African Literature and American Universities

Extract

Independence broke the formal political connection between the new African states and their former European colonial administration. The change did not terminate the significance of the ex-colonial language within these African countries. The colonial power had, by both design and necessity, woven its language tightly into the educational and administrative structure of the countries. Even after independence the difficulties facing the adoption of some vernacular seemed insurmountable. Choice of any African language would not only have exacerbated already centrifugal tribal tendencies within the complex racial and linguistic divisions of the country but also have spelled virtual isolation from international affairs. It has generally been accepted in Africa that the use of a European language as the national one does not constitute a neocolonial threat but is essential to the national development.

One of the interesting aspects of the decision to retain a European tongue as a second language has been the beginning of new national literatures--African in theme and content yet utilizing the literary resources of the European language of the country, primarily English and French, to some extent Portuguese. In the case of the English language especially, this is not a new thing. Already there is evidence of a worldwide literature of similar nature from India, from the Philippines, and from the Caribbean. The geographic range and the quantity of such writing are far greater than the uninitiated might conceive.