Anglophone African Literature

Anglophone African literature is the body of writing in English from across Africa, from Achebe's Things Fall Apart to a vibrant contemporary fiction.

Definition

African literature written in English, spanning the foundational postcolonial generation and contemporary fiction, poetry, and drama.

Scope

This topic covers African literature written in English, concentrated in West, East, and Southern Africa. It includes the foundational generation of Achebe, Soyinka, and Ngugi (before his turn to Gikuyu), the literature of apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa, and contemporary writers such as Adichie. It treats the appropriation of English, the representation of colonial and postcolonial experience, and African contributions to world literature in English.

Core questions

• How did the first generation of Anglophone African writers respond to colonialism?
• How do African writers adapt and transform the English language?
• How did South African literature engage apartheid and its aftermath?
• What characterizes contemporary Anglophone African fiction?

Key concepts

• appropriation of English
• the colonial encounter
• apartheid literature
• the African novel
• contemporary African fiction

Key theories

Appropriating English for African experience

Chinua Achebe argued that African writers could remake the English language to carry African experience, shaping a distinctively African literature in English.

History

Anglophone African literature rose to prominence in the late 1950s and 1960s with Achebe's Things Fall Apart and the work of Soyinka, Ngugi, and others, often via the Heinemann African Writers Series. South African literature engaged apartheid and its end, and a celebrated contemporary generation, including Adichie, has carried African writing in English to a global readership.

Debates

Writing in English or African languages

The choice of English over African languages remains contested, with Achebe defending appropriation and others, like Ngugi, rejecting it.

Key figures

• Chinua Achebe
• Wole Soyinka
• Nadine Gordimer
• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
• Simon Gikandi

Seminal works

• achebe1958
• soyinka1975
• adichie2006

Frequently asked questions

Why is Things Fall Apart so important?

Achebe's 1958 novel is a landmark of African literature, presenting the colonial encounter from an African perspective and demonstrating that English could carry African experience.

Is Anglophone African literature only African in setting?

No. It ranges widely in setting and theme and includes a growing diasporic dimension, while remaining rooted in African experience and history.