Die Monographie bietet einen umfassenden Überblick über die Autobiographik in Subsaharaafrika und beleuchtet die Vielfalt der autobiographischen Diskurse über verschiedene Epochen hinweg. Sie widerlegt eurozentristische Ansätze, die die Definition von Autobiographie einschränken, und zeigt stattdessen ein breites Spektrum an Formen, das von der vorkolonialen Zeit bis zur post-postkolonialen Gegenwart reicht. Anhand von exemplarischen Analysen wird die Entwicklung und Bedeutung autobiographischer Texte in Afrika detailliert dargestellt.
Over the past two decades, African child soldiers have emerged as a significant focus in media and literature. In various narrative forms, including testimony, fiction, and film, the figure of the war child has become a powerful trope with diverse meanings. African and Afrodiasporic authors and filmmakers, drawing from different regions, employ unique narrative and visual strategies to portray child soldiers, contributing to an alternative discourse that challenges Western mainstream portrayals. This collection features interviews with academic teachers, scholars, writers, filmmakers, journalists, and readers from Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and diasporic locations, who have engaged with the subject creatively and analytically. The discussions reveal African perspectives on the literary and cinematic representations of child soldiers, highlighting the complexities and social urgency of addressing the aftermath of wars and collective trauma. The conversations also navigate the challenge of depicting the realities of child soldiers without reinforcing stereotypes or commodifying their experiences. The book includes a comprehensive bibliography of the extensive literature and film related to the African child soldier, featuring contributions from various notable authors and scholars.
African literature has often been viewed as a distinct genre focused on anti- or postcolonial themes and social and political struggles, leading to its relegation as mimetic and confined to traditional forms. However, contemporary African literary texts break free from these constraints, engaging in innovative practices that cross literary boundaries. This collection of essays demonstrates that modern African literature embraces a diverse range of intermedial, intertextual, and cross-genre approaches, both on the continent and in the Diaspora. The contributions explore generic hybridization and the creation of new forms and languages that transcend traditional binaries, such as oral versus written, prose versus poetry, and African-language versus Europhone literatures. These analyses highlight the dynamic transformations occurring within the context of modernization and globalization. The essays delve into the aesthetics of these texts while examining the underlying causes of their evolution, showcasing the vibrant creative expressions that emerge from the interplay of various influences. With insights from a range of scholars, this work illuminates the vitality and complexity of contemporary African literatures.
