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An Introduction to the African Prose Narrative by Lokangaka Losambe Pdf
This collection of essays introduces students of African literature to the heritage of the African prose narrative, starting from its oral base and covering its linguistic and cultural diversity. The book brings together essays on both the classics and the relatively new works in all subgenres of the African prose narrative, including the traditional epic, the novel, the short story and the autobiography. The chapters are arranged according to the respective thematic paradigms under which the discussed works fall.
The Companion to African Literatures by G. D. Killam,Ruth Rowe Pdf
"Refreshing..." -- African Sudies Review "The entries are knowledgeable, thorough, and clearly written.... Highly recommended... " --Choice "...an ambitious reference guide to works on African literature." - African Studies Review "This comprehensive compendium will be a handy companion for anyone working on African literatures. The entries are authoritative and up-to-date, providing reliable information on the hundreds of authors and texts that have contributed to a whole continent's literary flowering." --Bernth Lindfors A comprehensive introduction and guide to African-authored works, with over 1,000 cross-referenced entries covering classics in African writing, literary genres and movements, biographical details of authors, and wider themes linking African, Afro-Caribbean and Afro-American literatures.
As more works of African Literature are being incorporated into the Language Arts and Cultural Studies curriculum, it becomes increasingly important to offer students and educators a meaningful context in which to explore these works. As part of Greenwood's Literature as Windows to World Culture series, this volume introduces readers to the cultural concerns of 10 of Africa's most reknowned writers. Written in clear accessible language, close analysis is given for 14 novels, including Achebe's Things Fall Apart, and Paton's Cry the Beloved Country, chosen because of their literary importance and the frequency with which they are assigned. The ten analysis chapters each begin with a brief account of the authors' lives and their writing careers, noting especially the experiences and influences which have shaped their writing. Following this section is a major essay on their most prominent and best known work. Discussion of the historical and cultural issues in the novels is integrated into the literary commentary. Students will gain not a deeper appreciation for the fiction, but a more solid understanding of the core historical issues and cultural concerns that influence and shape the writing. The Introduction outlines the general history and development of Sub-Saharan African Literature. The colonial experiences and postcolonial struggles, the principal subject matter of African writers, differs from region to region. The geographic organization of this guide into West, East and South Africa reflects these different perspectives. Each section ends with a list of critical works that will assist readers and researchers further their understanding of the authors and their works. Short biographical sketches on 80 authors are also provided to expand readers' contact with African literature. The index assists users in identifying not only title and authors but also major themes and topics that the writings reveal.
African literature, like the continent itself is enormous and diverse. East Africa's literature is different from West Africa's which is quite different from South Africa's which has different influences on it than North Africa's. Africa's literature is based on a widespread heritage of oral literature, some of which has now been recorded. Arabic influence can be detected as well as European, especially French and English. Legends, myths, proverbs, riddles and folktales form the mother load of the oral literature. This book presents an overview of African literature as well as a comprehensive bibliography, primarily of English language sources. Accessed by subject, author and title indexes.
Ruth Finnegan's Oral Literature in Africa was first published in 1970, and since then has been widely praised as one of the most important books in its field. Based on years of fieldwork, the study traces the history of storytelling across the continent of Africa. This revised edition makes Finnegan's ground-breaking research available to the next generation of scholars. It includes a new introduction, additional images and an updated bibliography, as well as its original chapters on poetry, prose, "drum language" and drama, and an overview of the social, linguistic and historical background of oral literature in Africa. This book is the first volume in the World Oral Literature Series, an ongoing collaboration between OBP and World Oral Literature Project. A free online archive of recordings and photographs that Finnegan made during her fieldwork in the late 1960s is hosted by the World Oral Literature Project (http: //www.oralliterature.org/collections/rfinnegan001.html) and can also be accessed from publisher's website.
The Columbia Guide to South African Literature in English Since 1945 by Gareth Cornwell,Dirk Klopper,Craig MacKenzie Pdf
From the outset, South Africa's history has been marked by division and conflict along racial and ethnic lines. From 1948 until 1994, this division was formalized in the National Party's policy of apartheid. Because apartheid intruded on every aspect of private and public life, South African literature was preoccupied with the politics of race and social engineering. Since the release from prison of Nelson Mandela in 1990, South Africa has been a new nation-in-the-making, inspired by a nonracial idealism yet beset by poverty and violence. South African writers have responded in various ways to Njabulo Ndebele's call to "rediscover the ordinary." The result has been a kaleidoscope of texts in which evolving cultural forms and modes of identity are rearticulated and explored. An invaluable guide for general readers as well as scholars of African literary history, this comprehensive text celebrates the multiple traditions and exciting future of the South African voice. Although the South African Constitution of 1994 recognizes no fewer than eleven official languages, English has remained the country's literary lingua franca. This book offers a narrative overview of South African literary production in English from 1945 to the postapartheid present. An introduction identifies the most interesting and noteworthy writing from the period. Alphabetical entries provide accurate and objective information on genres and writers. An appendix lists essential authors published before 1945.
Introduction to Francophone African Literature by Olusola Oke,Sam Ade Ojo Pdf
The first title of a new African literature series, this is a lively, accomplished collection of essays about modern African literature in French. It aims to address the need - of both the anglophone African and the non-African reader - for literary criticism of francophone literature in English, and thus bridge a prevailing, prohibitive lanaguage and cultural barrier. The collection covers a comprehensive range of genres - from the epic traditon and oral literature, to poetry and the modern novel. Its contributors are all specialists in French literature and African literature in French, and include for example the prominent Nigerian critic of feminist literature and feminism, Adule Adebayo. Subjects include: negritude poetry as a process of protest, revolt and reconciliation; the biographies and autobiographical novels of women writers and their comparative late arrival on the literary scene; and perspectives on the debate surrounding the tradition and status of the African novel.
Tradition and Modernity in the African Short Story by Fidelis Odun Balogun Pdf
While the short story has long been treated seriously by scholars in both Europe and America, in Africa the genre has been all but ignored by critics. Despite its popularity on the continent, the African short story has never been the subject of a thorough and systematic study. In this pioneering work, F. Odun Balogun offers a two-part look at the genre, beginning with a general survey of African short stories and an approach for textual analysis, and followed by a detailed exploration of the themes and artistic methods of two representative writers. The book provides an extensive range of coverage, as well as theoretic perspectives on the historical development of African prose, literature of the absurd, and other aspects of literary theory. The work begins with a four-chapter section surveying theoretical aspects of the African short story. Chapter one examines the critical scholarship, discusses the reasons for neglect and reaffirms the significance of the African short story, while chapter two explores the major thematic preoccupations of the writers working in the genre. Topics covered include art, religion, tradition and culture, urban life, colonial and post-colonial reality, and apartheid. In chapter three, the African short story is judged against the exacting demands of the genre, with particular emphasis on verbal discipline, imaginativeness, and linguistic experimentations. Chapter four concludes the general survey with a discussion of irony, the most dominant element of style and source of appeal. The book's second section offers detailed studies of the work of two writers: Chinua Achebe, who typifies the traditional realistic mode, and Taban lo Liyong, a post-modernist experimentalist. Each author's work is examined for general themes and artistic structures, and is followed by close examinations of Achebe's Girls at War and The Madman and lo Liyong's Fixions and The Uniformed Man. A brief summary chapter concludes the work. This important, first-of-its-kind study will be an indispensable resource for courses in African literature, African prose fiction, and twentieth century short stories, as well as a valuable addition to both public and academic libraries.
The Life and Struggles of Our Mother Walatta Petros by Galawdewos Pdf
A "geadl" or hagiography, originally written by Gealawdewos thirty years after the subject's death, in 1672-1673. Translated from multiple manuscripts and versions.
African Literature and the Future by Adeoti, Gbemisola Pdf
Many African countries achieved independence from their colonisers over five decades ago, but the people and the continent largely remain mere spectators in the arena of their own dance. The post-independence states are supposed to be sovereign, but the levers of economic and political powers still reside in the donor states. Not in many fora is the complex reality that defines Africa more trenchantly articulated than in imaginative literature produced about and on the continent. This is the crux of the essays collected in African Literature and the Future. The book reflects on Africa's past and present, addressing anxieties about the future through the epistemological lens of literature. The contributors peep ahead from a backward glance. They dissect the trend and tenor of politics and their impact on the socio-cultural and economic development of the continent as portrayed in imaginative writings over the years. One salient feature of African literature is the close affinity between art and politics in its polemics. This is well established in all the six essays in the book as the authors stress the interconnections between literature and society in their textual analyses. On the whole, there is an overwhelming feeling of angst and pessimism, but the authors perceive a glimmer of hope despite daunting odds, under different conditions. Thus, they depict the plausible fate of Africa in the twenty-first century, as informed by its ancient and recent past, gleaned from primary texts.
