Encyclopedia of African Literature / Edition 1

by Simon Gikandi

Overview

The most comprehensive reference work on African literature to date, this book covers all the key historical and cultural issues in the field. The Encyclopedia contains over 600 entries covering criticism and theory, African literature's development as a field of scholarship, and studies of established and lesser-known writers and their texts. While the greatest proportion of literary work in Africa has been a product of the twentieth century, the Encyclopedia also covers the literature back to the earliest eras of story-telling and oral transmission, making this a unique and valuable resource for those studying social sciences as well as humanities. This work includes cross-references, suggestions for further reading, and a comprehensive index.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415230193
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	11/28/2002
Pages:	648
Product dimensions:	6.88(w) x 9.69(h) x (d)

About the Author

Simon Gikandi

Table of Contents

Editorial team, List of contributors, Introduction, Acknowledgements, Entries A-Z, Index

Editorial Reviews

'A new and original contribution to the cultures of the African continent ... A valuable reference tool.' - Reference Reviews

From the Publisher

Editor Gikandi (language & literature, Univ. of Michigan; coeditor Death and the King's Horseman) has assembled over 100 contributors to document the rich variety of African literature, particularly by black writers of sub-Saharan Africa. While the emphasis is on the 20th century, survey articles on indigenous literatures often include traditional folk literature, and about 50 writers born before 1900 are featured. Other survey articles give overviews of literary forms such as the novel and literary movements such as "negritude" and analyze major historical events such as apartheid and colonialism as they relate to African literature. The length and depth of analysis of the author entries vary widely, from only a few sketchy paragraphs to several pages with detailed analyses of major works. The quality of writing also varies: while most of the entries are highly readable, some get bogged down in academic jargon. Nearly every entry offers vital dates and birth location and lists titles for further reading, although many of the books cited are published in Africa or Europe. The index gives access to authors by nationality as well as other lamentable aspects of the African writer's life, e.g., exile and imprisonment. Group headings are not given in the index for women or people of European descent, although writers in both of these groups are well represented in the text. This volume omits many noteworthy white and Arabian writers, but it is more comprehensive than The Companion to African Literatures and provides information on the African literary community not previously available in the United States. Recommended for academic and large public libraries.-Vivian Reed, California State Univ. Lib., Long Beach Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.

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