Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Literature
Stories, usually in oral or musical form, have always played an important role in West
African life. This is how cultural traditions and the great events of the day were chronicled
and, in the frequent absence of written histories, such tales catalogued the collective
memory of the region's peoples . The greatest and most famous historical tale is the
Epic of
Sundiata
, the story of the founder of the Empire of Mali, which is still recounted by mod-
ern
griots
(praise singers), musicians and writers.
Modern-day West African writers have adapted this tradition, weaving compelling tales
around the great issues facing modern West Africa, most notably the arrival and legacy of
colonial powers, and the role of women within traditional society.
Nigeria dominates West Africa's Anglophone literary scene, while some of the best nov-
els in Francophone West African literature have also been translated into English. A num-
ber of major West African authors have achieved international renown.
TOP 10 WEST AFRICAN NOVELS
»
Chinua Achebe,
Things Fall Apart
»
Ben Okri,
The Famished Road
»
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie,
Half of a Yellow Sun
»
Helon Habila,
Measuring Time
»
Aminatta Forna,
Ancestor Stones
»
Ahmadou Kourouma,
Waiting for the Wild Beasts to Vote
»
Ousmane Sembène,
God's Bits of Wood
»
Amadou Hampaté Bâ,
The Fortunes of Wangrin
»
Mongo Beti,
The Poor Christ of Bomba
»
Ayi Kwei Armah,
The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born
Anglophone West Africa
Names to watch out for include Aminatta Forna (Sierra Leone;
Ancestor Stones
and the
memoir
The Devil that Danced on the Water
); Ghana's foremost writer, Ayi Kwei Armah (
The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born
); Ama Ata Aidoo (Ghana;
Changes: A Love Story
and
Our Sister Killjoy
); Kojo Laing (Ghana;
Woman of the Aeroplanes
,
Search Sweet
Country
and
Major Gentl and the Achimota Wars
); and William Conton (The Gambia),
whose 1960s classic
The African
is a semi-autobiographical tale of an African student in
Britain who later returns to his homeland and becomes president.
