Equatoguinean literature in Spanish
Encyclopedia
Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea where the capital Malabo is situated.Annobón is the southernmost island of Equatorial Guinea and is situated just south of the equator. Bioko island is the northernmost point of Equatorial Guinea. Between the two islands and to the...
was the only Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
colony
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa as a geographical term refers to the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara. A political definition of Sub-Saharan Africa, instead, covers all African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara...
. During its colonial history between 1778 and 1968, it developed a tradition of literature in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, unique among the countries in Africa, that persists until the present day.
The literature of Equatorial Guinea in Spanish is relatively unknown, unlike African literature
African literature
African literature refers to literature of and from Africa. As George Joseph notes on the first page of his chapter on African literature in Understanding Contemporary Africa, while the European perception of literature generally refers to written letters, the African concept includes oral...
in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, and Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
. For example, M'bare N'gom, a professor at Morgan State University
Morgan State University
Morgan State University, formerly Centenary Biblical Institute , Morgan College and Morgan State College , is a historically black college in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Morgan is Maryland's designated public urban university and the largest HBCU in the state of Maryland...
, searched 30 anthologies of literature in Spanish published between 1979 and 1991 and did not find a single reference to Equatoguinean writers. The same thing occurs in anthologies of African literature in European languages published in the 1980s and in specialized journals such as Research in African Literatures, African Literature Today, Présence Africaine
Présence Africaine
Présence africaine is a panafrican quarterly cultural, political, and literary magazine, published in Paris and founded by Alioune Diop in 1947. In 1949, Présence africaine expanded to include a publishing house and a bookstore on the rue des Écoles in the Latin Quarter of Paris...
or Canadian Journal of African Studies
Canadian Journal of African Studies
The Canadian Journal of African Studies /Revue canadienne des études africaines is published three times a year by the /Association canadienne des études africaines . CJAS/RCEA is a bilingual peer reviewed academic journal established in 1967...
. This began to change in the late 1990s with the publication of a monograph in the journal Afro-Hispanic Review, and with the conferences Spain in Africa and Latin America: The Other Face of Literary Hispanism at the University of Missouri
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...
in Columbia, Missouri
Columbia, Missouri
Columbia is the fifth-largest city in Missouri, and the largest city in Mid-Missouri. With a population of 108,500 as of the 2010 Census, it is the principal municipality of the Columbia Metropolitan Area, a region of 164,283 residents. The city serves as the county seat of Boone County and as the...
in May 1999 and Primer Encuentro de Escritores africanos en Lengua Española (First Encounter with African Writers in the Spanish Language) in Murcia
Murcia
-History:It is widely believed that Murcia's name is derived from the Latin words of Myrtea or Murtea, meaning land of Myrtle , although it may also be a derivation of the word Murtia, which would mean Murtius Village...
, Spain in November 2000.
Predecessors
The first references to AfricaAfrica
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
in literature began in the 15th century with Portuguese and Spanish exploration of the Atlantic. This period was one of exploration and conquest, and the literature written then contains travel accounts, memoirs, chronicles, and reports.
The next period, one of occupation and exploitation, is characterized by colonial literature. The central theme of this literature is a savage, wild Africa; the protagonists are idealized white characters with a negative, paternalistic vision of the Africans, who are portrayed as inferior beings. These novels were written for the audience of the colonialists, not a local audience, and were used as justification for colonialism
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
.
Beginnings
The beginnings of Equatoguinean literature in Spanish are connected with La Guinea Española (Spanish Guinea), the missionary journal of the seminarySeminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
of the Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Claretians
The Claretians, a community of Roman Catholic priests and brothers, were founded by Saint Anthony Claret in 1849. They strive to follow their founder's “on fire” example and help wherever they are needed. Their ministries are highly diverse and vary depending on the needs of the area. They focus...
on the island of Bioko
Bioko
Bioko is an island 32 km off the west coast of Africa, specifically Cameroon, in the Gulf of Guinea. It is the northernmost part of Equatorial Guinea with a population of 124,000 and an area of . It is volcanic with its highest peak the Pico Basile at .-Geography:Bioko has a total area of...
. This journal, which was founded in 1903, was profoundly colonialistic and directed to a white audience; it did not include contributions from Guinean writers. However, in 1947 a new section was added in which writers recorded local stories and myths to "preserve and disseminate" them (their ultimate purpose was to become better acquainted with the Equatoguinean peoples in order to be better able to "civilize" them). This gave the African Guinean students of the seminary an opportunity to become writers for the journal; at first, they merely transcribed the local oral tradition of the griot or jeli
Griot
A griot or jeli is a West African storyteller. The griot delivers history as a poet, praise singer, and wandering musician. The griot is a repository of oral tradition. As such, they are sometimes also called bards...
, but gradually, their writing became a bridge between African oral tradition and European written tradition. Among these writers are Esteban Bualo, Andrés IKuga Ebombebombe, and Constantino Ocha'a Mve Bengobesama; they maintained a strong ethnographic component in their writing, but they also set the stage for a new native literature.
The first Equatoguinean novel was Cuando los combes luchaban (Novela de costumbres de la Guinea Española) (When the Kombes Fought: A novel of the customs of Spanish Guinea), by Leoncio Evita Enoy
Leoncio Evita Enoy
Leoncio Evita Enoy was an intellectual, painter and writer from Equatorial Guinea.-Life:He attended several schools in San Carlos and learned drawing by correspondence. He worked as a teacher in Bata's Escuela de Artes y Oficios and was a regular collaborator in Poto-Poto literature magazine...
(Udubuandyola, Bata, Equatorial Guinea
Bata, Equatorial Guinea
Bata is a port city in the Litoral Province of Equatorial Guinea. With a 2005 estimated population of 173,046, it is the largest city in Equatorial Guinea. It lies on the Atlantic Ocean coast of Río Muni....
, 1929-), edited in 1953. The novel takes place in Río Muni
Río Muni
Río Muni is the Continental Region of Equatorial Guinea, and comprises the mainland geographical region, covering 26,017 km².-History:Río Muni was ceded by Portugal to Spain in 1778 in the Treaty of El Pardo...
, among the Kombe or Mdowe ethnic group (that of the author), in a precolonial era. It is written from the point of view of the protagonist, a white Protestant missionary; on occasion, he is used by the author to contrast European "civilization" with the "savagery" of African customs, which are explained in detail. This rejection by the author of his own identity, classified under the so-called "literature of consent," was widely used by the Spanish colonial authorities as an example of the "civilizing" effect of African colonization.
In 1962, the second Equatoguinean novel, Una lanza por el Boabí(A Spear for the Boabi), by Daniel Jones Mathama (San Carlos, 1913?-?), was published; it is sometimes erroneously considered to be the first. The protagonist of this novel, Gue, is an African who tells the story of his life. The writing has an autobiographical character; for example, the character Boabi, Gue's father, is based on Maximiliano C. Jones, Daniel Jones Mathama's father, who was a local authority sympathetic to the colonial government. The plot follows Gue's childhood in Fernando Poo, his move to Spain and his return to Guinea after his father's death. From the ethnographic point of view, the novel is very interesting, detailing the customs of the Bubi
Bubi
The Bubi people, also known as Voove, Pove, Bobes, Boobes, Boobees, Boobies, Boubies, Adeeyahs,Adeejahs, Adijas, Ediyas, Eris, Fernando Poans, Fernandians, and Bantu Speaking Bubi, are an African ethnic group of the Bantu group, who are indigenous to Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea...
ethnicity of the island of Bioko
Bioko
Bioko is an island 32 km off the west coast of Africa, specifically Cameroon, in the Gulf of Guinea. It is the northernmost part of Equatorial Guinea with a population of 124,000 and an area of . It is volcanic with its highest peak the Pico Basile at .-Geography:Bioko has a total area of...
. It may also be classified as part of the "literature of consent," since Boabi is the perfect example of a "savage" who is "civilized" by contact with the colonizers: "it is an inescapable duty to proclaim far and wide the great work that Spain is doing on that island."
Between 1962 and 1968, the date of Equatorial Guinea's independence, no important works were published; however, some authors continued to edit stories, legends, and ethnographies in various journals: Marcelo Asistencia Ndongo Mba, Constantino Ochaá, Ángel Nguema, Rafael María Nzé, and Francisco Obiang.
In contrast to other African literary traditions, no anticolonial works or works about combat appeared, and poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
did not attain great importance. Also, the authors of the time period attempted to reach the audience of the colonial power, not the local audience.
Independence and exile
These small shoots of a literary tradition were uprooted when, only months after being democratically elected, Francisco Macías NguemaFrancisco Macías Nguema
Francisco Macías Nguema was the first President of Equatorial Guinea, from 1968 until his overthrow in 1979.-Rise to power:...
installed a dictatorship, termed "Afro-fascist" by the historian Max Liniger-Goumaz. As a result of this regime of terror, a third of the Equatoguinean population had gone into exile in neighboring countries or in Spain by the mid-1970s. The writer Juan Balboa Boneke
Juan Balboa Boneke
Juan Balboa Boneke is an Equatorial Guinean politician and writer.He studied at the Escuela Superior de Santa Isabel and at La Escuela social de Granada...
refers to this as the "lost generation."
Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
and the other places where the diaspora settled were foreign and sometimes hostile lands, which is reflected in the literature. Madrid was not like Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
was for African authors of the 1930s; there was no support for artistic endeavors or for public speech about the Guinean tragedy. The works of this time period circulated on single sheets of paper or in notebooks, or in limited-edition magazines and leaflets published by the refugees; consequently, this literature did not reach the Guinean public or the Spanish public. These pieces were usually written in poetic form and carried a forceful message, as shown by the poem "Vamos a matar al tirano" (Let Us Kill the Tyrant) by Francisco Zamora Loboch, or sometimes a message of nostalgia for the writers' homeland, such as the poem "¿Dónde estás Guinea?" (Where are you, Guinea?) by Juan Balboa Boneke.
Writers from the diaspora also wrote narratives of exile: for example, El sueño (The Dream) and La travesía (The Crossing) by Donato Ndongo-Bidyogo
Donato Ndongo-Bidyogo
Donato Ndongo-Bidyogo is an Equatorial Guinean writer/journalist and part of a movement of young Afro-descended authors who have contributed their African experience and traditions to Hispanic culture.-Writings:...
(Niefang
Niefang
Niefang is a city in Equatorial Guinea. It is located in Centro Sur Province and has a population of 4858. The city is named also with her fundational name city of Sevilla de Niefang....
, Río Muni
Río Muni
Río Muni is the Continental Region of Equatorial Guinea, and comprises the mainland geographical region, covering 26,017 km².-History:Río Muni was ceded by Portugal to Spain in 1778 in the Treaty of El Pardo...
, 1950-), La última carta del Padre Fulgencio Abad, C. M. F. (The Last Letter of Father Fulgencio Abad, C. M. F.) by Maplal Loboch (1912-1976), and Bea by Francisco Zamora Loboch (Santa Isabel, 1947-). These stories focus on the violent uprooting, both physical and spiritual, of the protagonist, connected with the history of the African continent before independence.
Also, essays were written that focused on the political situation in Equatorial Guinea and the tragedy of its people; for example, Historia y tragedia de Guinea Ecuatorial (History and tragedy of Equatorial Guinea) (1977) by Donato Ndongo-Bidyogo and ¿Dónde estás Guinea? (Where are you, Guinea?) (1978) by Juan Balboa Boneke.
Raquel Ilonbé
Raquel Ilonbé
Raquel Ilonbé, pseudonym of Raquel del Pozo Epita , was an Equatoguinean writer in Spanish.-Background and early life:...
(Corisco
Corisco
Corisco, or Mandj, is a small island of Equatorial Guinea, located 29 km southwest of the Rio Muni estuary that defines the border with Gabon...
, 1938?-) (pen name for Raquel del Pozo Epita), whose mother was Guinean and whose father was Spanish, is a unique figure in this movement. Ilonbé moved away from Guinea before she was a year old, grew up in Spain, and returned to Guinea after she was married to search for her roots. She wrote a collection of poems entitled Ceiba (Kapok
Kapok
Ceiba pentandra is a tropical tree of the order Malvales and the family Malvaceae , native to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, northern South America, and to tropical west Africa...
) between 1966 and 1978; its theme is the search for identity, not personal suffering or the trauma of exile.
After 1979
After Macías Nguema was overthrown by his nephew Teodoro ObiangTeodoro Obiang
Teodoro Obiang is the name of:* Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, President of Equatorial Guinea* Teodoro Nguema Obiang, son of the President...
, who is still president as of 2009, the culture of the country began to recover slowly.
1981-1984
M'bare N'gom divides the most recent time period into two stages. The first stage began in 1981 with the publication of the first children's book, Leyendas guineanas (Guinean Legends) by Raquel IlonbéRaquel Ilonbé
Raquel Ilonbé, pseudonym of Raquel del Pozo Epita , was an Equatoguinean writer in Spanish.-Background and early life:...
. Ilonbé had to travel through the most remote areas of the country to compile the material for the eight legends that make up her book.
Also from this time period are O Boriba (The exile) (1982) and Susurros y pensamientos comentados: Desde mi vidriera (Comments on Whispers and Thoughts: From my window) (1983), both by Juan Balboa Boneke. Both are volumes of poetry; in some poems, the author frequently mixes words in the Bubi language
Bubi language
Bube, Bohobé, or Bube–Benga, is a Bantu or Bantoid language spoken by the Bubi, a Bantu people native to, and once the primary inhabitants of, Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea...
, the native language of his ethnic group, with Spanish, and other poems are written completely in Bubi. The books focus on the exile and suffering of the Bubi people, persecuted by Nguema's regime.
At the end of this period, Antología de la literatura guineana (Anthology of Guinean Literature) (1984), by Donato Ndongo-Bidyogo
Donato Ndongo-Bidyogo
Donato Ndongo-Bidyogo is an Equatorial Guinean writer/journalist and part of a movement of young Afro-descended authors who have contributed their African experience and traditions to Hispanic culture.-Writings:...
, was published. It is the first anthology of its kind, containing the best of Equatoguinean literature then written, both poetry and prose, whether previously published or not. The volume includes many authors who have not published again; the only woman included in the anthology is Raquel Ilonbé.
1984-present
The second stage of the literary renaissance in Equatorial Guinea is related to the creation of the Center for Hispanic-Guinean Culture in MalaboMalabo
Malabo is the capital of Equatorial Guinea, located on the northern coast of Bioko Island on the rim of a sunken volcano....
in 1982. The Center contains a library and performs many cultural activities; it publishes its own quarterly magazine about cultural issues, Africa 2000, and has its own publishing house, Center for Hispanic-Guinean Culture Publishing, dedicated to Guinean writers, both established figures and young talents. Some notable narrative works that it has published include El amigo fiel (The Faithful Friend) (1987) by Ana Lourdes Sohora, Afén, la cabrita reina (Afén, the Little Goat Queen) (1989) and La última lección del venerable Emaga Ela (The Last Lesson of the Venerable Emaga Ela) (1991) by Antimo Esono Ndongo, and Boote-Chiba (1990) by Pedro Cristino Bueriberi. Poetic works include Gritos de libertad y de esperanza (Shouts of Liberty and Hope) (1987) by Anacleto Oló Mibuy and Delirios (Delirium) (1991) by María Nsué Angüe
María Nsué Angüe
María Nsué Angüe is a noted contemporary Equatorial Guinean writer and former Minister of Education and Culture.-Background and early life:...
.
The authors of this second stage are characterized by their use of themes that relate to their lives in one way or another, which are often reinterpreted to depict the reality of Equatorial Guinea in symbolic form.
In 1985, Ekomo by María Nsué Angüe
María Nsué Angüe
María Nsué Angüe is a noted contemporary Equatorial Guinean writer and former Minister of Education and Culture.-Background and early life:...
, the first novel written by an Equatoguinean woman, was published. The plot is centered on Nnanga, a Bantu woman, but it is told from the point of view of a man, Ekomo - a maneuver that allows the author more freedom to criticize the patriarchal world of postcolonial Africa. Nnanga, trapped between a past full of tradition and patriarchal oppression and a promising future, tries to find her own identity.
That same year, Juan Balboa Boneke
Juan Balboa Boneke
Juan Balboa Boneke is an Equatorial Guinean politician and writer.He studied at the Escuela Superior de Santa Isabel and at La Escuela social de Granada...
published the novel El reencuentro. El retorno del exiliado (The reunion. The return of the exile). The novel, which is partly autobiographical, depicts the protagonist's return to Equatorial Guinea after eleven years of exile in Spain. It portrays the protagonist's expectations and good will with which he returns to the country to aid in its reconstruction and reintegrate into its society. The novel ends with his voluntary return to Spain.
Voces de espumas (Voices from the surf) (1987), by Ciriaco Bokesa, was the first book of poetry written on Guinean land by an Equatoguinean writer. The poems recount the suffering and the silence of the author, as well as personal reflections on poetry. That same year, Juan Balboa Boneke published his first anthology of poetry, Sueños en mi selva (Dreams in my forest). Balboa Boneke, through his representation of the suffering of Guinea, transcends the provincialism that had characterized the country's poetry before then.
In 1987, Las tinieblas de tu memoria negra (The darkness of your black memory), a novel by Donato Ndongo-Bidyogo
Donato Ndongo-Bidyogo
Donato Ndongo-Bidyogo is an Equatorial Guinean writer/journalist and part of a movement of young Afro-descended authors who have contributed their African experience and traditions to Hispanic culture.-Writings:...
, was published. It also contains autobiographical themes, although the author considers it an autobiography of his generation. It depicts a child in Río Muni during the end of the colonial era. The innocent vision of the child allows the author to depict his own sharp and ironic vision of the contradictions of the colonial regime.
Authors
Some recent authors:- Antimo Esono (1954 – 1996)
- María Nsué AngüeMaría Nsué AngüeMaría Nsué Angüe is a noted contemporary Equatorial Guinean writer and former Minister of Education and Culture.-Background and early life:...
(1945 – ) - Juan Balboa BonekeJuan Balboa BonekeJuan Balboa Boneke is an Equatorial Guinean politician and writer.He studied at the Escuela Superior de Santa Isabel and at La Escuela social de Granada...
(1938 – ) - Juan Tomás Ávila LaurelJuan Tomás Ávila LaurelJuan Tomás Ávila Laurel is an Annobonese writer from Equatorial Guinea.-Background and early life:...
(1966 – ) - Donato Ndongo-BidyogoDonato Ndongo-BidyogoDonato Ndongo-Bidyogo is an Equatorial Guinean writer/journalist and part of a movement of young Afro-descended authors who have contributed their African experience and traditions to Hispanic culture.-Writings:...
(1950 – ) - Raquel IlonbéRaquel IlonbéRaquel Ilonbé, pseudonym of Raquel del Pozo Epita , was an Equatoguinean writer in Spanish.-Background and early life:...
(1938? – 1992) - Constantino Ocha'a Mve Bengobesama (19?? – 1991)
- Mercedes Jora
- Gerardo Behori
- Juan Manuel Jones Costa
- A. Jerónimo Rope Bomabá
- Joaquín Mbomio
- Justo Bolekia BolekáJusto Bolekia BolekáJusto Bolekia Boleká is an Equatorial Guinean scholar and writer of Bubi descent....
- Maximiliano Nkogo
- Leoncio Evita EnoyLeoncio Evita EnoyLeoncio Evita Enoy was an intellectual, painter and writer from Equatorial Guinea.-Life:He attended several schools in San Carlos and learned drawing by correspondence. He worked as a teacher in Bata's Escuela de Artes y Oficios and was a regular collaborator in Poto-Poto literature magazine...
(1929 – 1996)
External links
- La literatura africana de expresión castellana: La creación literaria en Guinea Ecuatorial by M'bare N'gom
- Antología de la literatura guineana. Edited by Donato Ndongo-Bidyogo. Editora Nacional. 1984
- Literatura africana de expresión española by M'bare N'gom Fayé
- Literatura moderna hispanófona en Guinea Ecuatorial by Donato Ndongo-BidyogoDonato Ndongo-BidyogoDonato Ndongo-Bidyogo is an Equatorial Guinean writer/journalist and part of a movement of young Afro-descended authors who have contributed their African experience and traditions to Hispanic culture.-Writings:...
- La formación de identidad en la novela hispano-africana by Jorge Salvo
Additional references
- Ndongo-Bidyogo, Donato: Antología de la literatura guineana. Madrid: Editora Nacional, 1984.
- Ndongo-Bidyogo, Donato y Ngom, Mbaré (eds.): Literatura de Guinea Ecuatorial (antología). Madrid : SIAL, 2000.
- Ngom Faye, Mbaré: Diálogos con Guinea: panorama de la literatura guineoecuatoriana de expresión castellana a través de sus protagonistas. Madrid: Labrys 54, 1996.
- Onomo-Abena, Sosthène y Otabela Mewolo, Joseph-Désiré: Literatura emergente en español: literatura de Guinea Ecuatorial. Madrid: Ediciones del Orto, 2004.