African Writers

Prepared and presented by

Feona anak Badindang
Genevieve anak Richard Sandak
 African-American Female
Authors of the 19th Century
O After Emancipation, many of these ex-slaves
continued to publish their writing while
working paid jobs as domestic servants and
seamstresses. With increasing access to
education, black women entered a period of
literary productivity in the second half of the
19th century.
 Harriet Jacobs (1813-1897)
O Harriet Ann Jacobs was born into slavery in Edenton,
North Carolina. Margaret Horniblow, her owner until she
was eleven-years-old, taught her to read and sew. When
Horniblow died, Harriet and her brother became the
property of Mrs. Horniblow’s brother, Dr. James Norcom,
who was a lecherous fiend. Harriet Jacobs subsequently
had two children with a single white man who was not
her owner.
O For almost seven years Jacobs hid in a
crawlspace in her grandmother’s house to
avoid her rapist, Dr. Norcom. She escaped in
1835 and settled in New York City, where
she was a domestic worker for the family of
Nathaniel Parker Willis. In 1861 she
published her autobiography Incidents in the
Life of a Slave Girl under the
pseudonym Linda Brent. She also used false
names for other characters in her book.
O For most of the twentieth century, the American public
believed that Linda Brent was a white woman
and Incidents in the Life of A Slave Girl was a work of
fiction. Harriet Jacobs’ true identity was not
established until the 1980s. Today, her autobiography
is regarded as the most in-depth slave narrative
written by a black woman in America.
 Akueke
O In Akueke by Chinua Achebe we have the theme of
control, independence, freedom, defiance, fear and
tradition.
O Taken from his Girls at War and Other Stories
collection the story is narrated in the third person
by an unnamed narrator and after reading the story
the reader realises that Achebe may be exploring
the theme of control and independence.
O Akueke’s brothers wish for her to be married. They
appear to be more concerned about a ‘bride-price’
for Akueke than they do about Akueke herself.
O Akueke is merely being stubborn when it comes to
getting married it is more likely that she is displaying an
element of defiance and in reality is breaking away from
the tradition of the village.
O At no stage in the story does the reader feel that
Akueke wants to follow the same path as her brothers
(following tradition). If anything she not only shows
defiance against getting married but when her brothers
leave her to die rather than dying Akueke shows an
inner resilience and overcomes her illness without the
assistance of either her brothers or the medicine men.
O With the exception of her grandfather Akueke is the
only character in the story who appears to able to think
for themselves.
 Chike’s School Days
O In Chike’s School Days by Chinua Achebe we have the
theme of tradition, modernity, religion, change,
language and conflict. Taken from his Girls at War and
Other Stories collection the story is narrated in the first
person by an unnamed narrator and after reading the
story the reader realises that Achebe may be exploring
the theme of tradition.
O Chike’s mother does not allow Chike to eat with the
other children in the village. She does not believe in
following tradition in whereby all children eat together
when invited into a neighbour’s home.
O Similarly in times of difficulty Amos’ mother resorts to
getting help from the diviner even though she has briefly
converted to Christianity. She believes that the diviner
will help her when it comes to stopping Amos from
marrying Sarah.
O However Amos still goes ahead and marries Sarah
regardless of the actions of his mother and the diviner.
If anything it is noticeable that religion is playing a big
part in Amos’ life. Not only has he converted to
Christianity but he also seems to have completely
forgone any of his traditional beliefs.
O In "The Madman", Achebe highlights the flickering
definitions of madness, sanity, insanity, self and other.
O In "The Sacrificial Egg," the conflict between African
culture and western education leads to the introduction
of a Julius Obi who has a hybrid identity as the name
suggests. The ambivalence hidden in his name is
manifested in his treatment of the indigenous codes of
behaviour. “
O Uncle Ben’s Choice” is a ghost story in which a
succubus-goddess known as the Mami-Wota makes a
girl fall in love with a man and ensures that she makes
herself fully available to him but bans marriage
between them. The situation metaphors the colonial
encounter between the colonizer and the colonized.
O To analyze the short stories, Bhabha's theory of
ambivalence is used. Ambivalence produces a new
space in which the binarized relationship between the
colonizer and colonized is disturbed and therefore the
dominance of colonial authority is questioned.
 Bessie Head
• Bessie Emery Head, (born July 6,
1937, Pietermaritzburg, S.Af.—died
April 17, 1986, Serowe, Botswana),
African writer who described the
contradictions and shortcomings of
pre- and postcolonial African society
in morally didactic novels and
stories.
• Head was born of an illegal union
between her white mother (who was
placed in a mental asylum during
her pregnancy) and black father
(who then mysteriously
disappeared). She suffered
rejection and alienation at an early
age.
 The Wind and a Boy
O In The Wind and a Boy by Bessie Head we have the
theme of gender roles, pride, loyalty, change and
modernity. Taken from her The Collector of Treasures
collection the story is narrated in the third person by an
unnamed narrator and from the beginning of the story
the reader realises that Head may be exploring the
theme of gender roles. Both the boys and girls in the
village do different things, things which would mostly be
associated with their sex.
O The fact that should a woman in the village want to
work outside the home it is only possible if they travel
and leave their children (or child) with a relative.
O Which is very much the case when it
comes to Sejosenye’s daughter. In order
to pursue a career she had to leave
Friedman with his grandmother.
O The fact that Sejosenye takes Friedman
everywhere with her, unlike the other
people in the village also suggests that
not only is there a close bond between
grandmother and grandchild but
Sejosenye is also proud of her grandson.
She is the apple of his eye.
O Sejosenye can plough the land and she appears
to be the only woman in the village who is able
to do so.
O This may be important as it shows that
Sejosenye is not only a physically strong woman
but she does not care what others in the village
think about her. She is her own strong
independent woman.
 Miracle
O The protagonist in Tope Folarin’s Miracle, a young man
in need of healing from bad eyesight.
O From the Pastor’s prayer, we are able to place the story
in a specific context. From the Pastor’s prayer, we know
that these Nigerians represent many back home.
O This particular prayer encapsulates the entire story. It
is a service where people expect miracles to happen, it
is a revelation of the disappointments bound to
happen when expectations are very high, as with these
Nigerians who came to America and indeed, the young
man in the story who is hopes his bad eyesight will
miraculously be healed.
O Miracle manages to be both entertaining and
deeply serious. Folarin clearly wants to create a
humorous atmosphere but, at the same time,
he also wants us to realize the desperation that
leads so many people world-wide into irrational
acts.
O In closing, the next morning the young man
again reaches for his glasses in order to see
properly. Although the story contains no actual
miracle, it does contain many truths about
survival in the sprawling, complex life that we
live.
Other African Writers
Buchi
Mariama Bâ
Emecheta

Ousmane Ngugi wa
Sembène Thiong’o

Chimamanda Ayi Kwei

Ngozi Adichie Armah
 Conclusion
O Most African writers wrote their stories over
their motherland being colonized and how
their people representing the women during
that time.
O Until now, the existing African writers trying
to tell the world about their country after
being colonized and how they are building
their nation on their own.
 Obrigado
Me daa si
Asante
Ke a leboha
Dankie
Siyabonga