The African Renaissance Reconsidered: a Synopsis into its Aesthetic and Ideological Manifestations in Modern African Literature

Abstract

This paper is a literary re-interpretation of the African Renaissance. The post-World War II period witnessed an increasing scholarly interest in the African Renaissance. Yet, the emphasis has largely been on the political and economic aspects of the African Renaissance with no significant consideration of its aesthetic and ideological manifestations in contemporary African literature. This article will, however, reconsider the African Renaissance in a new light by studying its contribution in the production of a distinguished contemporary literary African output. I will, accordingly, use Amos Tutuola’s Feather Woman of the Jungle and Ayi Kwei Armah’s Two Thousand Seasons as two illustrative samples of this post-colonial early literary endeavour to partake in the revival process.