Malawi in Verse: Authenticity, African Literature, and Indigenous Aesthetic Forms

Abstract

The ideophone is a distinct linguistic and literary feature that is prevalent in many African languages. It not only plays a significant role in language acquisition, but is also prized by many native speakers as the highest form of imaginative literary expression. The value and utility of oral traditions, however, have not been adequately explored within the existing western-oriented literary framework. The authentication of African literature was the subject of an intense debate at the inaugural gathering of African writers and critics at Makerere in 1962, which examined the question of what constitutes African literature. This study is a continuation of that debate. I propose that African oral forms should be centred as a critical platform for an authentic literary theory that takes indigenous African languages and literatures seriously. Three sample texts, all set in northern Malawi, two composed in chiTumbuka and one in English, are examined in order to illustrate the need to develop a more participatory aesthetics based on African experiences and sensibilities.