Crossings and Comparisons in African Literary and Cultural Studies

This book constructs a platform for the critical exploration of African literatures written in a variety of African and European languages and goes beyond the mainstream in African literary and cultural studies by engaging multiple hermeneutic approaches to narratives, performance, and visual arts. Putting emphasis on comparing cultural productions in at least two linguistic expressions, the book foregrounds the analytical strategies employed by the contributors to delve into the epistemologies of African social, cultural and political life, as critical assessments of the novel, short stories, music, drama, film, poetry, social media, festivals, and academic institutions become paramount. The contributions underscore the necessity to respond to trends and transformations that African literary genres and media have seen across time and space with interest in how these changes have been enriched by the different languages of expression. Going beyond regional and linguistic boxes, in which African literatures, music, and film have often been encapsulated, the chapters in this book present a critical assessment of the ideological, aesthetic, thematic, and linguistic models that illustrate similarities, but also differences, that can be made visible through comparative approaches, and which underscore the innovative potential to put African narratives, lyrics, and discourses conveyed in more than one language in conversation with one another. Crossings and Comparisons in African Literatures and Cultures: Introduction ............. 1 SUSANNE GEHRMANN AND PEPETUAL MFORBE CHIANGONG . On the Cosmopolis of Islamic Literature and its Adaptation into African Languages ................................ 13 CLARISSA VIERKE (UNIVERSITÄT BAYREUTH) Rhetorical Strategies of Humour in West African Epics: Crossing Languages, Genres, and Media ..................................................................... 37 ANNE M. CAROVANI (UNIVERSITÄT GREIFSWALD) The Representation of History in Poetic Space. Strategies of Polyphony in Contemporary African Novels: Boubacar Boris Diop's and Mia Couto's ..................................................................................... 61 LUCIA WEIß (FREIE UNIVERSITÄT BERLIN) Narrating Lives and Negotiating Space in Prison. A Comparative Analysis of Calixthe Beyala's and Petina Gappah's .................................................................. 83 ISABEL SCHRÖDER (HUMBOLDT-UNIVERSITÄT ZU BERLIN) African Child Soldier Narratives in Children's Literature. A Cross-Regional and Cross-Language Comparison ................................................. 103 CHARLOTT SCHÖNWETTER (HUMBOLDT-UNIVERSITÄT ZU BERLIN) Political Practice and Irate Satire in Cameroonian Drama: A Cross-language Exploration of by Victor Epie 'Ngome and by Charles Soh ............................ 121 PEPETUAL MFORBE CHIANGONG (HUMBOLDT-UNIVERSITÄT ZU BERLIN) Critical Humanisms on the Margins of African Literary Canons: Bakary Diallo and Richard Rive ................................................................................ 141 CULLEN GOLDBLATT (PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY) Inclusive Rapport: Nation, Language, and Identity in Nigeriène and Nigerian Hausa Rap Music ................................................................................. 153 ABDALLA UBA ADAMU (BAYERO UNIVERSITY, KANO) Travelling without Visa: Afropolitan Vibe, Technoculture, and the Language of Cultural Production .................................................................. 175 OLADIPUPO OYELEYE (UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON) From a Francophone Novel to an Anglophone Film: Emmanuel Dongala's Johnny chien méchant and Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire's ................... 193 GBANDE DARÉ (UNIVERSITÉ DE LOMÉ) AND SUSANNE GEHRMANN (HUMBOLDT-UNIVERSITÄT ZU BERLIN) Virtual Communication Remediated. Truth, Disguise, and Falsity in Petina Gappah's Anthology ................................................................ 217 RICARDA DE HAAS (UNIVERSITÄT WIEN) The Compartmentalisation of Literature in Kiswahili and Literature in English - the Kenyan Situation ............................................................. 237 MIRIAM MARANGA-MUSONYE (UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI) New African Trajectories beyond Francophonie. Festivals, Anthologies, Research ...... 253 BERNADETTE DESORBAY (HUMBOLDT-UNIVERSITÄT ZU BERLIN) Contributors ............................................................................................................... 271