Literature of Kenya
Encyclopedia
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
which comes from the Africa
Africa
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...
n country of Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
. Kenya has a long oral and written literary tradition, primarily 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...
and Swahili
Swahili language
Swahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...
, the two official languages of the country.
One of the best known pieces of Kenyan literature is Utendi wa Tambuka
Utendi wa Tambuka
Utend̠i wa Tambuka or Utenzi wa Tambuka , also known as Kyuo kya Hereḳali , is an epic poem in the Swahili language dated 1728...
, which translates to The Story of Tambuka. Written by a man named Mwengo at the court of the Sultan of Pate
Rulers of Pate
List of Rulers of PateLocated at Pate Island, Kenya.-References:*Martin, Chryssee MacCasler Perry and Esmond Bradley Martin: Quest for the Past. An historical guide to the Lamu Archipelago. 1973....
, the epic poem is one of the earliest known documents in Swahili, being written in the year 1141 of the Islamic calendar
Islamic calendar
The Hijri calendar , also known as the Muslim calendar or Islamic calendar , is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to date events in many Muslim countries , and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper day on which to celebrate Islamic...
, or 1728 AD.
African literature had long been an exclusively oral tradition, and the writing down of stories only began with European colonization
Scramble for Africa
The Scramble for Africa, also known as the Race for Africa or Partition of Africa was a process of invasion, occupation, colonization and annexation of African territory by European powers during the New Imperialism period, between 1881 and World War I in 1914...
.
Important Kenyan writers include Grace Ogot
Grace Ogot
Grace Ogot is a Kenyan author, nurse, journalist, politician and diplomat.Ogot was born Grace Emily Akinyi in Asembo, in the district of Nyanza. She trained as a nurse in Uganda and in England. She has worked as a midwife, a tutor, as journalist, as a BBC Overseas Service broadcaster, and in a...
, Meja Mwangi
Meja Mwangi
Meja Mwangi is one of Kenya's leading novelists. Mwangi has worked in the film industry, including screenwriting, assistant directing, casting and location management....
, Margaret Ogola
Margaret Ogola
Margaret Atieno Ogola was the celebrated Kenyan author of the novel The River and the Source, and its sequel, I Swear by Apollo. The River and the Source follows four generations of Kenyan women in a rapidly changing country and society...
, and Binyavanga Wainaina
Binyavanga Wainaina
Binyavanga Wainaina is a Kenyan author, journalist and winner of the Caine Prize.-Early life and education:Binyavanga Wainaina was born in Nakuru in Rift Valley province. He attended Moi Primary School in Nakuru, Mangu High School in Thika, and Lenana School in Nairobi...
. The most well known Kenyan author is Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Ngugi wa Thiong'o
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o is a Kenyan author, formerly working in English and now working in Gĩkũyũ. His work includes novels, plays, short stories, and essays, ranging from literary and social criticism to children's literature...
.
Thiong'o's first novel, Weep Not, Child
Weep Not, Child
Weep Not, Child is Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o's first novel, published in 1964 under the name James Ngugi. It was the first English novel to be published by an East African. Thiong'o's works deal with the relationship between Africans and the British colonists in Africa, and are heavily...
, was the first novel in English to be published by an East African
East African
East African may refer to:*Any person or object of, or pertaining to, East Africa*East African Airlines, an airline based in Kampala, Uganda*East African Safari Air, a now defunct airline based in Kenya*The EastAfrican, a weekly newspaper in East Africa...
. His The River Between is currently on Kenya's national secondary school syllabus. Undoubtedly, Thiong'o is best known for his novel, A Grain of Wheat
A Grain of Wheat
A Grain of Wheat is a novel by Kenyan novelist Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o. The novel weaves several stories together during the state of emergency in Kenya's struggle for independence , focusing on the quiet Mugo, whose life is ruled by a dark secret. The plot revolves around his home village's preparations...
.