''Two Thousand Seasons'' is a

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

by Ghanaian

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

Ayi Kwei Armah Ayi Kwei Armah (born 28 October 1939) is a Ghanaian writer best known for his novels including '' The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born'' (1968), '' Two Thousand Seasons'' (1973) and '' The Healers'' (1978). He is also an essayist, as well as havin ...

. The

was first published in 1973 and subsequently published a number of times, including in the influential

Heinemann African Writers Series The African Writers Series (AWS) is a collection of books written by African novelists, poets and politicians. Published by Heinemann, 359 books appeared in the series between 1962 and 2003. The series has provided an international audience fo ...

. It is an epic historical

, attempting to depict the last "two thousand seasons" of African

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

in one

narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether non-fictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller ...

arc following a

Pan-African Pan-Africanism is a nationalist movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all indigenous peoples and diasporas of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the Trans-Sa ...

approach.

Themes

The

focuses on the complicity of African

people The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

in the enslavement of their

to intruders, first represented as Arabs then later as European whites. In doing so, the

emphasizes the continued complicitness of African leaders in furthering the

oppression Oppression is malicious or unjust treatment of, or exercise of power over, a group of individuals, often in the form of governmental authority. Oppression may be overt or covert, depending on how it is practiced. No universally accepted model ...

of other African peoples. For Armah, the intervention of outside cultures violates a past "African ideal ..egalitarian

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

" which can help guide the recovery of, what critic Chinyere Nwahunanya calls a "lost African Eden".

Reception

Criticism of the

is mixed.

Chinua Achebe Chinua Achebe (; born Albert Chinụalụmọgụ Achebe; 16 November 1930 – 21 March 2013) was a Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic who is regarded as a central figure of modern African literature. His first novel ''Things Fall Apart'' ( ...

, in a 1987 interview, described ''Two Thousand Seasons'' as "unacceptable on the basis of fact, and on the basis of

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

. The work is ponderous and heavy and wooden, almost embarrassing in its heaviness." The reviewing site ''

Complete Review ''Complete Review'' (stylized ''complete review'') is a literary website founded in March 1999. It is best known for reviews of novels in English translation, in particular drawing attention to otherwise neglected contemporary works from around th ...

'' gave the novel a B+ rating, noting that it is an "often strong but ultimately too simplistic picture of Africa -- past and future". The review focuses on Armah's oversimplification of the African continent's "actual sad history".

Gloria Steinem Gloria Marie Steinem ( ; born March 25, 1934) is an American journalist and social movement, social-political activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of second-wave feminism in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. ...

in a 2016 article for '' T: The New York Times Style Magazine'' chose ''Two Thousand Seasons'' as one of her 10 favourite books and said of Ayi Kwei Armah: "He not only redefines history, but how history is told.""My Bookshelf, Myself – My 10 Favorite Books: Gloria Steinem"
''T: The New York Times Style Magazine'', 22 January 2016.

Themes

Reception

References

Further reading