Contemporary African Literature in English : Global Locations, Postcolonial Identifications

Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. Contemporary African Literature In English Explores The Contours Of Representation In This Fascinating Field. Drawing On Works By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Aminatta Forna, Brian Chikwava, Ngug? Wa Thiong'o, Nuruddin Farah, Chris Abani And Many More, This Study Closes The Gap Between Aesthetic And Political Notions Of Representation In Order To Interrogate The Role Of The Literary Text In The Circulation Of A Global Image Of Africa. By Questioning The Demarcations Of Global And Local, As Identifications, The Book Highlights The Intersection Between Power, Creativity And Authority Through Which The Very Category Of African Literature Emerges. With Chapters Focusing On The Construction Of Racialized Identities, Gender And Conflict, The Re-inscription Of Mythologies And Strategies Of Address, The Monograph Address A Broad Range Of Issues And Questions Which Shape The Way That Africa Is Performed On A Global Stage, Highlighting The Contradictions And Continuities Of Transnational Literary Production. 1. Ethics, Conflict And Re( -- )presentation -- 2. Race, Class And Performativity -- 3. Gender And Representing The Unrepresentable -- 4. Mythpoetics And Cultural Re-creation -- 5. Global African Literature: Strategies Of Address And Cultural Constraints. Madhu Krishnan. Includes Bibliographical References. Contemporary African Literature in English explores the contours of representation in contemporary Anglophone African literature, drawing on a wide range of authors including Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Aminatta Forna, Brian Chikwava, Nguga?- wa Thiong'o, Nuruddin Farah and Chris Abani. Contemporary African Literature in English explores the contours of representation in this fascinating field. Drawing on works by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Aminatta Forna, Brian Chikwava, Nguga?- wa Thiong'o, Nuruddin Farah, Chris Abani and many more, this study closes the gap between aesthetic and political notions of representation in order to interrogate the role of the literary text in the circulation of a global image of Africa. By questioning the demarcations of global and local, as identifications, the book highlights the intersection between power, creativity and authority through which the very category of African literature emerges. With chapters focusing on the construction of racialized identities, gender and conflict, the re-inscription of mythologies and strategies of address, the monograph address a broad range of issues and questions which shape the way that Africa is performed on a global stage, highlighting the contradictions and continuities of transnational literary production Front Matter....Pages i-viii Introduction: Writing Africa in a Global Marketplace....Pages 1-16 Ethics, Conflict and Re(-)presentation....Pages 17-38 Race, Class and Performativity....Pages 39-66 Gender and Representing the Unrepresentable....Pages 67-95 Mythopoetics and Cultural Re-Creation....Pages 96-129 Global African Literature: Strategies of Address and Cultural Constraints....Pages 130-163 Conclusion: Writing Africa’s Futures?....Pages 164-171 Back Matter....Pages 173-222 "Scholars of contemporary anglophone African fiction will be grateful to Madhu Krishnan for balancing close readings of a number of significant texts with careful attention to their conditions of publication and reception. Krishnan illuminates both the ethical and aesthetic concerns of important world writers and the conditions under which works marked as 'African' enter the world."--Andrew van der Vlies, Queen Mary University of London, UK