MIGRATION AND TRANSFORMATION IN RECENT AFRICAN LITERARY CRITICISM

Abstract

As cultural globality continues to demand ever new responses and intersects, questions regarding the place of Africa and the responsibilities of the African writer persist. In many theoretical formulations, it is postcolonial cosmopolitanism and the alleged commonality of transnational culture that provide the ethical basis of a ‘global’ identity. On a literary stage, predominantly theorized and discussed in terms of its transnationality, competitive international markets highlight recurrent issues of canon formation and, accordingly, the value placed on African literary accomplishments. Debates around who and what might constitute African literature in this context point to the shifting epistemological ground that African authors and literary critics alike must negotiate. All four texts under review here reflect this shifting ground, each with different aims, approaches and areas of focus. Postcolonial Eyes is a fitting addition to the excellent Liverpool University Press series ‘Contemporary French and Francophone Cultures’. This volume by Aedin Ni Loingsigh explores the ways in which francophone African writers have contributed to and negotiated