Is African literature written only in European languages?

No. It includes vast oral traditions and written literatures in African languages such as Swahili and Yoruba, alongside major bodies of writing in English, French, and Portuguese.

Negritude was a francophone literary and intellectual movement affirming black identity and African cultural values, associated with writers such as Leopold Senghor and Aime Cesaire.

African Literatures

African literatures comprise the oral and written traditions of the African continent, in indigenous languages and in the European languages of colonialism, from epic and praise poetry to the modern novel.

Definition

The oral and written literatures of Africa, in indigenous and European languages, spanning traditional orature and modern fiction, poetry, and drama.

Scope

This area surveys the literatures of Africa: rich oral traditions of epic, praise poetry, and storytelling; literatures written in African languages such as Swahili, Yoruba, and Amharic; and the major bodies of African writing in English, French, and Portuguese. It treats the colonial and postcolonial contexts of African writing, the politics of language, negritude and other movements, and the continent's central place in postcolonial literary debate.

Sub-topics

Core questions

How do oral and written traditions relate in African literatures?
In what languages should African literature be written?
How did colonialism and decolonization shape modern African writing?
What movements, such as negritude, defined African literary identity?

Key concepts

orature
the language question
negritude
postcolonial writing
the African novel

Key theories

The language question: Ngugi wa Thiong'o argued that African literature should be written in African languages, not the colonizers', to decolonize the mind and reach African audiences.
The African imagination: Abiola Irele situated African literature within a continuum of oral tradition, indigenous-language writing, and European-language literature linked to the wider black diaspora.

History

Africa's literary traditions begin with ancient and oral forms—epic, praise poetry, and storytelling—and include long written traditions in languages such as Ge'ez, Swahili, and Arabic. Colonialism introduced European languages, and the twentieth century saw the rise of African writing in English, French, and Portuguese, the negritude movement, and a flourishing postcolonial literature with figures such as Achebe, Soyinka, and Ngugi.

Debates

What language for African literature?: Writers and critics debate whether African literature should be written in African or European languages, a question sharpened by Ngugi's call to decolonize the mind.

Key figures

Chinua Achebe
Ngugi wa Thiong'o
Wole Soyinka
Abiola Irele
Simon Gikandi

Seminal works

achebe1958
ngugi1986
irele2001

Frequently asked questions

Is African literature written only in European languages?: No. It includes vast oral traditions and written literatures in African languages such as Swahili and Yoruba, alongside major bodies of writing in English, French, and Portuguese.
What is negritude?: Negritude was a francophone literary and intellectual movement affirming black identity and African cultural values, associated with writers such as Leopold Senghor and Aime Cesaire.