For a long time, compared with western literature which is in the mainstream and central position, African literature is in a marginal position in terms of creation and criticism. Its marginal identity stems from the manipulation of the western others and the loss of the subjectivity of African literature. However, it cannot be ignored that in the process of social and cultural transformation in modern Africa, African writers have been trying to embed the localization of national culture into the structure of modernity when shaping the image of Africa, In order to obtain the dual vision of nationality and modernity; From “he shaping” to “self shaping”, it reflects the theoretical consciousness of African literature beyond the guidance of western discourse. On the basis of clarifying the “colonial built-in” and “self orientalism” of African literature, African literary criticism should be implanted into the discourse form of “contrapuntal criticism” to lay a solid foundation for reconstructing the modern tradition of African literature and the system of independent criticism.