African Writing in English

Dinesen, Isak, pseudonym of Baroness Karen Christence Blixen-Finecke, ne Dinesen (188-1!"#$, Danish %riter, &orn
in 'un(sted) *he studied paintin( in +arious ,uropean cities) -n 1!1. she married her cousin, Baron Bror Blixen-Finecke,
and %ent to li+e in British ,ast /frica (no% Kenya$ on a coffee plantation) /fter her di+orce in 1!#1 she remained in
/frica, returnin( to Denmark in 1!01) 1er first &ook of stories, Seven Gothic Tales (1!0.$, dealt in hi(hly polished and
su&tle prose %ith the %orld of the supernatural, as did most of her later fiction) Out of Africa (1!02$, %hich %as made into
a mo+ie released in 1!8, %as &ased on her experiences on the plantation) 1er only no+el, The Angelic Avengers (1!..3
trans) 1!.2$, %as pu&lished under the name 4ierre /ndr5el3 it descri&es in alle(orical terms the pli(ht of Denmark durin(
the 6erman occupation in 7orld 7ar --) Dinesen8s later %orks include Winter's Tales (1!.0$3 Last Tales (1!2$, another
collection of stories of the supernatural3 and Shadows on the Grass (1!"9$, Sketches of African life) *he %rote &oth the
Danish +ersion and the ,n(lish +ersion of all her %orks)
Doris Lessing is one of the most prolific and cele&rated authors %ritin( in ,n(lish today) 1er %ork ran(es from realistic
early no+els, many of %hich dra% directly from her /frican childhood, to later &ooks that experiment %ith literary (enre
(includin( science fiction$ and form) -n addition, :essin( has %ritten poetry, drama, nonfiction, and a series of memoirs)
Deeply influenced &y her early exposure to racial, class, and sexual ine;uality, :essin( raises in her %ritin( ;uestions
a&out politics, society, reli(ion, %ork, and family<meditations at the heart of her most influential %ork, The Golden
Notebook (1!"#$)/fter t%o marria(es and t%o di+orces, in 1!.! :essin( mo+ed from *alis&ury (the *outhern 'hodesian
capital, no% 1arare, =im&a&%e$ to :ondon, ,n(land, takin( %ith her only the youn(est of her three children) *he also
&rou(ht the manuscript that %ould &ecome her first no+el, The Grass is Singing (1!9$) :iterary success came ;uickly3
o+er the next ten years, :essin( pu&lished four more no+els, in addition to stories, plays, re+ie%s, and essays) *he (ained
a reputation as a %riter %hose %ork pro&ed &oth the personal and the political<particularly for %omen)) /lon( %ith her
interest in racial and (ender politics and inter(enerational relationships, :essin( &e(an to dra% from the teachin(s of
*ufism, a mystical form of -slam) 1ints of the supernatural in the series8 last entry are expanded in the fi+e-+olume
science-fiction series Canopus in Argos Archives (1!2!-1!80$) :ater no+els include The Good Terrorist (1!8$, The !ifth
Child (1!88$, and Love" Again (1!!"$3 %orks focused on /frica include Collected African Stories (1!20$, African
Laughter (1!!#$, and Going #o$e (1!!"$) :essin( has also pu&lished t%o +olumes of her on(oin( auto&io(raphy, %nder
$& Skin (1!!.$ and Walking in the Shade (1!!2$) Critics praise :essin(8s fierce, unsentimental honesty and her uni;ue
ima(ination, and many consider her one of the finest no+elists %ritin( in ,n(lish today)
Csaire, Aim (1!10- $, inno+ati+e >artinican poet, play%ri(ht, and political leader, a founder of the ?(ritude
mo+ement and one of the most important &lack authors %ritin( in French in the #9th century) /s a historical mo+ement,
Ngritude recei+ed t%o competin( interpretations) Csaire8s ori(inal conception sees the specificity and unity of &lack
existence as a historically de+elopin( phenomenon that arose throu(h the hi(hly contin(ent e+ents of the /frican sla+e
trade and ?e% 7orld plantation system) @his formulation %as (radually displaced in intellectual de&ate &y *en(hor8s
essentialist interpretation of ?(ritude, %hich ar(ues for an unchan(in( core or essence to &lack existence) /s this later
formulation (ained currency, it %as %idely attacked, all the more so as *en(hor, then president of an independent *ene(al,
came to use the term ideolo(ically to Austify his o%n political platform) *en(hor8s ?(ritude nonetheless ser+ed to re+erse
the system of +alues that had informed 7estern perception of &lacks since the earliest +oya(es of disco+ery to /frica)
Csaire8s de+elopmental model of ?(ritude, on the other hand, continues to offer a model for the on(oin( proAect of
&lack li&eration in all its fullness, at once spiritual and political)
Achebe, Chinua (1!09- $, ?i(erian author, %hose no+el @hin(s Fall /part (1!8$ is one of the most %idely read and
discussed %orks of /frican fiction) -n his first no+el, Things !all Apart, /che&e retold the history of coloni5ation from the
point of +ie% of the coloni5ed) @he no+el depicted the first contact &et%een the -(&o people and ,uropean missionaries
and administrators) *ince its pu&lication, Things !all Apart has (enerated a %ealth of literary criticism (rapplin( %ith
/che&e8s unsentimental representations of tradition, reli(ion, manhood, and the colonial experience) -mmediately
successful, the no+el secured /che&e8s position &oth in ?i(eria and in the 7est as a preeminent +oice amon( /fricans
%ritin( in ,n(lish) /che&e su&se;uently %rote se+eral no+els that spanned more than a century of /frican history)
/lthou(h most of these %orks deal specifically %ith ?i(eria, they are also em&lematic of %hat /che&e calls the
Bmetaphysical landscapeB of /frica, Ba +ie% of the %orld and of the %hole cosmos percei+ed from a particular position)B
No Longer at 'ase (1!"9$ tells the story of a youn( man sent &y his +illa(e to study o+erseas %ho then returns to a
(o+ernment Ao& in ?i(eria only to find himself in a culturally fra(mented %orld) /s the youn( man sinks into materialism
and corruption, /che&e represents a ne% (eneration cau(ht in a moral and spiritual conflict &et%een the modern and the
traditional( Arrow of God (1!".$ returns to the colonial period of 1!#9s ?i(eria) -n this no+el, /che&e focuses on a theme
that underscores all of his %orkC the %ieldin( of po%er and its deployment for the (ood or harm of a community) A )an
of the *eople (1!""$, a %ork /che&e has characteri5ed as Ban indictment of independent /frica,B is set in the context of
the emer(in( /frican nation-state) 'epresentin( a nation thou(ht to &e &ased on ?i(eria, /che&e portrays the +acuum of
true leadership left &y the destruction of the (o+ernance pro+ided &y the traditional +illa(e) /che&e8s critical political
commentary continues in Anthills of the Savannah (1!82$, in %hich he uses a complex mythical structure to depict an
/frican nation passin( into the shado% of a military dictatorship) /che&e helped found a pu&lishin( company in ?i(eria
%ith poet Christopher Dki(&o and in 1!21 %as a foundin( editor for the prominent /frican literary ma(a5ine Okike) -n
addition, he pu&lished children8s &ooks and a%ard-%innin( poetry collections) 'espondin( to critics such as ?(u(i %a
@hion(8o, %ho point to the political and cultural implications of %ritin( in the colonial lan(ua(e, /che&e has defended his
use of ,n(lish, assertin( that as a Bmedium of international exchan(e,B the lan(ua(e is a lin(ua franca (common lan(ua(e$
that %ill connect the communities of /frica)B/rt is man8s constant effort to create for himself a different order of reality
from that %hich is (i+en to him,B /che&e %rote in his essay B@he @ruth of Fiction)B
Okigbo, Christopher (1!09-1!"2$, ?i(erian poet, %ho %ithin his short lifetime esta&lished himself as a central fi(ure in
the de+elopment of modern poetry in /frica and as one of the most important /frican poets to %rite in ,n(lish) @he t%o
collections of +erse that appeared durin( Dki(&oEs lifetime esta&lished him as an inno+ati+e and contro+ersial poet,
althou(h his poetry also appeared in the important 7est /frican cultural ma(a5ines Black Drpheus and @ransition) @he
t%o collections<#eavensgate (1!"#$ and Li$its (1!".$<re+eal a personal, introspecti+e poetry informed &y a
familiarity %ith 7estern myths and filled %ith rich, startlin( ima(es)
o!inka, Wole (1!0.- $, ?i(erian play%ri(ht, poet, no+elist, and lecturer, %hose %ritin(s dra% on /frican tradition and
mytholo(y %hile employin( 7estern literary forms" In #$%& o!inka became the first African 'riter and the first
black 'riter to 'in the Nobel (ri)e for literature" 1e esta&lished the 1!"9 >asks drama troupe (later the Drisun
@heatre$ and produced his o%n plays and those of other /frican play%ri(hts) *oyinka often %rote a&out the need for
indi+idual freedom) 1is plays include A +ance of the !orests (1!"9$, %ritten to cele&rate ?i(eriaEs independence in 1!"93
,ongi-s #arvest (1!"$, a political satire. +eath and the ,ing-s #orse$an (1!2$3 A *la& of Giants (1!8.$3 and !ro$ /ia"
with Love (1!!#$) 1is other %ritin(s include the no+els The 0nterpreters (1!"$, a&out a (roup of youn( ?i(erian
intellectuals, and Season of Ano$& (1!20$3 the poetry collections 0danre (1!"2$ and )andela-s 'arth (1!88$3 the critical
%ork )&th" Literature" and the African World (1!2"$3 the auto&io(raphical &ooks Ake The 1ears of Childhood (1!81$ and
0sara (1!8!$3 and the essay collection The Credo of 2eing and Nothingness 345546(
*utuola, Amos (1!#9-1!!2$, ?i(erian no+elist and short-story %riter, %hose first pu&lished no+el, The *al$7Wine
+rinkard 31!#$, recei+ed international reco(nition and led to the su&se;uent sur(e of interest in /frican literature in
,n(lish) @utuola8s &ooks, %ritten in an idiosyncratic ,n(lish, en(a(e readers +i+idly in the myth and le(end of the Foru&a,
an /frican people inha&itin( south%est ?i(eria) -ma(inati+e Aourneys in+ol+in( encounters %ith the supernatural<(hosts,
demons, and ma(ic<ser+e as means to spiritual (ro%th and the ac;uisition of %isdom) @utuola8s a&ility to recreate in
%ritten form the Foru&a oral tradition and to re%ork and moderni5e the folklore to his o%n ends has made his %ork
uni;ue) 1is other %orks include )& Life in the 2ush of Ghosts (1!.$, Si$bi and the Sat&r of the +ark 8ungle (1!.$, The
2rave African #untress (1!8$, !eather Wo$an of the 8ungle (1!"#$, A9ai&i and #is 0nherited *overt& (1!"2$, The Witch7
#erbalist of the :e$ote Town (1!81$, The Wild #unter in the 2ush of Ghosts (1!8#$, *auper" 2rawler and Slanderer
(1!82$, and The ;illage Witch +octor (1!!9$)
Okri, +en (1!!- $, ?i(erian no+elist, poet, and short-story %riter, %ho achie+ed international reco(nition %ith his third
no+el, The !a$ished :oad (1!!1$, %hich %on Britain8s top literary a%ard, the Booker 4ri5e) Dkri had &een %ritin( for
se+eral years and had pu&lished his first no+el, !lowers and Shadows (1!89$) Durin( his three years at ,ssex, he
pu&lished a second no+el, The Landscapes Within (1!8#$) Bet%een 1!8. and 1!8, Dkri %orked for the British
Broadcastin( Corporation (BBC$ 7orld *er+ice, as a radio &roadcaster on the G?et%ork /fricaH pro(ram) 1e %as poetry
editor of 7est /frica ma(a5ine from 1!89 to 1!82) Critical interest in Dkri8s %ritin( %as first (enerated &y his short story
collection 0ncidents at the Shrine (1!82$, %hich %on the Common%ealth 7riters 4ri5e for /frica) /nother collection of
short stories, Stars of the New Curfew (1!88$, in %hich, Dkri seeks to present a resolution &et%een /frican mysticism and
7estern modernism) The !a$ished :oad is a tale of an /frican Gspirit-child)H Dkri8s %orks also include a +olume of
incantatory poems, An African 'leg& (1!!#$ as %ell as a se;uel to The !a$ished :oad, Songs of 'nchant$ent (1!!0$) -n
1!! he pu&lished Astonishing the Gods, a ;uest-fa&le a&out sufferin(, po%er, and fame inspired &y the %orks of *%iss
%riter 1ermann 1esse and /r(entine %riter Ior(e :uis Bor(es)
Emecheta, +uchi (1!..- $, ?i(erian %riter, %hose %orks explore the Aoys and sorro%s of /frican %omen as they stru((le
%ith patriarchal dominance, neocolonialism, economic exploitation, and racism) ,mecheta8s first no+els, 0n the +itch
(1!2#$ and Second Class Citi<en (1!2.$, dre% upon her experiences as a mem&er of :ondon8s %orkin( class) @hese %orks
%ere follo%ed &y three no+els set in the re(ion of ?i(eria %here ,mecheta %as &ornC The 2ride *rice (1!2"$, the
manuscript of %hich once had &een &urned &y her hus&and3 The Slave Girl (1!22$3 and The 8o&s of )otherhood (1!2!$)
/ll three are si(nificant criti;ues of (ender relations in /frican societies) The 8o&s of )otherhood has &een considered
,mecheta8s &est no+el) -t follo%s the life of a %oman consumed &y the societal demands of motherhood) @he no+el
+estination 2iafra (1!8#$ is ,mecheta8s response to the ci+il conflict in the late 1!"9s that threatened to di+ide ?i(eria)
1er &ook +ouble 1oke (1!80$ deals %ith the sexual harassment of female students &y male professors and %ith the
stru((les of educated /frican %omen) -n The :ape of Shavi (1!80$, ,mecheta explores the theme of the ,uropean
exploitation of /frica in the settin( of a fictional /frican country called *ha+i) @he no+els Gwendolen (1!8!$ and
,ehinde (1!!.$ are set in :ondon) -n Gwendolen ,mecheta %rites a&out a Iamaican family in a style reminiscent of the
%ork of /merican author /lice 7alker) -n ,ehinde, the prota(onist, %ith the support of her %omen friends, lea+es a
poly(amous marria(e to create her o%n life) ,mecheta also %rote an auto&io(raphy, #ead Above Water (1!8"$3 the
children8s stories Titch the Cat (1!2!$ and Nowhere to *la& (1!89$3 literature for youn( adults, includin( The )oonlight
2ride (1!89$, The Wrestling )atch (1!89$, Naira *ower (1!8#$, and A ,ind of )arriage (1!8"$3 radio and tele+ision
plays3 and se+eral %orks of criticism)
Ek'ensi, C!prian (1!#1- $, ?i(erian no+elist, short-story %riter, and childrenEs author, %ho has portrayed the moral and
material pro&lems &esettin( rural 7est /fricans as they mi(rate to the city) / prolific and popular %riter, he o%es his
immense success to his a&ility to %rite realistically a&out current issues affectin( ordinary people) 1is first pu&lished
success came %ith the no+ella When Love Whispers (1!.8$) *eople of the Cit& (1!.$, a collection of short stories tied
to(ether almost as a no+el, chronicles the frantic pace of life in modern :a(os, ?i(eriaEs former capital) 1is most
successful no+el, 8agua Nana (1!"1$,tells the story of a +i&rant middle-a(ed prostitute %ho mo+es &et%een the corrupt,
pleasure-seekin( life of the city and the pastoral life of her rural ori(ins) ,k%ensi continued his career as a %riter,
reflectin( on the %ar and its aftermath in the no+els Survive the *eace (1!2"$ and +ivided We Stand (1!89$) -n 1!8" he
pu&lished a se;uel to 8agua Nana called 8agua Nana-s +aughter) 1is childrenEs &ooks include The *assport of )alla$
0lia (1!"9$, The +ru$$er 2o& (1!"9$, and 8u9u :ock (1!""$)
Ngugi 'a *hiong,o (1!08- $, Kenyan no+elist and play%ri(ht, many of %hose %orks concern issues of Kenyan
independence) Born Iames @hion(8o ?(u(i in Kamiriithu, he chan(ed his name in the late 1!"9s) ?(u(i8s first no+el,
Weep Not" Child (1!".$, %as pu&lished %hile he %as at school in ,n(land) 1a+in( returned to Kenya after finishin( his
studies, ?(u(i8s second no+el The :iver 2etween (1!"$, had as its &ack(round the >au >au re&ellion (1!#-1!"$, in
%hich a (roup of the Kikuyu people &e(an a campai(n of +iolence a(ainst the British, %ho controlled Kenya at the time)
@his su&Aect re-emer(ed in A Grain of Wheat (1!"2$, a no+el in %hich >au >au &loodshed is set a(ainst cele&rations of
Kenyan independence) @he impact of ?(u(i8s next no+el, *etals of 2lood (1!22$, a story discussin( the poor ;uality of
life in ,ast /frica, particularly for Kenya8s lo%er classes, e+en after independence from the Jnited Kin(dom in 1!"0, led
to his detention in 1!28 under Kenya8s 4u&lic *ecurity /ct) 1e recounted his prison experience in +etained A Writer's
*rison +iar& (1!81$) @he play Ngaahika Ndeenda (1!22. 0 Will )arr& When 0 Want, 1!8#$ held that those %ho had
fou(ht the hardest for independence had (ained the least, a theme ?(u(i returned to in the no+el )atigari (1!8!$) ?(u(i8s
%orks of criticism include )oving the Centre (1!!0$)
-ordimer, Nadine (1!#0- $, *outh /frican no+elist and short-story %riter, kno%n for her realistic character dialo(ue and
passionate %ritin() he 'on the Nobel (ri)e for literature in #$$#) Fueled &y feelin(s of frustration %ith the social and
political predicament of a racially di+ided *outh /frica, 6ordimer8s %ritin( reflects her an(er at racism and political
censorship) 1er first story %as pu&lished %hen she %as 1 years old) 1er first maAor collection of stories, The Soft ;oice
of the Serpent (1!#$, %as follo%ed &y Si= !eet of the Countr& (1!"$, !rida&'s !ootprint (1!"9$, and Not for *ublication
(1!"$) @hese &ooks present incidents of e+eryday life in *outh /frica, often from the point of +ie% of a %hite middle-
class character) @hey examine the tensions &et%een %hite and non-%hite people forced to li+e under apartheid, the system
of ri(id racial se(re(ation formerly in effect in *outh /frica) 6ordimer8s no+els A World of Strangers (1!8$, Occasion
for Loving (1!"0$, and The Late 2ourgeois World (1!""$ also address these themes) -n her &ooks, 6ordimer
sympathetically presents the position of non%hites %hile con+eyin( the conflictin( feelin(s of li&eral %hites %ho li+e
under a system they &elie+e to &e %ron() 1er no+el The Conservationist (1!2.$, a&out a %hite man8s exploitation of his
&lack employees for personal (ain, %as a Aoint %inner in 1!2. of the Booker 4ri5e, Britain8s most presti(ious literary
a%ard) 2urger's +aughter (1!2!$ explores a %hite %oman8s di+ided feelin(s a&out apartheid %hen her father is
imprisoned for opposin( the system( 8ul&'s *eople (1!81$ looks into the future, depictin( a %hite family tryin( to escape
from a ci+il %ar &y dependin( upon their &lack ser+ants) -n )& Son's Stor& (1!!9$, a youn( &lack man tries to understand
the conflicts of the pri+ate and pu&lic life of his father) None to Acco$pan& )e (1!!.$, set in postapartheid *outh /frica,
concerns a %oman %ho seeks self-understandin( throu(h her de+otion to political causes) Writing and 2eing (1!!$ is a
collection of essays)
(aton, Alan te'art (1!90-1!88$, *outh /frican %riter and social reformer, %hose %orks condemned apartheid, the
policy of racial separation practiced in *outh /frica from 1!.8 until the early 1!!9s)4aton recei+ed (reat critical and
popular acclaim for his first no+el, Cr&" the 2eloved Countr& (1!.8$, %hich is distin(uished &y its compassionate
treatment of those cau(ht up in the racial conflicts of *outh /frica) @he %ork %as made into an opera %ith music &y
6erman /merican composer Kurt 7eill and %as adapted for se+eral motion pictures) 4atonEs second no+el, Too Late the
*halarope (1!0$3 his short story collection, Tales fro$ a Troubled Land (1!"1$3 and his later no+el, Ah" 2ut 1our Land 0s
2eautiful (1!8#$, also deal %ith racial tensions in *outh /frican society) -n 1! he pu&lished The Land and *eople of
South Africa" a nonfiction %ork, and in 1!"8 The Long ;iew, %hich deals %ith apartheid)
Coet)ee, ./ohn0 1/ichael$ (1!.9- $, *outh /frican %riter and scholar, %ho is &est kno%n for his no+els Waiting for the
2arbarians (1!89$ and The Life and Ti$es of )ichael , (1!80$, %hich %on the Booker 4ri5e, Britain8s hi(hest literary
a%ard) Coet5ee8s no+els often use alle(ory to ;uestion the apartheid re(ime that (o+erned *outh /frica until 1!!9, or
racial conflict of any kind, and to explore the resultin( effects on indi+iduals and society) Coet5ee %on a second Booker
4ri5e in 1!!! for +isgrace, a no+el a&out life in post-apartheid *outh /frica) he completed %ork on t%o no+ellas he had
already &e(un, %hich %ere pu&lished in one +olume as +usklands in 1!2.) Both no+ellas, @he Kietnam 4roAect and @he
?arrati+e of Iaco&us Coet5ee, deal %ith the dilemmas faced &y indi+iduals %ho are in conflict %ith society( +usklands
%as follo%ed &y -n the #eart of the Countr& (1!223 pu&lished the same year in the Jnited *tates as !ro$ the #eart of the
Countr&, %hich is structured as the diary of a %oman declinin( into insanity) Waiting for the 2arbarians (1!89$, the story
of a (o+ernment ma(istrate8s personal e+olution into ;uestionin( the (o+ernment for %hich he %orks, %on *outh /frica8s
hi(hest literary honor, the Central ?e%s /(ency (C?/$ :iterary /%ard, in 1!89, as did The Life and Ti$es of )ichael ,
(1!80$, the story of man8s physical and psycholo(ical Aourney throu(h a country at %ar) Coet5ee8s other %orks include !oe
(1!8"$, /(e of -ron (1!!9$, and The )aster of Saint *etersburg (1!!.$, as %ell as a num&er of &ooks of essays, amon(
them +oubling the *oint 'ssa&s and 0nterviews (1!!.$) Coet5ee has also translated the %orks of other authors into
Dutch, 6erman, French, and /frikaans)
La -uma, Ale2 (1!#-1!8$, *outh /frican %riter, %ho used his %ritin( to (i+e a +oice to the &lack *outh /fricans
oppressed under apartheid, the official policy of racial se(re(ation follo%ed in *outh /frica from 1!.8 to the early 1!!9s)
:a 6uma8s %ork helped pro+ide an artistic +ision of cultural chan(e that accompanied the efforts of the more cele&rated
antiapartheid political fi(ures of *outh /frica, such as ?elson >andela and *tephen Biko) :a 6uma is &est kno%n,
ho%e+er, for his no+els, especially A Walk in the Night (1!"#$, a short no+el that traces the mo+ement of the prota(onist,
>ichael /donis, to%ard criminality as he copes %ith po+erty, police harassment, and racism in the %orkplace) :a 6uma8s
no+el And a Threefold Cord (1!".$, set in Cape @o%n durin( an unrelentin( rainstorm, focuses on poor &lack families
%ho li+e under &leak economic conditions) @he no+el The Stone Countr& (1!"2$ depicts life in a *outh /frican prison, the
&rutality of %hich ser+es as a metaphor for the experience of &lack *outh /fricans li+in( under apartheid) :a 6uma8s
other %orks include the edited +olume Apartheid A Collection of Writings on South African :acis$ b& South Africans
(1!21$, the auto&io(raphical no+el 0n the !og of the Seasons' 'nd (1!2#$, the tra+el &ook A Soviet 8ourne& (1!28$, and the
no+el Ti$e of the 2utcherbird (1!2!$)
1phahlele, Es,kia (1!1!- $, *outh /frican %riter, &est kno%n for his auto&io(raphy +own Second Avenue (1!!$, %hich
portrays his early life as a &lack *outh /frican) @he characters in >phahlele8s fictional %orks are dra%n %ith +i+id realism
and are portrayed not as +ictims &ut as sur+i+ors %ho o+ercome the harshness of their li+es) >phahlele8s first &ook, )an
)ust Live (1!.2$, is a collection of short stories a&out &lack life in *outh /frica) Do%n *econd /+enue, his second and
perhaps most famous %ork, achie+ed (reat critical and popular success and is considered a classic of *outh /frican
literature) The Wanderers (1!21$ is an auto&io(raphical no+el dealin( %ith themes of exile) 1is no+el Chirundu (1!2!$
focuses on the conflicts felt &y a fictional /frican politician) Afrika )& )usic (1!8.$ is another auto&io(raphical %ork,
descri&in( >phahlele8s exile and return to *outh /frica) 1is no+el !ather Co$e #o$e (1!8.$ is concerned %ith the
sufferin( caused &y the ?ati+es :and /ct of 1!10, %hich restricted &lacks from residin( in certain areas in *outh /frica)
>phahlele8s other &ooks include the critical %orks The African 0$age (1!"#$ and ;oices in the Whirlwind" and Other
'ssa&s (1!2#$) / collection of his letters, 2ur& )e at the )arketplace, %as pu&lished in 1!8.)
chreiner, Oli3e (18-1!#9$, *outh /frican no+elist and political acti+ist most famous for her &ook The Stor& of an
African !ar$ (1880$) *chreiner %as a pioneer in her treatment of %omen in her fiction and made many percepti+e
o&ser+ations on the political future of *outh /frica, particularly the situation of &lacks under apartheid) Born Dli+e ,milie
/l&ertina *chreiner in 7itte&er(en, *outh /frica (then Cape Colony$, she had no formal education &ut %as tau(ht at home
&y her mother) *he &e(an %ritin( t%o of her no+els %hile supportin( herself as a (o+erness from 182. to 1881, after
%hich she %ent to ,n(land, hopin( to study) The Stor& of an African !ar$ %as pu&lished under the pseudonym 'alph
-ron %hile *chreiner %as in ,n(land) @he story of a youn( (irl (ro%in( up on a farm in the (rasslands of southern /frica,
tryin( to attain her independence in the face of a ri(id, repressi+e society, the &ook met %ith immediate success) -n
,n(land *chreiner came to &e accepted &y literary and political circles and &ecame a supporter of %omen8s ri(hts) *he
%as a friend of Cecil 'hodes, a British statesman and maAor proponent for British rule in southern /frica, &ut parted
company %ith him for political reasons) *chreiner caused contro+ersy in relation to 'hodes8s acti+ities %ith her &ook
Trooper #alkett of )ashonaland (18!2$, %hich critici5ed the %ay 'hodesia (%hich &ecame =im&a&%e in 1!89$ %as
coloni5ed) *he returned to *outh /frica in 18!! and %orked on &ehalf of the Boers, a local, %hite /frikaner (roup that
refused to li+e under British rule, durin( the Boer 7ar (18!!-1!9#$) *chreiner also met and married a politician, *amuel
Cron%ri(ht<he chan(ed his name to Cron%ri(ht-*chreiner<and they &oth %orked for a +ariety of political causes) -n
1!11 she %rote Wo$en and Labour, a feminist no+el critici5in( the relations &et%een men and %omen) *chreiner spent
her last years in ,n(land, separated from her hus&and, &ut returned to *outh /frica in 1!#9 shortly &efore she died) 1er
other no+els, &oth %ith feminist themes, are !ro$ )an to )an (1!#2$ and %ndine (1!#!$) @hey %ere pu&lished
posthumously)
4an der (ost, ir Laurens (1!9"-1!!"$, *outh /frican %riter, &est kno%n for his &ooks of personal reflection on tra+el
and anthropolo(y, and %hose prose is noted for its strikin( ima(ery and minute o&ser+ation) Born in 4hilippolis, Kan der
4ost %as raised on a %orkin( ranch and educated at 6rey Colle(e in Bloemfontein, *outh /frica) -n 1!#, %ith t%o other
*outh /frican %riters, 'oy Camp&ell and 7illiam 4lomer, he helped start the ma(a5ine ;oorslag, %hich %as stron(ly
opposed to the *outh /frican apartheid (o+ernment) Due to his in+ol+ement %ith the periodical, Kan der 4ost %as forced
to lea+e *outh /frica and so tra+eled to Iapan, %here he %rote his first no+el, 0n a *rovince (1!0.$, an early indictment of
*outh /frican racism) From 1!0! to 1!." Kan der 4ost ser+ed %ith the British army durin( 7orld 7ar -- (1!0!-1!.$3 he
spent three years (1!.0-1!."$ in a Iapanese prisoner-of-%ar camp, an experience on %hich he &ased his &ooks The Seed
and the Sower (1!"03 filmed as )err& Christ$as )r( Lawrence in 1!80$, The Night of the New )oon (1!29$, and *ortrait
of 8apan (1!"8$) Kan der 4ost8s early exposure to *an myths led to a lifelon( fascination %ith this ethnic (roup of the
Kalahari Desert of northern *outh /frica, %hose traditional %ay of life Kan der 4ost has ideali5ed in his %ritin(s as an
intuiti+ely spiritual state of perfect harmony %ith the natural en+ironment) 1is %orks on *an culture, The Lost World of
the ,alahari (1!8$, The #eart of the #unter (1!"1$, A )antis Carol (1!2$, and Testa$ent to the 2ush$an (%ith Iane
@aylor, 1!8.$, are pro&a&ly his &est kno%n &ooks) Dther &ooks &y Kan der 4ost include ;enture to the 0nterior (1!#$,
!la$ingo !eather (1!$, 8ung and the Stor& of Our Ti$e (1!2"$, 1et 2eing So$eone Other (1!8#$, A Walk with a White
2ush$an (%ith Iean->arc 4ottie5, 1!8"$, About 2lad& (1!!1$, and !eather !all An Antholog& (edited &y Iean->arc
4ottie5, 1!!.$) Kan der 4ost %as kni(hted &y the British (o+ernment in 1!81)
5ugard, Athol (1!0#- $, *outh /frican play%ri(ht, director, and actor, %hose %orks often focus on *outh /frican politics)
By portrayin( the conflict &et%een characters from different &ack(rounds, Fu(ard8s plays explore racism and repression<
of apartheid (a system of racial se(re(ation formerly adhered to in *outh /frica$ in particular and of ci+ili5ation in (eneral
<and cele&rate the stren(th of the human spirit)
Born 1arold /thol :anni(an Fu(ard in >iddle&ur(, Fu(ard %as educated at the Jni+ersity of Cape @o%n and &e(an
%orkin( in theater in the late 1!9s) -n 1!! his experimental theater (roup in 4ort ,li5a&eth produced his first play No
Good !rida&) -nternational reco(nition came %ith the production of The 2lood ,not (1!"1$, %hich %ith #ello and
Goodb&e (1!"$ and 2oes$an and Lena (1!"!$ formed a trilo(y of plays focusin( on family relationships in 4ort
,li5a&eth) Fu(ard co%rote Si<we 2ansi is +ead (1!2#$ and The 0sland (1!20$ %ith actors Iohn Kani and 7inston
?tshona) 1is other plays include A Lesson fro$ Aloes (1!28$, )aster #arold ((( and the 2o&s (1!8#$, The :oad to )ecca
(1!8.$, )& Children" )& Africa> (1!88$, *la&land (1!!#$, and ;alle& Song (1!!$)
7ith the endin( of apartheid in the early 1!!9s, Fu(ardEs %ritin( &ecame less specifically political) The Captain-s
Tiger (1!!!$ is &ased on Fu(ardEs experience ser+in( as a steamer ship captainEs assistant in the mid-1!9s) >any of
Fu(ardEs %orks ha+e &een produced in theaters %orld%ide and ha+e recei+ed critical acclaim) Fu(ard %rote a&out his
%ork in the theater in Notebooks 45?@745AA (1!8.$3 he %rote a&out his personal life in Cousins A )e$oir (1!!2$)
6ead, +essie (1!02-1!8"$, *outh /frican %riter, %hose %orks express the stru((les for indi+idual identity %ithin a
community and in the face of a +ariety of difficult social conditions) 1ead is &est kno%n for her no+el A Buestion of
*ower 31!20$, the first part of %hich is auto&io(raphical) @he no+el descri&es the experiences of its prota(onist, ,li5a&eth,
a nati+e of *outh /frica %ho li+es alone in Bots%ana) @he &ook follo%s ,li5a&eth8s attempts to make sense of the %orld
around her, a %orld that poses itself as rational, despite apartheid and masculine dominance) @he &ook8s themes include
madness, exile, sexuality, and the nature of (ood and e+il, all of %hich are treated %ithin a metaphysical %orld influenced
&y 1ead8s &lend of 1indu philosophy and Christianity) @he no+el is rich in sym&olism and can &e read %ith
psychoanalytic theories in mind) 1ead8s other %orks include When :ain Clouds Gather (1!"8$, )aru (1!21$, The
Collector of Treasures and Other 2otswana ;illage Tales (1!22$, Serowe ;illage of the :ain Wind (1!81$, and A
2ewitched Crossroad An African Saga (1!8.$)
Armah, A!i 7'ei (1!0!- $, 6hanaian no+elist, short-story %riter, and essayist, considered one of /fricaEs most important
%riters) /rmah also is one of the sharpest interpreters of the condition of /frican nations<past, present, and future)
/rmahEs first no+el, The 2eaut&ful Ones Are Not 1et 2orn (1!"8$, deli+ers a stron( criti;ue of corruption in ne%ly
independent /frican states and remains hi(hly contro+ersial) -n the no+el, he uses ima(es of filth, slime, excrement, and
rot to con+ey the (reed, &ri&ery, and fraud that threaten to stran(le the &est ;ualities of a ne% /frican nation) /rmahEs
second no+el, !rag$ents (1!29$, is considered partly auto&io(raphical) -t deals %ith a youn( /frican man, Baako, %ho
returns home after study in the Jnited *tates to find his family cau(ht up in material ac;uisition) @he no+elEs sym&olism
is em&edded in the story of a traditional Goutdoorin(Hceremony for a ne%&orn) @he family speeds up the ceremony to reap
the (ifts that accompany it, resultin( in the childEs death) Wh& Are We So 2lestC (1!2#$ is a portrait of three %ould-&e
re+olutionaries in a fictional north /frican country, each stru((lin( %ith the loss of their idealism)4erhaps /rmahEs most
stunnin( achie+ement is Two Thousand Seasons (1!20$, a historical no+el set in precolonial /frica) -t deals %ith
mi(rations of peoples, ensla+ement of /fricans &y &oth /ra&s and ,uropeans, and the possi&ility of resistance to
colonialism) /rmah creates a griot (a traditional storyteller-historian$ from an ancient /frican community to tell the
history of the stru((le of /fricans) The #ealers (1!28$ continues this theme, returnin( to /fricaEs precolonial past and the
dissolution of the /shanti Kin(dom in the 1899s to examine causes of contemporary political ruin) @he later no+el Osiris
:ising A Novel of Africa *ast, *resent and !uture (1!!$ adds another +olume to /rmahEs commentary on /frican
history)
A'oonor, 7ofi N!ide3u (1!0- $, 6hanaian poet and no+elist) 1is %orks in ,n(lish focus on life in 6hana follo%in(
independence from the Jnited Kin(dom in 1!2, &ut they also dra% hea+ily from the traditional literature of the ,%e
culture in %hich he (re% up) 1is first no+el, This 'arth" )& 2rother((( An Allegorical Tale of Africa (1!21$, remains his
most %idely read %ork) -n it he %rites of a youn( la%yerEs comin( to terms %ith post-colonial 7est /frican society) /s in
his early poetry, /%oonor employs rhythms and motifs from traditional ,%e dir(es to express the alienation and an(uish
that demand a restructurin(, refocusin(, and re+itali5in( of indi+idual and communal order in contemporary /frica) -n his
second no+el, Co$es the ;o&ager at Last (1!!1$, /%oonor examines the process of an /frican /merican comin( to /frica
and findin( his roots)