first, although we call read literature and have our favorites, we are not all experts in literature, or any other area, unless we can claim to have established some credentials to the claim. i know a good deal about african history or politics, but i really know enough to know i am not an expert.
i am an expert in african literature, but that doesn't mean that my preference for one author implies anything about the superiority of that or any other author. it is one thing to know a text very very well, to write about it and publish about it; but that doesn't mean your favorites are "better" than those of another, and to tell the truth, it would astound me to have anyone who is an expert in african literature make such a claim.
on the other hand, i would strenuously argue that we can make such claims about the criticism itself. aside from preferences for this or that critical approach, we have to come to some agreement that this critical essay or book is stronger than that; that there are critical voices who have shaped the field, are major figures, have determined how much of the critical or theoretical approaches have been recognized in the field as important.
those critical voices don't usually maintain that position, though some might last a long time. invariably new critical voices come up.
so when you cite your favorite authors, laye and ngugi, my first thought was, well yes, in the 1970s and part of the 80s, we ALL had to teach them. they were required in all our courses. then we began to see changes, began to have radically different voices. one was sony labou tansi, a genius stolen from us by AIDS. we had the incredible early works of soyinka morphing radically, ultimately taking the form of something like Ake that was radically different from the kind of drama he had previously raised to such heights.
it makes good sense to me to look at the body of african literature in generations. there was a time when we all taught the same dozen books, and to our shock, 15 years later, they were going out of print... including camara laye's Dark Child, and Kourouma's SUns of Independence. what a shock it was.
the same for the critical voices: they too are generational. so, after the mid-80s you couldn't speak with authority about african literature unless you included mudimbe. in the 2000s, the same was true for mbembe.
and now? for myself, it is gikandi who, along with mbembe, i setting the stage for what matters most.
not everyone would agree with that, but in a few more years there will be no question. when the preponderance of dissertations or new critical books come out, let's see whose work they comment upon. there is no secret here.
lastly, the pleasure of this list is that we are all free to speak out, expert or not, on any matter. sometimes we might regret what we had said when we learn more: i certainly got my comeupance with respect to abani!!
but in the end, i was grateful to have learned about how the community of scholars and thinkers regarded him, and why, and it was really impressive.
ken
On 3/31/14 6:37 PM, Akurang-Parry, Kwabena wrote:
--Then again, who is an expert? Those who offer opinions? Well my favorite writers are Laye and Ngugi! My reason is very simple indeed. As a boy coming into my own, I enjoyed African Child and Weep Not Child. Now you realize that I shifted the goalposts from Achebe and Soyinka to Laye and Ngugi!
Kwabena
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] on behalf of Funmi Tofowomo Okelola [cafeafricana1@aol.com]
Sent: Monday, March 31, 2014 10:50 AM
To: USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: How Achebe Ruined African Literature
Ladies and Gentlemen:
I detest the so-called experts not versed in African Literature and are shunning out ideas on the issue. African lit encompasses Oral literature, writers from all over the CONTINENT, etc.
African Literature is not ONLY about Teju Cole, Taiye Selasi, NoViolet Bulawayo, Chimamanda Adichie, etc, African literature includes Helen Oyeyemi, Aminatta Forna, Dinah Mengestu, Alain Mabackou, Assia Djebar, Mariama Ba, Oyono, Ngugi Wa Thiong''o, and more from all over the CONTINENT.
We should avoid living in a bowl.
--Funmi Tofowomo Okelola
-In the absence of greatness, mediocrity thrives.
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-- kenneth w. harrow faculty excellence advocate professor of english michigan state university department of english 619 red cedar road room C-614 wells hall east lansing, mi 48824 ph. 517 803 8839 harrow@msu.edu
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