African Memoirs and Cultural Representations: Narrating Traditions

Description

Oral traditions and creative oratures have been celebrated in African studies over the years, specifically from the 1950s, as the most important and viable correspondence, aside from material artefacts, between social 'archaeologists' attempting to penetrate the African preliterate past and the social-political and economic productions of that same past. In the memoirs chosen for inclusion in this book, oral traditions are braided with personal experiences in the formation of the self, providing the basis of some African literary outputs and championed as having the ability to engineer the African knowledge system in global academe. In this regard, this work synthesises the concept that most memoir writing scholars feel that the production and presentation of the autobiographical self is dependent on the categories of individualism and relationality. The memoirists depict their own identities in their tales as not simply a part of their society but also one strongly impacted by prominent persons in their many lived settings. The chapters discuss an approach that enables West African memoirs to review their cultural backgrounds in the light of living in other spaces and acquiring different experiences.

Toyin Falola is an author and editor of over one hundred and fifty books on Africa and the African Diaspora, and widely proclaimed as Africa's preeminent scholar and one of the major intellectuals of our time. A global icon in African Studies, Toyin Falola has received sixteen honorary doctorates.

"African Memoirs and Cultural Representations presents an encyclopedic repository containing transitions of African multidimensional identities-personal, political, social, and cultural. From the politics of memory, to the nuances of everyday life, the universal and particular converge in this philosophical reflection and creative synthesis of the African memoir by Toyin Falola"-Prof Mobolanle E Sotunsa, Professor of African Oral Literature and Gender Studies, Babcock University, Nigeria. "This book is arguably about the retrieval, projection, and dissemination of African voices. As most times with Toyin Falola's reflections, the anti-colonial stance is implicit, nuanced, and understated. But this guarded celebration of African subjectivities is far more effective than it would appear on the surface. It veers into the very real issue of African diversity, core underlying epistemological assumptions and the ability to transcend delimiting ethnic and geographical demarcations. Once again, Falola reestablishes his astonishing versatility"-Sanya Osha, University of Cape Town, South Africa. "African Memoirs and Cultural Representations by Toyin Falola presents an excellent assessment of the critical role of West African memoirs and their interconnectivity to various realms of African society, including the political, economic, social, and cultural realms. The book brilliantly interrogates the challenging work of the memoirists as they juxtapose their ideas within the much broader context of changing societal values, traditions, and expectations of the prevailing political and social orders"-Bessie House-Soremekun, Ph.D., Interim Dean and Professor of Political Science, College of Liberal Arts, Jackson State University, USA.