Feature Articles

African Literature
by David White, Customer Service Bibliographer

In the December 16, 2005 Chronicle of Higher Education, Carlin Romano's article "Ignoring Authentic African Literature Means Ignoring Africans" raised some interesting points about how literature can help one group of people 'know' another.

"I do see a difference between earlier texts and texts that were written in the 1990s by writers who did not have the direct experience of colonialism as they were born after colonial rule and did not go through colonial education. I believe the concerns of the younger generation are different and these concerns reflect new responses to the question of what/who is an African. The new themes depict life in Africa today and present political turmoil (for instance - civil war in Congo and the Rwandan crisis are popular topics). The colonial legacy is still present in the texts, although it is handled differently. I believe there is a retreat from narratives of victim-hood."

"Another development is gender: women writers have forcefully emerged on the literary scene, with their own visions of Africa; i.e. telling the women's side of the story and rewriting such masterpieces as Achebe where women are almost invisible. Another trend is that sexuality is less taboo now. Hence sex and sexual orientation are now discussed in these texts."

The question remains: once someone makes up his/her mind to experience African literature, where can it be found in English translation?

The African Book Collective (ABC), formed in 1985, "…markets and distributes African published books globally outside Africa, and publishes resource material for African book and publishing communities."

One of their stated aims is to promote African literature among the international literary market. Promoting over a hundred publishers from 18 African countries, ABC focuses on "…scholarly and academic books, literature, and general culture titles."

Michigan State University Press (MSUP) is ABC's North American distributor, handling marketing and sales to the US and Canada. Their first challenge was entering over 2000 ABC titles into their database, according to Justin Cox of MSUP. Of those 2000 titles, 24% are works of literature - including popular level - with an additional 1% being literary criticism.* A hefty 92% of these were published after 1990, notes Cox.

"The challenge now is being able to keep up the momentum we established when the agreement was new. Many of the top African publishers are helping ABC by using Print on Demand for markets outside their own domestic markets. This allows us to more easily supply demand in a timely fashion and also production qualities are often vastly improved," says Cox.

YBP Library Services promotes ABC titles through our approval plan, allowing customers to sign up for notification slips or books for titles that fit their profile. Those interested in adding ABC coverage to their US or UK approval plans should contact their sales representative or customer service bibliographer at YBP or Lindsey & Croft.

* To date, only 25% of the ABC fiction profiled by YBP has been classed at the Popular level.

1. Romano, Carlin. “Ignoring African Literature Means Ignoring Africans.” The Chronicle Review, 16 Dec 2005. The Chronicle of Higher Education. 12 Dec 2005.
   

2. About Us. African Books Collective. April 11, 2006. http:\\www.africanbookscollective.com/aboutus.htm
   

3. Ibid.

Links:
http://www.africanbookscollective.com
http://msupress.msu.edu/series.php?seriesID=22