Endless War

doi:10.1017/9781009694681.004

Chapter 2 - Endless War

African Child Soldier Narratives

from Part I - Micro-histories of Genres

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 February 2026

Joya Uraizee

Edited by

Moradewun Adejunmobi

Show author details

Moradewun Adejunmobi: Affiliation:
University of California, Davis

Book contents

Get access

Summary

The African child soldier narrative is a dystopic sub-genre, underscoring the futility of war. Its origins can be traced back to the 1985 publication of Ken Saro-wiwa’s Sozaboy: A Novel in Rotten English. Subsequently, many novels, memoirs, and films about African children brutalized by war, were created. These narratives included magical elements in which the speaking voices are cynical and unreliable. Single-author memoirs like China Keitetsi’s Child Soldier (2004) or Ishmael Beah’s A Long Way Gone (2007) reveal how the child soldier, horrified by war, comes to terms with the sociocultural forces arrayed against her. Collaborative memoirs, such as Emmanuel Jal’s and Meghan Lloyd Davies’ War Child (2009), or Grace Akallo and Faith McDonnell’s Girl Soldier (2007), feature survival strategies that assume greater importance than the war itself. Novels about child soldiers, such as Emmanuel Dongala’s Johnny Mad Dog (2015) and Uzodinma Iweala’s Beasts of No Nation (2015), contain graphic accounts of war, filled with unresolved contradictions. Other fiction, such as Delia Jarrett-Macauley’s Moses, Citizen, and Me (2005) and Chris Abani’s Song for Night (2007) contain magical apparitions and mutilated bodies framed within wars that appear endless. These variations highlight the complexities within this sub-genre.

Keywords

child soldier memoirs child soldier fiction single-author collaborative author dystopia contradictions

Information

Type: Chapter
Information: African Literature in Transition
Genres of African Literature, 1900–2020
, pp. 43 - 58
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009694681.004 [Opens in a new window]
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2026

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Abani, C. (2007). Song for Night. Brooklyn, NY: Akashic Books.Google Scholar

Adesokan, A. (2012). New African writing and the question of audience. Research in African Literatures, 32 (3), 1–20.10.2979/reseafrilite.43.3.1CrossRef Google Scholar

Adichie, C. N. (2006). Half of a Yellow Sun. Lagos: Farafina Publishers.Google Scholar

Adut, D. T., and McKelvey, B.. (2016). Songs of a War Boy. Sydney: Hachette Publishers.Google Scholar

Amisi, S. (2011). Souvenez-vous de moi, l’enfant de demain. Cahiers d’un enfant de la guerre (Remember Me, The Child of Tomorrow: The Diary of a Child Soldier). La Roque d’Anthéron: Vents d’ailleurs Publishers.Google Scholar

Amony, E. (2015). I am Evelyn Amony: Reclaiming My Life from the Lord’s Resistance Army. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.Google Scholar

Armah, A. K. (1968). The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born: A Novel. Boston: Houghton Miffin.Google Scholar

Baker, C. (2018). Introduction: Performances of sovereignty in African dictator-fiction. Research in African Literatures, 49 (3), vii–xiv.CrossRef Google Scholar

Beah, I. (2007). A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus & Giroux Publishers.Google Scholar

Berger, R. A. (2010). Decolonizing African autobiography. Research in African Literatures, 41 (2), 32–54.10.2979/ral.2010.41.2.32CrossRef Google Scholar

Cazenave, O. (2005). Writing the child, youth, and violence into the Francophone novel from sub-Saharan Africa: The impact of age and gender. Research in African Literatures, 36 (2), 59–71.CrossRef Google Scholar

Coundouriotis, E. (2014). The People’s Right to the Novel: War Fiction in the Postcolony. New York, NY: Fordham University Press.Google Scholar

Coundouriotis, E. (2010). The child soldier narrative and the problem of arrested historicization. Journal of Human Rights, 9, 191–206.10.1080/14754831003761696CrossRef Google Scholar

Cyrulnik, B. (2008). Children in war and their resiliences. In Parens, H., Blum, H. P., and Akhtar, S., eds., The Unbroken Soul: Tragedy, Trauma, and Human Resilience. Lanham, MD: Jason Aronson Publishers and Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, pp. 21–36.Google Scholar

Dawes, J. (2009). Human rights in literary studies. Human Rights Quarterly, 31 (2), 394–409.10.1353/hrq.0.0071CrossRef Google Scholar

De Boeck, F., and Honwana, A. (2005). Introduction: Children and youth in Africa: Agency, identity and place. In Honwana, A., and de Boeck, F., eds., Makers and Breakers: Children and Youth in Postcolonial Africa. Oxford: James Currey; Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, pp. 1–18.Google Scholar

Deng, A. C. (2020). The Lost Boy: Tales of a Child Soldier. Sydney: Vintage Publishers.Google Scholar

Deng, B., Deng, A., and Ajak, B. (2005). They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan. New York, NY: Public Affairs Publishers.Google Scholar

Dongala, E. (2005). Johnny Mad Dog. Trans. M. L. Ascher. New York, NY: Picador Publishers and Farrar, Straus, Giroux Publishers.Google Scholar

Duany, G., and Thomas, G.. (2020). Walk toward the Rising Sun: From Child Soldier to Ambassador of Peace. New York, NY: Make Me a World Publishers.Google Scholar

Gettleman, J. (2010). Armed and underage. The New York Times Upfront, 14 (3), 6–9.Google Scholar

Heilbrun, C. G. (1999). Contemporary memoirs, or, who cares who did what to whom? The American Scholar, 68 (3), 35–42.Google Scholar

Honwana, A. (2006). Child Soldiers in Africa. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.10.9783/9780812204773CrossRef Google Scholar

Humphreys, J. D., Chikwanine, M., and Dávila, C.. (2020). Child Soldier: When Boys and Girls Are Used in War. Toronto: Kids Can Press.Google Scholar

Iweala, U. (2005). Beasts of No Nation. New York, NY: Harper Perennial Publishers.Google Scholar

Jal, E., and Davies, M. L.. (2009). War Child: A Child Soldier’s Story. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press.Google Scholar

Jarrett-Macauley, D. (2005). Moses, Citizen, and Me. London: Granta Publishers.Google Scholar

Kamara, M., and McClelland, S.. (2008). The Bite of the Mango. Toronto: Annick Press.Google Scholar

Kearney, J. A. (2010). The representation of child soldiers in contemporary African fiction. Journal of Literary Studies, 26 (1), 67–94.10.1080/02564710903495511CrossRef Google Scholar

Keitetsi, C. (2004). Child Soldier: Fighting for My Life. London: Souvenir Press.Google Scholar

Khosa, U. B. K. (2005). Os Sobreviventes da Noite. Maputo: Imprensa Universitária.Google Scholar

Kourouma, A. (2007). Allah Is Not Obliged. Trans. F. Wynne. London: Vintage Publishers.Google Scholar

Kourouma, A. (2000). Allah n’est pas obligé. Paris: Éditions du Seuil.10.3917/polaf.080.0079CrossRef Google Scholar

Mbachu, D. (2005). War Games. Lagos: New Gong Publishers.Google Scholar

McDonnell, F. J. H., and Akallo, G.. (2007). Girl Soldier: A Story of Hope for Northern Uganda’s Children. Grand Rapids, MI: Chosen Books.Google Scholar

McKelvey, B. (2021). Mosul: Australia’s Secret War Inside the ISIS Caliphate. Sydney. Australia: Hachette Australia.Google Scholar

Mehari, S. (2006). Heart of Fire: One Girl’s Extraordinary Journey from Child Soldier to Soul Singer. Trans. Christine Lo. London: Profile Books.Google Scholar

Mofolo, T. (1925 [1977]). Chaka the Zulu. Trans. F. H. Dutton. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar

Ngũgı̃, wa Thiong’o (2006). Wizard of the Crow. New York: Pantheon.Google Scholar

Nguyen, K. (2012). War Witch (Rebelle). Quebec: Mongrel Media.Google Scholar

Nkashama, P. N. (2003). Les “enfants-soldats” et les guerres coloniales: À travers le premier roman africain. Études littéraires, 35 (1), 29–40.10.7202/008631arCrossRef Google Scholar

Obi, Jr., J. E. (1990). A critical reading of the disillusionment novel. Journal of Black Studies, 20 (4), 399–413.10.1177/002193479002000402CrossRef Google Scholar

Osa, O. (1995). African Children’s and Youth Literature. New York, NY: Twayne Publishers.Google Scholar

Provencher, R. (2010). Faith, Grace, Lucy, Child Soldiers. Toronto: National Film Board of Canada.Google Scholar

Sanders, M. (2011). Culpability and guilt: Child soldiers in fiction and memoir. Law and Literature, 23 (2), 195–223.10.1525/lal.2011.23.2.195CrossRef Google Scholar

Saro-Wiwa, K. (1985 [2010]). Sozaboy: A Novel in Rotten English. New York, NY: Pearson Publishers.Google Scholar

Sauvaire, J-S. dir. (2007). Johnny Mad Dog. MNP Enterprise, Canal +.Google Scholar

Schultheis, A. W. (2010). Global specters: Child soldiers in the postnational fiction of Uzodinma Iweala and Chris Abani. In Collins, W. P. III, ed., Emerging African Voices: A Study of Contemporary African Literature. New York, NY: Cambria Press, pp. 13–51.Google Scholar

United Nations. (2023). Questions and answers on the recruitment and use of child soldiers. United Nations Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict. https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/2023/02/questions-and-answers-on-the-recruitment-and-use-of-child-soldiers2/Google Scholar

Whitehead, A. (2011). Representing the child soldier: Trauma, postcolonialism and ethics in Delia Jarrett-Macauley’s Moses, Citizen and Me. In Onega, S., and Ganteau, J.-M., eds., Ethics and Trauma in Contemporary British Fiction. Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi, pp. 241–263.10.1163/9789401200080_013CrossRef Google Scholar

Zwick, E. (2007). Blood Diamond. New York, NY: Warner Brothers.Google Scholar

Accessibility standard: WCAG 2.0 A

Why this information is here

This section outlines the accessibility features of this content - including support for screen readers, full keyboard navigation and high-contrast display options. This may not be relevant for you.

Accessibility Information

The HTML of this chapter conforms to version 2.0 of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), ensuring core accessibility principles are addressed and meets the basic (A) level of WCAG compliance, addressing essential accessibility barriers.

Content Navigation

Table of contents navigation
Allows you to navigate directly to chapters, sections, or non‐text items through a linked table of contents, reducing the need for extensive scrolling.

Index navigation
Provides an interactive index, letting you go straight to where a term or subject appears in the text without manual searching.

Reading Order & Textual Equivalents

Single logical reading order
You will encounter all content (including footnotes, captions, etc.) in a clear, sequential flow, making it easier to follow with assistive tools like screen readers.

Short alternative textual descriptions
You get concise descriptions (for images, charts, or media clips), ensuring you do not miss crucial information when visual or audio elements are not accessible.

Full alternative textual descriptions
You get more than just short alt text: you have comprehensive text equivalents, transcripts, captions, or audio descriptions for substantial non‐text content, which is especially helpful for complex visuals or multimedia.

Structural and Technical Features

ARIA roles provided
You gain clarity from ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) roles and attributes, as they help assistive technologies interpret how each part of the content functions.