Black Africa Literature and Language

In October 1972, our Czech-written book Literatury eerne Afriky (Literatures of Black Mrica) was published in Prague, presenting a survey of an extensive field. The publication, which was signed at that time by all three authors, differed from most contemporary introductions to the study of Mrican literatures in a threefold way: a) The authors attempted to cover various literacy and literary efforts in the area roughly delimited by Senegal in the west, Kenya in the east, Lake Chad in the north and the Cape in the south. We were well aware-even at that time-that neither technically nor linguistically would it be possible to cover all literary efforts within that area. We did try, however, to include in our survey both the literacies and literatures written in the Indo-European linguae francae (English, French, Portuguese) and in at least several of the major African languages of the area. We did not attempt an exhaustive description, but wished, rather, to show the mutual relationships which emerge, if the literatures of thii\ area, written either in the major linguae francae or in the African languages, are studied not as isolated phenomena, but as mutually complementary features. b) As two of us were linguists and one was a literary historian, we did not limit our analysis of the developing literacies and literatures to the purely cultural and literary aspects. Our intention waR to deal-whcre and if it was relevant-not only with the process of African literary development, but also with the simultaneous, complementar.

II. Language and Script in Black Africa (Petr Zima).- 0. Introduction.- 1. Inventory.- 2. Design and Origin of Scripts Used for the Languages of Black Africa.- 3. Typology of Scripts.- 4. Zones of Influence of Different Scripts.- 5. The Process of Language-Script Adaptation.- 6. Function.- III. Language and Literature in Black Africa (Petr Zima).- 0. Introduction.- 1. Language Choice.- 2. Language Development.- 3. Language Interference.- IV. The Ideology of the Black African Literary Movement (Vladimír Klíma).- V. The French-written Literature of West Africa (Vladimír Klíma).- 0. Introduction.- 1. Senegal.- 2. Cameroon.- 3. The French-written Literature of Other West African Countries.- VI. West African Literature in Standard English (Vladimír Klíma, Petr Zima).- 1. Nigerian English-written Literature (Vladimír Klíma, Petr Zima).- 2. Ghana (Vladimír Klíma).- 3. Sierra Leone (Vladimír Klíma).- 4. Gambia (Vladimír Klíma).- 5. Liberia (Vladimír Klíma).- VII. Literatures in West African Languages (Petr Zima).- 1. Roots nad Origins of Literacy and Literature in West African Languages.- 2. The West African Coastal Area.- 3. The Islamic Area.- VIII. Old Bantu Literature (Karel František R?ži?ka).- 0. Introduction.- 1. Rwanda.- 2. South Africa.- 3. East Africa.- IX. Bantu Tales, Fables and Short Stories (Karel František R?ži?ka).- X. Literature of the Congo Area and Rwanda (Vladimír Klíma).- 1. Literature of the Congo and Zaire.- 2. Writing in Rwanda.- XI. Other Literatures of Central and East Africa (Vladimír Klíma, Karel František R?ži?ka).- 1. Tanzania and Uganda (Vladimír Klíma).- 2. The Literature of Kenya (Vladimír Klíma, Karel František R?ži?ka).- 3. The Literature of Malawi (Vladimír Klíma).- 4. The Literature of Rhodesia(Vladimír Klíma).- XII. Black Literature of the Portuguese Territories in Africa (Karel František R?ži?ka).- 0. Introduction.- 1. The Cabo Verde Islands.- 2. Guinea-Bissau.- 3. São-Tomé.- 4. Angola.- 5. Mozambique.- XIII. The Literature of Madagascar (Karel František R?ži?ka).- 0. Introduction.- 1. Ancient Literature.- 2. Modern Literature.- 3. Other Genres.- XIV. The Literature of South Africa (Vladimír Klíma, Karel František R?ži?ka).- 1. Introduction (Vladimír Klíma).- 2. South African Writing in the Vernacular Languages (Karel František R?ži?ka).- 3. South African Writing in English (Vladimír Klíma).- XV. The Role of Literary Criticism (Vladimír Klíma).- XVI. Contemporary Approaches to African Writing (Vladimír Klíma).- Bibliography (compiled by Vladimír Klíma and Petr Zima).- Index of Persons (compiled by Vladimír Klíma).- Index of African Languages and Dialects (compiled by Petr Zima).- 1. Remarks on African Language Systems and Their Classification.- 2. Index.