You’ve heard the saying ‘don’t judge a book by its cover.’ But what if we did?

The Acacia Tree

Africa Is a Country, a blog dedicated to African politics and art, defied this proverb in 2014. In a really popular article, the blog posted 36 covers of novels either set in Africa or written by an African author. In this vast literary sample, there was one peculiar common denominator… The acacia tree.

This apparently unrelated element has populated the ‘African novels’ section of many bookstores – acacia trees in the background of the book’s title, occasionally with a warm-tinted sunset and various images of safari wilderness. Seems coincidental? As The Quartz later reported, it was indeed not: it feels like this theme had to be ‘designed by someone whose principal idea of the continent comes from The Lion King.’

In the context of this Black History Month’s theme this year, ‘Reclaiming Narratives’, how do we make sense of this repetition? Far from being just a humorous meme, this portrayal of African literature as a flattened, homogenous ‘otherness’ is rooted in clichés. While a book cover may seem like an insignificant detail, it aids the perpetration of a stereotype which sees Africa as a singular cultural entity, still rooted in colonial narrations of its 'wilderness.' Giving the same book cover to a South West African work of fiction and a Somali historical narrative (and about any other genre and nationality in between), also means erasing the complexities and unique features of African cultures and literatures.

What about now?

But how do we fit into this discussion? If we don’t personally own a publishing house, can we do anything about these design choices? While it may seem like an unrelated issue to our studies, we can actually play a role in furthering discussions around representations and narration. We encourage you to start spotting the acacia trees in book covers: this scavenger hunt could prove quite fruitful. You may head to a bookshop near campus between classes, and try to browse titles from African authors.

Once you know it, it is impossible to unsee it: try looking for Kuki Gallmann (Italian-Kenyan)’s I dreamed of Africa, or Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Even your Goodreads list will bear some surprising results: in a list titled ‘Best by African Authors’, you may notice a striking resemblance between Doris Lessing’s The Grass is Singing (set in Zimbabwe) and Nigerian Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka’s You Must Set Forth at Dawn. This extra care in choosing your covers will help you become aware of a representative bias that often goes unseen.

We welcome submissions!

We want you to participate in the hunt with us! If you happen to find an acacia tree book cover in a bookshop, King’s Library, or even your own home, send us a picture through this form, and the results will be featured in our next issue. We cannot wait to see how many you can find!

Get Involved in Black History Month

You can still get involved in many of our activities which we prepared for the BHM. From Self-care and Hair Braiding and Blind Date with a Book to many of our KCL Sport classes! Click here to discover all the events.