AFRICAN LITERATURE

WHAT MAKES A LITERARY WORK AFRICAN?

        African literature is an old branch of literature. Many scholars have presented their views on African literature but I abide with those who believe that Africa has always had literature though it was in the oral form. With the emergence of modernism and the need to present literature that is wide spread, African literature is now seen in the written form. However, there has been many arguments on 'how to identify African literature.' Simply writing about Africa doesn't make a literary work an African text.

What makes a text to be called 'African'?

1. The author must be of African descent by birth or naturalization

2. The experiences in the text must be the experiences of Africans

3. African literature is "literature written by an African, for an African audience, in an African language and it communicates the African experiences."

     In an African language means there should be use of local color. The characters' mode of speech and the actions should reflect African sensibility.

     When looking at the African prose, the elements to look out for are: 

 1. Witchcraft and belief in supernatural beings/deities

 2. Proverbs - "proverbs are the palm oil with which words are eaten"

 3. Local color

 4. Magic

 5. Mysticism

 6. colonialism

 7. Women degradation

 8. Love, marriage and child birth

 9. Physical prowess as economic advantage, etc. 

      The above elements highlight the 'Africanness' of a literary work.