Terms for African literature class

delayed decoding

Where the reader receives confusing sensory details before their meaning is revealed — mimicking Marlow's disorientation.

frame narrative

A story within a story. In Heart of Darkness, an unnamed narrator tells us Marlow is telling the story.

unreliable narrator

A narrator whose account cannot be fully trusted, due to bias, limited knowledge, or self-deception. Marlow is a key example.

apostrophe

Addressing someone absent or unable to respond. In Omeros, Achille addresses his ancestor Afolabe.

allusion

A reference to another text or cultural work. Omeros alludes extensively to Homer's Odyssey and Iliad.

irony

A gap between what is said and what is meant, or between expectation and reality. Kurtz's 'Exterminate all the brutes' is deeply ironic.

passive voice

Grammatical construction that erases the agent of action ('he was failed' vs. 'the system failed him'). Used to critique systemic violence.

symbol

An object or action that represents something beyond itself. Jubril's hidden hands symbolize concealed identity.

tercet

A three-line stanza. Omeros is written in tercets, echoing Dante's terza rima.

slave narrative

A genre of autobiography by formerly enslaved people. Equiano's narrative is a founding example.

spiritual autobiography

Narrative structured around religious conversion. Equiano's text doubles as this — his conversion to Christianity is central.

small story

An individual or local story, as opposed to the grand 'master narrative.' Danticat's Arnold is a small story ignored by systems of power.

master narrative

The dominant, official story — often Eurocentric — that marginalizes other perspectives.

othering

Constructing someone as fundamentally different and inferior to establish one's own identity as the norm.

liminality

Being 'in-between' — caught between two identities, cultures, or states. Jubril is liminal; many diaspora characters are.

hybridity

Having a mixed, blended identity that doesn't fit neatly into one culture. Central to postcolonial identity (Bhabha).

third space

The space where two cultures meet and negotiate — neither purely one nor the other. Linked to hybridity.

imaginary homeland

The idealized or reconstructed homeland of diaspora people — often different from the actual place. Key in Omeros.

Orientalism

Said's concept: the West's construction of 'the East' as exotic, inferior, and other. Can be extended to Africa (Africanism).

postcolonialism

The study of the cultural, political, and economic legacy of colonialism. The frame for most texts in this course.

neocolonialism

Continued economic and political control of formerly colonized nations by outside powers, even after formal independence. Central to A Bend in the River.

Zairianization

Mobutu's 1970s policy of transferring foreign-owned businesses to Zairian nationals — depicted in A Bend in the River as corrupt and chaotic.

Biafra

The short-lived republic (1967-70) declared by Igbo secessionists in southeastern Nigeria. The Nigerian Civil War / Biafran War is the setting of Half of a Yellow Sun.

Middle Passage

The transatlantic voyage of enslaved Africans from Africa to the Americas. Central to Equiano, Homegoing, and Omeros.

convict leasing

Post-Civil War US system leasing Black prisoners to private businesses — effectively re-enslaving freed people. Depicted in Homegoing (H's chapter).

trans-Atlantic slave trade

The forced transportation of millions of Africans to the Americas from the 16th-19th centuries. The foundational historical context of many course texts.

chattel slavery

A form of slavery in which enslaved people are legally treated as property that can be bought, sold, and inherited.

Hausa/Fulani

Predominantly Muslim ethnic groups of northern Nigeria. The ethnic/religious tension in Luxurious Hearses is between them and Igbo Christians.

Ibo/Igbo

An ethnic group of southeastern Nigeria. Central to Things Fall Apart, Half of a Yellow Sun, and the Biafran War.

diaspora

A dispersed population sharing common origins, especially one displaced by force or migration. Key concept for Homegoing, Omeros, and Equiano.

appropriation

Taking elements of another culture, often by a dominant group. In the course: who gets to tell African stories? (Richard in Half of a Yellow Sun).

authenticity

The quality of being genuine, especially regarding cultural identity or narrative authority. Debated in Equiano, Half of a Yellow Sun, and Omeros.

Danger of a Single Story

Chimamanda Adichie's concept (from her TED talk): the harm of reducing a people to one narrative. Heart of Darkness is a prime example of a 'single story.'

generational trauma

Psychological effects of trauma transmitted across generations. The structural premise of Homegoing.

colorism

Discrimination based on skin tone, typically favoring lighter skin. Relevant in Homegoing (Effia vs. Esi's descendants).

transculturation

The mutual transformation that occurs when two cultures meet — not just one-way assimilation.