Despair and Disillusionment in Post-Negritude African Literature

Sunday Tasen Okune; Alexander Essien Timothy

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ellc.20170205.11

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Despair and Disillusionment in Post-Negritude African Literature

Sunday Tasen Okune, Alexander Essien Timothy

Published in English Language, Literature & Culture (Volume 2, Issue 5)

Received: 11 November 2016 Accepted: 23 December 2016 Published: 3 October 2017

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Abstract

In their spirited and desperate bid to correct the distorted notion of Africa held by some European ethnologists, Negritudian writers such as Leopold Senghor, Leon Damas, Aime Cessaire, Gilbert Gratiant, Leonard Sainville, etc tended to portray Africa and the black world in rather glowing terms of beauty and idealism. Despite the robust hope and idealism echoed in Negritude literature about Africa, the reality of life in post-Negritude paints a dismal picture of despair and disillusionment. This paper explores how some African writers of the post-Negritude era have committed their art to the exploration of such related themes of despair, disillusionment, corruption, brutality, conflicts, etc, that are quite contrary to the idyllic picture painted by the founding fathers of Negritude.

Published in	English Language, Literature & Culture (Volume 2, Issue 5)
DOI	10.11648/j.ellc.20170205.11
Page(s)	45-51
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2017. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Negritude, Disillusionment, Literature, Corruption, Hope

References

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[2]	Angrey, Francis. “The Major Themes of Negritude Poetry: Protest, Revolt and Reconciliation” Introduction to Francophone African Literature: A Collection of Essays. Eds. Olusola Oke and Sam Ade Ojo. Ibadan: Spectrum Books, 2000 (89-97).
[3]	Armah, Ayi Kwei. The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1968.
[4]	Dasylva, A. O. (2003): “The Writer and Ph(f)aces of Conflicts in African” in Oyeleke Lekan and Olateju Moji (ed) 2003: Readings in Language and Literature. Nigeria: O. A. U. Press Ltd.
[5]	Ejelike, Ositadimma. “How Corruption Underdeveloped Africa” in The Guardian – Nigeria. Wednesday, February 23, 2011 .
[6]	Fanon, Frantz. The Wretched of the Earth. (Trans.) Richard Philcox. New York: Grove Press, 1963.
[7]	Harford, Tim. The Undercover Economist. New York: Random House, 2007
[8]	Leonard, David K. & Scott Straus. Africa’s Stalled Development: International Causes and Cures. London: Lynme Rienner, 2003.
[9]	Logie, Dorathy, Micheal Rowson & Robert Snyder. “Should Developed Countries Provide Debt Relief to the Poorest Indebted African Nations?” Taking Sides: Clashing Views on African Issues (3rd ed.). Ed. William G. Moseley. New York: Mc Graw Hill, 2009: 275-276.
[10]	Monkwenye, Cyril. “Senghor as Pre-Independence Negritude Poet”. Themes in African Literature in French: A collection of Essays. Eds. Sam Ade Ojo and Olusola Oke. Ibadan: Spectrum Books, 2000: 3-14.
[11]	Nwoga, Donatus I. West African Verse: An Anthology. Harlow Essex, UK: Longman, 2001.
[12]	Nwosu, Titus C. “Star Dust”. A Selection of African Poetry. Eds. K. E. Senanu & T. Vincent. Essex: Longman, 1981: 165.
[13]	Okara, Gabriel I. “Suddenly the Air Cracks”. A Selection of African Poetry. Eds. K. E. Senanu & T. Vincent. Essex: Longman, 1981: 51.
[14]	Okeh, Peter I. “Negritude and the Issue of Identify in African Literature.” Major Themes in African Literature. Ed. Damian U. Opata & Aloysius U. Ohaegbu. Nsukka: AP Express, 2000: 147-161.
[15]	Oke, Olusola. “Modern African Literature as Illusions of Africa Reality: The Case of the Francophone Novel”. Introduction to Francophone African Literature: A Collection of Essays. Eds. Olusola Oke & Sam Ade Ojo. Ibadan: Spectrum Books, 2000: 218-222.
[16]	Okigo, Christopher. Labyrinths and Path of Thunder: Poetry by Christopher Okigbo. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2008.
[17]	Olowonmi Adekunle. The Writer and the Quest for Democratic Governance in Nigeria: Transcending Post-Independence Disillusionment. The Journal of Pan African Studies, vol. 2, no. 3, March 2008.
[18]	Rau, Bill. From Feast to Famine: Official Cures and Grassroots Remedies to Africa’s Food Crisis. London: Zed Books, 1991.
[19]	Rodney, Walter. How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. Washington D. C.: Howard UP, 1982.
[20]	Rogers, Jonna G. ‘Aime Cesaire and his Poem “Out of Alien Days”.’ Feb.9, 2009.http://www.libarts.ucok.edu/English/faculty/stein/world2/caribbean/electronic/aime_cesaire
[21]	Soyinka, Wole. The Man Died: Prison Notes of Wole Soyinka. London: Africa Book Centre, 1972.

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Sunday Tasen Okune, Alexander Essien Timothy. (2017). Despair and Disillusionment in Post-Negritude African Literature. English Language, Literature & Culture, 2(5), 45-51. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20170205.11

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Sunday Tasen Okune; Alexander Essien Timothy. Despair and Disillusionment in Post-Negritude African Literature. Engl. Lang. Lit. Cult. 2017, 2(5), 45-51. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20170205.11

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AMA Style

Sunday Tasen Okune, Alexander Essien Timothy. Despair and Disillusionment in Post-Negritude African Literature. Engl Lang Lit Cult. 2017;2(5):45-51. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20170205.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ellc.20170205.11,
  author = {Sunday Tasen Okune and Alexander Essien Timothy},
  title = {Despair and Disillusionment in Post-Negritude African Literature},
  journal = {English Language, Literature & Culture},
  volume = {2},
  number = {5},
  pages = {45-51},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ellc.20170205.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20170205.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ellc.20170205.11},
  abstract = {In their spirited and desperate bid to correct the distorted notion of Africa held by some European ethnologists, Negritudian writers such as Leopold Senghor, Leon Damas, Aime Cessaire, Gilbert Gratiant, Leonard Sainville, etc tended to portray Africa and the black world in rather glowing terms of beauty and idealism. Despite the robust hope and idealism echoed in Negritude literature about Africa, the reality of life in post-Negritude paints a dismal picture of despair and disillusionment. This paper explores how some African writers of the post-Negritude era have committed their art to the exploration of such related themes of despair, disillusionment, corruption, brutality, conflicts, etc, that are quite contrary to the idyllic picture painted by the founding fathers of Negritude.},
 year = {2017}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Despair and Disillusionment in Post-Negritude African Literature
AU  - Sunday Tasen Okune
AU  - Alexander Essien Timothy
Y1  - 2017/10/03
PY  - 2017
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VL  - 2
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Author Information

Sunday Tasen Okune

Department of English and Literary Studies, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria
Alexander Essien Timothy

Department of Arts Education, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria

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Sunday Tasen Okune, Alexander Essien Timothy. (2017). Despair and Disillusionment in Post-Negritude African Literature. English Language, Literature & Culture, 2(5), 45-51. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20170205.11

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ACS Style

Sunday Tasen Okune; Alexander Essien Timothy. Despair and Disillusionment in Post-Negritude African Literature. Engl. Lang. Lit. Cult. 2017, 2(5), 45-51. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20170205.11

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AMA Style

Sunday Tasen Okune, Alexander Essien Timothy. Despair and Disillusionment in Post-Negritude African Literature. Engl Lang Lit Cult. 2017;2(5):45-51. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20170205.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ellc.20170205.11,
  author = {Sunday Tasen Okune and Alexander Essien Timothy},
  title = {Despair and Disillusionment in Post-Negritude African Literature},
  journal = {English Language, Literature & Culture},
  volume = {2},
  number = {5},
  pages = {45-51},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ellc.20170205.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20170205.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ellc.20170205.11},
  abstract = {In their spirited and desperate bid to correct the distorted notion of Africa held by some European ethnologists, Negritudian writers such as Leopold Senghor, Leon Damas, Aime Cessaire, Gilbert Gratiant, Leonard Sainville, etc tended to portray Africa and the black world in rather glowing terms of beauty and idealism. Despite the robust hope and idealism echoed in Negritude literature about Africa, the reality of life in post-Negritude paints a dismal picture of despair and disillusionment. This paper explores how some African writers of the post-Negritude era have committed their art to the exploration of such related themes of despair, disillusionment, corruption, brutality, conflicts, etc, that are quite contrary to the idyllic picture painted by the founding fathers of Negritude.},
 year = {2017}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Despair and Disillusionment in Post-Negritude African Literature
AU  - Sunday Tasen Okune
AU  - Alexander Essien Timothy
Y1  - 2017/10/03
PY  - 2017
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20170205.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ellc.20170205.11
T2  - English Language, Literature & Culture
JF  - English Language, Literature & Culture
JO  - English Language, Literature & Culture
SP  - 45
EP  - 51
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2575-2413
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20170205.11
AB  - In their spirited and desperate bid to correct the distorted notion of Africa held by some European ethnologists, Negritudian writers such as Leopold Senghor, Leon Damas, Aime Cessaire, Gilbert Gratiant, Leonard Sainville, etc tended to portray Africa and the black world in rather glowing terms of beauty and idealism. Despite the robust hope and idealism echoed in Negritude literature about Africa, the reality of life in post-Negritude paints a dismal picture of despair and disillusionment. This paper explores how some African writers of the post-Negritude era have committed their art to the exploration of such related themes of despair, disillusionment, corruption, brutality, conflicts, etc, that are quite contrary to the idyllic picture painted by the founding fathers of Negritude.
VL  - 2
IS  - 5
ER  -

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