The Politics of African Literature

TY - CHAP

T1 - The Politics of African Literature

AU - Attwell, David Ivan D'Arcus

PY - 2019/4/29

Y1 - 2019/4/29

N2 - Noting that many pre- and post-colonial oral forms have always been political, the article focuses on the literary culture wars that arose in the context of mid-20th-century decolonization. These debates include the question of whether writers should use indigenous or colonial languages; the complexities of publishing with access to local and international markets; the adaptation and indigenization of European forms to African value-systems, mythic structures and social realities; and the relationship between cultural decolonization and debates in Europe after 1968, when the emphasis fell on questioning realism. The article concludes by noting that the cultural nationalism of the 20th century is giving way to new forms of transnational politics.

AB - Noting that many pre- and post-colonial oral forms have always been political, the article focuses on the literary culture wars that arose in the context of mid-20th-century decolonization. These debates include the question of whether writers should use indigenous or colonial languages; the complexities of publishing with access to local and international markets; the adaptation and indigenization of European forms to African value-systems, mythic structures and social realities; and the relationship between cultural decolonization and debates in Europe after 1968, when the emphasis fell on questioning realism. The article concludes by noting that the cultural nationalism of the 20th century is giving way to new forms of transnational politics.

U2 - 10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.1331

DO - 10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.1331

M3 - Entry for encyclopedia/dictionary

BT - The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Politics

A2 - Cheesman, Nic

PB - Oxford University Press

CY - Oxford

ER -