Literature in Colonial Africa

Abstract

In this chapter, I establish the relationship between African people’s culture and literature and their history and politics. The phases and kinds of literature in colonial Africa include oral literature and Arab/Islamic-influenced Hausa and Swahili literatures. Greatly reflecting the events of the era, there are the early wave of African literature modeled on European traditions, European writers on Africa, Négritude, Onitsha Market Literature, nationalist struggle-inspired literary works as well as late colonial works from Zimbabwe, South Africa, Angola, and Mozambique. The chapter also deals with the role of newspapers and magazines in promoting literature, especially in South Africa and Nigeria. To a large extent, literature portrays history in a non-conventional way by its portrayal of the implications of social, cultural, economic, political, and psychological consequences of colonialism. The imperial conquest and partition of Africa into colonies have left indelible marks on the psyche of the original inhabitants, and the literature of the time gives adequate testimony to the suffering, struggle, and resilience of colonized African peoples.