African Literature in the World
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- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
- Publication date:
- 30 May 2026
- 25 June 2026
- ISBN:
- 9781009555104
- 9781009555098
- Dimensions:
- (229 x 152 mm)
- Weight & Pages:
- 0.613kg, 332 Pages
- Dimensions:
- Weight & Pages:
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Book description
In African Literature in the World, Simon Gikandi asks: Why do debates on language continue to inform and haunt African writing? What happened when writing replaced orality as the primary form of creative expression? When, how, and why did the novel come to occupy such a dominant role in African literary history? This is a comprehensive study of the histories and theories of African literature in the twentieth century and shows how African writers adopted and transformed the English language and its traditions to account for African identities and experiences. Concerned with writing and reading as forms of mediation, Gikandi provides examples of how imaginative works shaped the public sphere in Africa in relation to decolonization and the politics of language. He explores how the emergence of a modern tradition of African writing has generated new forms of criticism in relation to the form of the novel, modernity, and modernism.
Reviews
‘This indispensable volume by a preeminent scholar offers fresh ways to think about African writing and literary criticism in the context of world literature. Always alert to the global locations of authors, readers, scholars, and ideas, Simon Gikandi examines the shifting histories of literary genres, questions the limits of postcolonial theory, and reflects on the role of intellectuals in African literary criticism. In the process, he reimagines colonial identity and modernity, and rethinks debates about the language of African literature. The intellectual honesty of this volume rubs off on readers as Gikandi blends cultural history with theory, personal reflections, and close readings.'
Stephanie Newell - George M. Bodman Professor of English
‘To read Simon Gikandi's African Literature in the World is to bear witness to a master craftsman at work. The modulation of his critical rhythms, the isolation of examples and then the manner of their embedding in larger patterns of significance, and the absolute clarity of his expression deliver to us African literature and literary history as worthy objects of serious scholarly attention. Superb!'
Ato Quayson - Jean G. and Morris M. Doyle Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, Stanford University
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