Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No. 8, 2022

African Literatures and the Diversity of Civilizations

(Abstract)

Zhu Zhenwu and Li Dan

The continent of Africa, with its long history and splendid cultures, was long regarded as a wilderness as Western colonialism darkened its civilizations. This meant that African literatures bloomed remote and unseen; they were met with indifference and had often been seen as “the Other” in world literature. But in 2021, African literatures burst out. Rather than being accidental, this is the cultural representation of decoloniality, diasporicity and hybridity, the crowning achievement of African peoples’ cross-border consilience, dogged perseverance and persistent struggle and hard work over more than a century. It also shows the unique attraction of the character of Africa, which cleaves to its own, does away with divisions, and never forgets the lessons of history while looking ahead to the future. Although African literatures originated in the history of Western colonialism, with its concomitant oppression and humiliation, it has evolved into a variety of aesthetic expressions, intellectual beliefs and historical forms. Its colonial, anti-colonial and decolonial writing practice features a sense of community and a comprehensive diasporic character in the context of contemporary globalization. This diasporic character, which concerns, absorbs and confronts the tension between heterogenous cultures, endows African indigenous writing with world consciousness and the idea of harmony. African civilizations have evolved into diverse civilizations with a modern African national spirit. African literatures thus actively participate in dialogue with world literature and world civilization, displaying vitality, creativity and influence in the positive-sum game between African and Western culture. They have a positive effect on the integration, mutual learning and symbiosis of world civilization.