African Literature

African literature could be divided by North Africa and Southern Africa do to the different cultural and ethnic influences. The northern part is highly influenced by Europe and Arab countries. While the Southeastern part of Africa,  also called sub Saharan Africa, is more traditional and based only in their original beliefs that include proverbs, songs, chants, rituals, stories, tales and their own religion and culture. There were some performers that went from region to region called griots that narrated myths or important happenings in form of chants or plays. These griots were responsible for getting the people informed of any news. The first African history ever written was "History of the Sudan" by Abd al-Rahman al-Sadi. The major language spoken throughout Africa is the Swahili and the first written work in this language was "Utendi waTambuka" which speaks about Muslim traditions. This works where important because they where the first ones of their type. European countries started to colonized Africa. England, France, Netherlands where some of them. Do to the fear of the native practices their traditions  beliefs, culture and rites where prohibited and the catholic religion was imposed. This contributed to the lost f many important cultural aspects of Africa. Although many years after, the Swahili started to return to their roots, back to Bantu form. The Africans where spread thought the world and they wanted to have a voice. They started the Negritude Movement and started to speak writing important works. Finally the world started to get interested on them. Many excellent novels came out such as "The Dark Child" by Camara Laye, "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe among many others.                  


Holtz, E, 2013, African Literature, Mexcio City.

Chinua Achebe

Chinua Achebe was born in Nigeria on November 16, 1930. He was raised in the southeastern part of this country. Since his early studies he started to write stories about African culture. He graduated at the University College in Nigeria. Afterwards he started working at a radio station as the Director of External Broadcasting. Do to the upcoming Biafran War he left his job at the radio station. Achebe began giving lectures at The University of Nigeria and then at The University of Massachusetts and also at The University of Connecticut. He is one of the most, if not the most, recognized African writer. Achebe writes not only novels but also short stories, essays, poetry and children's books. His most famous and recognized title is "Things Fall Apart" which he wrote on 1958. Other Achebe's important novels are "No Longer At Ease", "Arrow of God", "A Man of the People" and "Anthills of the Savanna".He has also won many prizes and awards such as The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize 2010, Man Booker International Award 2007, 1st Living Author presented in the Everyman's Library collection by Alfred A. Knopf 1992, Rockefeller Fellowship 1960, UNESCO Fellowship for Creative Artists 1960, Margaret Wrong Prize, The New Statesman Jock Campbell Prize and The Commonwealth Poetry Prize. In the present Achebe is 82 years old and lives in New York with his family while teaching at the Bard College.  


Brown university (2012), Chinua Achebe, Available from:  http://brown.edu/Departments/Africana_Studies/people/achebe_chinua.html [Accessed: Jan 20, 2013].


Achebe, C, (1959), Things fall apart, Anchor Books, New York.

Importance of Literature

In order to state the importance of literature in education and society development we first need to get a clear idea of what is literature. In my own opinion literature could be defined as words that express ideas in  many different ways but that can be understood. We also have to have in mind that literature has change drastically along time. From the ancient Greeks throw the obscurantism of the Middle Age until the actual variety in literature. 

Obviously literature has affected education in many ways. Without text it would be almost impossible to learn how to speak, read, write and discover things that are taught at school. Literature is the "where" and "how" an important author or anyone that knows about something communicates all his knowledge to us, making us a better and more enlightened society. And that is what literature is all about: communication. It also allows us to save knowledge and therefore this knowledge is remembered. Just imagine how difficult it would be to build a house without all the previous knowledge of the resistance of materials, the way different tools work, the law of gravity, just to mention some. Our society is constructed around literature and our society works through education, so without literature I can assure you that we would have a totally undeveloped world. Every book, every text, every sentence, every word it is literature. Even everything that is found on the internet. Think how valuable all this is, think how would you be without it. Because when we read something, no matter how insignificant, it affects us and it makes us change. This change is also experimented in our society; it can be a big one or probably a small one depending on it's importance.

Literature makes us who we are. Since the very first moment you learned to read and write, and how you improved through your education until now that you interact on a complex society where these skills are essential.

"Books are humanity in print." .- Barbara W. Tuchman