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Reviewed by:
  • The Columbia Guide to East African Literature in English Since 1945
  • James Ogude
Simon Gikandi, Evan Mwangi. The Columbia Guide to East African Literature in English Since 1945. The Columbia Guides to Literature Since 1945 series. New York: Columbia University Press, 2007. xxii + 194 pp. References. Selected Bibliography. Index. $75.00. Cloth.

This is the first text to my knowledge that gives a comprehensive introduction to East African literature in English. Indeed, if East African literature in English has been thought of as occupying a marginal space in relation to other regional literatures in the continent, Gikandi and Mwangi’s guide dispels that myth: it is evident that English literature in the region has grown in stature and in complexity since its early inception in the mid-twentieth century. This volume is a worthy companion for a researcher in the literatures of the region, and Gikandi and Mwangi have done well to include literatures from the Horn of Africa in this edition.

The first thing that strikes one in the guide is an excellent chronology of major political events in each country in the region, covering events from early colonial penetration to 2005. Placed at the beginning of the volume, this table provides information that would interest anybody looking for general historical and political information. The chronology is followed by an excellent survey of the intellectual climate and the growth of a literary culture in the region. The value of this introduction is that it maps out a complex emergence of the East African literary culture that is not just wedded to its colonial conquerors, but is equally reflective of vibrant local traditions that made themselves felt in what was initially perceived as the extension of unmediated English cultural experience. For example, the emergence of what Gikandi calls here “The Okot School and the Poetic Tradition,” firmly rooted in the institutions of learning such as Makerere University, had much to do with how local cultural traditions sought to shape received English literary expressions,.

In terms of structure and content, the guide works through a comprehensive list of leading East African writers, while at the same time registering a sensitive grasp of major thematic concerns, and historical and literary trajectories that have shaped the cultural life of the region. I sometimes found the structure adopted here rather confusing, especially in the manner in which it shifts from a consideration of individual writers to an examination of disparate thematic and literary movements without any clear ordering system at work; for a general guide, I found this frustrating. This does not, however, detract from the value of the comprehensive overview of the cultural trends and their historical periodization provided here. In fact, it is so comprehensive that it speaks to some of the oldest forces in the making of English culture in East Africa, even as it also includes discussion of the recent impact of HIV/AIDS on cultural production in the region. Having said this, I found the cross-referencing thin and quite often based [End Page 185] on old scholarship. A good example is the discussion of the novelist Vassanji which, for example, fails to acknowledge excellent work on the writer by the University of the Witwatersrand scholar, Dan Ojwang’. The value of a guide such as this one also resides in its capacity to point to new trends in literary scholarship; yet at the end of reading this guide, one is left with the unfortunate impression that not much intellectual activity is taking place in the region in spite of the flowering creative output. I have in mind sterling contributions in the area of East African popular cultures and literatures currently taking place in the African literature department at the University of the Witwatersrand, and publications such as Kwani in Kenya, which provide excellent avenues for young talents to express themselves.

These shortcomings notwithstanding, this remains an invaluable resource for literary research and scholarship on East Africa.

James Ogude
University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
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