Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - CALL FOR ACTION ON WIKIPEDIA ESSAYS ON LITERATURE

I will respond only because it seems some people might not have understood my point, going by this response.

I am asking everyone who can to participate in the project.

toyin

On Tue, Jan 1, 2013 at 11:55 PM, Ikhide <xokigbo@yahoo.com> wrote:

Africans! Here we go again, reacting to the work of others, complaining, Oliver Twist, asking for more. Always reacting, never proactive. Would it not be simply easier for us to get off our lazy butts and improve upon Wikipedia by setting up a literature page the way we want it? Who and what stops us? I mean, why are we like this? It is very simple, no one will do for you what you must do for yourself. Go set up your own page, or beg them nicely to do it for you. It is a volunteer group, they are running as fast as they can. This man, you have a lot of time on your hands!

 

- Ikhide

 

Stalk my blog at http://www.xokigbo.com/

Follow me on Twitter: @ikhide

Join me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ikhide

From: OLUWATOYIN ADEPOJU <tvade3@gmail.com>
To: nigerianauthors <nigerianauthors@yahoogroups.com>; Jos ANA Discussion List <josana@yahoogroups.co.uk>; mbariliterarysociety <mbariliterarysociety@yahoogroups.com>; writerswithoutborders@yahoogroups.com; wolesoyinkasociety <wolesoyinkasociety@yahoogroups.com>; usaafricadialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>; Mwananchi <Mwananchi@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 1, 2013 5:42 PM
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - CALL FOR ACTION ON WIKIPEDIA ESSAYS ON LITERATURE

                                                                                                                        CALL FOR ACTION ON  WIKIPEDIA ESSAYS ON LITERATURE 

 

                                                                                                                                                              Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju
                                                                                                                                                                              Compcros
                                                                                                                                  "Exploring Every Corner of the Cosmos in Search of Knowledge"
                                                                                                                                               "Unifying the Cosmos in a Grain of Sand"

 

 

 

 

The Wikipedia essay on literature has at its top the following comment- 

 

"The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with English-speaking territories and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (May 2012)"

 

On going to 'talk' or discussion page, I saw these comments, among others-

"Huge problem with article

"I think there is a lot that can be done to improve this page, which I also found to be problematic, to put it mildly. As a literature professor and scholar in the field, I'm concerned that this page is inaccurate, incomplete and a very biased article which does not reflect current thinking on the topic. I'll collate some references and see if I can learn what the issues have been through reviewing the history of the literature page. If anyone has any insight, please feel free to contact me on my talk page. (Note, I'm new to Wikipedia, so if I've violated any protocols, please let me know-- but be nice!)"

Article needs an overhaul

The article is confused enough to be close to misinformation, IMO. I'll try to copy edit a bit in the coming weeks. Could use help from people comfortable with literary history, theory, etc... Beyond the English language, even better. OttawaAC (talk) 23:07, 14 October 2012 (UTC)"

 

I understand the essays on "Literature" and on "History of Literature" as having the following problems-

 

1. They  make scant  reference to  African literature outside ancient Egypt, talk less discussing the place of African literature in the context of world literature.

2. They fall into the fallacy of describing much of modern literature almost exclusively in terms of Western literature.

3. They describe literature as written texts while downplaying oral literature as controversial as to its literary  quality.

 

I urge everyone grounded in the relevant fields to do their best to correct these fallacies.

Wikipedia cannot be taken for granted beceause it is a first point of call for many people all over the world in searching for detailed information on almost any subject.

It provides a sterling opportunity to everyone to fight against marginalization in global discourse on behalf of any group.  

Thanks

 

Toyin 

 

 

 

 

-- 

Compcros

Comparative Cognitive Processes and Systems

"Exploring Every Corner of the Cosmos in Search of Knowledge"

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--
Compcros

Comparative Cognitive Processes and Systems

"Exploring Every Corner of the Cosmos in Search of Knowledge"

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