History and fiction: Achebe, Ouologuem and Armah

African novelists, fully aware that man lives in and is shaped by history as well as of the special relevance of this fact for African peoples, have shown a marked historical consciousness in their works. The vivid historical vision which informs a significant part of modern African fiction has been a predominant determining factor in the various works, both from a thematic and a stylistic point of view. While it can be said that the various writers have all undertaken "the visionary reconstruction of the past for the purposes of social direction", the outstanding differences in imagination, interpretation and expression are worthy of note. The novelists Chinua Achebe, Yambo Ouologuem and Ayi Kwei Armah are representative exponents of this historical imagination. It is a truism that, by its very nature, a historical theme poses the fundamental problem of artistic freedom in creative literature. With writers like Achebe and Armah, the historical consciousness is balanced by a corresponding artistic consciousness. Armed with a sensitive vision, the works of these writers include and transcend history. African novelists, fully aware that man lives in and is shaped by history as well as of the special relevance of this fact for African peoples, have shown a marked historical consciousness in their works