Uhuru's Fire
African Literature East to South

This is an eminently readable introduction to contemporary literature in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa.

Adrian Roscoe (Author)

9780521290890, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 30 June 1977

294 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.7 cm, 0.44 kg

First published in 1977, this is an eminently readable introduction to contemporary literature in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa. The author examines work in verse, prose and drama, and discusses vernacular language problems, the role of oral literature and tradition and the varied responses to the struggle for freedom and its achievement. He argues that African literature is achieving its own inner dynamic, revealing a rapid spread of influences from one side of the continent to the other and a decrease in influences from the Western world. Part of his argument is based on a discussion of authors not yet known outside East and Central Africa, but whose works shows signs of great promise and originality. Dr Roscoe has close personal knowledge of many of the authors he discusses, as he has worked in East and Central African universities throughout the period of the literary awakening he discusses.

Preface
Acknowledgements
1. Language problems: English and the vernaculars
2. Developments in verse
3. Aspects of South African verse
4. Prose
5. Central and Southern African prose
A footnote on drama
Notes
Index.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: general [DSB]