It is wrong to refer to the Negritude writers as the first writers of sub-Saharan Africa. Indeed, if their advent represented a milestone in the history of black African literature, it should be noted that southern African writers were the first to write literary works. It is useful to briefly recall their positions and linguistic choices because, contrary to what one might think, not everyone has adopted the same attitude towards the use of Western languages. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayThe first of these, Thomas Mofolo (1876-1948), who did not want to usurp the status of the father of African literature, is a writer from Lesotho who wrote all his novels in Mesotho, his native language. In particular he wrote Moeti oa bochabela (1907), Pitseng (1910) and Chaka (1910). Unfortunately, this effort to valorise and perpetuate African vernacular languages ​​has not been pursued by African writers; the company was neglected, especially by those of the second generation. These writers, whose texts clearly claimed an anti-colonial discourse and opposed the exploitation of the African continent and the inferiority of blacks, mostly used the language of the colonizer. In the writings of Nigerians Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe and Amos Tutola or Ghanaians Ayi Kwei Armah, Efua Sutherland, Ama Ata Aidoo and Kofi Awonoor, to name just a few, the adoption of the English language is seen as both a communication tool and a weapon versus deculturation (acculturation). These writers did not forget, however, that this language was imposed on them by the imperial system which considered the metropolitan language the norm to follow and therefore perceived, as Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin write, and the variation as a linguistic "impurity". ". Some of them have successfully ventured the claim of this impurity (notably Amos Tutola and Okot p'Bitek), while others have limited themselves to proposing solutions for the future of African literatures. For example, while advocating the promotion of languages African vernaculars, Ayi Kwei Armah advocates the adoption of a continental reference language Citing geographical and lexical reasons, Kiswahili, the vernacular language of East Africa, would, in his opinion, be a wise choice (Armah, 2010: 129). However, Armah, author of eight novels and several novels and essays in English, has so far not produced any work in his native language, or even in Kiswahili. Waiting for the desire he expressed (and which would be part of a political choice continental) was taken into consideration, other writers, unfortunately few in number, adopted a more pragmatic attitude, making the decision to abandon the colonizer's language to write in African languages. One of the most convincing cases is undoubtedly that of the Kenyan writer Ngugi Wa Thiong'o. Author of novels, short stories, plays and essays, this prolific writer published his first writings in English, like most African writers, before turning to writing in African languages. Ngugi understood the devastating impact of English on Kenyan culture and decided to help promote literature in Kikuyu and Swahili. The founding act of this awakening is undoubtedly the change of his name from James to Wa Thiong'o. He will later defend the idea that language is not just a communication tool; he is also the bearer of the history and culture of every people. Of the two fundamental functions of language underlined by Ngugi, namely communication and the transmission of history and culture, the second poses a problem.