1 - The Re-Making of Africa: Ayi Kwei Armah and the Narrative of an (Alter)-native Route to Development
Corresponding Author(s) : Gbemisola Adeoti
Africa Media Review,
Vol. 13 No. 2 (2005): Africa Media Review, Volume 13, n° 2, 2005
Abstract
The paper is a critical exploration of Ayi Kwei Armah’s novels with a view to analysing the author’s perception of and responses to Africa’s contemporary political history. Using The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born (1968) and Osiris Rising (1995) for in-depth study, the paper stresses the trajectory of Armah’s philosophical reflections on ‘the trouble with Africa’ as it relates to governance and development. The study is premised on a theoretical assumption that African
literary arts, oral and written, are capable of generating the necessary stimuli for change. In its fictiveness, literature proffers different perspectives of existential problems and their solutions. A politically engaged novel, the type that Armah often writes, is an apt canvas for paradigmatic interactions of contending ideas and social forces.
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- Adekoya, Segun, 2001, ‘Osiris Rising and the African Resurrection’, in Langues and Litteratures, Université Gaston Berger de Saint Louis, Senegal, 5 (Febru- ary): 103-112.
- Adeoti, Gbemisola, 2004, ‘Literary Studies in Contemporary Nigerian Universi- ties: The Challenges of Nationalism and Globalisation’, Paper for the Collo- quium on Research and Higher Education Policy organised by UNESCO Fo- rum on Higher Education, Knowledge and Research, Paris, 1-3 December.
- Anyidoho, Kofi, 1992, ‘Literature and African Identity: The Example of Ayi Kwei Armah’, in Derek Wright, ed., Critical Perspectives on Ayi Kwei Armah, Wash- ington DC: Three Continental Press, 34-37.
- Armah, Ayi Kwei, 1968, The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, London: Heinemann. Armah, Ayi Kwei, 1969, Fragments, London: Heinemann.
- Armah, Ayi Kwei, 1972, Why Are We So Blest?, London: Heinemann.
- Armah, Ayi Kwei, 1978, ‘Larceny or Fiction as Criticism of Fiction’, Positive Re- view: A Review of Society and Culture in Black Africa, 1: 11-14.
- Armah, Ayi Kwei, 1979, Two Thousand Seasons, London: Heinemann. Armah, Ayi Kwei, 1979, The Healers, London: Heinemann.
- Armah, Ayi Kwei, 1995, Osiris Rising: A Novel of Africa Past, Present and Future, Popenguine: Per Ankh.
- Armah, Ayi Kwei, 2001, ‘African Literature from Ancient Egypt to Today’, Public Lecture delivered at the Auditorium II, Faculty of Arts, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, 7 November.
- Awoonor, Kofi, 1972, This Earth, My Brother, London: Heinemann.
- Brenner, Louis, 2005, ‘Reading Mudimbe as a Historian’, Journal of African Cul- tural Studies, 17,1 June: 67-80.
- Castle, Gregory, ed., 2001, Post-colonial Discourses: An Anthology,Oxford: Blackwell.
- Césaire, Aimé, 1972, Discourse on Colonialism, New York: Monthly Review Press. Diop, Cheikh Anta, 1978, Black Africa: The Economic and Cultural Basis for a Federal State, Connecticut: Lawrence Hill and Co.
- Duodu, Cameron, 1969, The Gab Boys, Glasgow: Fontana Books. Fanon, Frantz, 1969, The Wretched of the Earth, London: Penguin.
- Fraser, Robert, 1980, The Novels of Ayi Kwei Armah, London: Heinemann. Hussein, Ebrahim, 1970,
- Kinjeketile, Dar-es-Salaam: Oxford University Press. Irele, Abiola, 1982, ‘In Praise of Alienation’, Inaugural Lecture, University of Ibadan. Lall, Sanjaya, 1981, Developing Countries in the International Economy: Selected Papers,London: Macmillan.
- Mazrui, Ali A. and Michael Tody, 1984, Nationalism and New States in Africa,London: Heinemann.
- Mazrui, Alli A, 2005, ‘The Re-invention of Africa: Edward Said, V. Y. Mudimbe and Beyond’, Research in African Literatures, 36, 3, Fall: 68-82.
- Mudimbe, Valentine Yves, 1988, The Invention of Africa: Gnosis, Philosophy and the Order of Knowledge, Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
- Mudimbe, Valentine Yves, 1994, The Idea of Africa, Bloomington: Indiana Univer- sity Press.
- Muhammad, Mustapha, 2001, ‘Entrapped: Armah’s Protagonists in Fragments’, in Langues and Litteratures, Université Gaston Berger de Saint Louis, Senegal, 5, February: 147-57.
- Munck, Ronaldo and Denis O’Hearnthen, eds, 1999, Critical Development Theory: Contributing to a New Paradigm, London: Zed Books.
- Ngugi wa Thiong’o, 1993, Moving the Centre: The Struggle for Cultural Free- dom, London: James Currey.
- Nnolim, Charles, 1992, Approaches to the African Novel: Essays in Analysis, Port Harcourt: Saros International Publishers.
- Rodney, Walter, 1982, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, Washington DC: Howard University Press.
- Said, Edward, 1979, Orientalism, New York: Vintage.
- Said, Edward, 1993, Culture and Imperialism, New York: Alfred Knopf.
- Sen, Armatyn, 1984, Resources, Values and Development, Oxford: Blackwell. Soyinka, Wole, 1976, Myth, Literature and the African World, Cambridge: CUP. Sztompka, Piotr, 1994, The Sociology of
- Social Change, New York: Blackwell. Wright, Derek (ed.), 1992, Critical Perspectives on Ayi Kwei Armah, Washington D.C.: Three Continental Press.
References
Adekoya, Segun, 2001, ‘Osiris Rising and the African Resurrection’, in Langues and Litteratures, Université Gaston Berger de Saint Louis, Senegal, 5 (Febru- ary): 103-112.
Adeoti, Gbemisola, 2004, ‘Literary Studies in Contemporary Nigerian Universi- ties: The Challenges of Nationalism and Globalisation’, Paper for the Collo- quium on Research and Higher Education Policy organised by UNESCO Fo- rum on Higher Education, Knowledge and Research, Paris, 1-3 December.
Anyidoho, Kofi, 1992, ‘Literature and African Identity: The Example of Ayi Kwei Armah’, in Derek Wright, ed., Critical Perspectives on Ayi Kwei Armah, Wash- ington DC: Three Continental Press, 34-37.
Armah, Ayi Kwei, 1968, The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, London: Heinemann. Armah, Ayi Kwei, 1969, Fragments, London: Heinemann.
Armah, Ayi Kwei, 1972, Why Are We So Blest?, London: Heinemann.
Armah, Ayi Kwei, 1978, ‘Larceny or Fiction as Criticism of Fiction’, Positive Re- view: A Review of Society and Culture in Black Africa, 1: 11-14.
Armah, Ayi Kwei, 1979, Two Thousand Seasons, London: Heinemann. Armah, Ayi Kwei, 1979, The Healers, London: Heinemann.
Armah, Ayi Kwei, 1995, Osiris Rising: A Novel of Africa Past, Present and Future, Popenguine: Per Ankh.
Armah, Ayi Kwei, 2001, ‘African Literature from Ancient Egypt to Today’, Public Lecture delivered at the Auditorium II, Faculty of Arts, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, 7 November.
Awoonor, Kofi, 1972, This Earth, My Brother, London: Heinemann.
Brenner, Louis, 2005, ‘Reading Mudimbe as a Historian’, Journal of African Cul- tural Studies, 17,1 June: 67-80.
Castle, Gregory, ed., 2001, Post-colonial Discourses: An Anthology,Oxford: Blackwell.
Césaire, Aimé, 1972, Discourse on Colonialism, New York: Monthly Review Press. Diop, Cheikh Anta, 1978, Black Africa: The Economic and Cultural Basis for a Federal State, Connecticut: Lawrence Hill and Co.
Duodu, Cameron, 1969, The Gab Boys, Glasgow: Fontana Books. Fanon, Frantz, 1969, The Wretched of the Earth, London: Penguin.
Fraser, Robert, 1980, The Novels of Ayi Kwei Armah, London: Heinemann. Hussein, Ebrahim, 1970,
Kinjeketile, Dar-es-Salaam: Oxford University Press. Irele, Abiola, 1982, ‘In Praise of Alienation’, Inaugural Lecture, University of Ibadan. Lall, Sanjaya, 1981, Developing Countries in the International Economy: Selected Papers,London: Macmillan.
Mazrui, Ali A. and Michael Tody, 1984, Nationalism and New States in Africa,London: Heinemann.
Mazrui, Alli A, 2005, ‘The Re-invention of Africa: Edward Said, V. Y. Mudimbe and Beyond’, Research in African Literatures, 36, 3, Fall: 68-82.
Mudimbe, Valentine Yves, 1988, The Invention of Africa: Gnosis, Philosophy and the Order of Knowledge, Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Mudimbe, Valentine Yves, 1994, The Idea of Africa, Bloomington: Indiana Univer- sity Press.
Muhammad, Mustapha, 2001, ‘Entrapped: Armah’s Protagonists in Fragments’, in Langues and Litteratures, Université Gaston Berger de Saint Louis, Senegal, 5, February: 147-57.
Munck, Ronaldo and Denis O’Hearnthen, eds, 1999, Critical Development Theory: Contributing to a New Paradigm, London: Zed Books.
Ngugi wa Thiong’o, 1993, Moving the Centre: The Struggle for Cultural Free- dom, London: James Currey.
Nnolim, Charles, 1992, Approaches to the African Novel: Essays in Analysis, Port Harcourt: Saros International Publishers.
Rodney, Walter, 1982, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, Washington DC: Howard University Press.
Said, Edward, 1979, Orientalism, New York: Vintage.
Said, Edward, 1993, Culture and Imperialism, New York: Alfred Knopf.
Sen, Armatyn, 1984, Resources, Values and Development, Oxford: Blackwell. Soyinka, Wole, 1976, Myth, Literature and the African World, Cambridge: CUP. Sztompka, Piotr, 1994, The Sociology of
Social Change, New York: Blackwell. Wright, Derek (ed.), 1992, Critical Perspectives on Ayi Kwei Armah, Washington D.C.: Three Continental Press.