Description
Book SynopsisThe re-issue of archival volumes ALT 1 to ALT 14 makes the complete series available and provides the historical perspective of these early contributions to the literature and its criticism. First published in 1975, this volume of the series continues in more depth the debate on the role of critics and the purpose of criticism. As Eldred Jones reminds the reader in his Editorial: "African Literature Today has always aimed to be a forum for discussion ... Not surprisingly some opinions have provoked strong reactions. Indeed where there is time reactions are deliberately sought so that differing opinions can appear close to each other....African Literature Today is happy to serve as the threshing floor." The lively exchanges on who is best placed to judge African literature and how best to teach it continue both in responding articles and in the Comments section of the volume. Eldred Jones again embraces this debate and is reminded of the Igbo proverb: "The world is like a mask dancing; if you want to see it well you must not stand in one place."
Table of ContentsEditorial - Eldred Jones The state of criticism on African literature [D.S. Izevbaye] African critics on African literature: a study in misplaced hostitlity [Solomon Ogbede Iyasere] Who does Flora Nwapa write for? [Ernest N. Emenyonu] Towards a sociology of the Nigerian novel [J.P. O'Flinn] The blind men & the elephant [Bernth Lindfors] Négritude & Utopianism [Frederick Ivor Case] L.S. Senghor: the mask poems of Chants d'Ombre [Jonathan Peters] Symbol & meaning in The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born [Kolawole Ogungbesan] Kenya & the New Jerusalem in A Grain of Wheat [Leslie Monkman] Jungian archetypes & the main characters in Oyono's Une Vie de Boy [Charles E. Nnolim] Comments Reviews include The Writing of Wole Soyinka & The Emergence of African Literature
