Title: Narrative shape-shifting : myth, humor, & history in the fiction of Ben Okri, B. Kojo Laing & Yvonne Vera /
Authors: Elder, Arlene A.
Publisher: James Currey,
Year: 2009
Subjects: Okri, Ben Criticism and interpretation.; Laing, B. Kojo Criticism and interpretation.; Vera, Yvonne Criticism and interpretation.; African fiction (English) History and criticism.; African fiction (English) History and criticism.; African fiction (English) History and criticism.; Postcolonialism Africa.; Postcolonialism in literature.
Abstract: "Responding to many of the same neo-colonial concerns as earlier African writers, Ben Okri, B. Kojo Laing and Yvonne Vera bring contemporary, hybrid voices to their novels that explore spiritual, cultural and feminist solutions to Africa's complex post-independence dilemmas. Their work is informed by both African and western traditions, especially the influences of traditional oral storytelling and post-modern fictional experimentation. Yet each is unique: Ben Okri is a religious writer steeped in the metaphysical complexities of a traditional symbiosis of physical and spiritual co-existence; B. Kojo Laing's humor grounds itself in linguistic play and outrageous characterization; Yvonne Vera translates her eco-feminist hope in political and social transformation with a focus on the developing political actions of Zimbabwean women. All three reflect on the colonial and post-independence turmoil in their respective countries of birth - Nigeria, Ghana and Zimbabwe. Together, they represent the evolution of a brilliant contemporary generation of post-independence voices."--Publisher's website.
Contents: Introduction: writing as ase -- Ben Okri's narrative cycle: shape-shifting on the page -- B. Kojo Laing's linguistic journeying -- Yvonne Vera & the womanist claims of history -- Concluding and... -- Ben Okri, B. Kojo Laing & Yvonne Vera: short biographies.