African Civilization

Geography

Africa is the 2nd largest continent in the world. It measures 30, 244, 000

square kilometers wide with 1,032,532,974 people living

as of 2011.

A large part of continent is made up of deserts.

A. Sahara – largest desert in the world; Northern part.

B. Kalahari – Southern part

The scarce rainfall in these areas bring about the

appearance of spring, which forms an oasis

Two Africas:

Mediterranean Africa – near the region of

the north Sahara with a climate

identical to that of Southern Europe

Tropical Africa - has thick

jungles, deserts, and grass lands.

History

Ancient peoples settled on the Nile Valley

during the Neolithic (New Stone)

Age, around 5000 BC.

Many scientists believe that the first people in the world came from

Africa.

“Lucy”, one of the first discovered

australopithecines, was discovered in the Great

Lift Valley.

Early African peoples did not usually leave a

written record.

Traditional Society

Village Government – power was shared among the members of the community, not a single leader.

Family Patterns – the group was always more important than the

individual.

Religious Beliefs – Early Africans identified with the forces of nature and the belief that all living and

nonliving things contained spirits, this is called animism.

Rise of Communities

A. Nok (800BC –200AD)

Known for beautiful, life-sized metal sculptures used as art

pieces.

They also made jewelry made from

metal such as steel, gold and

tin.

The figurines they made

were dressed by the cloth

they wove, for the Noks were

excellent weavers.

They lived in houses made from dried

mud.

They were polytheistic –they believe in more than one

God.

B. Bantu (600BC –

1000BCAD)

Bantus lived in the Sahara, south of

Africa.

They spread their culture and language

throughout the continent.

They lived by farming and animal

raising. Women commonly raised crops while men

hunted.

Magic was central to the Bantus’

beliefs. They also believed that soul would separate

from the body at the time of death.

Ancient Kingdoms

A. Kingdom of Kush (1600BC-300AD)

In 1600BC, the Nubians

established the Kingdom of

Kush.

Egypt defeated Kush in 1525

BC.

Egypt fell in 800-700BC.

Kushitesdeclared

freedom and elected a new king in 715BC.

In 671BC, the Kushites

escaped to Menroe.

In 350 AD, Ezana, took

over the Kingdom of

Kush.

•They have a system of writing and their cities boasted palaces made of stone.

• it was the first kingdom in Africa to ever have its own money made of gold, silver, and bronze.

•The Kingdom of Aksum was strong in the north, of what is now called Ethiopia.

• Its economy was sustained by trade in the Red Sea.

• In the 4th century, the Aksum kings converted to Christianity.

•Trade in Aksum remained strong until the 7th

century, the time when Islam began to spread.

B. Kingdom

of Aksum (600-

500BC)

Early Imperial Trade

A Empire of Ghana (5th-11th Century)

Gold Coast

The Soninkes benefited from the taxes they imposed on their trade of mines, salt and gold. They controlled this trade and established a large empire called Ghana.

They also designated the value of gold, and assigned taxes to the salt and gold that were delivered.

Kumbi Saleh (now the modern desert region of Senegal) was the capital of Ghana.

Trade became the center of Soninke culture.

However they rejected the religion of Islam.

B. Empire of Kanem-Bornu (9th-19th Century)

It can be found around the Chad Lake.

Tasted victory in the 17th

century, with territories compromising southern

Chad, northern Cameroon, northeastern

Nigeria, eastern Niger, and southern

Libya.

The Kanem-Bornu was built in the middle of the 19th century. Because of its location, it served as a trade route from North

Africa, Nile Valley and sub-Saharan regions.

•It is composed of Mandika people.

•The Soso Empire rose, this obliterated many races, including the Mandinka. Sundiata Kita was the lone survivor, and when he grew up, he led the successful Mandinka Revolution against the Soso reign.

•Sundiata converted to Islam. Those who succeeded him carried the title mansa, meaning “emperor”.

•The most famous emperor of Mali was Mansa Musa who governed in 1312 AD.

•The first map of Africa was drawn in 1375, showing Mansa Musa sitting on the thrown with the title, “Lord of the Negroes”.

C. Mali Empire

Sunni Ali was the leader who attacked the Mali

empire. He was known for his belief in pagan gods and

magic.

Sunni Ali was When Sunni Ali dies, he was succeeded by Askia Mohammed who ruled from 1493-1528.

Askia was a devoted Muslim who tried to unite his

territories under one Muslim empire through consecutive

wars.

It was eventually destroyed from enemy attacks and from conflicts from the

empire itself.

D. Songhai Empire

Contributions

Art – closely tied with

religion, made from ivory, wood

and bronze.

Literary Traditions–

folktales were passed on from generation to

generation, Arabic was a popular

written language.

Education – in most societies, it was the duty of

the elders to teach boys and

girls their roles in the village.

Commerce- trade allowed many

empires to prosper and develop as a

result of cultural diffusion.

African Literature

Trickster tales characterize pre-colonial African

Literature.

Colonial literature tends to deal with

slavery and themes of

independence.

Postcolonial work often deal with

conflicts

Yambo Ouologuem

Born on August 22, 1940.

Pseudonym: Utto Rudolph.

Works: Le Devoir de Violence (English: Bound to Violence, 1968), Lettre à la France nègre (1969), and Les mille et une bibles du sexe (1969).

He learned several African languages and gained fluency in French, English, and Spanish.

He went to Paris in 1960, where he studied sociology, philosophy and English.

He is reputed to have been leading a secluded Islamic life as a Marabout.

When Black Men’s Teeth Speak Out by Yambo Ouologuem

Theme: In the poem, “When Black Men’s Teeth Speak Out”, it actually deals with stereotypes of oppressed people and race relations in Africa and how this stereotyping affects them.

Language and Style: The poet used literary device of repetition, but also adds onomatopoeia.

Symbolism:

“And there they found a tomato field in bloom” – symbolizes the harmless occupations of most of the Africans.

“Washed by streams flowing with palm-tree wine” -represents the traditional popular African drink.

“Hurrah for tomatoes” - reminds the oppressors that red is the color of blood inside every human being regardless of his skin color.

Characters:

• Persona – He is being blamed for his country's tourism failures saying he is a cannibal because of his teeth and red gums.

• Society – They view the protagonist as a dreadful animal, believing that he could occasionally and secretly eating humans.

Settings:

• Africa

Plot:

Introduction: The character said that people think that he is a cannibal because of his red gums and teeth.

Rising Action: People blamed the character why there aren’t many tourists in their country. They even accused him of boiling or grilling the tourists alive.

Climax: The character was surrounded, tied up, and thrown to the ground at the feet of justice. There, he was severely criticized and sentenced to death. Also, a girl, one of the crowds, yapped to open the character’s stomach claiming that his daddy was still inside.

Falling Action: Since no knives were around, somebody grabbed a Gillette blade and opened the character’s belly.

Conclusion: When they opened him up, all they saw were tomatoes for the character is vegetarian.

Conflict and Point of View:

The conflict of the story was Man versus Society for the protagonist was condemned of being the reason why the tourism in their country is not on its full-height. Moreover, people accused him as a cannibal.

The point of view of the poem is considered as a first-person point of view since the character participated and narrated the events, which he observed in the story using the third-person pronouns I and they.