Eleni Coundouriotis - Böcker

By looking at African novels - in French and English - of both the colonial and postcolonial periods, this text places African literature in its proper context within this field. The author shows how historical narration not only "answers back" to Europe's colonialist legacy, but also serves as a complex form of dissent among Africans themselves. Exploring subjects such as human sacrifice, as portrayed in the historical novels of Rene Maran, Chinua Achebe, Paul Hazoume, Yambo Ouolguem and Ben Okri, the author argues that these writers are part of a tradition of dissent, shattering the myth of national unity. Rather than focusing on resistance to Europe, these works reflect a variety of voices among Africans. By exploring dialogue between literature and history, this book aims to give voice to African novelists' defiance of colonialism and nationalist ideology.

Although postcolonial studies has explored the historical influences and connections among literatures throughout the world, it has considered African writing unique. By looking at African novels-written in both French and English-of the colonial and postcolonial periods, Claiming History places African literature in its proper context within this field. Eleni Coundouriotis shows how historical narration not only "answers back" to Europe's colonialist legacy, but also serves as a complex form of dissent among Africans themselves.Exploring subjects such as human sacrifice as portrayed in the historical novels of Rene Maran, Chinua Achebe, Paul Hazoume, Yambo Ouolguem, and Ben Okri, Coundouriotis argues that these authors are part of a tradition of dissent, shattering the myth of national unity. Rather than focusing on resistance to Europe-the outsider-these works reflect a variety of voices among Africans. Through their historical narratives, African novelists seek to break down and re-create their communities. Novels such as Things Fall Apart and The Famine Road have traditionally been read as ethnographies, authentically depicting the everyday life of Africans.But the emphasis on "authenticity" decontextualizes these books and neglects the ways they grapple with history. Since literature of dissent resists any single or absolute authority, it is in both colonialist and ultranationalist interests to silence it. By exploring the dialogue between literature and history, this book gives voice to African novelists' defiance of colonialism and nationalist ideology, and adds significantly to our understanding of a body of work that has long been ignored or misunderstood.

Narrating Human Rights in Africa claims human rights from the perspective of artists from the African continent and situates the key theoretical concepts in African perspectives, undercutting the stereotypes of victimhood and voicelessness. Instead of positioning literary texts as illustrative of points already theorized elsewhere, the author foregrounds the literature itself to show the concepts it offers, the ideas and responses stemming from complex historical circumstances in Africa and expressed by African writers. The book focuses on how narrative creates new categories of thought challenging human rights dogma, whereas the sum of the literary voices evoked also stands by the values of social justice and protection of human rights. The chapters take up key challenges to the narration of human rights in which the contribution of African writers is particularly important. This includes human dignity in the resistance to apartheid, the figure of the child soldier, how humanitarianism’s images affect representational strategies of contemporary African writers, the challenge of testifying about rape in war, how to evoke the disappeared body of the torture victim, the centrality of flight in the refugee and migrant experiences, and finally the long shadow of the "heart of darkness" motif. Offering a sustained examination of the narrative treatment of key human rights concerns as expressed by African writers, this book will be of interest to scholars of African literature, postcolonial studies, African studies, and human rights.

Narrating Human Rights in Africa claims human rights from the perspective of artists from the African continent and situates the key theoretical concepts in African perspectives, undercutting the stereotypes of victimhood and voicelessness. Instead of positioning literary texts as illustrative of points already theorized elsewhere, the author foregrounds the literature itself to show the concepts it offers, the ideas and responses stemming from complex historical circumstances in Africa and expressed by African writers. The book focuses on how narrative creates new categories of thought challenging human rights dogma, whereas the sum of the literary voices evoked also stands by the values of social justice and protection of human rights. The chapters take up key challenges to the narration of human rights in which the contribution of African writers is particularly important. This includes human dignity in the resistance to apartheid, the figure of the child soldier, how humanitarianism’s images affect representational strategies of contemporary African writers, the challenge of testifying about rape in war, how to evoke the disappeared body of the torture victim, the centrality of flight in the refugee and migrant experiences, and finally the long shadow of the "heart of darkness" motif. Offering a sustained examination of the narrative treatment of key human rights concerns as expressed by African writers, this book will be of interest to scholars of African literature, postcolonial studies, African studies, and human rights.