50 MCQs on African Literature (Moderate to Hard Level)
Who is the author of the novel "Things Fall Apart"?
a) Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
b) Wole Soyinka
c) Chinua Achebe
d) Ben Okri Answer: c) Chinua Achebe Explanation: This 1958 novel is a cornerstone of African postcolonial literature.
In which language was "Devil on the Cross" originally written?
a) English
b) Kikuyu
c) Swahili
d) French Answer: b) Kikuyu Explanation: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o chose Kikuyu to resist colonial language domination.
Which African writer won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986?
a) Chinua Achebe
b) Nadine Gordimer
c) Wole Soyinka
d) J.M. Coetzee Answer: c) Wole Soyinka Explanation: Soyinka was the first African laureate to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Which novel by Buchi Emecheta deals with women's roles in Nigerian society?
a) The Joys of Motherhood
b) Nervous Conditions
c) The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born
d) Half of a Yellow Sun Answer: a) The Joys of Motherhood Explanation: The novel critiques gender expectations in Nigerian patriarchy.
"Nervous Conditions" is authored by:
a) Tsitsi Dangarembga
b) Buchi Emecheta
c) Ama Ata Aidoo
d) Nadine Gordimer Answer: a) Tsitsi Dangarembga Explanation: A powerful narrative about education and gender in Zimbabwe.
"The Famished Road" by Ben Okri is an example of:
a) Realism
b) Modernism
c) Magical Realism
d) Symbolism Answer: c) Magical Realism Explanation: The novel blends spirit-child traditions with political allegory.
Which of the following authors wrote in both English and French?
a) Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
b) Léopold Sédar Senghor
c) Chinua Achebe
d) Wole Soyinka Answer: b) Léopold Sédar Senghor Explanation: A founder of the Negritude movement, Senghor was also a poet-president of Senegal.
"So Long a Letter" is written in the form of:
a) Memoir
b) Diary
c) Epistolary novel
d) Prose poem Answer: c) Epistolary novel Explanation: Mariama Bâ's novel is structured as a letter and explores polygamy and feminism.
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o's original name was:
a) Ngũgĩ wa Kenya
b) Ngũgĩ Thiongo
c) James Ngugi
d) Thiong'o James Answer: c) James Ngugi Explanation: He changed his name after rejecting colonial identity and converting to Marxist ideology.
Who wrote "Petals of Blood"?
a) Ama Ata Aidoo
b) Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
c) Chinua Achebe
d) Bessie Head Answer: b) Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o Explanation: A political novel that critiques capitalism and corruption in postcolonial Kenya.
Who is the author of "July’s People"?
a) Nadine Gordimer
b) J.M. Coetzee
c) Alan Paton
d) Zakes Mda Answer: a) Nadine Gordimer Explanation: The novel imagines a reversal of apartheid roles during a civil conflict.
"Cry, the Beloved Country" focuses on which country?
a) Nigeria
b) Kenya
c) South Africa
d) Ghana Answer: c) South Africa Explanation: Alan Paton’s novel addresses racial injustice under apartheid.
Who wrote the play "Death and the King's Horseman"?
a) Wole Soyinka
b) Ola Rotimi
c) Athol Fugard
d) Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o Answer: a) Wole Soyinka Explanation: A play based on Yoruba cosmology and British colonial interference.
Which African writer was imprisoned without trial for his literature?
a) Ben Okri
b) Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
c) Chinua Achebe
d) Nuruddin Farah Answer: b) Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o Explanation: He was jailed after producing a politically charged play in Kikuyu.
The novel "Season of Migration to the North" was written by:
a) Tayeb Salih
b) Wole Soyinka
c) Chinua Achebe
d) Nuruddin Farah Answer: a) Tayeb Salih Explanation: A Sudanese novel addressing postcolonial identity and Orientalism.
Which of the following themes is central to African literature?
a) Utopian idealism
b) Global capitalism
c) Colonization and decolonization
d) Romantic escapism Answer: c) Colonization and decolonization Explanation: African literature often addresses the legacy of European colonialism.
Who is the author of "Half of a Yellow Sun"?
a) Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
b) Buchi Emecheta
c) Ama Ata Aidoo
d) Tsitsi Dangarembga Answer: a) Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Explanation: The novel explores the Biafran War and its impact on Nigerian identity.
Which African author is known for the trilogy: "Variations on the Theme of an African Dictatorship"?
a) Ben Okri
b) Nuruddin Farah
c) Ayi Kwei Armah
d) Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o Answer: b) Nuruddin Farah Explanation: Farah's Somali trilogy critiques totalitarian regimes and gender politics.
The Negritude movement was primarily led by:
a) Wole Soyinka
b) Léopold Sédar Senghor
c) Chinua Achebe
d) Mariama Bâ Answer: b) Léopold Sédar Senghor Explanation: Negritude celebrated black identity and culture in Francophone Africa.
Which novel begins with the line: \"Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond\"?
a) Petals of Blood
b) The Interpreters
c) Things Fall Apart
d) The Joys of Motherhood Answer: c) Things Fall Apart Explanation: This iconic opening introduces Achebe’s tragic hero, Okonkwo.
What is a major theme in Bessie Head’s "Maru"?
a) Political dictatorship
b) Tribal discrimination
c) Colonial missionary work
d) Environmental degradation Answer: b) Tribal discrimination Explanation: The novel critiques prejudice against the Masarwa (San) people in Botswana.
In which novel does Wole Soyinka explore Yoruba myths through a symbolic forest?
a) Season of Anomy
b) The Interpreters
c) Death and the King’s Horseman
d) A Dance of the Forests Answer: d) A Dance of the Forests Explanation: This play was written for Nigeria’s independence celebrations and critiques the past and future.
Which novel by Ayi Kwei Armah deals with the disillusionment of post-independence Ghana?
a) Anthills of the Savannah
b) The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born
c) Weep Not, Child
d) Arrow of God Answer: b) The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born Explanation: The novel criticizes the corruption and moral decay in post-colonial Ghana.
What genre best describes Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s "Americanah"?
a) Travel narrative
b) Immigration and race novel
c) Historical epic
d) Magical realism Answer: b) Immigration and race novel Explanation: It examines race, identity, and diasporic struggles of a Nigerian woman in the U.S.
Which South African playwright co-authored "Sizwe Bansi is Dead"?
a) Nadine Gordimer
b) Athol Fugard
c) J.M. Coetzee
d) Zakes Mda Answer: b) Athol Fugard Explanation: The play critiques apartheid’s bureaucratic dehumanization.
What is the narrative perspective of "So Long a Letter"?
a) Third person omniscient
b) First-person plural
c) First-person epistolary
d) Second person Answer: c) First-person epistolary Explanation: The narrator, Ramatoulaye, writes a long letter reflecting her personal journey.
Which writer is associated with the concept of “decolonising the mind”?
a) Chinua Achebe
b) Wole Soyinka
c) Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
d) Tsitsi Dangarembga Answer: c) Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o Explanation: His essay collection calls for rejecting colonial languages in African literature.
Who wrote "Changes: A Love Story"?
a) Mariama Bâ
b) Ama Ata Aidoo
c) Bessie Head
d) Nadine Gordimer Answer: b) Ama Ata Aidoo Explanation: The novel explores modern African womanhood and marital expectations.
Which language is primarily used by Francophone African writers?
a) Arabic
b) Swahili
c) English
d) French Answer: d) French Explanation: Due to French colonialism, many African writers from West Africa use French.
The character Tambu is featured in which novel?
a) The Joys of Motherhood
b) So Long a Letter
c) Nervous Conditions
d) Half of a Yellow Sun Answer: c) Nervous Conditions Explanation: Tambu is the young narrator navigating gender and education in Zimbabwe.
What historical event forms the backdrop of "Half of a Yellow Sun"?
a) Zulu wars
b) Apartheid
c) Biafran War
d) Mau Mau rebellion Answer: c) Biafran War Explanation: The Nigerian Civil War of 1967–70 deeply influences the characters' lives.
What is a central theme in Wole Soyinka’s "The Interpreters"?
a) Folktale adaptation
b) Immigrant nostalgia
c) Intellectual disillusionment
d) Slavery narratives Answer: c) Intellectual disillusionment Explanation: The novel portrays disillusioned Nigerian intellectuals post-independence.
Which novel addresses gender transition and intersexuality in Somalia?
a) Gifts
b) From a Crooked Rib
c) Links
d) The Consequences Answer: a) Gifts Explanation: Nuruddin Farah's novel addresses gender fluidity and social norms.
"Weep Not, Child" was the first major English novel by an East African author. Who wrote it?
a) Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
b) Chinua Achebe
c) Ayi Kwei Armah
d) Tayeb Salih Answer: a) Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o Explanation: It explores the Mau Mau uprising and colonial education.
Which African novel critiques the paradox of liberation through the metaphor of a decaying bus?
a) Anthills of the Savannah
b) The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born
c) The Grass is Singing
d) Dog Eat Dog Answer: b) The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born Explanation: Armah uses metaphors of rot to depict political stagnation post-independence.
