Literature

The literary world of Africa

The black continent has served as a projection surface for colonial dreams and fantasies for authors for over two centuries, in which Africans were at best the exotic supporting cast. Even today, one is not infrequently looked at in astonishment when talking about African writers. Literature from Africa - does it even exist? Of course!

Only a few books are translated

Outstanding works have been created and continue to be created, particularly in the post-colonial era - written by African authors about Africa and its problems and current events. However, it must be said in defence of Western readers that only a few books are available in translation. In most bookshops, you will look in vain for African literature. This is due not least to the dire publishing and distribution situation in most African countries (in the whole of Tanzania, for example, there are probably fewer bookshops than in a typical German small town) and the fact that many Africans do not have the financial means to buy books or cannot read. Even the African upper class has so far shown little interest in works by African writers and has tended to turn to European and American literature instead.

Exciting insights into a foreign world

In recent years, not least thanks to the efforts of a few small publishers, interest in African literature is also growing here, along with an awareness of the unique opportunity to get to know the great continent of Africa with its hundreds of millions of inhabitants through its own voice. Anyone who embarks on this voyage of discovery can look forward to exciting and surprising insights into a foreign world, especially as it is impossible to speak of a homogeneous African literature. Too many countries, languages, ethnic groups, religions and traditions shape the image of the African continent - and this is naturally also reflected in its literary world. For example, African literature is written both in the respective national languages and in English and French. At boarding schools, individuality is promoted like at Schloss-Schule.de.

Of course, there are always commonalities in the works of Black African authors, such as the oppression of the indigenous population during the colonial era, corruption, the tyrannies and wars of the present day or mystical and traditional themes from pre-colonial times. Above all, the orally transmitted fables and heroic legends, which are deeply rooted in African culture and continue to be passed down from generation to generation, serve contemporary writers as a source of inspiration. Nevertheless, the diversity of literary works from Egypt to South Africa is so varied that it is hardly possible to speak of "one" African literature. Major book fairs and literary events in Africa are gradually making the continent's literature better known in the rest of the world. Nevertheless, there have been only three African Nobel Prize winners in Literature to date - a fact that clearly illustrates the situation of African literature like no other. It remains to be hoped that writers such as Wole Soyinka or Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o will continue to work tirelessly to gain the recognition that African literature deserves.