Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Nigeria: Literature and the state of the restless muse in the 21st century by Ikhide Ikheloa

dear ikhide
the new generation of writers, whom you yourself have celebrated, are often now the children of your generation, living abroad, or part-time abroad. a great body of works is emerging from the likes of cole, habila, adichie, oyeyemi, and other non-nigerians, selasi, forna, waianina, bulawayo, etc. but they mostly live abroad, and are producing a new kind of diaspora sensibility that everyone struggles to define along with globalization, world lit, etc.
as for the papers given at conferences, they are in line with this new generation. i think the engagement with the old, classical african literature has faded, but not in ways i would celebrate. i imagine that a small number of african texts are used in world lit courses, with some deference to the past often marked by using Things Fall Apart. what else is often used? Death and the King's Horseman? maybe tutuola or ben okri? maybe So Long a Letter?
i am afraid that just a few, a select few, are commonly used, and most of the rest is slowly fading.
ken

On 11/20/15 5:31 AM, 'Ikhide' via USA Africa Dialogue Series wrote:

This essay is really about my view on the state of Nigerian literature. However, in the 21st century, it is difficult to discuss Nigerian literature in isolation of African literature. In the world of literature, Nigeria is a classic example of what is going on in pretty much the rest of Africa. Decades after independence, Nigeria still suffers from a shortage of funded, robust publishing houses dedicated to processing the renaissance that Nigerian literature is currently undergoing. Just the other day, I read a petition against Pearson organized by Professor Jane Plastow, a scholar based in the UK. She petitioned the publishing company, because of its refusal to re-issue some classics of African literature in the Heinemann African Writers Series. The petition saddened me. Over five decades after colonialism, African literature is still defined by its glorious past. In the classrooms, at least judging from anecdotal evidence, there seems to be some innovation on the parts of those who teach literature. Professors of African literature are stuck in a 20th century paradigm; teaching ancient scrolls, and beholden to the West and her Eurocentric standards.

http://www.praxismagonline.com/nigeria-literature-and-the-state-of-the-restless-muse-in-the-21st-century/

- Ikhide

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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