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Africa
English-Speaking Africa
Jay HealeIn the broadest outline, the history of much of Africa could be said to fall into three
phases: original identity; dominant colonisation; independence. The same broad
framework can be seen in Africa’s literature for children: an original oral tradition of
story-telling; the arrival of literacy and literature from abroad; and the growth (or not) of
a new indigenous youth literature.
The British desire for empire brought the English language to such west African
countries as Nigeria and Ghana, to Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania in the east, and to
Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa in the south.
Education was the key to employment in the British Empire. So literacy (in English)
meant social and economic advancement. Schools were British-run, books were printed
in Britain, and the benevolent white man knew best. It is little wonder that in shaking
off the colonial yoke, some African countries have even considered ejecting that imported
idea the ‘book’ (and the library) to return to their long-established oral tradition. For any
institution to play an important role in society it must be legitimate and relevant.
According to Adolphe Amadi, the dominant ethos of African society is at variance with
the aims of libraries (Amadi 1981:68–69). There is opinion that most Africans do not
wish to continue with reading once their formal education has been completed ‘they
derive more pleasure from the oral and performing arts—talking, singing, dancing,
socialising—than from the rather private and individual reading of a book’ (Chakava
1984:348).
However, as the present universal emphasis is for literacy, it would seem that the
young people of Africa (even if not their parents) will be steadily introduced to more
books. Must literacy arrive before there is ‘literature’? For in the same way that
children’s literature includes the ability to ‘read’ pictures, so the first recording of
African literature came in graphic style. Cave painting, rock engraving, woodcarving,
painted pottery, delicate beadwork—all form part of African tradition and culture. They
all have stories to tell.