West African literatures: ways of reading

This study of West African literatures interweaves the analysis of fiction, drama and poetry with an exploration of the broader political, cultural and intellectual contexts within which West African writers work. Anglophone literatures form the central focus of the book, with comparative comments on vernacular literature, francophone writing and oral literatures. Moving from a discussion of nationalist and anti-colonial writing in the period before independence, towards the more experimental writings of contemporary authors, the book constantly relates texts to the social and political history of West Africa. Canonical, internationally well-known writers such as Chinua Achebe and Wole Soyinka are positioned in relation to the literary cultures and debates which surrounded them when they first produced their seminal texts.