Dominant Thematic Pre-occupation in the PostColonial African Literature: A Reading

The events of colonialism have taken the attention of arrays of African literary writers, discussing the nature of the period of colonialism, the implications to the social, religious, human rights, and other aspects of human functionality during the colonial period. This article provides a survey of dominant themes in post-colonial African literature. The direction is to discuss some post-colonial African writers, the dominant themes they projected about 20-30 years ago, and the implications of this narrative in modern literature. The study was conducted using a qualitative approach, the analysis was conducted using the descriptive analysis method, and data was sourced directly from selected post-colonial African writers. The survey unveiled dominant themesin post-colonial African literature. However, eight basic themes were discovered to be dominant across arrays of literary studies. The themes of colonialism itself, colonial liberation, nationalism, tradition, political liberation, displacement, gender equality, and greater rootlessness are dominant in the literature. These themes are built across slave narratives, cultural and traditional conflicts, protest against colonialism, open calls for the end of colonialism, protection of the African pride promoted through traditional dominance of women liberation, expression of hope for Africa, and discussion of womanhood. The works of Chinua Achebe, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Wole Soyinka, Ngugi wa Thiongo, among others are quite dominant. The study thus concluded that post-colonial African literature is still a reflection of the events of the colonial period and a narrative for a future Africa without the effects of the presence of the colonial representatives. It is also recommended that analysis may need pay on how the themes of post-colonial African literature shape the contemporary realities of the African political, social, economic, religious, and collective existence.

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