The African Imagination

This collection of Abiola Irele's essays examines African literary traditions in the broad sense, and places the work of individual authors in context. Irele presents critical readings of the works of Chinua Achebe, Kamau Braithwaite, Amadou Hapae Ba, and Amadou Kourouma, among others - African texts which have entered the global literary marketplace. In addition to discussing the textual and theortical topics surrounding these texts, the author examines the relationship between African intellectuals and the West.