5. Africa The Diaspora, Imperialism, and Independence: 1550-1964 Shaka warred against British imperialists

6. The Diaspora, Imperialism, and Independence: 1550-1964 Slavery and Colonization

7. Themes in African History  Impact of the Slave Trade loss of people; impact on state behavior and formation  Scramble for Africa formal imperialism and incorporation into European System  Independence legacy of arbitrary states and continued interference during the Cold War

8. Slave Trade

9. Total Africans Kidnapped into slavery and where they were taken  1650-1700 497,500  1700-1750 2,261,600  1750-1800 3,828,100  1800-1850 3,186,800  1850-1900 231,700  Total 10,005,700  Brazil35.4%  Sp. Emp. 22.1%  Br. Indies17.7%  Br. N. Am. 4.4%

10. EMANCIPATION  Enlightenment slavery violates natural law  Industrialization —owners need to be able to fire workers when needed  Evangelicalism — “Am I not a man and a brother?”  Emancipation did not end Africa’s or Africans’ woes

11. Imperialism  White Man’s Burden  Desire to Christianize the Heathen  Need to secure Markets and Materials  Strategic Rivalries and competition

12. Scramble for Africa  1880—90% of Africa ruled by Africans  1900—almost all ruled by Europeans  1884—Berlin West Africa Conference— Africa carved up by diplomats to prevent European war over spoils of conquest  Brutality characterized the so-called “civilizing mission”

13. African Independence  Sped up by WWII  Britain recognized independence of its colonies—all by 1964  Problem between European long- time residents and Africans periisted  Apartheid in South Africa (racial segregation)  Cold War exacerbated African politics

14. Kwame Nkrumah 1909-1972 (President of Ghana from 1957-1966)

15. “For centuries, Europeans dominated the African continent. The white man arrogated to himself the right to rule and to be obeyed by the non-white; his mission, he claimed, was to "civilize" Africa. Under this cloak, the Europeans robbed the continent of vast riches and inflicted unimaginable suffering on the African people. All this makes a sad story, but now we must be prepared to bury the past with its unpleasant memories and look to the future. All we ask of the former colonial powers is their goodwill and co-operation to remedy past mistakes and injustices and to grant independence to the colonies in Africa…. It is clear that we must find an African solution to our problems, and that this can only be found in African unity. Divided we are weak; united, Africa could become one of the greatest forces for good in the world.” --Nkrumah, “I speak of freedom”--1961

16. African Literature

17. 1. PERIODS  1.1 Pre-colonial era  1.2 Colonial era  1.3 Liberation Struggle and Independence Era  1.4 Postcolonial African literature  1.5 African poetry today

18. 1.1 PRE-COLONIAL ERA  scripts documenting the kings of Ethiopian and Ghanaian empires  folklore  manuscripts of Tumbuktu  Arabic and Swahili literature

19. 1.2 COLONIAL ERA  pro- and anti-slavery: poems, novels, plays, histories, sermons, speeches, newspaper columns and letters, travelogues, medical treatises, handbills, broadsides, songs, children's books  relation of British Romanticism to colonialism and slavery  Themes of liberation, independence and négritude

20. 1.3 LIBERATION STRUGGLE AND INDEPENDENCE ERA  It is the political, economic, social and cultural events of a society that shape its literature.  In his essay "Homecoming" (1972), Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o makes this stance very clear when he says:

21.  Literature does not grow or develop in a vacuum; it is given impetus, shape, direction and even area of concern by the social, political and economic forces in a particular society. The relationship between creative literature and other forces cannot be ignored especially in Africa, where modern literature has grown against the gory background of European imperialism and its changing manifestations: slavery, colonialism and neo- colonialism. Our culture over the last hundred years has developed against the same stunting, dwarfing background

22. 1.4 POSTCOLONIAL AFRICAN LITERATURE  “To have any sense of evolving African poetics, one must be aware of the socio- political significance of literary expression and the ideological character of literary theory.”

23. 1.4 POSTCOLONIAL AFRICAN LITERATURE  Ali A. Mazrui and others mention seven conflicts as themes: 1. the clash between Africa's past and present, 2. between tradition and modernity, between indigenous and foreign, 3. between individualism and community, 4. between socialism and capitalism, 5. between development and self-reliance 6. and between Africanity and humanity.

24. 1.4 POSTCOLONIAL AFRICAN LITERATURE  Other themes in this period include: 1. social problems such as corruption, 2. the economic disparities in newly independent countries, 3. and the rights and roles of women

25. 1.5 AFRICAN LITERATURE TODAY  works that focus on the healing and purging of the country and families  faced issues in ways that not only explain how indigenous cultures are absorbed by western standards but also how limiting in vision their leaders have been.  celebrating the vitality of African languages and literatures and affirming their potential.

26. WHAT TO DO?  Idealism vs. Realism  Proportionalism  Birth control, education of women, clean water  Nation building has not worked and Africans deeply resent—for good reason—external experts who “know what’s best.”

27. In conclusion: The Sunset is Hope  In Africa, everyone is a fighter.  The African spirit is a spirit that is constantly seeking, always searching, always roaming, constantly restless.  Many poets have chronicled the passion and soul of a continent that has fought herself out of wars, colonialism, apartheid and is now warring against neo-colonialism.

28. Claiming Tomorrow  There is no disputing the fact that Africa is seen by Africans as a Nation: The Motherland.  But Africans don’t only write about their struggles, after all, great love stories await the warriors who come from the battle. The most beautiful words have been woven for unnamed damsels who have represented the African woman. Sometimes, even the continent itself has been eulogised as a woman. The affection that Africans attach to their home is intense.