Literary Theory: “Africa” by Maya Angelou
Editor’s Note: For this assignment, I needed to read and respond to the content listed below, and then provide a response or assessment of the writing.
When I first read Maya Angelou’s poem, “Africa,” I saw the poem as allegorical and representative of both the women of Africa and Africa itself. After reading through it a few more times, I think both representations are possible, but I’m leaning toward it representing Africa the continent, so that’s where I’m going to focus my analysis.
Analyzing “Africa” with post-colonialism theory in mind, Angelou paints a vivid before, during, and after colonization picture for readers. In the first stanza, she describes the geographical beauty of Africa, giving the reader a rather idyllic image of the land. She ends the stanza by referring to Africa as “Black through the years.” That line, working in contrast to the next line, “Over the white seas,” seems to represent the people inhabiting Africa and the white colonizers who came to Africa. Her focus on the cold that came with the “brigands ungentled” indicates the harsh and, likely, brutal nature of the white colonizers. The reference to Jesus and guns appears to indicate that the people of Africa were forced into converting to Christianity or be killed.
In the last stanza, it appears as though the people of Africa are finally able to regain control of their land and are once again “rising.” Although the word rising indicates a positivity and an ending to the colonization years, Angelou reminds readers that it is not without grief for a lost history—possibly because so many people were killed or because so many people (“daughters” and “sons”) were taken or sold in the slave trade or because the colonization changed the people to such a degree—and many physically and emotionally painful years. However, the poem ends with the word “striding,” which is another word with a positive connotation, so the reader is left with a feeling of hope for Africa.
I loved this poem because there wasn’t one wasted line in it. Each line was such a colorful and striking addition to the story unfolding before me.