The African Novel of Ideas : Philosophy and Individualism in the Age of Global Writing

**An ambitious look at the African novel and its connections to African philosophy in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries** __The African Novel of Ideas__ focuses on the role of the philosophical novel and the place of philosophy more broadly in the intellectual life of the African continent, from the early twentieth century to today. Examining works from the Gold Coast, South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe, and tracing how such writers as J. E. Casely Hayford, Imraan Coovadia, Tendai Huchu, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, and Stanlake Samkange reconcile deep contemplation with their social situations, Jeanne-Marie Jackson offers a new way of reading and understanding African literature. Jackson begins with Fante anticolonial worldliness in prenationalist Ghana, moves through efforts to systematize Shona philosophy in 1970s Zimbabwe, looks at the Ugandan novel __Kintu__ as a treatise on pluralistic rationality, and arrives at the treatment of “philosophical suicide” by current southern African writers. As Jackson charts philosophy's evolution from a dominant to marginal presence in African literary discourse across the past hundred years, she assesses the push and pull of subjective experience and abstract thought. The first major transnational exploration of African literature in conversation with philosophy, __The African Novel of Ideas__ redefines the place of the African experience within literary history. "This study focuses on the role of the philosophical novel-a genre that favors abstract concepts, or "thinking about thinking," over style, plot, or character development-and the role of philosophy more broadly in the intellectual life of the African continent. As philosophy over the past century of African intellectual life has evolved from the mainstream to the fringe, the African novel has gained in global market share and cachet. If postcolonial African writers of the 1950s to the 1980s were enshrined as voices of resistance to colonial regimes, the celebrated new wave of African writing now leads efforts to represent the immediacies of African experience: Africa is no longer a concept or cause but a complex web of real places, histories, and lives. The African Novel of Ideas examines philosophy in the African novel from the Gold Coast, to Zimbabwe, through Burundi, Uganda, and South Africa. By tracing the ways in which African writers such as J. E. Casely-Hayford, Stanley Samkange, Ama Ata Aidoohave, and Jennifer Makumbi have sought to reconcile a hunger for deep contemplation with the demands of their social situation as its canvas expands, Jackson offers a new way of reading and understanding African literature. As she examines the relationship between literary history and narrative technique, Jackson argues that the "postcolonial" African novel is an intermediate form between colonialism and new forms of African fiction more concerned with regional political and philosophical debates than to the traditions and narratives of European literary history"-- Provided by publisher

An ambitious look at the African novel and itsconnections to African philosophy in the twentieth and twenty-firstcenturies The African Novel of Ideas focuses onthe role of the philosophical novel and the place of philosophymore broadly in the intellectual life of the African continent,from the early twentieth century to today. Examining works from theGold Coast, South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe, and tracing howsuch writers as J. E. Casely Hayford, Imraan Coovadia, TendaiHuchu, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, and Stanlake Samkange reconciledeep contemplation with their social situations, Jeanne-MarieJackson offers a new way of reading and understanding Africanliterature. Jackson begins with Fante anticolonial worldliness inprenationalist Ghana, moves through efforts to systematize Shonaphilosophy in 1970s Zimbabwe, looks at the Ugandan novelKintu as a treatise on pluralistic rationality, andarrives at the treatment of "philosophical suicide" by currentsouthern African writers. As Jackson charts philosophy's evolutionfrom a dominant to marginal presence in African literary discourseacross the past hundred years, she assesses the push and pull ofsubjective experience and abstract thought. The first majortransnational exploration of African literature in conversationwith philosophy, The African Novel of Ideas redefines theplace of the African experience within literary history.

Contents Acknowledgments Introduction: Disaggregating Liberalism PART I NATIONAL HORIZONS chapter 1 Ethiopia Unbound as Afro-Comparatist Novel: The Case for Liberated Solitude Chapter 2 Between the House of Stone and a Hard Place: Stanlake Samkange’s Philosophical Turn PART II GLOBAL RECESSIONS Chapter 3 A Forked Path, Forever: Kintu between Reason and Rationality Chapter 4 Bodies Impolitic: African Deaths of Philosophical Suicide Epilogue: Speculations on the Future of African Literary Studies Notes Works Cited Index