The Liminal Novel
Subtitle: Studies in the Francophone-African Novel As Bildungsroman (American University Studies Series XVIII, African Literature)
Publisher: Peter Lang Publishing; Lang AG International Academic Publishers, Peter
Published: February 1997
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 134
ISBN-13: 9780820421681
Subjects: French Novel And Short Story; African fiction (French); Bildungsromans; History and criticism; Liminality in literature; Literature: Folklore/Mythology
Description: Critical studies of African literature, especially those treating colonial-era novels, have typically taken the form of thematic analyses. In an important departure from this trend, The Liminal Novel concentrates instead on how meaning is achieved in three African novels of the 1950s - Camara Laye's L'enfant noir, Hamidou Kane's L'aventure ambigue, and Mongo Beti's Mission terminee. The analysis offered here is innovative on at least two counts.

First, appropriating the anthropological rite of passage model, it argues convincingly for a reclassification of the three novels as members of a subset within the genre of Bildungsroman. Second, while illuminating the artistic dimensions of these works through careful scrutiny of imagery, setting, and discourse, The Liminal Novel also provides a new and valuable tool for reading many colonial coming-of-age novels.