while the European perception of literature generally refers to written letters, the African concept includes oral literature.

As George Joseph continues, while 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. Without denying the important role of aesthetics in Africa, we should keep in mind that, 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.'

Contents

Major novels from African writers

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Major African poets

Secondary literature

  • Encyclopedia of African Literature, ed Simon Gikandi, London: Routledge, 2003.
  • The Cambridge History of African and Caribbean Literature, ed Abiola Irele and Simon Gikandi, 2 vls, Cambridge [u.a.]: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Table of contents
  • Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writing by Women of African Descent", ed Margaret Busby (Random House, 1992).
  • General History of Africa vol. VIII, ed. Ali A. Mazrui, UNESCO, 1993, ch. 19 "The development of modern literature since 1935," Ali A. Mazrui et al.
  • Understanding Contemporary Africa, ed. April A. Gordon and Donald L. Gordon, Lynne Rienner, London, 1996, ch. 12 "African Literature", George Joseph

See also




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "African literature" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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