Sudanese literature

Sudanese literature refers to both oral as well as written works of fiction and nonfiction that were created during the cultural history of today's Republic of the Sudan. This includes the territory of what was once Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, as well as this area's long and diverse history.

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Culture of Sudan

The oldest existing records of the precursors of a distinctive Sudanese literature can be dated to about 300 BCE and were written in the Meroitic script. These historical records, such as inscriptions on sandstone, bear testimony of the kings of Kush or deities of the Kushite culture in northern Sudan.[1]

During the 6th century Christianization of Nubia, the Kushite language and cursive script were replaced by Byzantine Greek, Coptic, and Old Nubian languages, with texts relating both to religion, to public affairs or to private life. From the fourteenth century onwards, Arabic became the primary language in Nubia and, with the spread of Islam, developed into the main written and spoken language for religious and secular affairs in other parts of Sudan.[2]

"Long before the novel and short story became known as literary genres, Sudanese literature existed in the form of oral stories and narrative poems, most of which, until recently, were transmitted from one generation to the next.", as literary critic Eiman El-Nour put it in his seminal paper The Development of Contemporary Literature in Sudan.[3]

Through the spread of written literature in Sudanese newspapers, as well as through formal, non-religious education in the 20th century and beyond, a modern Sudanese literature of fiction and nonfiction in Arabic began to appear.[3][4] Some modern writers with Sudanese roots and living in other countries, like Leila Aboulela or Jamal Mahjoub, write in English and, together with translations of original works written in Arabic, have made fictional literature about Sudan accessible to a wider audience.

Traditional and modern forms of oral literature

Literature in Sudan of today is either orally told, recited or written in the Arabic language, with certain types also in local languages, such as poetry in the Fur language of western Sudan.[5] As in other African countries, both written literature and genres of oral tradition, such as folk tales, proverbs or poems, are common, but depend on their social setting, such as in rural, partly illiterate or in urban educated societies. These oral types of storytelling may be simply recited by individuals or by groups of persons, or they may be accompanied by singing and musical accompaniments, thus transgressing the theoretical definition of literature and music.[6]

Among the living oral traditions, there are the Ahaji folk tales and the Madih, or religious praise tales. The first kind generally have a mythological and often local character. According to literary critic Eiman El-Nour, "they invariably have happy endings and are full of fanciful scenes and superstitions that describe the magic powers of genies and ogres." Madih, the other kind of poetry is typically recited by a singer and chorus, and has a religious character, praising the prophet Muhammad or revered religious leaders.[3]

From the beginning of modern written literature, and going back to age-old oral traditions, poetry and songs have been the most popular genres in Sudan. Before independence, poems and the lyrics of songs were expressions of nationalism and other political issues.[7] An important poet, whose patriotic verses have been used in popular songs like "Azza fī Hawāk" (My beloved Azza)[8] was Khalil Farah (1892-1932).[9] To this day, poetry and songs have occupied a prominent role in Sudanese culture. Songs celebrating the beauty of the land, its regions and sceneries like the Nile valley or her people have been very popular in modern music since at least the 1930s. During modern times of political oppression, these forms of oral literature have been expressions of resistance towards the rulers of the day, and have led to the imprisonment or exile of poets like Mahjoub Sharif (1948 - 2014)[10] or musicians like Mohammed Wardi (1932 - 2012).[11]

A traditional form of oral poetry are the songs of praise or ridicule by female singers of Western Sudan, called Hakamat. These are women of high social standing, respected for their eloquence, intuition and decisiveness, who may both incite or vilify the men of their tribe, when engaged in feuds with other tribes.[12] The social impact of these Hakamat can be so strong, that they have recently been invited by peacebuilding initiatives in Darfur in order to exert their influence for conflict resolution or other social issues, like environmental protection.[13]

Contemporary forms of oral literature in urban settings as an expression of identity, political resistance or visions of the future are the forms of spoken word poetry, political slogans, rap, or hip hop music that preceded and accompanied the Sudanese Revolution of 2018/19.[14][15]

Modern Sudanese literature written in Arabic

According to literary scholar Constance E. Berkley, "Sudanese Arabic literature has links with all Arabic literature, both past and present. At the same time, it is valid in its own right. Among the Sudanese, as among other African and/or Arabic speaking people, poetry is the preferred literary form."[16] On the further issue of writing in Arabic with a distinct Sudanese character, the Sudanese poet and critic Mohammed Abdul-Hayy writes: "Muhammad Ahmed Mahgoub was one of the leading literary spokesmen who (...) expressed the idea of a Sudanese literature 'written in Arabic, but infused with the idiom of our land, because this (idiom) is what distinguishes a literature of one nation from another.'"[17][18]

Although there were several newspapers published in Sudan around the beginning of the 20th century, arguably the most important newspaper in terms of impact on modern Sudanese literature was "Al-Ra'id" (The Pioneer). This paper, published in Arabic, started in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, in 1914 and presented a variety of poetry and other literary forms. Its first editor was the well-known poet and journalist Abdul Raheem Glailati. In 1917, he was deported to Cairo by the British authorities, because of his article criticising the poor living conditions of Sudanese, but even in 1924, he could publish a collection of revolutionary, nationalist poetry.[19]

Another important factor for the development of written literature in Sudan was the spread of modern educational institutions, like the Gordon Memorial College in Khartoum and other non-religious schools in major cities like Omdurman or Wad Madani. Schooling in the English language also provided Sudanese intellectuals with access to English literature, translations from other Western languages and to non-fictional publications on world-wide issues.[20]

Apart from poetry, the most prominent literary genre in Sudan is the short story. This form of writing started in the 1920s and was largely influenced by Arabic short stories in Egyptian newspapers.[21] Since the period preceding the independence of Sudan in 1956, short stories and novels have dealt with political and social issues, as well as with the question of the country's complex cultural identity. This central theme of what it means to be Sudanese is marked in more or lesser degrees by both African roots as well as by Arabic cultural influences.[22] It also gave the name to a group of writers of the 1960s, comprising Al-Nur Osman Abkar, Mohammed Abdul-Hayy, Ali El-Mak or Salah Ahmed Ibrahim, called The Forest and Sahara school, where forest stands for the rainforests of the South and Sahara for the deserts of Northern Sudan.[23]

A Sudanese journalist and renowned poet in the Arabic literary world was Muhammad al-Fayturi (1936–2015), whose extensive poetic work "particularly draws upon his experience as an African living among Arabs, and thus addresses issues such as race, class and colonialism."[24]

In line with social and political developments in other countries at the time, stories, novels and poems dealing with social realist themes, like the conflicts between social classes were also written in Sudan.[25] These were spurred on by Sudanese academics, who were returning home from studying in Egypt or in European countries. Literary critic Eiman El-Nour states that a novel by the title of "Al-Faragh al-'arid" (The vast emptiness or The wide hollowness) was the first "true example" of this type.[3] Published in 1970, after the death of its author Malkat Ed-Dar Mohamed, the work reportedly caused quite a stir, having been written both by a woman and dealing with themes of social reality.[26]

Arguably the most notable Sudanese writer is Tayeb Salih (1929 – 2009), who wrote both novels as well as short stories. His most famous work, translated as Season of Migration to the North and published in 1966, deals with the coming of age of a student returning to Sudan from England. It became famous among Arabic readers across the region and has subsequently been translated into several languages, including English and French.[27]

Another Sudanese writer of international recognition is Amir Taj al-Sir, born 1960. He has published more than a dozen books, including poetry and nonfiction. His first novel Karmakul came out in 1988, and his novel The Hunter of the Chrysalises was shortlisted for the 2011 Arabic Booker Prize.[28][29]

Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin (born 1963) has written several popular novels and collections of short stories, including al-Jango (2009)[30] that deals with the conditions in a women's prison and won the al-Tayyib Salih Prize for Creative Writing.[31] Even after having been initially sold in local bookstores, his books were confiscated and banned by the Sudanese authorities of the day and are only available outside of Sudan.[32] His novel Masīḥ Dārfūr (The Messiah of Darfur, 2013), taking place in the context of the civil war in Darfur,[33] was published in French in 2016. Since 2012, Baraka Sakin has lived in exile in Austria and has been invited to a number of literary festivals in France and Germany.[34]

Stella Gaitano, born in Khartoum of parents from southern Sudan in 1979, has published both short stories and a novel in Arabic, that have been translated into English. She grew up and studied in Khartoum, and writes stories often dealing with the harsh living conditions of people from southern Sudan, who have endured discrimination and military dictatorship, or war and displacement in the northern part of Sudan.[35]

Another contemporary female writer is Rania Mamoun (born 1979), who has written several novels and short stories, translated as Thirteen Months of Sunrise.[36] Several of her stories have appeared in English translation, including in The Book of Khartoum, Banthology[37] and in Banipal literary magazine.[38]

Sabah Sanhouri (born 1990), is a cultural essayist from Khartoum, who writes prose as well as poetry. Her story "Isolation" won the El-Tayeb Saleh competition for young writers in 2009 and was published both in Arabic, as well as in a French and English translation.[39] Mirrors, her first collection of stories, came out in Egypt and Sudan in 2014,[40] and in 2019, she published her first novel, entitled Paradise.[41]

Literature in other languages by writers with Sudanese roots

Taban Lo Liyong, who was born in southern Sudan in 1939 and studied in the 1960s in the United States, is one of Africa's well-known poets, writers of fiction and literary criticism. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, "Liyong wrote highly imaginative short narratives, such as Fixions (1969), and unorthodox free verse,( ...) His nonfiction output consists of argumentative and amusing personal essays and bold literary criticism (...), presenting challenging new ideas in an original manner." After teaching positions in several countries, including Sudan, he became professor of English at the University of Juba.

Born in Cairo of Sudanese parents in 1959, Tarek Eltayeb has been living in Vienna, Austria, since 1984. In addition to seven books in Arabic, he has published his poetry, novels and short stories in German translation.[42] His novel Mudun Bila Nakhil (Cities Without Palms, 1992), tells the story of a young man from Sudan, who first emigrates to Egypt and further on to Europe.[43]

Leila Aboulela, who was born in 1964 in Cairo, Egypt, to an Egyptian mother and a Sudanese father, and grew up in Khartoum, is a Sudanese writer who lives in Great Britain and writes in English. Her poems, short stories and novels have received international acclaim.[44]

Jamal Mahjoub, who was born in London in 1966 of British and Sudanese parents and grew up in Khartoum, writes in English and has published a trilogy taking place in Sudan. His novel A Line in the River (2019) recounts the years from the military coup of 1989 up to the separation of the North and South Sudan in 2001. In an article about literature in Sudan, written just about as the Sudanese Revolution of 2018/19 came to its final stage, he gave the following assessment of the limitations for writers, publishers and readers:[36]

The last 30 years have been difficult for Sudanese artists of all kinds – among them musicians and painters, but particularly writers. The 1989 coup triggered an exodus. People left to settle in Cairo and the Gulf, North America and Europe, even Japan and Australia. Inside the country, a new generation of writers has since grown up in the shadow of repression. Despite these difficulties writers have continued to work and publish, both within the country and abroad. In a climate where newspapers are regularly censored, journalists detained and print runs seized, books have remained cherished items to be passed around with reverence.

— Jamal Mahjoub, Top 10 books about Sudan. The Guardian, May 2019

A representative of young writers of Sudanese origin, living in the worldwide Sudanese diaspora, is Safia Elhillo (born 1990), a Sudanese-American poet known for her written and spoken poetry. Her poems have appeared in several publications, including Poetry, Callaloo, and the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-day series, and in anthologies, such as The BreakBeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop and Women of Resistance: Poems for a New Feminism. Her collection of poetry The January Children (2017) refers to the children born in Sudan under British occupation, whose birth date was often indiscriminately recorded as January 1.[45][46]

Academic scholarship on Sudanese literature and Arabic language

An outstanding Sudanese scholar and literary critic with a long list of publications on poetry or other genres from Sudan and in Arabic in general, was Abdalla Eltayeb (1921 – 2003). His primary field of study was the Arabic language and its creative use in poetry. One of his most notable works is A Guide to Understanding Arabic Poetry, a massive opus written over thirty-five years. Eltayeb was also president of Khartoum's Arab Language League and a member of the Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo. Through his works of fiction and radio programmes on literature, he contributed to a wider appreciation of literature for people without access to written sources.[47]

Another notable scholar on language and culture in Sudan was Awn Alsharif Qasim (1933 – 2006). Among many other works, he authored the Sudanese Encyclopedia of Tribes and Genealogies, a pioneer, state of the art series of books about the different Sudanese tribes, their roots and origins.[48]

Several departments of the University of Khartoum, like the Faculty of Arts, the Institute of Asian and African Studies or of Islamic Studies, publish academic scholarship relating to the history and present of culture in Sudan.[49]

Anthologies of Sudanese literature

After the 2009 collection of short stories in French translation, Nouvelles du Soudan, several anthologies in English, such as I Know Two Sudans: An Anthology of Creative Writing from Sudan and South Sudan,[50] The Book of Khartoum,[51] Literary Sudans: An Anthology of Literature from Sudan and South Sudan[52] or Modern Sudanese Poetry: An Anthology[53] have made contemporary literature from Sudan and South Sudan accessible to readers in translation. In addition, Banipal literary magazine published a special issue in 2016 on Sudanese literature today.[54]

Apart from those names already mentioned above, writers featured in these compilations are Hammour Ziada, Mohammad Jamil Ahmad, Abdel Ghani Karamallah, Najla Osman Eltom, Hamed El-Nazir, Emad Blake, Mansour El-Souwaim, Nur al-Huda Mohammed Nur al-Huda, Ahmed Al Malik, Dan Lukudu, Agnes Ponilako, Bushra Elfadil, Kenyi A. Spencer, Mamoun Eltilb and others.

Nonfiction by Sudanese writers

The list of Sudanese writers of nonfiction, as another important form of narrative writing, includes authors known for their contributions to such topics as Islamic thought, politics or social issues in Sudan. Addressing Sudanese readers, these are mainly published in Arabic, with some journals presenting essays, academic scholarship, interviews or other journalistic texts also in English. One of these journals, focussing on the close relationships of life in Sudan and South Sudan, as well as with other East African neighbours, is Andariya Magazine[55], and another online journal with a similar East African focus is The Niles.[56]

Traditional and modern forms of Sudanese theatre

Rituals and theatre-like performances have been described by modern studies as part of ancient and traditional civilisations in Sudan.[57] In a period of florishing cultural life in Sudan from the 1960s and up to the restrictions of many public activities by the Public Order Laws since 1989, foreign and Sudanese theatre plays in the modern sense enjoyed a certain amount of popularity in Khartoum.[58] Nevertheless, the College of Music and Drama of the Sudan University of Science and Technology has been offering studies and degrees without interruption since 1977,[59] and together with the Sudanese Dramatists Union has organized theatre festivals and workshops at the National Theatre, opened in 1959 in Omdurman.[60]

See also

References
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  2. Hoyland, Robert (2015). In God's Path: The Arab Conquest and the Creation of an Islamic Empire. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 77.
  3. El-Nour 1997.
  4. On the notion of a modern national literature in Africa, compare the following definition by Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe: "A national literature is one that takes the whole nation for its province and has a realized or potential audience throughout its territory. An ethnic literature is one which is available to one ethnic group within the nation." Chinua Achebe. Morning Yet on Creation Day (New York: Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1976), p. 75
  5. "Some of the other major languages of the Sudan which possess both oral literature and written material, either in grammars, dictionaries, or recently compiled dual language folkloric text are Dinka, Fur, Nuer, Shilluk, Azande and Bari." Berkley 1981
  6. Nigerian literary critic Mbube Nwi-Akeeri explained that Western theories cannot effectively capture and explain oral literature, particularly those indigenous to regions such as Africa. The reason is that there are elements to oral traditions in these places that cannot be captured by words alone, such as gestures, dance, and the interaction between the storyteller and the audience. According to Nwi-Akeeri, oral literature is not only a narrative, but also a social performance. Cf. Nwi-Akeeri, Mbube (2017). Oral literature in Nigeria: A Search for Critical Theory. Research Journal of Humanities and Cultural Studies, vol. 3. ISSN 2579-0528
  7. El-Nour 1997, p. 155.
  8. Babikir, Adil (2019-09-01). Modern Sudanese Poetry: An Anthology. U of Nebraska Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-1-4962-1563-5.
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  23. رحيل الشاعر السوداني النور عثمان أبكر أحد مؤسسي مدرسة «الغابة والصحراء», أخبــــــار. archive.aawsat.com (in Arabic). Retrieved 2020-07-23.
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  51. Cormack, Ralph; Shmookler, Max (eds.). "The Book of Khartoum". Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  52. "Review | Literary Sudans: An Anthology of Literature From Sudan and South Sudan". Brittle Paper. 2017-01-09. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  53. Babikir, Adil (ed.). "Modern Sudanese Poetry: An Anthology". www.nebraskapress.unl.edu. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
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  55. Andariya Magazine. "About us". Retrieved 2020-07-01.
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  58. "Sudanese theatre enjoys revival after years of war". Reuters. 2011-04-04. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
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Works cited
  • Berkley, Constance E. (1981). "The Contours of Sudanese Literatur". Africa Today. 28 (2): 109–118. ISSN 0001-9887. JSTOR 4186005.
  • El-Nour, Eiman (1997). "The Development of Contemporary Literature in Sudan". Research in African Literatures. 28 (3): 150–162. ISSN 0034-5210. JSTOR 3821000.

Further reading
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