Literary Criticism - General & Miscellaneous, Comparative Literature, General & Miscellaneous African Literature - Literary Criticism, Literary Movements - General & Miscellaneous, Race Awareness

Beyond the Boundaries

Name: Beyond the Boundaries
Author: Mineke Schipper
ISBN: 9780929587363

by Mineke Schipper

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Overview

For centuries it has been taken for granted that Western literature stands at the center of the world’s culture. But this tradition, which has relegated the literature of peoples beyond the bounds of the West almost to a “deviant” status—at best “exotic”—is more and more being recognized as a narrow and distorted perspective. How relevant, after all, are theories developed in the West for those who wish to study other literatures? In this fresh and innovative book, Ms. Schipper makes a powerful case for African literature, both as an engaging object of scholarly research and as a moral force in contemporary African society. She shows how the African novel was born of a painful relationship between the Western novel and the African oral tradition, suggests definitions of realism, and examines the political implications of literary communication in Africa. Throughout, Ms. Schipper argues for an awareness of the restrictions imposed by an inherited one-way perspective, and for a willingness to explore beyond one’s cultural boundaries. The book is a valuable contribution to the understanding of literature across cultures and particularly of African literature.

About the Author, Mineke Schipper

Mineke Schipper is Professor of Intercultural Comparative Literature at the Amsterdam Free University and Leiden State University. She is the author of several books on African and comparative literature and has lived and taught in Africa.

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Editorials

Cornell University - Biodun Jeyifo

Fresh and innovative...Professor Schipper makes a powerful case for African literature, both as an engaging object of scholarly research and as a moral force in contemporary African society...This is theoretical investigation of literature at its most unpretentious, self-critical and accessible.