The Cambridge Companion to the African Novel

Africa's strong tradition of storytelling has long been an expression of an oral narrative culture. African writers such as Amos Tutuola, Naguib Mahfouz, Wole Soyinka and J. M. Coetzee have adapted these older forms to develop and enhance the genre of the novel, in a shift from the oral mode to print. Comprehensive in scope, these new essays cover the fiction in the European languages from North Africa and Africa south of the Sahara, as well as in Arabic. They highlight the themes and styles of the African novel through an examination of the works that have either attained canonical status - an entire chapter is devoted to the work of Chinua Achebe - or can be expected to do so. Including a guide to further reading and a chronology, this is the ideal starting-point for students of African and world literatures.

Author: F. Abiola Irele
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 08/01/2009
Pages: 306
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.10lbs
Size: 8.80h x 6.00w x 0.60d
ISBN: 9780521671682

Review Citation(s):
Choice 03/01/2010

About the Author
Irele, F. Abiola: - F. Abiola Irele is Visiting Professor in the Department of African and African American Studies and the Department of Romance languages at Harvard University.