James Hodapp - Böcker

African literature has never been more visible than it is today. Whereas Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, and Ngugi wa Thiong’o defined a golden generation of African writers in the 20th century, a new generation of “Afropolitan” writers including Chimamanda Adichie, Teju Cole, Taiye Selasi, and NoViolet Bulawayo have taken the world by storm by snatching up prestigious awards and selling millions of copies of their works. But what is the new, increasingly fashionable and marketable, Afropolitan vision of Africa’s place in the world that they offer? How does it differ from that of previous generations? Why do some dissent? Afropolitanism refuses to reinforce images of Africa in world media as merely poor, war-torn, diseased, and constantly falling into chaos. By complicating the image of Africa as a hapless victim, Afropolitanism focuses on the wide-ranging influence Africa has on the world. However, some have characterized this kind of writing as light, populist fare that panders to Western audiences.Afropolitan Literature as World Literature examines the controversy surrounding Afropolitan literature in light of the unprecedented circulation of culture made possible by globalization, and ultimately argues for expanding its geographic and temporal boundaries.

African literature has never been more visible than it is today. Whereas Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, and Ngugi wa Thiong’o defined a golden generation of African writers in the 20th century, a new generation of “Afropolitan” writers including Chimamanda Adichie, Teju Cole, Taiye Selasi, and NoViolet Bulawayo have taken the world by storm by snatching up prestigious awards and selling millions of copies of their works. But what is the new, increasingly fashionable and marketable, Afropolitan vision of Africa’s place in the world that they offer? How does it differ from that of previous generations? Why do some dissent? Afropolitanism refuses to reinforce images of Africa in world media as merely poor, war-torn, diseased, and constantly falling into chaos. By complicating the image of Africa as a hapless victim, Afropolitanism focuses on the wide-ranging influence Africa has on the world. However, some have characterized this kind of writing as light, populist fare that panders to Western audiences.Afropolitan Literature as World Literature examines the controversy surrounding Afropolitan literature in light of the unprecedented circulation of culture made possible by globalization, and ultimately argues for expanding its geographic and temporal boundaries.

Graphic narratives are one of the world’s great art forms, but graphic novels and comics from Europe and the United States dominate scholarly conversations about them. Building upon the little extant scholarship on graphic narratives from the Global South, this collection moves beyond a narrow Western approach to this quickly expanding field. By focusing on texts from the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and Asia, these essays expand the study of graphic narratives to a global scale. Graphic Novels and Comics as World Literature is also interested in how these texts engage with, fit in with, or complicate notions of World Literature. The larger theoretical framework of World Literature is joined with the postcolonial, decolonial, Global South, and similar approaches that argue explicitly or implicitly for the viability of non-Western graphic narratives on their own terms. Ultimately, this collection explores the ways that the unique formal qualities of graphic narratives from the Global South intersect with issues facing the study of international literatures, such as translation, commodification, circulation, Orientalism, and many others.