Synopses & Reviews
Islam has shaped the culture of more than a third of the continent, and provides a critical component in the works of many prominent African writers. Yet critics often perpetuate the notion that black African literatures are an amalgam of traditional African and Western literary cultures. The contributions in this collection range widely throughout much of Africa but are carefully linked in a comparative context through the introduction and the regional overviews.
Review
. . . a valuable contribution to the study of African literatures and to African studies in general.African Affairs
Synopsis
Islam has shaped the culture of more than one-third of the continent and provides a critical component in the works of many prominent African writers.
About the Author
Kenneth W. Harrow (Ph.D., New York University) is a professor of English at Michigan State University and is past president of the African Literature Association. He has co-edited Crisscrossing the Boundaries of African Literature, and has published widely on African literature and film.
Table of Contents
The Approach to Islam
Introduction
East Africa
The Study of Islam in Eastern Africa, J. Spaulding
Islam and Secularity in Swahili Literature, I.N. Shariff
Language, Poetry, and Power: A Reconsideration of Utendi wa Mwana Kupona, A. Biersteker
Of Poets and Sheikhs: Somali Literature, A.J. Ahmed
The Two-Sided Image of Women in Season of Migration to the North, S. Ghattas Soliman
West Africa
Islam in West African History, D. Robinson
Islamic and Songhay Belief Systems in the Timbuktu Chronicles and the Epic of Askia Mohammed, T. Hale
Amadou Hampate Ba and the Islamic Dimension of West African Oral Literature, G. Asfar
Islam in Senegalese Literature and Film, M.B. Cham
Women, Tradition, and Religion in Sembene's Work, E. Makward
Mouridism in Senegalese Fiction, D. Boyd-Buggs
The Image of Islam in the Tales of Birago Diop, I.C. Tcheho
Islamic Elements in Camara Laye's L'Enfant noir, E. Sellin
Comparative Approaches
Islamic Orthodoxies and the West African Novel, L.A. Johnson
Camara Laye, Cheikh Hamidou Kane, and Tayeb Salih: Three Sufi Authors, K.W. Harrow
"Orientalism in European-Language African Writing, G. Lang
Bibliography
Index