Narrative shape-shifting : myth, humor, & history in the fiction of Ben Okri, B. Kojo Laing & Yvonne Vera / Arlene A. Elder.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Elder, Arlene A., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Okri, Ben--Criticism and interpretation.

Okri, Ben.

Laing, B. Kojo--Criticism and interpretation.

Laing, B. Kojo.

Vera, Yvonne--Criticism and interpretation.

Vera, Yvonne.

African fiction (English)--History and criticism.

African fiction (English).

English fiction--20th century--History and criticism.

English fiction.

English fiction--21st century--History and criticism.

Postcolonialism--Africa.

Postcolonialism.

Postcolonialism in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (vi, 168 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Suffolk : Boydell & Brewer, 2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Responding to many of the same neo-colonial concerns as earlier African writers, Ben Okri, B. Kojo Laing and Yvonne Vera bring contemporary, hybrid voices to their novels that explore spiritual, cultural and feminist solutions to Africa's complex post-independence dilemmas. Their work is informed by both African and western traditions, especially the influences of traditional oral storytelling and post-modern fictional experimentation. Yet each is unique: Ben Okri is a religious writer steeped in the metaphysical complexities of a traditional symbiosis of physical and spiritual co-existence; B. Kojo Laing's humor grounds itself in linguistic play and outrageous characterization; Yvonne Vera translates her eco-feminist hope in political and social transformation with a focus on the developing political actions of Zimbabwean women. All three reflect on the colonial and post-independence turmoil in their respective countries of birth - Nigeria, Ghana and Zimbabwe. Together, they represent the evolution of a brilliant contemporary generation of post-independence voices. ARLENE A. ELDER is Professor of Women's Studies at the University of Cincinnati. She is the author of 'The Hindered Hand: Cultural Implications of Nineteenth-Century African-American Fiction' and has published essays and articles on African, African-American, Native-American and Australian Aboriginal literatures and orature.

Contents:

Introduction: writing as ase

Ben Okri's narrative cycle: shape-shifting on the page

B. Kojo Laing's linguistic journeying

Yvonne Vera & the womanist claims of history

Concluding and ...

Ben Okri, B. Kojo Laing & Yvonne Vera: short biographies.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 02 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references (p. 154-163) and index.

ISBN:

1-282-98819-0

9786612988196

1-84615-747-1

OCLC:

701053905