The Routledge Encyclopedia of African Literature

The Routledge Encyclopedia of African Literature By Simon Gikandi 2005 | 886 Pages | ISBN: 0415230195 | PDF | 4,4 MB Edited by an author of many books on African writers and literature, this encyclopedia covers all aspects of African literature produced in all of the major languages. Both sub-Saharan and North African literatures are represented, although for works in Arabic the focus is on the modern period. More than 600 signed articles by academic specialists treat mostly individual authors, both well known and less established. Longer essays deal with historical and cultural issues concerning the study of African literature, including criticism and theory and its development as a field of scholarship. Essays on Autobiography, Feminist criticism, and Islam in African literature, as well as regional overviews such as Gikuyu literature and West African literature in English, make this a useful starting point for exploration of African literature. Because these more general articles are one of the strengths of the work, it would have been helpful to list them in the fore matter, as it is a guessing game to find them. Most articles, including the biographical entries, have a very small list of references for further reading. Although reasonably up-to-date, these lists are often a mixture of a few primary and secondary works, not the most impressive feature of the volume. African Writers (Scribner, 1997) treats only 65 authors but in considerably more detail, with more critical commentary and with extensive bibliographical references to books by and about the authors. The Dictionary of Literary Biography series from Gale has several volumes devoted to African writers, once again with lengthy articles on major writers and good bibliographies. It is the breadth of coverage that makes Encyclopedia of African Literature stand out, especially with the inclusion of lesser-known and newer writers as well as those writing in African languages. It would be helpful to have lists of authors by country and by category or genre and, as mentioned earlier, a list of the longer overview essays. Although the inclusion of a map of the continent is useful, it is almost 10 years out of date. On the whole, however, the volume is a worthwhile addition to academic and larger public libraries, especially as there is an increased interest in creative expression from the continent.

 

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