Article
Literature, African, Australian, Canadian
Margaret Harris
AUSTRALIAN LITERARY STUDIES
(2023)
Article
Literature, African, Australian, Canadian
Robert Newton
AUSTRALIAN LITERARY STUDIES
(2023)
Editorial Material
Literature, African, Australian, Canadian
Margaret Henderson
AUSTRALIAN LITERARY STUDIES
(2023)
Review
Literature, African, Australian, Canadian
Kyle Kohinga
AUSTRALIAN LITERARY STUDIES
(2023)
Article
Literature, African, Australian, Canadian
Rachel Gregory Fox
Summary: This article explores how contemporary poets examine the origins and journeys of objects within museums, analyzing the works of Bernardine Evaristo, Inua Ellams, and Daljit Nagra. These poetic mediations are seen as literary archaeologies that engage with colonial encounters and the histories of migration. The article discusses how these literary archaeologies respond to the narratives of British museums in the twenty-first century.
JOURNAL OF COMMONWEALTH LITERATURE
(2023)
Article
Literature, African, Australian, Canadian
Beniamin Klaniecki
Summary: This article explores the role of consolation in a biopolitical and queer reading of Arundhati Roy's The Ministry of Utmost Happiness (2017). The novel critiques contemporary Indian politics, Hindu nationalism, casteism, and economic neoliberalism, offering hope to the marginalized in New India. The article argues that the liberatory potential of the novel is best understood through a combined perspective of biopolitics, queer theory, and notions of failure and non-imperative happiness. It assesses the novel positively but also acknowledges its limitations and suggests ways to reaffirm its reformatory potential.
JOURNAL OF COMMONWEALTH LITERATURE
(2023)
Article
Humanities, Multidisciplinary
Chepchirchir Tirop
Summary: This paper examines the implications of the Asian African Heritage museum exhibit at the Nairobi Museum in relation to questions of identity and belonging. It analyzes the process of creating the exhibit and highlights the importance of studying museum exhibits organized by specific groups and communities in understanding historical and contemporary contexts. The paper argues that these exhibits provide rich insights into postcolonial societies.
EASTERN AFRICAN LITERARY AND CULTURAL STUDIES
(2023)
Article
Humanities, Multidisciplinary
Felix Mutunga Ndaka
Summary: This paper examines Yvonne Owour's Dust as a means to address the complex history of Kenya and envision a new future. It argues that the book not only serves as a memorial for past violence and injustices, but also encourages readers to imagine possibilities of dissent, healing, and inclusivity. Furthermore, the text connects Kenya's experiences to global struggles and offers a lens through which to envision transformative socialities.
EASTERN AFRICAN LITERARY AND CULTURAL STUDIES
(2023)
Article
Humanities, Multidisciplinary
Ayan Salaad
Summary: This article compares Yvonne Owuor's novel The Dragonfly Sea with nine Banaadiri fishing poems called geeraarro, exploring the representation of labor, kinship, and cultural heritage. It examines the relationship between littoral communities and Indian Ocean ecologies through oral narrative structures. By analyzing different forms of literature, the article demonstrates how comparative analysis can shed light on the relationship between storytelling, poetry, and ecological sensibility.
EASTERN AFRICAN LITERARY AND CULTURAL STUDIES
(2023)
Article
Humanities, Multidisciplinary
Dele Maxwell Ugwanyi
Summary: Ecological violations and anthropogenic pollution are common themes in contemporary African novels. Previous studies on African literature have mainly focused on the narrative strategies of nature writing, with little attention given to the impacts and the associated eco-social and economic crisis caused by these violations. This study examines the extent of human activities on the environment and their impacts on both human and non-human entities in Ngugi wa Thiong'o's Wizard of the Crow. It emphasizes the man-made environmental disasters in Kenya and Africa and raises awareness about environmental exploitation in the region.
EASTERN AFRICAN LITERARY AND CULTURAL STUDIES
(2023)
Book Review
Language & Linguistics
Ariadna Seron-Navas
Book Review
Language & Linguistics
Jarred Thompson
Article
Language & Linguistics
Dan Wylie
Summary: Various branches of ecocriticism are attempting to deconstruct or at least reduce the dominant anthropocentric ways of assessing the relationships among humans, the non-human world, and literary imagination. Critical Animal Studies, Critical Plant Studies, and multispecies ecocriticism aim to reassess the roles and agency of non-human life in literary works. This article analyzes the portrayal of plants in three early South African travelogues (1795-1836), revealing the origins of enduring assumptions and iconic imagery in our relationship with the natural world.
Article
Language & Linguistics
Daniel Roux
Summary: This article examines Herman Charles Bosman's memoir, Cold Stone Jug, as a significant precursor to South African prison literature in the 20th century. The memoir explores how the physical space of the Benthamite prison shapes social dynamics and personal psychology. Through a close analysis of Bosman's Cold Stone Jug, the article highlights the narrative expression of the prison's distinct chronotopes.
Article
Language & Linguistics
F. Fiona Moolla
Summary: The Journey (1991) is a little-known struggle novel written by Frank Anthony (d. 1993), a senior member of the African People's Democratic Union of Southern Africa (APDUSA) who was imprisoned on Robben Island for six years. The novel and its author have been erased from South African history due to the racialized literary establishment and the defensive nature of the resistance organization, which resulted in tacit censorship. Anthony's novel provides insights into the repression of personal experiences in the anti-apartheid movement and the diminishing importance of love in leftist discourse during that time. The protagonist of The Journey embodies the blindness to the potential of love in dominant struggle politics, as his passion for social justice paradoxically leads to the repression of personal empowerment and emancipation through love and eros.
Article
Language & Linguistics
Robin K. Crigler
Summary: Humour serves as a valuable tool for understanding the socio-cultural changes that occurred in black South African society during the mid-twentieth century. By analyzing the works of three influential African writers - R. R. R. Dhlomo, Msimbithi the Kitchen Boy, and Casey Motsisi - it becomes evident that they utilized humour as a means of reflection amidst the oppressive atmosphere of apartheid-era South Africa. While Dhlomo's comedic trajectory following 1943 mirrored the diminished aspirations of his aging New African cohort, Motsisi and Msimbithi responded to the challenges of their time in creative and insightful ways.
Article
Language & Linguistics
Sue Marais
Summary: In this article, the author discusses Jolyn Phillips' use of English and Afrikaans in her short story collection "Tjieng Tjang Tjerries" to convey the language and lived experiences of the coloured fishing community in Gansbaai. The article also highlights the interconnected narratives in the collection, emphasizing the connection between personal identity, community, and place. Despite the depiction of challenging socioeconomic circumstances, alcoholism, and abuse, the dominant tone of the collection is not one of disenchantment, but rather one of gentleness, affection, and raunchily direct humor.
Article
Literature, African, Australian, Canadian
Lisa Propst
Summary: This article discusses the importance of witnessing in addressing ongoing inequities and structural violence. It emphasizes the need for witnesses to be open to the definitions of space and roles provided by the subject being witnessed, as this can challenge existing power dynamics and lead to transformation. Through the analysis of two texts on post-transitional South Africa, the article highlights the potential consequences of witnessing and the possible redefinitions of space. It demonstrates the significance of this approach in real-world terms.
JOURNAL OF COMMONWEALTH LITERATURE
(2023)
Article
Literature, African, Australian, Canadian
Marta Fossati
Summary: This article examines the presence of a Joycean intertext in Zoe Wicomb's short story "Nothing Like the Wind" and compares it with Eveline in Dubliners. The two texts share similarities in content and form, exploring themes of family, home, and migration, all affected by the legacy of colonialism.
JOURNAL OF COMMONWEALTH LITERATURE
(2023)
Article
Literature, African, Australian, Canadian
Shazia Rahman
Summary: The Blind Man's Garden by Nadeem Aslam depicts the toxic effects of hegemonic masculinity through the Afghanistan war, but also presents an alternative known as postcolonial ecomasculinity.
JOURNAL OF COMMONWEALTH LITERATURE
(2023)
