African Experience in Literature and Ideology (Studies in African Literature)

Abiola Irele's collection of essays, first published in 1981, has established itself as a classic study of modern African literature, its oral traditions, and its cultural and social context. The first part of the book explores the issues of the uniqueness and universality of African literature and the question of language. Part Two focuses on francophone writing and the concept of 'Negritude' in relation to literature from both Africa and the Caribbean. Part Three consists of individual literary studies. Irele examines the poetry of Aime Cesaire and the work of his compatriots Rene Maran and Frantz Fanon. He discusses the development of the French African novel as well as the tradition and its place in the work of leading Yoruba writers, Fagunwa, Tutuola, and Soyinka. Included also is a rare study of Cheikh Hamidou Kane and an essay on Soyinka and the Nigerian crisis.