African Literature

An introduction

Africa: Ancient Kingdoms

The cradle of lifeEgyptEastern AfricaWestern AfricaLiterary Development and

Devices

In the Beginning…… Anthropologists believe

that the first modern humans (homo sapiens) began in the northern regions of the African continent

Cradle of life (Neolithic, “new stone”) Birthplace of human

civilization (roughly 100,000 years ago)

Mesopotamia, Egypt, Asia Minor, etc. (Fertile Crescent)

Brought together through use of writing (technology)

African climate is varied in several regions: Desert, coastline, tropical rain forest, plains, and mountains.

Egypt (3000 B.C.-343 B.C.) First great civilization Had a vibrant and strong empire that

centered on a polytheistic society Pantheon of gods and influence on the

middle eastern religious perspective: Greek, Roman

Written language: Hieroglyphics

Kushite Kingdom Conquered

and ruled Egypt around 1000 B.C.

Royal families traced lineage through female line More women

ruled here than any other ancient civilization

Other smaller civilizations popped up around Sahara Fasa of southern Sudan

The Golden Age A.D. 300-1600 Sculpture, music, metal work and textiles Literature plays a huge role in the creation and

success of the empires Oral epics Praise poems Fables Proverbs Dramas

Eastern African Empire: Aksum Third century A.D.,

modern-day Ethiopia Well-developed oral

traditions First great

civilizations that created full and dominant cultural footholds in northern Africa

Center of trade routes from Rome all the way to India

Key to success was development of a specific and complex writing system

…Migration south and west due to drought

West African empires Old Ghana: (A.D. 300-400) A strong and

prosperous kingdom: Mainly traders of salt and gold

Old Mali: (A.D. 1235) Overtook Old Ghana for supremacy

Songhai: The last of the great kingdoms Timbuktu: The marriage of Songhai and

Old Mali empires: Hugely successful kingdom

Religious and cultural influences Tribal origins are founded in a

polytheistic and nature-based belief system

4th century A.D. Roman empire introduces Christianity

700 A.D. Islam introduced into the African continent

Islam becomes the recognized state religion of Mali in 1235

Literary Terms to Know in this Unit Parallelism Epithet Apostrophe Polytheism vs.

Monotheism Omniscient point-of-

view Legend Oral epic

Griot Refrain Folk tale Trickster Personification Proverb Metaphor Alliteration Rhyme

Oral Tradition

Dilemma tale Form of moral tale, ends with a question, invites

audience to share judgment. One tale deals with a man who died while hunting

an ox to feed his three wives. The first wife learns through a dream what has happened to him, the second leads her fellow wives to the place where he died, and the third restores him to life. Which of the three most deserves his praise?

Chain tale or Cumulative tale Formulaic story

Every incident that came before is repeated The 12 days of Christmas

A single extended joke

Proverbsa short, traditional saying that

expresses some obvious truth or familiar experience Used to convey accumulated cultural wisdom Often use literary elements (metaphors,

alliteration, parallelism, rhyme)

Give a man a fish, and he eats for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he eats for a lifetime.