African Literary NGOs Power, Politics, and Participation [Hardcover]

Proposing the novel concept of the "literary NGO," this study combines interviews with contemporary East African writers with an analysis of their professional activities and the cultural funding sector to make an original contribution to African literary criticism and cultural studies.Introduction. Kenya and Uganda in the Limelight: Setting the Stage 1. The landscape had not its like in all the world : (East) African Anglophone Writing from the 1940s to the Late 1990s 2. African Literary NGOs (LINGOs): A Model for African Literary Criticism and Cultural Politics 3. The African Literary Revolution on Our Doorstep?: African LINGOs Past and Present 4. Survival of the Fittest: African LINGOs - An Enduring Phenomenon? 5. Tongues on Fire : The Politics of Being an African Writer in an African LINGO in the 21st Century 6. Words that reshape a country and Literary Canons?: Agency and Narrative 7. Rewriting African Identity, Self, and Place: Civil War and HIV/AIDS in Fiction 8. Some Conclusions and Future Scenarios for the African LINGO in the 21st Century

'This book is a very valuable addition to the scholarship available in the area of African Literature. It frequently highlights the numerous challenges faced by writers working in the postcolonial setting. Strauhs's analysis of the role of LINGOs in the development of literature in the region is focused and highly organized, concentrating on the role of LINGOs in defining the direction of literature and socio-cultural debate in Africa.' - Abasi Kiyimba, Professor, Department of Literature, Makerere University, Uganda

'Doreen Strauhs makes an important and ground-breaking addition to our understanding of African writing in English. While we simply assume that writers write and readers read, this book exposes the complex network of patronage, support, and organization that enables African writing to be written, to be published, and to be read. It is a valuable addition to the l,