african literature an introduction. africa: ancient kingdoms the cradle of life egypt eastern...
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African Literature
An introduction
Africa: Ancient Kingdoms
The cradle of lifeEgyptEastern AfricaWestern AfricaLiterary Development and
Devices
In the Beginning…… Anthropologists believe
that the first modern humans (homo sapiens) began in the northern regions of the African continent
Cradle of life (Neolithic, “new stone”) Birthplace of human
civilization (roughly 100,000 years ago)
Mesopotamia, Egypt, Asia Minor, etc. (Fertile Crescent)
Brought together through use of writing (technology)
African climate is varied in several regions: Desert, coastline, tropical rain forest, plains, and mountains.
Egypt (3000 B.C.-343 B.C.) First great civilization Had a vibrant and strong empire that
centered on a polytheistic society Pantheon of gods and influence on the
middle eastern religious perspective: Greek, Roman
Written language: Hieroglyphics
Kushite Kingdom Conquered
and ruled Egypt around 1000 B.C.
Royal families traced lineage through female line More women
ruled here than any other ancient civilization
Other smaller civilizations popped up around Sahara Fasa of southern Sudan
The Golden Age A.D. 300-1600 Sculpture, music, metal work and textiles Literature plays a huge role in the creation and
success of the empires Oral epics Praise poems Fables Proverbs Dramas
Eastern African Empire: Aksum Third century A.D.,
modern-day Ethiopia Well-developed oral
traditions First great
civilizations that created full and dominant cultural footholds in northern Africa
Center of trade routes from Rome all the way to India
Key to success was development of a specific and complex writing system
…Migration south and west due to drought
West African empires Old Ghana: (A.D. 300-400) A strong and
prosperous kingdom: Mainly traders of salt and gold
Old Mali: (A.D. 1235) Overtook Old Ghana for supremacy
Songhai: The last of the great kingdoms Timbuktu: The marriage of Songhai and
Old Mali empires: Hugely successful kingdom
Religious and cultural influences Tribal origins are founded in a
polytheistic and nature-based belief system
4th century A.D. Roman empire introduces Christianity
700 A.D. Islam introduced into the African continent
Islam becomes the recognized state religion of Mali in 1235
Literary Terms to Know in this Unit Parallelism Epithet Apostrophe Polytheism vs.
Monotheism Omniscient point-of-
view Legend Oral epic
Griot Refrain Folk tale Trickster Personification Proverb Metaphor Alliteration Rhyme
Oral Tradition
Dilemma tale Form of moral tale, ends with a question, invites
audience to share judgment. One tale deals with a man who died while hunting
an ox to feed his three wives. The first wife learns through a dream what has happened to him, the second leads her fellow wives to the place where he died, and the third restores him to life. Which of the three most deserves his praise?
Chain tale or Cumulative tale Formulaic story
Every incident that came before is repeated The 12 days of Christmas
A single extended joke
Proverbsa short, traditional saying that
expresses some obvious truth or familiar experience Used to convey accumulated cultural wisdom Often use literary elements (metaphors,
alliteration, parallelism, rhyme)
Give a man a fish, and he eats for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he eats for a lifetime.