Great African Reads discussion

Hello, this thread is for a general discussion about African literature. Please feel free to talk about books you've read, want to read, African lit in general, etc.

I wanted to share an excellent article I came across in The Guardian on How not to talk about African literature.

Sofia wrote: "Hello, this thread is for a general discussion about African literature. Please feel free to talk about books you've read, want to read, African lit in general, etc.

I wanted to share an excellen..."

This is excellent and I cheered as I read it. Thanks for sharing it, Sofia.

No problem Carol! I think the article applies to middle eastern and Asian (south and East Asian) literature as well!

Quotes from the article:

-o- More often that not, emphasizing the political themes in a story ends up asphyxiating the literary life of the work.

-o- This tendency to anthropologize African fiction is not some kind of conspiracy of a Western publishing market. African critics have played a huge role in promoting this idea of African fiction as necessarily issues-driven. Chinua Achebe’s essay “The Novelist as Teacher,” Ngugi wa Thiongo’s Decolonizing the Mind, Wole Soyinka’s writing on fiction and the “social vision,” and Nadine Gordimer’s many essays on African literature all lead readers to expect that African fiction exist for one thing only: to comment on the social condition of Africa.

-o- Helen Oyeyemi is afraid of being 'tagged'.

-o- We have to stop telling the single story about African stories.

This is a great article. Thanks for the link, Sofia!

I'm so in love with African authors. Forgive me for going overboard in my comments here. The 'African' genre is just so textured, full-bodied, intense, overpowering, that I find it the best novels on any shelf! Okay, I'm slightly biased. lolol.

There are wonderful novels doing the rounds that are written for their entertainment value only, such as:
** The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series by Alexander McCall Smith;

** The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives by Lola Shoneyin (just a wonderful, beautiful, informative book without any geopolitical intent);

AND

** Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away by Christie Watson (fantastic read).

But then there are others which were written with the focal point on geopolitical issues, such as:

** The In-Between World of Vikram Lall by M.G. Vassanji -(I concluded my review with this sentence, in an effort to indicate the strong character of the plot itself: You have to mentally prepare yourself for the experience. It is a novel about a warm, loving family, cold-bloodedly dropped into the hands of a ruthless political destiny )

AND

** The Wizard of the Crow by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o.


These books made it impossible to ignore the underlying agenda, right?

Purple Hibicus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie aimed at exposing the cruelties of religious figures upon society, embedded in a passionate, warm family drama, while her other book Americanah, as well as Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver did the same, right? And what a brilliant book Poisonwood was! It was both strongly family orientated as well as history-driven.

One of my alltime favorite books was:

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese,
which was so brilliantly written with all the elements of an excellent literary saga/drama. Whatever geopolitical message was intended in this book, was so skillfully disguised, it never prominently surface as a sort of character in the story. This book was just mind-blowing good!

I am of the opinion that only the author decides what the main focus of the book will be in the way the story is presented: either a strong character, family-saga, and/or a political/social issue written in novel form. In the end the reader reflects that main message in the interpretation of it.

Helen Oyeyemi, who is afraid of being 'tagged' might take the reader's experience of her work into account when deciding on the focus of the book. What will the blurb contain when written by the reader, right? When the TELL - don't SHOW element is used in the book, it is very difficult to ignore it. Long passages of political or social environmental comments is thrown at the reader, often bogging down the pace of the story. It is therefor inevitable that it will be used in a blurb as the main focus of the book. Read the superb blurb of The Wizard of the Crow by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o. It reflects the ambiance of the novel perfectly. The reader knows exactly what to expect.

Don't you just hate it when a blurb is omitting information, for instance books being sold as family dramas, but fail to mention the focus on multiple rapes to the vulgar puking stage of the plot? When we have a few thousand choices of books, it is certainly imperative to spend time on books we really would enjoy. I am livid when that happens. It is time wasted that can never be retrieved.

****

A wonderful, much-needed article, thanks again, Sofia. I so agree.

Thanks for sharing the article, Sofia! And thanks for the reading suggestions Margitte!

Wim wrote: "Thanks for sharing the article, Sofia! And thanks for the reading suggestions Margitte!"

Thanks, Tim. I'm so happy that you can use it. Happy New Year to you!! :-)

Wow, I must have missed your comment Margitte. Such wonderful suggestions - thank you so much.

Thought I'd share this wonderful lecture as well: African Literature Doesn’t Exist by Taiye Selasi:

Just wanted to mention that Contingent Canons
African Literature and the Politics of Location by Madhu Krishnan, University of Bristol is available for free until the end of the year. Thought it would be perfect for all of us on here!

Find it here: https://www.cambridge.org/core/elemen...

I came across these reading lists and I thought I'd share them on here:

1. 100 Days of Cameroonian Literature by Bakwa Magazine

2. Writivism's Uganda at 56 reading lists:

- Writing Independence (1934–1978)
https://writivism.org/2018/10/12/ugan...

- Writing Independence (1986-1999)
https://writivism.org/2018/10/13/ugan...

- Writing Independence (2000-2009)
https://writivism.org/2018/10/14/ugan...

- Writing Independence (2010-present)
https://writivism.org/2018/10/16/ugan...

Thanks Sofia!

8 Zambian Authors You Should Know

Recently, Zambian authors have been on the forefront of the literary scene, winning prestigious awards for poetry and fiction, and even appearing on the New York Times Bestsellers list. Here are eight Zambian authors you should know.

https://theculturetrip.com/africa/zam...

Beverly wrote: "8 Zambian Authors You Should Know

Recently, Zambian authors have been on the forefront of the literary scene, winning prestigious awards for poetry and fiction, and even appearing on the New York ..."

Love this. Thanks for sharing it.

End of the year is list time. I stumbled upthis one, with some great suggestions for contemporary African lit: Africa's must read books of 2018.

Cool! And I just came across another "best of 2018"-list:
https://qz.com/africa/1499352/quartzs...

Here is another best of 2018 from the African Book Club

https://www.africabookclub.com/africa...

Writing Absurdity in Zimbabwe’s Contemporary Dystopia
Novuyo Rosa Tshuma on Mining Hard Family Histories in the Wake of Genocide

https://lithub.com/writing-absurdity-...

I recently read House of Stone: A Novel and it will definitely be one of my top reads for 2019.

The author does an excellent job of writing history into fiction.

Thanks for sharing this Beverly.

Very geeky and full of academese, but some of you might find the latest virtual issue of the African Studies Review interesting. It is dedicated to African literature, theatre and performance and is available for free https://www.cambridge.org/core/journa...

Thanks Cam :)

I wasn't sure where to post this, but: the crowd generated 100 Best Books by Women in Translation (into English) of 2019 has been posted, and there's a number of African works to be had. How many of your favorites made it in? It'll be worth staying tuned for the list of all the submissions: http://biblibio.blogspot.com/2019/08/...