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Under African Skies: Modern African Stories

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The talent of story telling is widespread in Africa. Oral history is part of the makeup of the multitude of societies that have evolved in Africa over millennia. Through colonial times the traditions of story telling has continued, preserving the rich culture and history of the communities. Published works of African writers were small in numbers in comparison to other continents and literary training the privilege of very few. With the wave of African countries' independence, the situation of African fiction authors did not improve much. Obstacles were numerous, from political difficulties to lack of a paying audience in the African market. Larson contends that the "most extraordinary aspect of African literature [during the last fifty years] is its resilience." His introduction to this collection of African short fiction of the last few decades summarizes the challenges and the triumphs of many African writers. He describes his difficulty of selection among the many and varied writers from across the continent.

Twenty six writers from seventeen countries are introduced, including internationally well-known authors like Chinua Achebe, Sembene Ousmane and Ken Saro-Wiwa. Others, locally recognized, in their country of origin or, too often, of exile, deserve a much wider larger audience. The stories, roughly arranged chronologically, range from the very personal vignette to the magical realism of a place or person. Early works might address the domestic-master relationship, such as Es'kia Mphahlele's delightful "Mrs. Plum" or the moving story of "The Black Girl" by Ousmane. Landscapes can be important backdrops or become essential elements that lure the innocent into their realm. "The Complete Gentleman" changes into everything but that once he enters the forest. Conflict and devastation are touched upon as they haunt the living such as in Ben Okri's story "A Prayer from the Living". While the styles vary from one author to the next, we also find commonalities and parallels in the events described: personal tragedies, war, heroism and defeat. Taken together, the book builds a tapestry of African realities with the dreams and the magic woven in. It reads like one complex literary work with many individual and diverse chapters.

Each author is briefly introduced by Larson and their writing placed into context of their life and literary career. Thereby the author instilled some curiosity in the reader to read more of one or the other writer. The book, published in 1997/8, maintains its importance today as an excellent overview of African literary talent. Don't stop there, however. There is a rich field out there to explore. [Friederike Knabe]

There's a nagging irony in reading these stories. Africa, the home of our species, must now lament the return of her descendants as conquerors and oppressors. Larson, who has compiled other collections of African writing, presents us with a litany of more than two dozen expressions of frustration and helplessness. That's not to say these tales are merely depressing reading. The authors are too human and witty in their expressive narratives to be so limited. Larson has assembled the works of writers equal in their talents with authors from any culture. Grace Ogrot, Ben Okri, Bessie Head and Ken Saro-Wiwa, may all be placed in balance with those in the "Western" ranks.

The powerful stories by these articulate writers, however, don't offer much in the way of humour. Living in Africa today is no laughing matter. Before the collapse of apartheid and the turning out of colonial powers, it was even worse. Most of these stories represent those times and conditions. Of them all, Ken Saro-Wiwa's "Africa Kills Her Sun" may be the most poignant and compelling. The title imparts much at the outset. It's the story of a robber facing execution and certainly seizes the reader. That's particularly true when you recall the author would be facing his own martyrdom only a few years later. It's also symptomatic of the tone of the collection with its depiction of government corruption and arbitrary use of power.

On the other hand, if you are interested in the African woman's view of life, which of these should you place first in your reading queue? Yvonne Vera's "Why Don't You Carve Other Animals"? Nurrudin Farah's "My Father, the Englishman and I"? Or Mzamane Nhlapo's "Give me a Chance"? Each will lead you to a facet of women's lives in Africa. There's an added fillip when you realise two of those writers are men. Women writers have much to say, but have struggled "manfully"[?] to gain a place in the pantheon of African authors. Besides Vera, there's Ama Ata Aidoo, Veronique Tadjo, and Sindiwe Magona. Their contributions to this gathering bring a fresh and evocative voice to African writing.

It's indicative of the African scene that several of these writers were living in exile at the time these stories were first published. Another aspect of this collection is the number of "non-English-writing" authors have a strong representation. In the "West" it's too easy to overlook the plethora of languages permeating Africa - with French and Portuguese translations appearing here. The clash of cultures includes religion, as well. Islam is a major force in Africa and it and Christianity remain in subdued conflict with traditional gods. From these are derived food taboos, family relations and medicinal practices. Only lately have we outside our home continent become aware of the benefits of them. We overlook how many people rely on these social factors for survival - and who are forced to abandon them under external pressures. What happens when a family comes under the domination of a fanatical Christian convert? Ngugi wa Thiong'o's Kenyan story "A Meeting In the Dark" offers some valuable insight into what the West has imposed there.

If forced to choose a "favourite" among these tales, it would likely be Es'kia Mphalele's "Mrs Plum". Told from the view of Mrs Plum's servant girl, Karabo - also known as "Jane" - it deals with the complex interactions between black Africans and whites living in but loathing the culture apartheid created. There are three "big things" in Mrs Plum's life. Karabo isn't one of them, but she will be. As the longest story in the collection, Mphalele's tale is able to delve more deeply into the issues through his character. He also uses Karabo to explain many elements in the daily lives of South Africans. Apartheid may be gone, but it's hard to believe Karabo's life is any more fulfilled than it was when this was written. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Ontario]

I have always been wary of collections of stories written by multiple authors - I am afraid that they will be lacking in content as the editor attempts to create some sort of image of the type of author he/she is collecting. This is emphatically not the case here.
While I was initially struck by the alien nature of the cultures from which these stories come - I am a Brooklynite through and through - this did not stop me from devouring UNDER AFRICAN SKIES: MODERN AFRICAN STORIES. (Here I feel I should note that I read this book as part of a discussion based seminar this past year I spent at Trinity College. My classmates provided me with great insight, but most of the joy I found in reading this work stemmed from the superb quality and provocative nature of these stories.) Although it would be an over statement to say that every single story in this collection is great, some - including Alexander Kanehgoni's EFFORTLESS TEARS - are among the best short stories I have ever encountered. I say "encountered" and not "read" because you do not simply read many of these stories, you experience them both intellectually and emotionally. Buy this book, let it speak to you - do not be discouraged by cultural barriers - you will not be disappointed.
In a final note, I would like to concur with the "A reader from New York City" that this book should not be read in a single sitting. Each story should be read more than once: there are layers of meaning that simply cannot be grasped without careful reading and re-reading. This is not to say that the work cannot be enjoyed without careful study, but that it becomes more enjoyable the more time you devote to it.

Mr. Larsen's has skillfully selected a range of stories that covers the breadth of the continent, and of its voices. Each story--all are brief, all are powerful in their way--is preceded by an introduction to the writer and context of the work. The book is not long, but cannot be read at a sitting, not unless you're made of iron. These are unblinking stories of colonial and postcolonial Africa. Buy it for Birago Diop's story alone, or Ken Saro-Wiwa's.

This book was published in 1997 and contains 26 works by as many writers, from 16 countries. South Africa and Nigeria are best represented, with 4-5 stories each. Other countries, with 1-2 stories each, include those from the west (Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana), the east and center (Cameroon, Kenya, Sudan, Somalia) and the south (Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Lesotho). Ethiopia, Congo (Dem. Rep.), Tanzania and Uganda are the most populous countries whose writers weren't included.

The stories in the book range from the late 1940s to the 1990s, with most published in the 1960s and 90s. The great majority of the pieces were written in English in the original, a few were translated from French and one each from Portuguese and Arabic. The editor's intention seems to have been to introduce readers to both well-known, older writers and stories as well as to newer ones.

Earlier writers included Birago Diop, Es'kia Mphahlele, Amos Tutuola, Sembene Ousmane, Camara Laye, Tayeb Salih, Chinua Achebe, Grace Ogot and Rene Philombe. Younger ones included Tijan Sallah, Ben Okri, Véronique Tadjo, Yvonne Vera and Mzamane Nhlapo. The book didn't contain short stories by writers such as Ekwensi, Gordimer, Nwapa, Djebar, Breytenbach, Dongala, Iyayi, Mungoshi, Ndebele, Wicomb, Vassanji, or Marechera, or excerpts by novelists such as Emecheta or Coetzee.

The stories in the collection mainly cover daily life, family relations, social customs, and people's behavior in crises such as illness, the search for work, the death of a loved one, government or social oppression, corruption and war. Most of the works were straightforward and realistic. Many, such as Es'kia Mphahlele's "Mrs. Plum," Rene Philombe's "The True Martyr Is Me," Don Mattera's "Afrika Road," Tijan Sallah's "Innocent Terror," Steve Chimombo's "Taken," Similih Cordor's "In the Hospital," and Sindiwe Magona's "I'm Not Talking about That Now," contained an element of social criticism; in most cases well done, in a few cases, in my opinion, stylistically uninteresting and strident. A few others, such as those by Tutuola, Camara, Diop and the more contemporary Véronique Tadjo, used dreamlike narratives similar to magic realism. The anthology didn't contain any politically satiric works, except maybe Achebe's "Girls at War," in which a government member keeps running into a patriotic girl during a time of civil war, and sees the girl's circumstances worsen drastically while his own improve. Emmanuel Dongala does this type of writing well, and a story of his could've been included.

Of the newer pieces in the anthology, the ones I enjoyed most were an excerpt from Tadjo's novel As the Crow Flies, which used images in a surreal, striking way ("She parted from him, laid her hands on his forehead, and opened his skull. What she saw inside frightened her. It was a desert of sadness and solitude. It looked like a battlefield . . . . in the distance, she spotted a lake and, beyond that, a plain on which the grass seemed green and smiling. The earth there was rich . . . . From that time on, she spent her days devising a means of reaching the valley . . . ."). Mzamane Nhlapo's "Give Me a Chance," about a mother who goes against the customs of her society, which expects women to ask for permission from their elders or husband when they seek work, to feed herself and her children. And Steve Chimombo's "Taken," in which the narrator tries to find out why his writer friend was arrested by his oppressive government, while dealing with the people around him who expect his turn is next. Another piece, "A Gathering of Bald Men," by Mandla Langa, was a humorous story about a happily married black salaryman whose life begins to come apart after he starts losing his hair. It had some interest for showing scenes from life in post-apartheid South Africa and being a rather light, comic tale; too light, maybe.

Of the older works, I enjoyed Grace Ogot's "Tekayo," written in the style of an oral tale, about an older man who violates dietary and other customs and brings disaster on himself and his family. And Sembene Ousmane's "Black Girl," about the cultural dislocation and prejudice experienced by a Senegalese maid who's taken by her French employer to work in France.

This anthology, edited by Charles Larson, is one of the more recent collections in English of writers from Africa, together with Nadezhda Obradovic's Anchor Book of Modern African Stories, published in 2002. Readers who enjoyed Larson's anthology might also enjoy Obradovic's. The collections differ in that Larson's devotes more space to older writers and earlier decades, and comparatively less space to newer ones.

Larson has compiled at least two previous anthologies devoted wholly to Africa: African Short Stories, published in the United States in 1970, and Opaque Shadows and Other Stories from Contemporary Africa, published in 1975. Under African Skies incorporates about a third of the stories from the earlier collections.