Two Thousand Seasons | Two Thousand Seasons

At a glance:

Author: Ayi Kwei Armah
First Published: 1973
Type of Work: Epic chronicle
Time of Work: 1000-1900
Setting: Africa, Western Sudan, and Ghana
Principal Characters: The Narrator, Anoa, Isanusi, Idawa, Abena, Koranche, Bentum, Bradford George
Genres: Long fiction, Epic
Subjects: Culture, History, Africa or Africans, Tradition, Folkloric or magical people, Colonies or colonization, Race, Slavery or slaves, Revolutions, Death or dying, Rulers, Zombies or living dead
Locales: Ghana, Africa, Sudan

The novel opens with a lyrical prologue in which the narrator, who assumes the role of a griot, the poet-historian of the village, calls out to other gifted voices to realize their proper “vocation.” They must understand that the past one thousand years (two thousand seasons) in Africa have been, first, a movement toward death, and then, a movement away from death, that Africa has been following alien ways—which are death to the black culture. The prologue announces the purpose of the novel: to retell the story of Africa, in particular the story of Ghana, from...

Two Thousand Seasons | Two Thousand Seasons

At a glance:

The Novel

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