African Literature Assignment: Important African Literature Novels
Name: Ashish B. Pithadiya
Roll Number: 2
Topic Name: Important African Literature Novels
Paper Name: African Literature
Submitted To: Department Of English
G-Mail Id: Ashvribhay@Gmail.Com
Enrolment No: 2069108420190037
Roll Number: 2
Topic Name: Important African Literature Novels
Paper Name: African Literature
Submitted To: Department Of English
G-Mail Id: Ashvribhay@Gmail.Com
Enrolment No: 2069108420190037
Characteristics of African literature include slave narratives, protests against colonization, calls for independence, African pride, hope for the future, and dissent. Here I am discuss abour some very well known or popular African Literature novels.
1. Disgrace by
J. M. Coetzee
Disgrace by
J. M. Coetzee
About Novel:
Disgrace is
a novel by South African author J.M Coetzee, published in 1999. The story about
David Lurie, a South African English professor who loses his job after sleeping
with a weak student. Melanie Isaacs, and then she stops attending his classes,
falsifying her grades. After being dismissed, Lurie takes refuge on his lesbian
daughter Lucy’s farm in the Eastern Cape. While there, the farm is attacked.
Three men force their way into the farmhouse, rape Lucy, and shoot the dogs she
is boarding. Lucy becomes pregnant after the rape and refuses an abortion, and
any attempts by her father at retribution. After Lurie returns home to Cape
Town, he discovers his house in shambles, either ransacked by looters or by
students protesting his affair with Melanie. Disgrace tackles themes of
political and social violence in a deeply divided country. The novel won the
Booker Prize in 1999.
Characters:
Themes:
·
Love and
Support
2. Season
of Crimson Blossoms by Abubakar Adam
Ibrahim
Season of Crimson Blossoms by
Abubakar Adam Ibrahim
About Season of Crimson Blossoms:
Season of Crimson Blossoms is an adult fiction debut novel by
Nigerian writer and journalist Abubakar Adam Ibrahim. The novel, set largely in
the outskirts of Abuja, Nigeria, depicts an affair between the 55-year old
widow Hajiya Binta and the 26-year old drug dealer and local gang leader Reza.
Abubakar’s
powerful debut novel set in a traditional Muslim community in northern Nigeria,
and against a backdrop of political corruption and violence is a haunting story
of love and longing that unfurls gently and memorably, revealing layers of
emotion that defy age, class and religion.
Characters:
·
Hajiya
Binta (Binta Zubairu) is the lead protagonist and a 55-year-old Muslim
widow.
·
Reza (Hassan
Babale) is the supporting protagonist and a notorious thug.
·
Senator
Buba Maikudi is a selfish, rogue politician.
Dance of the Jakaranda by Peter Kimani
About Dance of the Jakaranda:
Set in the shadow of Kenya's independence from Great Britain, Dance
of the Jakaranda the special situations that brought black, brown and white
men together to lay the track that heralded the birth of the nation.
The novel about the lives and loves of three men preacher Richard
Turnbull, the colonial administrator Ian McDonald, and Indian technician Babu
Salim. whose lives intersect when they are implicated in the controversial
birth of a child.
It is a multiracial, multicultural cast and diverse literary allusions,
Dance of the Jakaranda could well be a story of globalization. Its language a
dreamy, exalted, and earthy mix that creates new thresholds of identity,
providing a fresh metaphor for race in contemporary Africa.
4. Coming
to Birth by Marjorie Oludhe MacGoye
Coming to Birth
Marjorie Phyllis Oludhe Macgoye (21 October 1928 to 1 December
2015) was an English-born Kenyan novelist, essayist and poet. She has been
called the "mother of Kenyan literature".
About Novel: The novel is simple and
talk about a young woman, coming of age at a time of rapid social change in
Kenya. The novel talk about struggles
for political, family and personal fulfilment & Kenya
independence.
the novel treats the themes of women's freedom. The
meaning of "coming to birth"
women socially, politically and economically, the problems of post-independence
Africa about corruption, political murders and abuse of power.
5. A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi wa Thiong’o
A Grain of Wheat
Characters:
·
Mugo
·
Karanja
·
Mumbi
(Kihika’s sister)
·
Gikonyo
·
John
Thompson
Themes:
·
Colonialism and its Legacies
·
Individuals and the Community
·
Betrayal, Guilt, and Redemption
·
Forgiveness
·
Power of Nature
·
Silence and Confession
·
Violence
About
Novel:
The
narrative of the novel unfolds in 4 days before Independence celebrations in
1963. Novel talks about “Uhuru” the meaning of Uhuru is Freedom. African people
want freedom from White peoples. Mugo does not want to give a speech in Uhuru
celebration event. What he said, no to villagers? he betrayed their beloved Mau Mau
fighter, Kihika. Kihika had joined the Mau Mau as a
young man. Mugo betrayed him in secret and then, he was captured and hanged by
white people.
The love tringle between Mumbi, Gikonyo, and Karanja. Mumbi
reject karanja and married with Gikonyo. When Gikonyo not present in village at
that time, mumbi pregnant by karanja. Another side, Gikonyo come to Thabai and he can not
believed that his wife was pregnant. He does not believe they can ever repair
their relationship, and he throws himself into his work. End of the novel Mugo
feel guilty.
6. Harvest
of Skulls by Abdourahman
A. Waberi -
Harvest of Skulls
Characters:
·
Walter Thirsk,
the protagonist of the novel.
·
Master Kent
·
Edmund Jordan
·
Mr Quill
·
Mistress Beldam
·
Lizzie Carr
Themes of Harvest of Skulls:
·
Village Life in Medieval Times
·
Inclosure Act.
·
Fear of Strangers
·
Witch Hunting
About Harvest of Skulls:
Harvest about the story of a quiet and remote
English village in the sixteen hundreds, when progress is beginning to destroy
the traditions of village life. When the novel begins, the Inclosure Act has
just been introduced and passed into law. This empowered the enclosure of open
fields and common lands in England and Wales by wealthy landowners who could
then decide what they wanted to do with the land. Ultimately, this became a
positive Act, because it led to the Agricultural Revolution, but at the
beginning the Act was designed to be abused and it was. Landlords like Master
Jordan, the antagonist of the novel, were able to devote their fields and lands
to livestock, specifically sheep, so that they made more money, but they also
prevented villagers from growing food, or having access to any leftover yield
from the harvest. People went hungry and ultimately left the village in droves.
Jazz and Palm Wine
Jazz, aliens, and witchcraft collide in this collection of short
stories by renowned author Emmanuel Dongala. The influence of Kongo culture is
tangible throughout, as customary beliefs clash with party conceptions of
scientific and rational thought. In the first half of Jazz and Palm Wine, the
characters emerge victorious from decades of colonial exploitation in the Congo
only to confront the burdensome bureaucracy, oppressive legal systems, and
corrupt governments of the post-colonial era. The ruling political party
attempts to impose order and scientific thinking while the people struggle to
deal with drought, infertility, and impossible regulations and policies; both
sides mix witchcraft, diplomacy, and violence in their efforts to survive. The
second half of the book is set in the United States during the turbulent civil
rights struggles of the 1960s. In the title story, African and American leaders
come together to save the world from extraterrestrials by serving vast
quantities of palm wine and playing American jazz. The stories in Jazz and Palm
Wine prompt conversations about identity, race, and co-existence, providing
contextualization and a historical dimension that is often sorely lacking.
Through these collisions and clashes, Dongala suggests a pathway to racial
harmony, peaceful co-existence, and individual liberty through artistic
creation.
8. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Things Fall Apart
Characters:
·
Okonkwo
·
Nwoye
·
Ezinma
·
Ikemefuna
·
Mr. Brown
·
Reverend James Smith
·
The District Commissioner
·
Uchendu
·
Unoka
·
Obierika
·
Ekwefi
Themes:
·
The
Struggle Between Change and Tradition
·
Varying
Interpretations of Masculinity
·
Language as a Sign of Cultural Difference
About Things fall Apart:
Okonkwo is a respected leader in the Umuofia tribe of the Igbo people, he lives
in fear of becoming his father – a man known for his laziness and cowardice.
Throughout his life, Okonkwo attempts to be his father’s polar opposite. From
an early age, he builds his home and reputation as a precocious wrestler and
hard-working farmer. Okonkwo’s efforts pay off big time and he becomes wealthy
through his crops and scores three wives.
The Igbo attempt to talk to the missionaries, but the Christians capture
the Igbo leaders and jail them for several days until the
villagers cough up some ransom money. Contemplating revenge, the
Igbo people hold a war council and Okonkwo is one of the biggest advocates for
aggressive action. However, during the council, a court messenger from the
missionaries arrives and tells the men to stop the meeting. Enraged, Okonkwo
kills him. Realizing that his clan will not go to war against the white men,
the proud, devastated Okonkwo hangs himself.
Conclusion:
Why we read African Literature?
African literature is
not important only because of its related setting and relatable
storylines. It also increases our social awareness, and raises awareness of
social, political, and economic crises that the African continent is
facing.
Works Cited
"10 Essential
African Novels." 17 April 2017. https://www.publishersweekly.com.
WEB. 2020 March 7.
<https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/73445-10-essential-african-novels.html>.
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