The African Diaspora is
a commonly used jargon these days and was coined around 1990s. It refers to the
communities all over the globe those have descended from the historic movement
of African people in the past. The African Diaspora community exists across all
the continents, including the Americas, Asia – including the Middle East and
Europe. Thanks to the flourishing slave trade during the Middle Ages, African
community has been subjected to forced migration since the historic times.
Thankfully, this
Diaspora community strived hard to retain its indigenous culture. The old
tradition of story-telling existed in Africa since a very long time. The
dispersed community maintained this age-old practice of oral storytelling even
in their new homes across the foreign lands. The themes of these stories
invariably revolved around their native land, inherited culture and traditional
way of life.
This tradition
sustained across time, denying towering adversities. This tradition eventually
gifted the world a unique genre of literature from African Diaspora authors.
This category of literature, especially at its initial phase, consisted of
slave narratives. It is remarkable to note, in a society which was dominated by
whites, this genre of books and stories became unbelievably popular almost in
no time.
The firsthand descriptions
about life under slavery not only exposed the brutality that slaves faced in
the hands of so-called civilized society. It also exposed the severe
vulnerability in which these people had to lead their lives. In fact, this
genre of books and accounts definitely contributed in abolishment of the curse
of slavery from the surface of the earth.
However, the struggle
for freedom and equality in the adopted nations for these folks was neither easy
nor short-lived. In accordance to the striking popularity of African Diaspora
writers, famous West African poets are
creating huge impact among the fraternity of global booklovers.
