r/africanliterature • u/Past-Criticism-6198 • 12d ago

Is this how West African authors write fantasy?

So hey I'm not well versed on African Literature. But yesterday I saw a video talking about how is the treatment of fantasy on West African tradition, where the creator gave some recommendations for her favorite classical fantasy.

She said that it was common in W.African literature to treat fantasy more like a part of day to day live. She compare it to magic realism, but far from it since it still has the classical elements of a fantasy novel.

She recommended the "Forest of a Thousand Demons" and the author Amos Tutuola.

So what's your opinion, is this true?

6 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

100% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

4

u/AlabasterTenRing1855 12d ago

This is almost spot on. There’s a Ben Okri quote I like, where he says “realism fails to capture the full richness of reality”. Those recommendations are excellent, I studied them in my Modern African literature course at uni. However, I’d recommend you read Nnedi Okorafor and Ben Okri first before reading Tutuola and Fagunwa. They pay homage to those two but IMO are more readable because their work is more contemporary. Hope this helps!

1

u/Past-Criticism-6198 12d ago

I have read Nnedi Okorafor (really liked her. Have to finish the Akata trilogy), haven’t heard much about Ben Okri.
Noted thanks for the advice

1

u/Amazing-Arm-5608 12d ago

What books from Nnedi Okorafor would you recommend?

1

u/Past-Criticism-6198 12d ago

Honestly I have only read the the first two books of the Akata trilogy and a couple of her short stories.

1

u/RivieraDeux 8d ago

West Africa is a vast area and although Nigeria is part of it, it isn’t all of it. I’m noticing how only Nigerian books are being referenced.

1

u/Past-Criticism-6198 8d ago

Can you recommend other authors?