{
  "id": 17775734,
  "title": "The Ghostly and the Real: On Spirit Worlds in African Literature",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/02/the-ghostly-and-the-real-on-spirit-worlds-in-african-literature",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-11-02T09:30:03.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Literary Hub",
    "slug": "literary-hub",
    "url": "https://lithub.com/the-ghostly-and-the-real-on-spirit-worlds-in-african-literature/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Across many African literary traditions, the lines between the living and the dead, the tangible and the intangible, are not firmly drawn. Ancestors, spirits, dreams, and myth are not merely fanciful elements but are very much part of daily existence, beliefs, and cultural histories. In modern African literature, these ethereal realms shape how authors delve into topics like memory, identity, history, conflict, connection, and the unseen forces at play. Whether drawn from folklore, spiritual customs, or surrealism, the ghostly often serves as an alternative medium for conveying truth.\n\nOur moderator is Karina M. Szczurek, a published author, editor, publisher, and founder of Karavan Press. Joined by Dilman Dila, a Ugandan writer and filmmaker who fuses speculative fiction with folklore and spirituality; Sven Axelrad, a South African author of Buried Treasure, whose literary fiction blends magical realism to blur the lines between real and uncanny; and Faraaz Mahomed, a South African writer who draws upon his background as a clinical psychologist and human rights researcher to explore both the emotional and spiritual facets of human experience.\n\nWe asked the panel how ghosts and spirits are portrayed in their works and what they symbolize to them. Dilman Dila does not refer to his characters as ghosts or spirits. When he does use such terms, he does so at a juncture where his intellectual understanding has eclipsed his intuitive understanding. Words like ghosts or spirits might conjure up images of formless entities that resemble humans but can float and pass through walls. In African worldview, however, there are no such creatures. The deceased return to the living world as animals, frequently snakes, or birds. Dila's ghosts are not all-knowing observers of life; instead, they remain themselves—strong-willed, self-centered, caught up in trivial matters, yet also compassionate. They are as alive to him as the ancestors and other entities present in African religious beliefs. Dila believes some of these characters might originate from the distant past or future and could hold messages for us, which inspired his embrace of solarpunk—a genre that envisions a better world. He hopes his solarpunk characters will ignite imagination and potentially inspire future generations to recreate the utopias he imagines.\n\nFaraaz Mahomed is uncertain if the apparition in his story is a ghost—perhaps it is a hallucination, or something beyond our current vocabulary. He appreciates the ambiguity and uses it to explore the relationship between the tangible and intangible. Like Dila, Mahomed questions the role of logic and celebrates mystery and the supernatural. The ghostly reappearance of Sawligha, regardless of its form, serves as a tribute to her and reinforces her agency over her narrative.",
  "summary": "Across many African literary traditions, the boundaries between the living and the dead, the seen and the unseen, are fluid rather than fixed. Ancestors, spirits, dreams, and myth are not simply fantastical devices but are unremarkable facts of lived realities,",
  "key_points": [
    "Ghosts in African literature are not ethereal entities but deceased returning as animals.",
    "Spirits symbolize strong-willed, self-centered, yet compassionate characters in Dilman Dila's work.",
    "Faraaz Mahomed uses ambiguous apparitions to explore tangible and intangible relationships."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}