A gap exists between African literary texts and their interpretation for many scholars and readers of African literature today. Unfamiliar with the cultures, societies, and politics of Africa, some readers bring a perspective to the work that is at odds with the worldview embodied by the works themselves.
In Culture, Society, and Politics in Modern African Literature, Ojaide and Obi investigate the paradoxes and ironies of a literature produced in Africa and interpreted by readers and scholars (African and non-African) who are living outside the continent. Starting from the premise that literature is a cultural production of a people, they look at some of the factors important for the interpretation and analysis of African literature, including the colonial experience of Africans, the realities of the post-independence era, and the economic conditions of African states.
This book, the collaborative work of a literary scholar-poet and a sociologist, addresses the general and specific problems in the understanding of African literature and will be of interest to students and scholars, as well as to general audiences.
"In sum, the individual chapters cover a wide range within African literature, geographically and linguistically, with a special focus on current trends in creative production and criticism. The book is well written, with clear and concise explanations of critical terms and concepts." -- African Studies Review
This book explores the status and critical relationship between politics, culture, literary creativity, criticism, education and publishing in the context of promoting Africa’s indigenous knowledge, and seeks to recover some of the sites ...
Snead, James. “European Pedigrees/African Contagions: Nationality, Narrative and Communality in Tutuola, Achebe and Reed”. In Bhabha (ed.). Nation and Narration. London & New York: Routledge, 1990. 231- 249. Sofola, Zulu.
For example, most essays comment on the discussion of whether or not Head's work is political, on the nature of her ... They yield statements that draw on psychologised readings of her work, such as, '[a] large part of Bessie Head's ...
Exploring the idea of a ‘Global Africa’, this book examines how African literary and cultural productions have changed due to the social and political influences brought about by increased globalisation.
"This volume rests solidly upon the best available modern research into the political culture of Sierra Leone, and its Creole community in particular, as well as upon thoroughly original field research by Professor Cohen into the symbolic ...
Prehistoric Africa. Kathy D. Schick 4. Aspects of Early African History. John Lamphear and Toyin Falola 5. Islam and African Societies. John H. Hanson 6. Africa and Europe before 1900. Curtis A. Keim 7. The Colonial Era. Sheldon Gellar 8.
A chapter is dedicated to each to the works of four women writers: Grace Ogot, Flora Nwapa, Buchi Emecheta and Mariama Ba. In addition she provides challenging new readings of canonical male authors such as Chinua Achebe, Ngugi wa Thiongo'o ...
The collection of essays in Sembene and the Politics of Culture sets out to fill that gap as the contributors at once foreground Sembene’s fixation on the centrality of culture in the articulation of the discourse of national ...
The complexity of African society entering the 21st century necessitates an interdisciplinary examination of Africa's political, social, and cultural developments and challenges. Focusing on Social Movements and Literature, Social Change...
Tanure Ojaide’s Indigeneity, Globalization, and African Literature: Personally Speaking belongs with a well-established tradition of personal reflections on literature by African creative writer-critics.