EBONYI JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE
EJLLS Publication
EJLLS| Title: | The Role of English in The Development of World Literatures in Anglo-Phone Africa |
| Author(s): | Macpherson C. O. OKPARA |
| Abstract: | The indispensable role of the English Language in the globalisation and in the sustained flourishing of the literate tradition of African literature calls for proportionate comprehension by scholars and general consumers of the literature on the African continent and in the diaspora. This thinking provided the impetus for this survey of the role of English in the development of world literatures in English in Anglo-phone Africa. Following the new historicism, this paper foregrounds the place of colonial languages in the shift of African literature from the oral to the literate tradition and surveys the history of English and its influence on the development of literature in English in Franco-phone Africa; namely Franco-phone West Africa, East Africa and South Africa. Relying on findings from the analyses of secondary sources (print and online materials), this study concludes that the English Language has significantly contributed to world-wide reach and patronage of African literature in English. |
| Keywords: | World literatures in English, Development, English Language, Anglo-phone Africa |
