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From its beginnings in the 1920s, literature in French from Africa has been set against a backdrop of struggle and indelibly marked by conflict. Indeed, over the course of these last 80 years, whether striving for the creation of new independent nations or participating in nation building, francophone writers from Africa have been catalysts for both social and political change through their contributions to this body of literature. The first half of its history, including the decade immediately following independence, through 1970, is a period described by scholars as both nationalist, and celebratory. Nationalist, because primarily influenced by a desire for independence from colonial rule; and celebratory, because of the concerted effort among writers and other intellectuals to ignite a sense of pride in all things African: culture, history and race. With the fall of European colonial empires and the creation of new, independent states in the 1950s and 1960s, this body of literature underwent a major period of transformation consisting in a dramatic change not only in the tone, focus, and themes chosen by its authors, but also in their social and political preoccupations. Scholars acknowledge this shift b