Novel in Africa - Some Major Novels Written in Africa

In the 20th century, many nations got independence from colonial powers and therefore, the effects of colonialism were important issues for writers in Africa.The work of Mongo Beti of Cameroon titled Mission Terminee (1957; Mission to Kala, 1958) is a tale of a young African man educated in France and how he undergoes trouble to fit in when he returns home. Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart (1958) vividly describes the effect of European settlers on African society. Kenyan novelist Ngugi wa Thiong'o in her novels In The River Between (1965) and A Grain of Wheat (1967) talks about Mau Mau Rebellion (1952-1956), during which a group of the Kikuyu people started a military campaign against the British, who could succeed in controlling Kenya at that point of time.The aftereffects of colonialism remained a common theme for the novelists even after the most of African nations got independence. In numerous books, like A Walk in the Night (1962) and a Threefold Cord
(1964), Alex La Guma talks about the effects of apartheid on people's daily lives. J. M. Coetzee's The Life and Times of Michael K (1983) poses a terrifying vision of a brutal, brutal South Africa.Some African novels concerned about examining the various aspects of society. Senegalese author Ousmane Sembène, in Les bout de bois de Dieu (1960; God's Bits of Wood, 1962), fictionalized a railroad workers' strike of 1947 and 1948. The novel Guelwaar (1996) throws light on economics, politics, and religion in post-independence Africa.The works of South Africans like Es'kia Mphahlele's The Wanderers (1971) and Bessie Head's A Question of Power (1973) are autobiographical dealing with themes of exile. Kenyan writer Grace Ogot, in The Promised Land (1966) throws light on the issue of marriage. Some novels like The Joys of Motherhood (1979) and Kehinde (1994) written by Nigerian writer Buchi Emecheta, observe the place of women in society.

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