EL205 Afro-Asian Literature

SLIDE 4 – Contemporary African Literature

Bonifacio T. Cunanan, Ph.D.

Professor 6
Scopus ID: 57209565253
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0266-2182
• Africa My Africa
by David Diop

• Once upon a Time

by Gabriel Okara

• The Gentlemen of the Jungle

by Jomo Kenyatta
David Diop
(July 9, 1927, Bordeaux, France — Aug.29, 1960, Dakar, Senegal)

•One of the most talented of the younger French West African poets of
the 1950s, whose tragic death in an airplane crash cut short a promising
career.
•Diop’s works in Coups de pilon (1956; “Pounding”), his only surviving
collection, are angry poems of protest against European cultural values,
enumerating the sufferings of his people first under the slave trade and
then under the domination of colonial rule and calling for revolution to
lead to a glorious future for Africa. That he was the most extreme of the
Negritude writers (who were reacting against the assumption underlying
the French policy of “assimilation” that Africa was a deprived land
possessing neither culture nor history) can be seen in his rejection of the
idea that any good could have come to Africa through the colonial
experience and in his belief that political freedom must precede a
cultural and economic revival. He wrote during the period when the
struggle for independence in many African countries was at its height.
(https://www.britannica.com/biography/David-Diop)
Négritude is a framework of
critique and literary theory,
developed mainly by
francophone intellectuals,
writers, and politicians of
the African diaspora during
the 1930s, aimed at raising
and cultivating "Black
consciousness" across
Africa and its diaspora.
SLAVE AUCTION ADVERTISEMENT
BLACK SLAVES PUNISHED IN PUBLIC
SLAVES IN A COTTON PLANTATION
AFRICA MY AFRICA
by David Diop

Africa of proud warriors in ancestral Savannahs

Africa of whom my grandmother sings
On the banks of the distant river
I have never known you
But your blood flows in my veins
Your beautiful black blood that irrigates the fields
The blood of your sweat
The sweat of your work
The work of your slavery
Africa, tell me Africa
Is this your back that is unbent
This back that never breaks under the weight of humiliation
This back trembling with red scars
And saying no to the whip under the midday sun?
But a grave voice answers me
Impetuous child that tree, young and strong
That tree over there
Splendidly alone amidst white and faded flowers
That is your Africa springing up anew
springing up patiently, obstinately
Whose fruit bit by bit acquires
The bitter taste of liberty.
1. Who is the persona in the poem?
2. What is meant by ‘banks of the distant river’?
3. Discuss the use of anthropomorphism, apostrophe, and
personification in the poem.
4. Why is Africa portrayed like a mother?
7. Discuss ‘bitter taste of liberty’.
6. What makes the poem postcolonial?
Connecting to Africa
First and foremost, we must examine how Diop connects the reader to Africa using himself as
the medium. There are two main poetic devices at work here. The first is apostrophe, in
which a poet addresses a person or abstract idea as if it were there. This starts in the very first
line (''Africa my Africa''); Diop is talking to Africa as if he were sitting with it and having a
conversation. We see this in lines like ''I have never known you,'' and ''Is this you this back
that is bent,'' as well as consistent use of ''you'' and ''your.''
 
This is coupled with Diop's use of personification, in which non-human things are given
human characteristics. Africa, the continent, is anthropomorphized and treated like a
human. Not only does Diop attribute human traits to Africa (like an unbent back, blood, and
sweat) but he also gives it a ''grave voice'' that can respond to him, calling him an impetuous
child. These poetic devices help us appreciate Diop's connection to Africa as an ancestor, a
family member. Many critics believe that Diop is utilizing an old trope of Africa as a woman
and a mother to the African people. This interpretation partly comes from Diop's original
version of the poem, which was written in French.
 Gabriel Okara, in full Gabriel Imomotimi
Gbaingbain Okara, (born April 21, 1921, Bumodi,
Nigeria—died March 25, 2019, Yenagoa, Nigeria),
Nigerian poet and novelist whose verse had been
translated into several languages by the early 1960s.
A largely self-educated man, Okara became a
bookbinder after leaving school and soon began
writing plays and features for radio. In 1953 his poem
“The Call of the River Nun” won an award at the
Nigerian Festival of Arts. Some of his poems were
published in the influential periodical Black Orpheus,
and by 1960 he was recognized as an accomplished
literary craftsman.
Gabriel Okara
Once upon a Time
Notes
1. Who is talking in the poem?
2. What is the mood of the poem?
3. Discuss the level of use and choice of word in the poem.
4. What assumptions can you make about the kind of life he has lived and
his present circumstances?
5. What kind of person do you imagine him to be?
6. What has he learnt to do with his own feelings?
7. Who is the person addressing?
8. What does he hope to learn from him?
9. What does he mean by wanting ‘to unlearn all these muting things’?
10. Why do you think the poet has given it the title, ‘Once Upon a Time’?
Once Upon a Time
by Gabriel Okara
Once upon a time, son,
they used to laugh with their hearts
and laugh with their eyes:
but now they only laugh with their teeth,
while their ice-block-cold eyes
search behind my shadow.
There was a time indeed
they used to shake hands with their hearts:
but that’s gone, son.
Now they shake hands without hearts
while their left hands search
my empty pockets.
‘Feel at home!’ ‘Come again’:
they say, and when I come
again and feel
at home, once, twice,
there will be no thrice for then I find doors shut on me.

So I have learned many things, son.

I have learned to wear many faces
like dresses – homeface,
officeface, streetface, hostface,
cocktailface, with all their conforming smiles
like a fixed portrait smile.
And I have learned too
to laugh with only my teeth
and shake hands without my heart.
I have also learned to say, ‘Goodbye’,
when I mean ‘Good-riddance’:
to say ‘Glad to meet you’,
without being glad; and to say ‘It’s been
nice talking to you’, after being bored.
But believe me, son.
I want to be what I used to be
when I was like you. I want
to unlearn all these muting things.
Most of all, I want to relearn
how to laugh, for my laugh in the mirror
shows only my teeth like a snake’s bare fangs!

So show me, son,

how to laugh; show me how
I used to laugh and smile
once upon a time when I was like you.
Jomo Kenyatta (c. 1897 – 22 August
1978) was a Kenyan anti-
colonial activist and politician who
governed Kenya as its Prime
Minister from 1963 to 1964 and
then as its first President from 1964
to his death in 1978. He was the
country's first indigenous head of
government and played a significant
role in the transformation of Kenya
from a colony of the British
Empire into an independent
republic. Ideologically an African
nationalist and conservative, he led
the Kenya African National Union
(KANU) party from 1961 until his
death.
Study Guides
1. Who or what do the animals represent? Look at the way the kingdom is organized
and ruled, the way they speak, etc.
2. Who or what does the man represent? Describe the stages that lead him to the
extreme (re)action in the end.
3. Discuss the apparent contradiction in the title “Gentlemen of the Jungle”. What in
the real world may the words be a reference to? So, in that light, what might be
Kenyatta’s message (or moral lesson)?
4. Why does Jomo Kenyatta choose a fable to express his message?
5. How may the fable expose the evil of imperialism?
6. How can the fable be used the imbalance between the first world and the third
world countries?
The Gentlemen of the Jungle
- by Jomo Kenyatta (1891-1978)
AN AFRICAN VIEW OF EUROPEAN EXPANSION

In the late nineteenth century, the chief European powers divided Africa
among themselves. They could do this because European arms were superior
and because the African chiefs did not understand the meaning of the treaties
they were asked to sign. As a result, Africans lost the lands they had
traditionally lived on and cultivated. Their attitude toward European
“expansion” is made clear in the following fable, which reflects the attitude
of the Kikuyu people of Kenya toward European laws and commissions.
Once upon a time an elephant made a friendship with a man. One day a heavy
thunderstorm broke out, the elephant went to his friend, who had a little hut at the edge of
the forest, and said to him: “My dear good man, will you please let me put my trunk inside
your hut to keep it out of this torrential rain?”
The man, seeing what situation his friend was in, replied: “My dear good elephant, my hut
is very small, but there is room for your trunk and myself. Please put your trunk in gently.”
The elephant thanked his friend, saying: “You have done me a good deed and one day I
shall return your kindness.”
But what followed? As soon as the elephant put his trunk inside the hut, slowly he pushed
his head inside, and finally flung the man out in the rain, and then lay down comfortably
inside his friend’s hut, saying: “My dear good friend, your skin is harder than mine, and as
there is not enough room for both of us, you can afford to remain in the rain while I am
protecting my delicate skin from the hailstorm.”
The man, seeing what his friend had done to him, started to grumble, the
animals in the nearby forest heard the noise and came to see what was the
matter. All stood around listening to the heated argument between the man
and his friend the elephant. In this turmoil the lion came along roaring and
said in a loud voice: “Don’t you all know that I am the King of the Jungle!
How dare anyone disturb the peace of my kingdom?”
On hearing this the elephant, who was one of the high ministers in the jungle
kingdom, replied in a soothing voice, and said: “My Lord, there is no
disturbance of the peace in your kingdom. I have only been having a little
discussion with my friend here as to the possession of this little hut which
your lordship sees me occupying.”
The lion, who wanted to have “peace and tranquility” in his kingdom,
replied in a noble voice, saying: “I command my ministers to appoint a
Commission of Enquiry to go thoroughly into this matter and report
accordingly.” He then turned to the man and said: “You have done well by
establishing friendship with my people, especially with the elephant who is
one of my honourable ministers of state. Do not grumble any more, your hut
is not lost to you. Wait until the sitting of my Imperial Commission, and
there you will be given plenty of opportunity to state your case. I am sure
that you will be pleased with the findings of the Commission.” The man was
very pleased by these sweet words from the King of the Jungle, and
innocently waited for his opportunity, in the belief that naturally the hut
would be returned to him.
The elephant, obeying the command of his master, got busy with other ministers to
appoint the Commission of Enquiry. The following elders of the jungle were appointed
to sit in the Commission: (1) Mr. Rhinoceros; (2) Mr. Buffalo; (3) Mr. Alligator; (4) The
Rt. Hon. Mr. Fox to act as chairman; and (5) Mr. Leopard to act as Secretary to the
Commission. On seeing the personnel, the man protested and asked if it was not
necessary to include in this Commission a member from his side. But he was told that it
was impossible, since no one from his side was well enough educated to understand the
intricacy of jungle law. Further, that there was nothing to fear, for the members of the
Commission were all men of repute for their impartiality in justice, and as they were
gentlemen chosen by God to look after the interest of race less adequately endowed with
teeth and claws, he might rest assured that they would investigate the matter with the
greatest care and report impartially.
The Commission sat to take the evidence. The Rt. Hon. Mr. Elephant was first
called. He came along with a superior air, brushing his tusks with a sapling which
Mrs. Elephant had provided, and in an authoritative voice said:” Gentlemen of the
Jungle, there is no need for me to waste your valuable time in relating a story
which I am sure you all know. I have always regarded it as my duty to protect the
interests of my friends, and this appears to have caused the misunderstanding
between myself and my friend here. He invited me to save his hut from being
blown away by a hurricane. As the hurricane had gained access owing to the
unoccupied space in the hut, I considered it necessary, in my friend’s own interest,
to turn the undeveloped space to a more economic use by sitting in it myself; a duty
which any of you would undoubtedly have performed with equal readiness in
similar circumstances.”
After hearing the Rt. Hon. Mr. Elephant’s conclusive evidence, the
Commission called Mr. Hyena and other elders of the jungle, who all
supported what Mr. Elephant had said. They then called the man, who
began to give his own account of the dispute. But the Commission cut him
short, saying: “My good man, please confine yourself to relevant issues.
We have already heard the circumstances from various unbiased sources;
all we wish you to tell us is whether the undeveloped space in your hut was
occupied by anyone else before Mr. Elephant assumed his position?”
The man began to say; “No, but ...”
But at this point the Commission declared that they had heard sufficient evidence from
both sides and retired to consider their decision. After enjoying a delicious meal at the
expense of the Rt. Hon. Mr. Elephant, they reached their verdict, called the man, and
declared as follows: “In our opinion this dispute has arisen through a regrettable
misunderstanding due to the backwardness of your ideas. We consider that Mr.
Elephant has fulfilled his sacred duty of protecting your interests. As it is clearly for
your good that the space should be put to its most economic use, and as you yourself
have not yet reached the stage of expansion which would enable you to fill it, we
consider it necessary to arrange a compromise to suit both parties. Mr. Elephant shall
continue his occupation of your hut, but we give you permission to look for a site
where you can build another hut more suited to your needs, and we will see that you
are well protected.”
The man, having no alternative, and fearing that his refusal might expose him
to the teeth and claws of members of the Commission, did as they suggested.
But no sooner had he built another hut than Mr. Rhinoceros charged in with
his horn lowered and ordered the man to quit. A Royal Commission was
again appointed to look into the matter, and the same finding was given. This
procedure was repeated until Mr. Buffalo, Mr. Leopard, Mr. Hyena and the
rest were all accommodated with new huts. Then the man decided that he
must adopt an effective method of protection, since Commissions of Enquiry
did not seem to be of any use to him. He sat down and said: “Ng-enda thi
ndeagaga motegi,” which literally means, “there is nothing that treads on the
earth that cannot be trapped,” or in other words, you can fool people for a
time, but not forever.
Early one morning, when the huts already occupied by the jungle lords were
all beginning to decay and fall to pieces, he went out and built a bigger and
better hut a little distance away. No sooner had Mr. Rhinoceros seen it than he
came rushing in, only to find that Mr. Elephant was already inside, sound
asleep. Mr. Leopard next came in at the window, Mr. Lion, Mr. Fox, and Mr.
Buffalo entered the doors, while Mr. Hyena howled for a place in the shade
and Mr. Alligator basked on the roof. Presently they all began disputing about
their rights of penetration, and from disputing they came to fighting, and
while they were all embroiled together the man set the hut on fire and burnt it
to the ground, jungle lords and all. Then he went home saying: “Peace is
costly, but it’s worth the expense,” and lived happily ever after.