Space and Trauma in the Writings of Aminatta Forna is a critical study of her four works: a memoir, The Devil that Danced on the Water, and three novels, Ancestor Stones, The Memory of Love, and The Hired Man. This study makes the case that Forna's works delve into the historical and political landscapes of Sierra Leone and trace the growth and development of the nation from the pre-colonial to post-independence era. Within this trajectory she engages the legacies of colonialism, post-independence betrayal and disillusionment, political instability, violence, and oppression leading to the civil wars of the 1990s. This book also explores the connections between space and identity in the context of post-conflict violence and trauma. It draws from spatiality and trauma theory to argue that the production of spaces is linked to the construction of human subjectivity, and that the identity of characters emerges from the spaces they occupy, and from their relationship to them. The book further articulates the point that history, trauma, and memory are interpretive tools to explore human actions and behaviors, and reconfigure individual and collective identities across multiple spaces. Impelled by shared experience of civil war in their native Sierra Leone, Ernest Cole illuminates Forna s works as richly variegated literary spaces for the contemplation of violence, displacement, and identity: not simply to expose the atrocities of the past, but in a common hope of redemption and renewal. A moving and insightful study, grounded in history, theoretically informed, and laced with the authenticity of nostalgia and regret, resentment and love --Kathleen Verduin, Professor of English, Hope College

Space and Trauma in the Writings of Aminatta Forna

Biographies & Memoirs

Ernest Cole

Arts & Literature

Africa World Press, Inc.

Syl Cheney-Coker is generally regarded as Sierra Leone s leading writer. Indeed, he is one of the most accomplished and challenging writers to have emerged from Africa in recent years and his works have deservedly won several literary awards. A versatile artist who excels in both poetry and prose and whose influences range from Africa, to Latin America , to Europe, he is arguably the most prolific, complex, popular and misunderstood poet to have come from Sierra Leone. His poems demonstrate a tendency to use poetry as vehicle to vent his emotions. He is also a literary artist who is as much concerned about the role of the artist in society as with the nature, purpose and function of art. The first part of this volume consists of interviews with Cheney-Coker himself which not only shed considerable light on his own aesthetics and his views of the role of the writer and of literature, but also illuminate the works themselves, works which can, at times be challenging. On a general note, the essays by various hands in this anthology shed light on the work of a writer whose writing is reflective of his country's history, the struggles of both the individual and society to come to terms with the legacies of history, the social and cultural ambiguities occasioned by the history of slavery and colonialism, the destruction of indigenous systems and the resultant chaos and threat of violent revolution, and, more importantly, the attempts at reconstruction after a brutal ten year civil war. Together these essays analyze Cheney-Coker s exploration of gender relations and the forging of a new community identity in post-colonial African societies; the experimentation with new forms of writing the novel such as the epic novel; the exploration of several phases of history in the development of post-colonial societies in Africa; the role of cultural syncretism, language, myths and legends in the decolonization process; and the reconfiguration of history to subvert traditional generic elements of the historical novel in the recreation of new identities. This collection of essays provides analyses of the works of Syl Cheney-Coker, as seen through the eyes of different scholars and critics, and offers a comprehensive portrait of the writing of a poet and novelist who is both challenging and fascinating.

Emerging Perspectives on Syl Cheney-Coker

Eustace Palmer

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Books by Ernest Cole

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Ernest Cole. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Space and Trauma in the Writings of Aminatta Forna

Emerging Perspectives on Syl Cheney-Coker