Accessing African history through literature

Drawing from the premise that African literature is largely functional, this paper aims at showing its validity in offering its readers fundamental aspects of African history. The paper argues that the very groundedness of cultural artefacts, literature inclusive, in history makes this possible. The paper will use sample texts from written African literature of the colonial and postcolonial periods to substantiate its views. It will also employ New Historicism as a critical tool in its analysis. Keywords: African literature, history, new historicism, accessing