Sudanese literature

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Sudanese literature consists of both oral as well as written works of fiction and nonfiction that were created during the cultural history of today's Republic of the Sudan. This includes the territory of what was once Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, the independent country's history since 1956 as well as its changing geographical scope in the 21st century.

Even though there exist records about historical societies in the area called Sudan, like the Kingdom of Kush in Nubia, little is known about the languages and the oral or written literature of these precursors of the Sudan of today. Moreover, the notion of Bilad al-Sudan, from which the name of the modern country is derived, referred to a much wider geographic region to the south of the Sahara, stretching from western to eastern Central Africa.

Like in many African countries, oral traditions of diverse ethnic or social groups have existed since time immemorial, but a modern written Sudanese literature can only be traced back to the beginning of the 20th century. Through the publication of written literature in Sudanese newspapers and books, as well as aided by formal, non-religious education, a modern Sudanese literature of fiction and nonfiction began to appear.^[1] Going back to age-old oral traditions, poetry and the lyrics for songs have been the most popular literary genres in Sudan. Just as other cultural expressions, literature reflects the hybrid identities of Sudan, that have been called Afro-Arabism by some scholars. In the 21st century, electronic media, which often rely on written texts and oral storytelling on video, connect people in Sudan with their compatriots at home as well as in the world-wide Sudanese diaspora. Some contemporary writers with Sudanese roots and living in other countries, such as Leila Aboulela or Jamal Mahjoub, write in English. Together with translations of original works written in Arabic, they have made fictional literature about Sudan accessible to an international audience.