Political Intuition and African Autobiographies of Childhood

Abstract

This essay analyzes and provides an alternative reading of Camara Laye's L'enfant noir and Wole Soyinka's Aké: The Years of Childhood . It examines how the two texts defy codifications and ideological expectations of childhood autobiographical narratives, and explores their intricate autobiographical determinations and motives. It demonstrates that, when it comes to narratives situated in the colonial period, Camara Laye and Wole Soyinka have provided alternative engagements with colonialism, adding nuance to the literary representations and accounts of childhood in African letters.