[PDF] african literature summary

What are the characteristics of African literature?

Let?s take a deeper look at some of these characteristics and how they came to be. African literature has its roots in oral tradition, the telling of stories, advice and history to new generations—often using mythical and fairytale elements—through spoken word. It involves both the material that is spoken and the setting in which it?s spoken.

What is the purpose of a story in African literature?

Stories typically aim to pass down history or teach a particular moral lesson. Defining African literature can be complicated; 54 different nations make up the continent of Africa, each one with its own unique history, culture, tribes, and traditions.

Where did African literature come from?

The origins of African Literature can be dated back thousands of years to Ancient Egypt through hieroglyphs, or pictorial representations of words. Over time, the use of hieroglyphs became widespread around Egypt and became more developed.

What books were written in western Africa?

Early works in English in western Africa include a Liberian novel, Love in Ebony: A West African Romance, published in 1932 by Charles Cooper (pseudonym Varfelli Karlee), as well as such works of Ghanaian pulp literature as J. Benibengor Blay’s Emelia’s Promise and Fulfilment (1944).