From oral tradition to theater
Zambia has been inhabited since the dawn of time, and over the centuries it has welcomed many ethnic groups that have brought with them their cultural practices and their body of myths. Today, the plurality of languages still demonstrates this diversity, because, just for those of Bantu origin, there are several dozen (Bemba, Kaonde, Lozi ...)if the importance of this heritage was only taken into consideration in the early 1970s, when tales and legends began to be collected and transcribed, there are now many initiatives encouraging the safeguarding of this intangible heritage, for example, UNESCO is working to preserve Kuyabila - poetry of the Tonga people recited at social gatherings or traditional ceremonies, usually accompanied by music or dance - or to inventory the songs shared by the Lozi and Nkoya in the Kaoma district, which has had the effect of calming the differences between these two populations.
In addition, when settlers introduced theater in the early 1950s, Zambians used their oral skills to gain access to the stage, even though it was reserved for whites. Ignoring the ban, a first company was formed in 1958 at the Waddington Theatre Club. A few years later, Kenneth Kaunda (1924-2021) - who was to become the first president of the Republic of Zambia at the time of independence in 1964 - decided to be less conciliatory about the mixing of actors and the European influence, which was too strong for his taste. He was thus prevented from entering the library because of the color of his skin. He then created his own company, Chikwakwa ("grassroots movement" in nyanja), and in 1969 he achieved popular success with A Boy's Life, an adaptation of the eponymous 1956 novel by Cameroonian Ferdinand Leopold Oyono about the racism and violence of colonization. Kaunda repeated this the following year when he presented Che Guevara at the third summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, an international organization founded in 1961 that advocates independence from world powers and is based in Lusaka. Other playwrights took over, notably Kabwe Kasoma and Masautso Phiri in the 1970s. From the following decade onwards, companies were able to achieve professional status, such as the Kanyama Theatre, the Chipata Jungle Theatre, which has been affiliated with the Zambia Popular Theatre Alliance (ZAPOTA) since 1990, the Kamoto Community Artists group in Ngombe (a suburb of Lusaka), and the Cood Upraising Drama Group created in 2000 in Mpongwe (Copperbelt district). Finally, it should be noted that the TPD association (Theatre for Development) continues to remind us that the objective of the Zambian scene is to be a "theater by the people" and not only a "theater for the people", hence its insistence on the need to be autonomous from sponsors, in order to appreciate the true value of the word expressed freely within the community.
Andreya Masiye, who also came from the theater, is an important man, although his biography remains hopelessly sketchy. It is said that he was a forester, a teacher, a soldier, a member of parliament, a diplomat in China, and a lawyer, and that his literary career was wide-ranging, as he used both English and Zambian languages, he wrote a radio play and a stage play(Lands of Kazembe, based on the archives of the Portuguese trading posts in southern Africa), and above all he served as a bridge between the oral and written word by giving Zambia what is considered his first novel. Published by the National Educational Company of Zambia (NECZAM) in 1971, Before Dawn tells the story of Kavumba, known as "The Whirlwing" because he was born on the night of a violent storm, who will demonstrate throughout his life how well he deserves his nickname. However, this publication did not come out of nowhere; for some years already, intellectual life had been conducive to the development - albeit late but enthusiastic - of a Zambian literature.
From magazines to novels
Indeed, as early as 1964, young Zambians, united under the name of The New Writer Group, had initiated the creation of a literary magazine, New Writing from Zambia. Coming from backgrounds as diverse as education and journalism, these enthusiasts wanted to foster the emergence of an English-speaking Zambian culture, which they endeavored to do until 1975, when the last issue of a publication that had welcomed no less than 150 authors in its columns appeared! Although they relied on the strength of the collective, we can still mention some of these precursors: Timothy Holmes, who devoted a biography to Livingstone, Sundie Kazunga and Elias Chipono, both high school principals, William (Bill) Sylvester Saidi, born in 1937 in Zimbabwe, who was destined to publish many successful novels(The Hanging, Return of the Innocent, The Old Bricks Lives...) before death claimed him in 2017. In addition to the magazine - which was emulated by another title, The Jewel of Africa, with which New Writing from Zambia had a friendly and motivating rivalry - The New Writer Group organized writing workshops and competitions, and organized literary meetings inside and outside the country.. It was on this fertile ground that a first generation of writers was born, including Fwanyanga Mulikita (1928-1998) who wrote a collection of short stories(A Point of No Return, 1968) before entering politics, and Dominic Mulaisho (1933-2013) who made a name for himself in 1973 with The Thongue of the Dumb and confirmed his talent six years later with The Smoke that Thunders.
In parallel to this fictional literature in English, the pre- and post-colonial period saw the emergence of literature in the local language, such as that in Bemba produced by Stephen Andrea Mpashi, born in 1920 in Kasama (from Cekesoni aingila ubosoja in 1950 to Tusoobolole Icibemba in 1978). Nor should we forget the writers of British origin who were born in Zambia, which was then Northern Rhodesia, such as Peter Dickinson (1927-2015), who is well known for his works for young readers and for his detective novels (but not much translated into French): to date, only Le Bateau de grand-père is still offered by Gallimard-Jeunesse), Gabriel Ellison (1930-2017) who created the national flag and coat of arms but also illustrated books for children, and Wilbur Smith (1933-2021) whose books, of historical inspiration, are still available from Presses de la Cité(Pharaon, Le Dieu désert, Cercle vicieux...)
The new generation
If the pioneer generation wanted to impose itself, the editorial structures did not always allow an influence that would go beyond even the digital frontier, so we must keep in mind that, once again, we can only perceive from the outside a tiny part of what is played inside. Nevertheless, some authors have published works that have been a real popular success in a country that, let's remember, does not have twenty million inhabitants. This is the case, for example, of Bimwell Sinyangwe with Cowrie of Hope (2000), or of the playwright Mulenga Kapwepwe, who has fought more globally for the voice of women to be heard by co-founding in 2016 a museum dedicated to their history. Clearly, given some of the women's journeys, this fight is bearing fruit. Thus, Ellen Banda-Aaku - born in the UK in 1965, but raised in Zambia - has been widely rewarded since her debut in literature: Writer's Prize of Africa in 2004, winner of the Commonwhealth Short Story Competition in 2007 and of the Penguin Prize for African writing in 2010, selected for the Commonwealth Book Prize in 2012... If some of her short stories have already traveled around the world, from Australia to the United States, they have unfortunately not been translated to date in our language.
However, it will be possible to read Dambisa Moyo in French, with L'Aide fatale, published by Lattès in 2009. Her field of predilection is certainly not literary, but her presence in many lists of eminent personalities (including that of the Times) explains why this specialist in macroeconomics has a place in this panorama. On the fiction side, it is impossible not to be delighted that Namwali Serpell's book, which was born in 1980 in Lusaka, has been included in the beautiful Cadre Vert collection of Le Seuil, especially since this first novel was awarded the prestigious Arthur C. Clark Prize and Salman Rushdie himself described it as "extraordinary, ambitious, evocative, dazzling", which the French publisher did not fail to mention in its sales pitch. Mustiks: An Odyssey in Zambia(The Old Drift) is indeed a work of great scope as it sets out to describe, over four generations and through the point of view of three families, half a century of history, through colonization and migration, sprinkling reality with a pinch of fantasy, while inviting reflection on issues of feminism and racism. Namwali Serpell, who was educated at Harvard and Yale, but returns to her native country every year, was spotted as early as 2015 when her short story The Sack received the Caine Prize. Suffice to say that her second novel - The Furrows, published in 2022 in English - was highly anticipated. Although still timid, Zambian literature now seems to have the possibility of exporting itself, as confirmed by Kayo Chingonyi, who left Zambia for England in 1993, at the age of six. Her two published collections(Kumukanda, A Blood Condition) and her numerous awards (Dylan Thomas Prize, Somerset Maugham Prize) have earned her a place in the anthology More Fiya: A New Collection of Black British Poetry published by Canongate Books in 2022, and this is undoubtedly just the beginning..
