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Introduction
African children’s literature, like the continent itself, bears the indelible imprint of colonialism. Just as colonial powers imposed foreign systems of governance, education, and religion, they also exported their cultural products—among them, children’s literature. The stories that African children read during the colonial era often bore little or no relevance to their lives or realities. It wasn’t until the waves of political decolonization in the mid-20th century that a deliberate and conscious movement emerged to reclaim the narrative space for African children.
This article explores the impact of colonialism on children’s literature in Africa, the efforts made during decolonization to create authentic literature for African youth, and the cultural significance of works like An African Night’s Entertainment in this transformative process.
Colonialism and the Early Landscape of African Children’s Literature
The introduction of printed children’s literature in Africa paralleled the expansion of colonial education systems in the early 20th century. Just as colonial administrators introduced formal schooling, they also introduced a canon of literature meant to 'civilize' and educate African children according to European ideals. Unfortunately, these texts were usually:
- Written by Europeans for European children
- Disconnected from African cultural and environmental realities
- Structured around European norms, metaphors, and experiences
These stories, often adapted or abridged versions of British classics such as Oliver Twist, Gulliver’s Travels, and King Solomon’s Mines, had little resonance with African readers. While their didacticism mirrored the moral thrust of traditional African folktales, their content did not. Tales of snow, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, and daffodils alienated African children who had never seen or experienced these things.
Didactic but Dislocated
Colonial children’s literature assumed that the African child should be taught European values through European lenses. As a result, African children were systematically distanced from their own heritage, history, and environment through the stories they were encouraged (or forced) to read. Though these tales were sometimes simplified or translated, the lack of contextual adaptation rendered them ineffective as educational tools for African children.
This erasure of local context had lasting effects. African children were taught to aspire to European lifestyles and ideals, and internalized inferiority toward their own cultures. As such, colonial children’s literature became part of a broader cultural imperialism that not only displaced African stories but also shaped African self-perception.
Decolonization and the Rise of Authentic African Children’s Literature
With the rise of independence movements across Africa in the 1950s and 60s came a newfound cultural consciousness. Politicians, educators, and writers began to push for an intellectual and artistic decolonization that would accompany political liberation. One of the most urgent needs identified by African scholars and educators was the scarcity of literature for children that reflected their own lives, languages, and cultures.
African Universities Press and the African Readers Library
In response, African Universities Press was founded in Nigeria in the early 1960s. Its mission was clear: to provide “educational books chosen to answer the needs of Nigerian schools and colleges.” One of its most influential initiatives was the African Readers Library Series, which prioritized the publication of literature that engaged with African contexts, customs, and languages.
The first title in the series, Cyprian Ekwensi’s An African Night’s Entertainment (1962), marked a significant turning point. Unlike earlier, imported texts, this novella was grounded in the African storytelling tradition. Set in a typical village environment under the moonlight, it features a traditional storyteller surrounded by “young men, old men, children, women”—recreating the familiar communal atmosphere of oral performance. The tale he unfolds is rich in cultural and moral significance, focusing on themes of vengeance, adventure, and love, and delivering a powerful moral lesson: never take vengeance into your own hands.
This narrative structure mirrored traditional folktales, making the book both accessible and meaningful to its readers. Importantly, Ekwensi chose to write in English—both as a result of colonial linguistic legacy and as a practical means of reaching a broader Nigerian and African readership. This decision exemplifies the complex tensions in postcolonial literary production: writing in the colonizer’s language, but repurposing it to tell indigenous stories.
The Case of Jikin Magayi: Origins and Controversy
What makes An African Night’s Entertainment even more intriguing is its resemblance to an earlier work titled Jikin Magayi, published in 1934 in Hausa. The work was co-authored by Mallam Tafida Zaria, a native Hausa storyteller, and Rupert East, a British colonial officer with a deep interest in African cultures. Jikin Magayi was among the earliest recorded attempts to put a Hausa folktale into print, and it was a milestone in documenting oral traditions in indigenous African languages.
However, the book had a limited readership. Written in Hausa, it was primarily accessible to literate Hausa speakers—limiting its reach in a multilingual and colonially fragmented educational environment. It only gained wider recognition decades later when Ekwensi’s English version brought it to national and international attention.
The Plagiarism Debate
Following the release of An African Night’s Entertainment, Ekwensi faced allegations of plagiarism. Critics noted the structural and thematic similarities between his book and Jikin Magayi. Ekwensi, however, defended himself by asserting that folk tales belong to the people. In Northern Nigeria, where he grew up, such tales were widely told and retold in various forms, and no single individual could claim exclusive ownership.
His defense touches on a central truth about oral literature: it is communal, fluid, and intergenerational. Writers like Ekwensi, educated in colonial schools but nurtured in African traditions, often find themselves translating, adapting, and reinterpreting stories that have lived orally for centuries. Their works straddle the line between authorship and custodianship—preserving traditions while also reinventing them for a new, literate generation.
The Broader Impact of Decolonized Children’s Literature
The movement to decolonize African children’s literature was more than a literary trend—it was a cultural revolution. By producing texts rooted in African settings, characters, and values, post-independence writers helped restore a sense of identity and pride among young readers. These stories became:
- Educational tools: reinforcing cultural values and local ethics
- Counter-narratives: challenging the dominance of Western ideals
- Bridges between oral and written traditions
- Instruments of linguistic preservation, especially when written in indigenous languages
The creation of indigenous publishing houses and school-based literary programs further supported this shift. Writers and educators recognized that it was not enough to remove colonial rulers from office—colonial narratives had to be removed from the minds and bookshelves of African children.
Conclusion
African children’s literature has undergone a dramatic transformation from the alienating pages of colonial textbooks to the vibrant, culturally rich stories of post-independence Africa. Colonialism introduced a foreign literary culture that ignored and undermined African realities. But decolonization sparked a resurgence of authentic storytelling that reclaimed the narrative space for African children.
Books like An African Night’s Entertainment not only revived oral storytelling in print but also ignited a broader movement to place African stories at the center of African childhood. In doing so, they restored dignity, identity, and imagination to generations of young readers. The work of decolonizing children’s literature is ongoing, but thanks to writers like Ekwensi, a powerful foundation has been laid.
Key Works Mentioned
- An African Night’s Entertainment by Cyprian Ekwensi (1962)
- Jikin Magayi by Mallam Tafida Zaria and Rupert East (1934)
- Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
- Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
- King Solomon’s Mines by H. Rider Haggard
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