Title: A Postmodern nationalist : truth, orality, and gender in the work of Mia Couto /
Authors: Rothwell, Phillip, 1972-
Publisher: Bucknell University Press ; Associated University Presses,
Year: 2004
Subjects: Couto, Mia, Political and social views.; Couto, Mia, Criticism and interpretation.; Mozambique History; Mozambique History
Abstract: "This is the first book in the English language devoted to the study of the work of Mozambique's leading contemporary author, Mia Couto. Couto's fiction is riddled by a central paradox - it forges a distinct postmodern national identity for a country historically plagued by repeated and detrimental interference from abroad. Phillip Rothwell argues that Couto is a writer who eschews and reinforces the national frontier. In fact, Couto produces a cultural phenomenon that is markedly Mozambican by corrupting aspects of the European legacy Portugal left on the African continent, fusing this distortion with a corrupted version of African heritage, and demarcating literary boundaries through fluidity."