The Making and Unmaking of African Literary Canons: Circulation, Genre, and Gender during the Cold War
Restricted (Penn State Only)
- Author:
- Chen, Qiyu
- Graduate Program:
- Comparative Literature
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- August 20, 2024
- Committee Members:
- Rosemary Jolly, Program Head/Chair
Nicolai Volland, Major Field Member
Rosemary Jolly, Major Field Member
Magali Armillas-Tiseyra, Co-Chair & Dissertation Advisor
Maha Marouan, Co-Chair & Dissertation Advisor
Alex Lubin, Outside Unit & Field Member - Keywords:
- African literature
Cold War
Circulation
genre
Gender - Abstract:
- This dissertation rereads dominant African literary canons and examines alternative African literary canon formations during the Cold War. By bringing the Soviet-aligned literary orbit, Socialist Chinese publishing presses, and US-based independent Black publishing presses supported by African American intellectuals into the larger purview of Cold War African literary publishing, this dissertation excavates and examines African literary traditions beyond the most well-known postcolonial Anglophone African literary canon. This prominent canon primarily consists of the African political novel, featuring works by famous authors like Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, and Ngugi wa Thiong’o. Focusing on the Cold War context allows for the discovery of routes of circulation, translation, and reception of African literature outside of the Western metropolis-(post)colony nexus. In addition to examining the circulation of African literatures across these diverse Cold War literary publishing circuits, this dissertation also explores the publishing ecology on the African continent, highlighting the existence of African literary traditions and aesthetics beyond the bipolar realism vs. modernism rivalry intensified by the Cold War. Furthermore, this dissertation illuminates the political and aesthetic valence of less-studied genres—such as the short story, poetry, political auto/biography, and theater—against the Cold War backdrop. It also makes a feminist critique of the currently male-dominated Cold War African literary landscape and a masculinist Cold War gender discourse. Specifically, this dissertation includes three case studies: the circulation, translation, and reception of Ousmane Sembene’s works in Socialist China; Kenneth Kaunda’s Zambia Shall Be Free as representative of African political auto/biography, a Cold War genre; and Penina Muhando’s Kiswahili theater that engages with Cold War politics and aesthetics. Ultimately, this dissertation shows how circulation, genre, and gender contribute to the contingency of African literary canon formations during the Cold War.