26 West Africa
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Abstract
David Damrosch’s conception of world literature as “literary works that circulate beyond their culture of origin” (2003, 4) has become an influential perspective in thinking about world literature. However, this circulation model, a major conceptual approach to the question of world literature remains problematic in many respects, not least because of its presumption that “culture of origin” is a stable reference point. In addition to this is the fact that it also ignores the important factor of the writing/production of texts, especially in non- metropolitan contexts. Eileen Julien has argued (cf. 2006) that the novels that make up the canon of modern African literature are outwardly oriented, largely addressed to audiences beyond their “cultures of origin”, a view that has been taken up in connection with literatures in other, non-Anglophone parts of the world. Martin Kern, focusing mainly on Chinese poetry, suggests a useful addition to Damrosch’s circulation model: “World Literature is not only a mode of reading (ideally in Goethe’s productive intuition as reader), that is, reception; it is also a mode of creative composition. World Literature can be written” (Kern 2017/2018, 11; emphasis in original). Following upon Julien’s and Kern’s arguments, this chapter explores the discursive construction of West African literature as world literature; it argues that written into its constitution at the moment of its emergence is an unmistakable opening to a world beyond the nation-state and the African continent.
Abstract
David Damrosch’s conception of world literature as “literary works that circulate beyond their culture of origin” (2003, 4) has become an influential perspective in thinking about world literature. However, this circulation model, a major conceptual approach to the question of world literature remains problematic in many respects, not least because of its presumption that “culture of origin” is a stable reference point. In addition to this is the fact that it also ignores the important factor of the writing/production of texts, especially in non- metropolitan contexts. Eileen Julien has argued (cf. 2006) that the novels that make up the canon of modern African literature are outwardly oriented, largely addressed to audiences beyond their “cultures of origin”, a view that has been taken up in connection with literatures in other, non-Anglophone parts of the world. Martin Kern, focusing mainly on Chinese poetry, suggests a useful addition to Damrosch’s circulation model: “World Literature is not only a mode of reading (ideally in Goethe’s productive intuition as reader), that is, reception; it is also a mode of creative composition. World Literature can be written” (Kern 2017/2018, 11; emphasis in original). Following upon Julien’s and Kern’s arguments, this chapter explores the discursive construction of West African literature as world literature; it argues that written into its constitution at the moment of its emergence is an unmistakable opening to a world beyond the nation-state and the African continent.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Editors’ Preface V
- Contents VII
- 0 Introduction 1
-
Part I: Historical Approaches – Genealogies of World Literatures
- 1 The Beginnings of the Concept (Goethe, Marx, Said) – Readings from a Postcolonial Perspective 15
- 2 Re-Reading Classical Approaches from a Postcolonial Perspective: Pascale Casanova, Franco Moretti, David Damrosch 31
- 3 Macaulay’s Magic Hat: The Colonial Education System and the Canon of World Literature 41
- 4 The King’s English and the Mother Tongue 53
- 5 Rethinking English Studies 67
-
Part II: Concepts and Methods of Anglophone World Literatures
- 6 Global Literature, World Literature and Worlding Literature: Some Conceptual Differences 85
- 7 Barbarians: Cosmopolitanism Beyond the Center-Periphery Model 103
- 8 Anglophone World Literatures and World Ecologies (Environmental Humanities) 119
- 9 Anglophone World Literatures and Transcultural Memory 133
- 10 Anglophone World Literatures and Translation 149
- 11 Comparative Literature 161
- 12 Genres of Anglophone World Literatures 175
- 13 Decolonizing World Literature through Orality 193
- 14 Intermediality and Remediation 209
-
Part III: Sociological Approaches – Distribution, Reception and Translation of Anglophone World Literature
- 15 Marketing Anglophone World Literatures 229
- 16 Canons and Canonicity in Anglophone Literature 245
- 17 Teaching Anglophone World Literature 263
- 18 Anglophone World Literatures, the Internet and the Digital Humanities 275
-
Part IV: Literary Worlds – Locations and Orientations
- 19 Britain 291
- 20 Ireland 313
- 21 USA 333
- 22 Canada 355
- 23 The Oceans 375
- 24 The Caribbean 395
- 25 Southern Africa 415
- 26 West Africa 433
- 27 East Africa 451
- 28 South Asia 471
- 29 Southeast Asia (Hong Kong and Singapore) 489
- 30 Australia 511
- 31 New Zealand Literature and the World 531
- Name Index 549
- Subject Index 567
- List of Contributors 579
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Editors’ Preface V
- Contents VII
- 0 Introduction 1
-
Part I: Historical Approaches – Genealogies of World Literatures
- 1 The Beginnings of the Concept (Goethe, Marx, Said) – Readings from a Postcolonial Perspective 15
- 2 Re-Reading Classical Approaches from a Postcolonial Perspective: Pascale Casanova, Franco Moretti, David Damrosch 31
- 3 Macaulay’s Magic Hat: The Colonial Education System and the Canon of World Literature 41
- 4 The King’s English and the Mother Tongue 53
- 5 Rethinking English Studies 67
-
Part II: Concepts and Methods of Anglophone World Literatures
- 6 Global Literature, World Literature and Worlding Literature: Some Conceptual Differences 85
- 7 Barbarians: Cosmopolitanism Beyond the Center-Periphery Model 103
- 8 Anglophone World Literatures and World Ecologies (Environmental Humanities) 119
- 9 Anglophone World Literatures and Transcultural Memory 133
- 10 Anglophone World Literatures and Translation 149
- 11 Comparative Literature 161
- 12 Genres of Anglophone World Literatures 175
- 13 Decolonizing World Literature through Orality 193
- 14 Intermediality and Remediation 209
-
Part III: Sociological Approaches – Distribution, Reception and Translation of Anglophone World Literature
- 15 Marketing Anglophone World Literatures 229
- 16 Canons and Canonicity in Anglophone Literature 245
- 17 Teaching Anglophone World Literature 263
- 18 Anglophone World Literatures, the Internet and the Digital Humanities 275
-
Part IV: Literary Worlds – Locations and Orientations
- 19 Britain 291
- 20 Ireland 313
- 21 USA 333
- 22 Canada 355
- 23 The Oceans 375
- 24 The Caribbean 395
- 25 Southern Africa 415
- 26 West Africa 433
- 27 East Africa 451
- 28 South Asia 471
- 29 Southeast Asia (Hong Kong and Singapore) 489
- 30 Australia 511
- 31 New Zealand Literature and the World 531
- Name Index 549
- Subject Index 567
- List of Contributors 579
