Looking ahead to the upcoming African Literature Association 2014 Conference (9 to 13 April), Dan Ojwang and Michael Titlestad have an interesting piece in the Mail & Guardian, African writing blurs into 'world' literature.
[Aside: by 'African' the authors, and the ALA, apparently mean only sub-Saharan African -- a quick check of the (impressive) 70-page conference programme (warning ! dreaded pdf format !) finds not a single mention of Arabic-language writing, and the only Maghrebi author I could find mention of is Mohammad Mrabet. Seriously ?]
Among the disturbing findings by Ojwang and Titlestad:
[Aside: by 'African' the authors, and the ALA, apparently mean only sub-Saharan African -- a quick check of the (impressive) 70-page conference programme (warning ! dreaded pdf format !) finds not a single mention of Arabic-language writing, and the only Maghrebi author I could find mention of is Mohammad Mrabet. Seriously ?]
Among the disturbing findings by Ojwang and Titlestad:
As local literary institutions and publics are eroded -- and given the prudential nature of local initiatives -- the primary site of African literary production has shifted to Euro-America.And consequently:
These authors' works are generally mediated for African readers by reviewers and academics abroad, and most have acquired their status through winning international awards.Still, as the authors suggest, there's a lot that can be done, and it'll be interesting to see what constructive efforts emerge from the ALA conference.