Readings in African Popular Fiction (review)

As the studies of African literatures move into the twenty-first century, one might assume that the conventionally made distinction between so-called "elite" and "low" literatures, a bifurcation with its roots in Western academic aesthetics, would have shown signs of dissipation, given African literature's own painful experience of marginalization within the academic canon. But a quick perusal of course syllabi on African literature across the country demonstrates that "popular" works rarely find a place in the booklists. The academic prejudice towards "literature of the masses" continues to silence the subaltern voices and ignore the literary creations most often read by African peoples. With Readings in African Popular Fiction, edited by Stephanie Newell, any remaining speculation about the dearth of creative and social potency in African popular literature should instantly evaporate.

This anthology presents a truly impressive array of critical essays and excerpts of popular texts from sub-Saharan Africa, and Newell divides the contents regionally. Recent analyses are complemented by a number of earlier studies of popular fiction. For instance, the critical works on West African popular fiction include the seminal examinations of Onitsha market literature by Donatus Nwoga ("Onitsha Market Literature," 1965) and Don Dodson ("The Role of the Publisher in Onitsha Market Literature," 1973). Perspectives on early twentieth-century Hausa novellas (Graham Furniss) and contemporary Soyayya romance stories (Brian Larkin) round a picture of Nigerian popular works, and writers from Ghana (Ime Ikiddeh) and Cameroon (Alain Ricard) receive due attention as well.

The studies on East African and Southern African popular fiction both look at the commercial success of popular magazines, such as Joe, which circulated in Kenya during the '70s (Bodil Folke Frederiksen), and Drum, which reached its peak of popularity in the '60s (Paul Gready). The research notes how these literary sources provide ethnographic insight into the various ways meanings are created and identities are formed as they concomitantly served to aid in the socialization to urban life. Gender analysis of character portraitures and thematic topics in Kenyan novels of the '70s and '80s (Nici Nelson) as well as Drum magazine (Dorothy Driver) highlight popular literature's ability to contribute to and reinforce gender relations. Nelson explores the representations of women, noting the range of stereotypes vacillating between the continuum of the "wicked city woman" and the idealized rural woman who becomes the "bearer of tradition." Driver argues that Drum attempted to forge an ideology of domesticity through an aggressive demarcation of masculine and feminine spheres, even though this vision of womanhood failed to bear any resemblance to the material reality of South Africa. The motto "A woman's place is in the home" did not replicate the necessities of working women.

As a whole, this collection of essays serves to explore the meaning of "popular" as it applies to the African literary context. The analyses directly and indirectly blur the boundaries between "popular" and "elite" texts, observing ways these two categories regularly utilize aesthetic characteristics from one another. Numerous articles also observe some of the reading practices of the majority of Africans in specific localities, and the findings prompt a reassessment of the narrowly defined terrain of African literatures. In truth, however, the literary excerpts are the crucial ingredients making this anthology invaluable. There are a total of eight primary texts, ranging from the translated works of Hausa romance and Swahili/English macaronic literature to the anglophone works of crime thrillers in South Africa. Scholars will find this work essential in their examination of African literature.