Our new print issue, Nigeria in the World, is here. Subscribe for full access or order your copy today!
Academic and author of ‘Gender, Anti-Colonialism and Nationalism’, Nnenna Ifeanyi-Ajufo, believes it is important that Africans tell our own stories: ‘Look at Africa and the history of Africa. Academic writings about Africa are not largely written by Africans and this has allowed for a distortion of our history.’
The Republic is a Nigerian media-tech company dedicated to explaining our time—through deeply reported journalism on power, culture and society.
Focused consumption without interruptions.
Years of reporting at your fingertips.
Long-form journalism that matters.
Create a free account to continue reading this month and access more of our work.
About the Author
is a lawyer and senior lecturer of law at the School of Law, Swansea University. She holds an LLM in International Information Technology Law, MA in African Studies and LLD in International Law.
Nigerian novelist, poet and author of Graceland, Chris Abani, does not believe ‘Nigerian literature’ exists as a category: ‘It is a common misconception that there is a fixed category that can be read as essentially “Nigerian literature”. Nigeria has 500 nations, 500 languages and about 2,000 dialects. While culture and language can overlap, the level of diversity is such that Nigerian literature cannot be easily narrowed down.’
For the co-founder and publishing director, of Cassava Republic Press, which marks its 20th anniversary this year, Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, it is telling that African literature is often pronounced dead in recent years, when more women and queer voices are becoming more prominent: ‘The loudest obituary writers about African literature tend to be men. These elegies seem to come from a tacit sense of personal or generational displacement rather than from the actual state of the field.’
Nigerian poet, novelist and author of Madame Sosostris and the Festival for the Broken-Hearted, Ben Okri, argues that Nigerian literature doesn’t always have to be about Nigeria: ‘Nigerian literature limits itself to Nigeria and then limits even the ways in which the country can be written about. What we want is a vast literature, a great literature…that speaks to all humanity.’
Comments
Sign in to comment.