History's Impact on Literature

Either for homework or classwork, we took the time to analyze some of the major historical events that have occurred in and involved Africa. Just as the literature that we have read about Darfur mostly centers around the violence and killings, so does the history and/or current events of an area affect the literature. Consider this, do you think that young boy from the video who said "They killed our fathers, so we will kill theirs," is likely to compose stories with happy endings, tranquility, and reverie!?! Not quite likely, unless of course he is writing to relieve the stress of this situation.Check out these articles on writing as a form of stress relief, in addition to other alternatives.Article 1Article 2Article 3To also finalize the image of post-colonial Africa, we also discussed in detail the following:What would happen if all the adults in your neighborhood, subdivision, apartment or townhome complex, etc. disappeared and all the young people had to fend for themselves and keep the world going.After that we began to read the Epic of Mali, Sundjata or Sundiata, which can be found here.