The African Novel in English (Studies in African Literature) - Softcover

Booker, Keith M.

9780325000305: The African Novel in English (Studies in African Literature)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0325000301 ISBN 13: 9780325000305

Publisher: Heinemann Educational Books,U.S., 1998

The rise to global prominence of African literature, and particularly of the African novel, is one of the most vital and dynamic developments in contemporary world culture. In his book, Keith Booker provides an introduction to eight African novels written in English. The novels Booker examines include Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, Buchi Emecheta's The Joys of Motherhood, Ayi Kwei Armah's The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, Ama Ata Aidoo's Our Sister Killjoy, Nadine Gordimer's Burger's Daughter, Alex La Guma's In the Fog of the Seasons' End, Ngugi wa Thiong'o's Devil on the Cross, and Tsitsi Dangarembga's Nervous Conditions. Booker uses these works to illustrate the scope and variety of the African novel and the general aesthetic, cultural, and political concerns that have motivated African authors. The selected novels also can be read and studied together thus making The African Novel in English and ideal textbook for university courses.

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Review:

Even in its title, Booker's text makes no tall claims about bringing additional information to our scholarly understanding of African literature. His introduction will provide an intelligent undergraduate with a historical and political background of the African novels they are reading in class without having to do additional research elsewhere... Booker's style is direct and simple, and therefore quite appealing to teachers engaged in representing African literature to an audience of students. - Huma Ibrahim in AFRICAN STUDIES QUARTERLY ... a remarkably successful attempt at a very daunting project, that is to provide the uninitiated with a comprehensive survey of the African novel. Booker's text is clearly aimed at students or persons with little or no knowledge of creative writing produced in Africa. - Felicity Hand in WASAFIRI ... an excellent job of introducing an important and rapidly growing body of literature. It will be particularly useful for undergraduates, but postgraduates and lecturers getting to grips with the subject will also find it a valuable resource. - Patrick Williams in JOURNAL OF MODERN AFRICAN STUDIES

About the Author:

M. Keith Booker is Professor of English at the University of Arkansas. A prolific author, he has published books on James Joyce, Mikhail Bakhtin, and dystopian fiction. He has a book on depictions of India in the modern British novel entitled Colonial Power, Colonial Texts by the University of Michigan Press. Other projects include a book on reading Joyce after the Cold War as well as articles in the journals Critique, Research in African Literatures, and Pynchon Notes. His course offerings include classes on literary theory, modern British literature, and graduate and undergraduate courses on world literature and postcolonial fiction.

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