African Literature

The African literature began in 2300 B.C and “ended” in 2100 B.C, in North Africa in Egypt by burial text papyrus then it descended to the Saharan Africa by oral culture, proverbs, also riddles, epic narratives, oration, personal testimony, praise poetry, songs, rituals and much more. The griots transmit all this stories and they were traveling performers. All this literature was influenced by the Islamic culture. 

The first African story was "The Sudan" by Abdal-Rahan al-sadi. When the African literature started was written in an African language called: "Swahili". When the colonization started the oral traditions and written work of Christian beliefs had a lot of ethic. These traditions were destroyed by the pagan and primitive culture because they wanted slavery. The salves narratives started in 1789 and they went on through some generations.

The Europeans helped a lot to developed education and journalism in the African culture.

The negritude started in 1920 and ended in 1930, it was made by African artist and it began because they were slaves. This part of literature was located in France mostly in Paris because it was the capital of art. The woman was a symbol of art and culture and this is called “Womanly”.

Some authors are:

·         Leopold Sedar-Senghor (1906-2001)

·         Alan Paton (1948) “Cry of The beloved Country”

·         Frantz Fanon (1967) “The Black skin)

·         And much more.

-Class notes

Chinua Achebe

He was born in November 16 of 1930 in Orgidi, Nigeria. He´s complete name is Albert Chinaulumogu Achebe. He was a novelist, poet, professor and critic. He´s childhood was raised by his parents, he was an excellent student at school and thanks to this he won scholarship for his studies. As time came by, he started to be more and more interested in the African culture and traditions. He started to write stories and novels in Brown University as a student.

In 1950´s he wrote he´s most famous book in modern African literature, that it´s called “Things fall apart” because of this he was known though all the world. Some of the novels he has written are: 

• No longer at East  (1960)
• Arrow of God (1964)
• A man of the people (1966)
• Anthills of the Savannah (1987)
• and much more. 

Albert always has written his books in English because it´s a language of colonizer.  Today this famous and world while known writer is 82 years old.

-Notes of Chinua Achebe Biography :  

• En.wikipedia.org (1930) Chinua Achebe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinua_Achebe [Accessed: 25 Jan 2013].
• Unc.edu (1930) Chinua Achebe's Biography and Style. [online] Available at: http://www.unc.edu/~hhalpin/ThingsFallApart/achebebio.html [Accessed: 25 Jan 2013].

Importance of Literature in Education & Development

The literature is everything that is written; it’s considered an art, a profession or a hobby for some. The literature helps us in our daily life; in everything we work on, or search for.  Thanks to the literature we have a past, a percent or future.  For centuries people has written literature expressing their culture, the time or period were they are living, myths after they were passed on, orally throw generations, emotions they are experience, discoveries, etc.

The literature is the basic tool through education and cultural information. This one gives us from the alphabet so we can write though every story or event we know from our past, present or our future. Thanks to the literature and every concept it posses we can learn more and more about the subject we desire and read about it.

Actually most of the world’s population can acquire through this information and study with it whatever they wish to. The world has developed a lot through the years because of the information that literature can provide to us, that it’s more than infinite. 

Passed generations used the literature so younger generations can do something wisely with it, and help humanity through this source. Our whole society its based on the literature we have read and learn in our career. Without literature we don’t have anything, not a future not a present and not a past, literature is everything we have, its what makes everything we do valuable and important in this world through the years and the future of our planet.