Ghanaian literature is literature produced by authors from Ghana or in the Ghanaian diaspora. It starts with a long oral tradition, was influenced heavily by western literature during colonial rule, and became prominent with a post-colonial nationalist tradition in the mid-20th century. The current literary community continues with a diverse network of voices both within and outside the country, including in film, theatre, and modern digital formats such as blogging.
The most prominent authors are novelists J. E. Casely Hayford, Ayi Kwei Armah, and Nii Ayikwei Parkes, who gained international acclaim with the books Ethiopia Unbound (1911), The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born (1968) and Tail of the Blue Bird (2009), respectively. In addition to novels, other literary arts and genres such as theatre and poetry have also had a very good development and support at the national level with prominent playwrights, poets and historians Joe de Graft and Efua Sutherland.
The Ghanaian national literature radio programme and accompanying publication Voices of Ghana (1955-1957) was one of the earliest on the African continent, and helped establish the scope of the contemporary literary tradition in Ghana. Scholarship of Anglophone Africa sometimes favours literatures from other geographies, such as the literature of Nigeria.
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References
- Newell, Stephanie (2002). Literary Culture in Colonial Ghana: 'how to Play the Game of Life'. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-34096-2.
- ^ Neilson, Daniel (16 November 2015). "Reading up in Ghana". Time Out Accra. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
- ^ Yitah, Helen; Komasi, Mabel (2009). "Children's Literature in Ghana: A Survey". Children's Literature. 37 (1): 236–255. doi:10.1353/chl.0.0816. ISSN 1543-3374.
- "Ghana". Amadeus (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 23 February 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
- Dodd, Jeffrey (2020), "Voices of Ghana, 2nd Edition", Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue canadienne des études africaines, 54:2, 345–346, DOI: 10.1080/00083968.2020.1731183.
- Priebe, Richard (1978). "Popular Writing in Ghana: A Sociology and Rhetoric". Research in African Literatures. 9 (3): 395–432. ISSN 0034-5210. JSTOR 3818333.