Download PDF
Authors
Chinedu Nwadike 1 & Mary Jane Patrick Nwakaego Okolie 2
1 Department of Language & Linguistics, Spiritan University, Nneochi.
2 Department of English & Literary Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
Excerpt from the Book Review
Tanure Ojaide is a Nigerian poet and literary writer in addition to having critical essays on topics like imperialism, ecology, and religion. His poetic style and vision won him the 2018 Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa through his poetry collection, Songs of Myself: A Quartet (2017).
The book focuses on literary productions from Africa and begins with a critical discussion on the matter of the canonization of African literary works, runs through related topics that impact the public reception of literary productions from Africa such as migration, globalization, care of the environment, human rights, conflict management, Pidgin English, gender issues, poetry, critical scholarship and ends with discussions on African literary aesthetics and prospects of continuity and change. These make up the central themes explored in critical discussions throughout the book.
The work emerged from an interest to explore African literature using a socio-historical approach and draws from a wide range of perspectives. The qualitative methodology adopted was designed to underscore an underlying thesis that literature is domiciled in Africa as much as it is in the West and even as the West postures to possess final authority over it. Another underlying thesis is that literature exists in an interactive ambience with other disciplines and this functions to empower the role of literature in society especially in these modern times. Furthermore, it argues that African literature must be recognized as having its own peculiar characteristics and these should be accepted on the international stage rather than used for the continued subjugation of African literature to codes established for Western literature in a Euro-Western environment. In this lies the identity of African literature and a denial of this will only undermine the prospects of African literature.