African Literature

The first well known African literature dates by the years 2300-2100 BC, at the North Africa in Egypt in papyrus. The first known written story is called "Creation Memphite Declaration of Deites" which principally talks about religion and beliefs.

Later on in the Sub Saharan Africa at the south, the earliest literature held on the year 1520 with a prominence of Islaamaic influences: a typical narrative of this period is an anonymous writer, the title called "Kilwa Kisiwani"; in this same place oral culture was very important to them incluiding personal narrative; the main themes were beliefs, how to live, proverbs and riddles. A written work language Swahili callled "Utendi Wa Tambuka" about a Muslim history.

Then came the colonization of Europeans to Africa (1870-1900), the first sign of oppression was that their oral traditions were threatened by Christian beliefs, just imagine one day being happy and peaceful  and the next moment you find yourself surrounded y strange white people who call orders you don't understand and make you believe in things you where not taught. The next stage Europeans made them destroy the pagan (without god) making them more primitive taking this advantage easier for them to manipulate and handle them.

Another thing that changed was the Swahili poetry, that  lost influence of Islamic and was changed to Bantu language.

Although African slaves suffered from the most terrible injustices, few were brave enough to write and publish their stories, in 1789 "The interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano" or "Gustava Vassa" a true story of a man who wrote all his experiences since when he was a child in the Igbo tribe and the moment they kidnapped him and was sent to live to Europe where he learnt many things and was educated.

Still things didn't progress for the Africans, they found other ways to bother them and this was the first time they criticize back men and analyzed racial and sexual issues was written by a man called Oliver Schriener. But soon enough Africans would rebel against them and fight for their civil rights and respect. A negritude movement was held in Paris (1920-1930) principally French speaking Africans searched for their identity .People started supporting the movement like Leopoldo Sedar Senghor known as the prime thinker and later on he would become the president of Senegal.

It was until 1948 that African literature was opened to the world this occurred by the novel of Alan Paton's "Cry of the Beloved Country", from this moment on other literary works started to come and be invented like "Black Skin, White Mask" by Fraz Fanon, "Things Fall Apart" (1986) by Chinua Achebe etc.
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Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. (2011). the Colonization of Africa. Available: http://exhibitions.nypl.org/africanaage/essay-colonization-of-africa.html. Last accessed January 22, 2013

Notebook Literature (2013)