Alain Ricard

This text provides a view from below on the new forms of theatre in West Africa. Throughout, the voices of the theatre practitioners are heard, reminiscing, explaining, philosophizing and grumbling. Their personalities come across vividly, and their views play a vital role. North America: Indiana University Press

An historical overview provides new insights into the literatures of Africa, both oral and written. Expanded and updated from the earlier French edition Litteratures d'Afrique noire (1995), African literatures are presented in a new perspective focusing on the dialogue between languages and literatures. Orality is not always traditional, manuscripts are read aloud, and books have often been written in local languages, as well as in colonial languages. This book examines the dialogue between literatures written in different languages: Thomas Mofolo wrote in Sesotho and Sol Plaatje wrote in English but their novels Chaka (1926) and Mhudi (1931), should be read in counterpoint. The same could be said of Senghor and Soyinka, involved in a conversation on Africa's future that lasted for several decades. Many African writers write in several languages: from Okot p'Bitek (Acoli-English) to Ngugi wa Thiong'o (English-Gikuyu), and from Amadou Hampate Ba (Fula-French) to Alexis Kagame (French-Kinyarwanda). Focusing on linguistic consciousness and the place of language in the writer's consciousness, this book provides an original and comprehensive treatment of the African literary situation. North America:Africa World Press

" . . . a ground-breaking contribution to the field of African literature . . . " —Research in African Literatures "Anyone with the slightest interest in West African cultures, performance or theatre should immediately rush out and buy this book." —Leeds African Studies Bulletin "A seminal contribution to the fields of performance studies, cultural studies, and popular culture. " —Margaret Drewal "A fine book. The play texts are treasures." —Richard Bauman African popular culture is an arena where the tensions and transformations of colonial and post-colonial society are played out, offering us a glimpse of the view from below in Africa. This book offers a comparative overview of the history, social context, and style of three major West African popular theatre genres: the concert party of Ghana, the concert party of Togo, and the traveling popular theatre of western Nigeria.