Critical Explorations of Modern African Literature in Selected Texts

Abstract

The articles herein reflect not only contemporary scholars’ engagement with aspects of African literature, but also the main themes that African authors gravitate towards in their attempts to diagnose the malaise that ails Africa and attempt a lasting solution. At one point in history Chinua Achebe had laid a solid finger on the problem of leadership, and exempted everything else. Over the years, failure of leadership is still no doubt the leading problem, but others subtler and more insidious have cropped up: corruption, ethnicity, neo-colonialism, environmental degradation, social media and uneven advancements in technology, civil wars, unplanned urbanity, gender bias, mental health, consensual and forced migrations, LGBTQ+ issues and above all, the people of Africa. This last category, of course, arising from the assumption that a people get strictly the leadership they deserve, and doubles back to the first and foremost African problem – her political leadership. The articles in this issue, in essence, seem to agree that until we change the kind of political leaders we choose – we are still deeply imbedded in the long night of knives.