This class will consider several canonical novels from sub-Saharan Africa. Our focus will be on their aesthetic and thematic properties; the novels are not meant as introductions to African histories, cultures, or practices. We will explore, instead, the specific subjects and styles of each work in the context of wider debates about orality, language, colonialism, gender, and the novel. We will also attempt to identify what makes a work canonical, to better understand the political and aesthetic stakes of African literary canon formation. |