AFRICA ASSERTS ITS IDENTITY Part I: the Frankfurt Book Fair by Barbara Harrel I-Bond

AFRICA ASSERTS ITS IDENTITY Part I: The Frankfurt Book Fair by Barbara Harrel I-Bond

he 1980 Frankfurt Book Fa17focused on

:mks "punten and published in Africa " :lacy participants got t3eir first exposure to ?t? richness and divers~tyof Afr~can terature. desp~tethe problems - largely ,-r-3. n,ornic - that ~nhibitAfrica's pubiishing ?,^!ustry The American Universities Field INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERS Staff, Inc.,founded in 1951, is a non- University of Alabama American profit, membership corporation of Brown University Americ/an educational institutions. It California State Universities- employs a full-time staff of foreign area specialists who write from University/Fullerton abroad and make periodic visits to California State Field Staff member institutions. AUFS serves UniversityINorthridge the public through its seminar pro- Dartmouth College grams, films, and wide-ranging pub- Indiana University lications on significant develop- Institute for Shipboard ments in foreign societies. Education University of Kansas Michigan State University University of Pittsburgh Ramapo College of New Jersey Utah State University University of Wisconsin System

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THE AUTHOR BARBARA E. HARRELL-BOND is a the Afrika-Studiecentrum, Leiden. Ap- social anthropologist who has conducted pointed a Senior Research Fellow at the research in England and in West Africa. School of Law, University of Warwick, in Her special interests are family, urban 1976, Dr. Harrell-Bond joined the Field problems, law, and the history of the im- Staff in 1978 to report on West Africa. position of alien law in colonial Africa. She received a B. Litt. and D. Phil. in anthropology from the University of Oxford. Her publications include Modern Marriage in Sierra Leone: A Study of the Professional Group and Community Leadership and the Transformation of Freetown (1801-19761, the latter being co-researched and written with two historians, Dr. Allan Howard and Dr. David Skinner. She has also published widely in academic journals, lectured in a number of universities including the Uni- versity of Illinois (Urbana), the University of Helsinki, and the University of 1981,American Universities Warsaw, and was a Visiting Scholar at Staff, Hanover, NH 19811No. 9 by Barbara Harrell-Bond AFRICA ASSERTS ITS Africa [BHB-1-'811 IDENTITY Part I: The Frankfurt Book Fair

In a discussion on the politics of in- North to South on which de theme ''Africa-a Continent Asserts formation, Mario de Andrade, Com- Andrade commented. As he put it, its Identity." missar of Information in Guinea- "How can there be real communica- Such book fairs have much more Bissau, observed that the interna- tion so long as the world is divided than commercial significance. The tional dissemination of information by a frontier between countries average reader may not realize that has a one-way, vertical structure which are the producers and decisions made by the publishing which is monopolized by the West exporters of information and coun- houses ultimately determine the and which excludes all "real com- tries which are the consumers and kind of reading material available to munication." "Be it audio-visual or importers of this information?" him. To believe that such commer- the written word," he continued, "it cial enterprises merely reflect the is, in the final analysis, the monopoly Nor has this imbalance been limited tastes of their customers is naive; who decides and selects which sub- to North-South dimensions. Said the publishers are also active agents jects are in their opinion to be dif- Mzee, the East African publisher in determining what the public fused. The result is that it is the who organized the Halle 7 exhibit, monopoly which determines the im- "Printed and Published in Africa," chooses to buy and thus play an im- portance of information which, in noted that, "despite the progress portant role in shaping the con- turn, provides the basis for an image Africa has made in book production, sciousness of society. This is par- of the world reality and conse- the industry remains something of ticularly true as far as the image of quently its impact."l Indeed, the an enigma, not least to the Africans Africa is concerned. Al lmfeld of the image of Africa as the "Dark Conti- themselves. Probably no one knows Evangelical Press Service in Ger- nent" still prevailing today (which for certain how many publishing many put it this way: houses exist on the continent. had its origins in the theories of It is the publishing industry itself racial superiority developed to jus- Africans in the west do not know what is published in the east and that perpetuates the European ori- tify the slave trade and imperialism) entation in literature and it is here was created mainly in Europe by vice versa, and the linguistic barriers that divided the continent into that our European preoccupation non-African authors. with ourselves stands out most. In Anglophone, Francophone, and the northern hemisphere, from Twenty years ago there was virtually Lusophone stood in the way of Japan to the Soviet Union, from no publishing industry in Africa any meaningful interaction between worth mentioning and only a hand- them."3 Europe to North America, nearly a ful of African writers were pub- million titles by us or about us are lishing outside the continent. With It was an awareness of the commer- published or reprinted every year. the establishment of the East cial obstacles to redressing the Other cultures and continents tend African Publishing House in Kenya, balance of information transmission to go under in the deluge of paper Tanzania, and Uganda and Editions that led to the decision to focus the and ink. The greatest victim of our ethnocentrism is the Third World. CLE in Cameroun, and with the pro- 1980 Frankfurt Book Fair (Messe)on Books supported by no lobby, little liferation of state and private enter- Africa. The fair, which dates back to advertising, and only meager profits prise houses in Nigeria and else- the Middle Ages, attracts publishers have only an outside chance in the where in Africa, a quiet publishing from all over the world to exhibit tough literary marketplace.4 revolution has nevertheless begun. and sell their books and, above all, Outside specialist circles, however, to buy and sell international rights Five years ago Peter Weidhaas few people in the West know that and negotiate co-publishing agree- assumed the directorship of the today it is possible to purchase liter- ments. It is the single most impor- Frankfurt Book Fair. He observed ature written by African authors and tant international book trade gather- that, while an increasing number of published by indigenous companies. ing; this year more than 5,100 pub- publishers from the so-called Third Fewer still have read such books lishers from 92 countries exhibited World were participating in the fair, because the publishing industry in some 280,500 books, 84,000 of only a small group of insiders had Africa continues to suffer from the which were new publications. The any conception of book production one-sided flow of information from 1980 fair (October 8-13) had as its in Africa, Latin America, Asia, or the The fair marked a great step forward in the dialogue between Africa and the West, and among the African states themselves.

But anyone who is in doubt about its meaning in that context need only be reminded that a British governor of Rhodesia in the 7950s defined the partnership between black and white in his territory as the partnership of the horse and its rider. He went on to acknowledge that the expression of this colonial ideal in such "stark and crude" terms might startle reasonable white people into "indignant unrecognition." Al- though this sentiment might now be more politely formulated, he insisted "it was and is the fundamental atti- tude of Europe to Africa." He con- tiliued:

Arab world and only a few publish- from Africa were able to attend who Even the enunciation of the meta- ing companies from those parts of otherwise could not have afforded phor in human/animal terms is the world, most of them state- to come. Approximately 180 pub- neither new nor accidental. Let owned, could afford to rent exhibit lishing houses from 29 African there be no mistake about it. In con- space. Recognizing the significance countries participated. The facilities fronting the black man, the white of books as a means of transcending made available, together with the man has a simple choice: either to national and cultural boundaries and enthusiasm of German journalists, accept the black man's humanity appreciating the commercial impor- academics, and members of activist and equality or to reject him and see tance of the fair in that process, he groups, provided, as lmfeld put it, a him as a beast of burden. For decided that something had to be remarkable "chance for Africa to tell centuries Europe has chosen the done. Hence, he conceived the idea its story." The fair marked a signifi- beastly alternative which automati- of having a special theme for each cant step forward in the dialogue cally has ruled out the possibility of fair. In 1976 it was Latin America, between Africa and the West and, dialogue. You may talk to a horse, two years from now it will be Asia- perhaps of equal importance, but you do not wait for a reply. this year it was Black Africa. among African states themselves. In her address marking the formal This Report will describe events and opening of the fair, Dr. Hildegard Peter Weidhaas hopes to raise attitudes at the fair against the back- public consciousness-through lit- Hamm-Briicher, Minister of State at ground of the publishing revolution the Federal Foreign Office in Ger- eratures-by helping to create a taking place in Africa. market for books from these parts of many, referred to Achebe's imagery the world and to interest European Are We Ready for Dialogue of partnership in the dialogue be- publishers in translating them and with Africa? tween Europe and Africa. "Has our getting them into the bookshops. In a widely publicized address to the relationship with the black people of Africa, as he noted, tends to be Berlin Festival last year, Chinua Africa ever been recognized by us as "woefully neglected." It was "only Achebe considered the factors that a problem," she asked, "a problem an exotic outsider, little noticed in impede cultural dialogue between of our own culture? When I say the literary marketplace." Many North and South-in this case be- 'we,' I mean not only Germans, I people still believe that Africa has no tween Europe and Africa. Partner- mean the people of our entire cul- publishers other than the subsid- ship, he observed, was the key word tural orbit, all those referred to as iaries of the large multinationals but it was also the source of the 'whites' in Black Africa, all those operating on the continent. problem, since no definition of who up to the more recent past re- partnership can exclude the notion ferred to the Africans as 'savages.' " By aiding the publishing industry in of equality. Said Achebe: She questioned whether Europeans Africa, the organizers of the 1980 have truly changed their attitudes fair hoped also to promote a cultural And equality is the one thing which toward people of different color or awareness which would extend Europeans are conspicuously in- cultural origin. While we are willing beyond Frankfurt and even beyond capable of extending to others, to recognize their governments and the book trade. Through the finan- especially to Africans. Of course to trade with them, "do we really cial support of the German Foreign partnership as a slogan in political see the human substance? Do we Office, many publishers and authors rhetoric is frequently bandied about. know the people-do we have the Peter Weidhaas, Director of the Frank- furt Book fair, with Hans Zell (left), editor of the African Book Publishing Record.

The platform the fair provided for Africans to educate the German public about the West's continued contribution to the economic and political oppression of the black peoples of Africa, particularly in South Africa, was used in a number of other dramatic ways. Those who thought that "culture" or "litera- ture" may be divorced from eco- nomics and politics were considerable food for thought. tiven The Exhibition in Halle 7: "Printed and Published in Africa" The exhibition in Halle 7 of the Frankfurt Messe was probably the desire- to know them? Have we demonstration march to the South largest display of African books ever indeed got rid of our 'white African stalls and a "sit-in" by parti- to have been assembled. There were pride?'. . . Despite our centuries of cipants-black South African some 2,000 titles from 180 publish- cultural growth and our own, writers whose books and very ing houses from all over the conti- equally poignant, learning processes presence were forbidden in their nent, and the "Africana" section- and despite our superiority in mate- country made speeches denouncing that is, books published about rial things, are we not sometimes, in the white-ruled regime. The African Africa outside Africa -included 540 our communication with Africa, the exhibition in Halle 7 was officially publishers from 26 countries show- more ignorant and indigent of the closed on the second day as a ing some 3,500 books and journals. two partners and indeed the gesture of protest and a petition was learners? After all, the Africans circulated demanding that the In his introduction to the catalogue whom we encounter in this cultural South African publishers be ex- of Africana. Peter Weidhaas re- dialogue feel at home in at least two cluded next year. minded his readers that books cultures-and that makes them richer in cultural matters than we are." Europe's readiness for genuine dialogue with Africa on the basis of equality is a moot question. From the perspective of African writers and publishers who attended the Frankfurt Book Fair this year, the West's continued complicity with the racist regime of South Africa is ample evidence that it is not. This complicity was demonstrated by the ten stalls where South African pub- lishers were exhibiting their books. The "dialogue" at the fair had a de- cided political character from the outset. Many African writers and publishers called for an immediate walkout unless the South Africans were forced to leave. There was a

A poster prominently displayed: 'Afri- cans are being discriminated against in this town. While they display their art and while you enjoy their music and literature, they are being rejected by landlords and turned away from public

places. " written by non-Africans about Although only members of the book least 50percent annually. New com- Africa always contain a "double trade were allowed entry in the panies are emerging all the time, and message." While on the surface mornings, the public was permitted there is evidence of a great deal of they may appear to present informa- to attend the fair every afternoon imaginative entrepreneurial skill and tion about Africa, "between the until 6:30 P.M. The attention given rapid growth of some indigenous lines, they tell us a good deal about to the African theme by the media, firms, particularly in Nigeria and in the identity of the non-African particularly radio and television, in- Kenya. And in Francophone Africa author, about the spirit of the time sured that nearly everyone in Ger- we have witnessed the very im- of which he is a part, and of the cul- many heard about the Book Fair. pressive start of Les Nouvelles ture that shaped him." This exhibi- Thousands of people, including bus- Editions Africaines, a publishing tion would require "an active visitor loads of schoolchildren, made their undertaking set up with the en- who is willing to examine.. .just way through the exhibits each day lightened support of two African how great that gap between reality and many attended a special "Africa governments. Elsewhere, indigeni- and projection is." He hoped that Evening" featuring Senegalese sation decrees in several African the joint exhibition would provide a musicians and dancers. countries have ensured that the chance to "reduce the gap between majority equity of the major UK African realities and non-African The "Printed and Published in multinationals has been transferred projections." Africa" exhibition organized by Said to African ownership. Although co- Mzee showed these visitors how the operation and ties still exist between Halle7 was more than a place to view industry had developed over the multinationals and their former imaginatively arranged books and to decade. Most made their first branches in Africa, the bulk of the meet publishers from Africa. At the acquaintance with such publishing publishing decisions are no longer center was a stage with attractive, houses as Cameroun's Editions CLE, made in London, but by African informal seating for a large audi- Nigeria's Fourth Dimension, or Zim- executive personnel. And whilst it is ence. Here poetry and prose were babwe's Mambo Press. For still true that the much-maligned multi- read by well-known African authors, more visitors, the stands provided nationals, despite the fact that discussions and debates took place the first glimpse of publishing in majority shareholding may have between African writers and pub- Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea- been sold to African partners, have lishers, musicians performed mod- Bissau. still much working to their advan- ern and traditional African music, tage, and whereas it is similarly true and there were African dancers and In a special Frankfurt Book Fair that they still dominate the lucrative dramatic performances. It was here, double number of the African Book educational markets in Africa, there too, on the first day of the fair, that Publishing Record (ABPR), editor is also evidence that the multina- groups of African writers and pub- Hans Zell reported on the dramatic tionals are now engaged in publish- lishers met to organize the demon- increase in book production ing new African-oriented books and stration against the participation of throughout Africa: literature, published in Africa, by South African publishers. The hall Africans. 9 also contained a restaurant serving Although no up-to-date or reliable West African dishes, staffed by statistics are available, we estimate In his review of the exhibition, Mzee African students living in Germany. that production is increasing by at emphasized that it made no claim to reflect the publishing industry in Africa in its entirety. "Notable ab- sentees" included some ministries of education, which in many coun- tries are the sole publishers of edu- cational material at the primary and secondary school level. Neverthe- less, the exhibition permitted some general observations about the products of the industry in Africa and he pointed to a number of trends. He noted that apart from docu- menting the "multinational, indige- nous, and Christian contributions to modern African publishing, the exhibition showed that links are being established between African states. This is particularly the case between Francophone and Luso- phone countries." However, he observed, "Sadly, few translations of African creative writing in French

Sipho Sepamla, South African writer. Senegalese dancers performing at the African evening program. and Portuguese have appeared in try has made in the past ten years Nigeria, these conditions occur Anglophone Africa." amid daunting problems." Looking throughout the continent, differing to the future, he recommended only in degree.) African publishing, he said, is the greater attention to technical sub- liveliest in those countries where jects, adult literacy material, chil- Nyarko continued: "despite the overpowering presence dren's literature, and literature in in- of multinational and state publish- Ghana, a wit has observed, has be- digenous languages (although the come the headquarters of world ing" there is still room for private last was better represented in the initiative. On the other hand, the inflation. Prices of all raw materials collection than I, at least, had ex- that printers need are soaring daily. recent success of Les Nouvelles pected). Editions (NEA) in Senegal with its There are chronic shortages of all winning of the Noma award proves items, and even ordinary newsprint Problems Facing African Publishers recently became so scarce and so that "state publishing does not have The exhibition in Halle 7 not only to be synonymous with churning expensive that some newspapers recorded the impressive accom- ceased publication. The question of out propaganda for the ruling plishments of African publishing, it party." spare parts for the available printing also revealed some of the contin- equipment has also become in- The exhibition was divided into 21 uing problems faced by indigenous tractable. At the present time all the different categories which were to firms. As Kwame Nyarko, head of machines in the lithographic section some extent, as Mzee explained, Ghana Publishing Corporation, of the Tema Press have broken dictated by the amount of material pointed out, experts concerned with down lacking spare parts, and its submitted. African creative writers book development in Africa pre- web-offset machine has been made up the largest single group. occupy themselves with authorship standing idle for over a year for want Other subjects included: critical and manuscript development as "if of the necessary import license and works on African literature, drama the continent were destitute of accompanying letters of credit that and music, ethnology and anthro- writersu- yet, potential authors would enable it to order a damper pology, language and linguistics, abound. Throughout Africa there is sleeve and some other minor spare sociology, history, politics, religion, a "veritable hunger" for reading parts, altogether not costing more medicine, philosophy and psy- material. Speaking of Ghana, he re- than £1000. chology, law and administration, called: technology, children's books, text- The most serious and crippling books, and reference works. . . . the stampede to buy books when problems result from the depen- a ship called Lagos docked at Tema dence on expensive imports. While African literature, Mzee avered, is to sell books. For fourteen days many black African states possess "taking a new direction." "No there were long queues of people the raw materials required for paper longer are the rejection of Western waiting to buy books.. . . The prob- manufacture, for instance, all of values and their attendant calami- lems thus center around printing them rely on imported paper. More- ties, the nostalgic longing for an facilities and capacity. Printing tech- over, the situation is not likely to idyllic past or 'the false start' in nology has not matched other de- change in the near future. Africa the only themes which velopments in the book trade in occupy the minds of African Ghana. As a result most Ghanaian Nyarko reports on another ironical writers," he said. There is a new printers who boldly advertise them- aspect of the economic problems crop of writers who have not been selves are essentially jobbers. Text- facing publishers in Africa. The educated in universities abroad, and book, general, and scholarly pub- policy. that books should be im- whose writing describes their own lishing is new to most of them and ported duty-free, introduced during experiences in their own society they have neither the right equip- the colonial period, remains the and, hence, those of the large ment nor skilled labor to undertake practice in most African countries. majority of their countrymen. Such such jobs, and publishers therefore Yet, the paper that indigenous book writing, which Albert Gerard has cannot place work with such production requires attracts "colos- described as "clinical realism," was printers. Even the few printing sal" duty-in Ghana, 33.5 percent. If exemplified, said Mzee, by Mariama houses that have the necessary one of the results of African partici- B8's Noma-prize winning novel Une equipment and competent staff for pation at the Frankfurt Book Fair is si longue lettre (see Part I1 of this book work are starved of inputs like "a first step towards shattering the series) and Musa Ly Sangare's paper, films, plates, and spare monopolist role of multinational Sourd-muet, je demande la parole. parts. . . .lo publishing houses headquartered in Europe,"ll then publishers in Africa The many historical works sub- All these materials, in addition to are going to have to form a lobby mitted for the exhibition reveal, he printing machinery, must be im- powerful enough to convince their said, the "earnestness with which ported and paid for in hard currency, own governments to alter such self- African scholars approach their con- and the present economic plight of defeating policies. tinent's historiography," many of nearly all African economies means these historians having provided that the foreign exchange require- Another major problem facing Afri- new insights into African history ments of the publishing industry are can publishers is book distribution. through the skillful combination of not a high priority. (Nyarko is de- The Frankfurt Book Fair was the oral and written sources. Certainly scribing the situation in Ghana, but culmination of a series of efforts the exhibition documented, as Said my own observations confirm re- made over the past ten years to im- Mzee summed it up, "the remark- ports from other African publishers prove the distribution of books able progress the publishing indus- that, with the possible exception of printed and published in Africa. Many African publishers are not, Born in Switzerland, Zell first went The problems of book promotion unfortunately, as publicity- and to Africa in 1965 to manage a book- and distribution are not limited to export-oriented as they might be, shop. Since then he has devoted his those between Africa and the rest of and relatively few African publica- career to the development of Afri- the world: communication between tions can be found on European or can publishing. Ironically, the ABPR African states themselves is equally U.S. bookshelves. While the priori- and his other publications are not problematic. The colonial period im- ties for many African publishers produced in Africa, but in Oxford, posed artificial boundaries on the must lie at home, an increasing England. Commenting on this, he continent which were raised higher number of their publications- on says: by the imposition of linguistic, polit- literary, cultural, and academic sub- ical, and economic barriers. Shipping jects-deserve wider promotion In our very first issue published in books from East to West Africa or overseas. January 1975 we posed ourselves vice versa is a nightmare, consign- the question why an African book ments taking a minimum of six In cooperation with African pub- trade journal should be published in months to reach their destination. lishers, ABPR editor Hans Zell has Oxford, England. . .rather than in Several African countries make been instrumental in the promotion Africa itself. The answers then, were even the importation of books diffi- of African publishing and has con- that problems of logistics, difficul- cult and foreign exchange regula- sistently called for a more aggres- ties of communication, effective dis- tions make collection nearly im- sive marketing of African materials tribution, and high printing costs possible. As Mzee noted, few books overseas. The ABPR, which serves would make it impracticable to pub- published in one African country as a buying and acquisitions guide lish from Africa. The answers today have been translated and published for booksellers and librarians, pro- are still the same to a large extent, in another. In most cases a writer vides bibliographic coverage of and would make it difficult in prac- from one African language area has African publications in English and tice to publish from Africa at the become known in another only French as well as titles in African present time -never mind finding a through the activities of multina- languages. Information on new and publisher willing to take the risk- tionals, who buy the rights and dis- forthcoming publications is listed but surely this is a necessary trans- tribute the books from Europe. Even free of charge, and the journal also plant that will have to come some in the case of Mariama B8's book, includes reviews of books and peri- time in the years ahead. l2 Une si longue lettre, which received odicals published in Africa. The Others have undertaken commercial so much publicity at the fair, all the journal is widely circulated to ventures to promote the distribution translation rights were purchased by libraries, booksellers, and publishers of African books outside the con- publishers outside Africa with one within the African continent; it also tinent. Allen Boyd, for example, exception -the English edition - goes outside Africa to libraries and founded the African Imprint Library which will be co-published with a research institutions with African Service in the United States. While Nigerian house. studies interests or special collec- writing a secondary-school textbook tions on Africa, as well as to pub- which required authentic details on Awareness of the limited distribu- lishers and booksellers specializing life in Africa, Boyd discovered the tion capabilities of their own coun- in Africana and the Third World. problems of obtaining books written try's publishers has, understand- The ABPR is thus a major source of by Africans: "There were plenty of ably, tempted some African writers communication and information for books on this subject written by to accept contracts with publishers the African book trade. non-Africans.. .but you can't rely outside Africa. A few enterprising on a non-African to see things from African publishers have managed to The bibliographical data from the an African point of view. He could "capture" well-known writers who journal also provide the base for be right but one might very well not were previously published by one of African Books in Print, now in its know if he was wrong. What I the multinationals, but hitherto most second edition. Hans Zell also pro- needed were books actually au- important contracts have been duces another important reference thored by Africans." l3 signed with European publishing work, The African Book World and houses.14Yet, there are good Press: a Directory. Now in its Surveying the sources he eventually reasons why African writers, estab- second revised and expanded edi- discovered, Boyd decided there was lished outside the continent or not, tion, the directory provides informa- a wide market for such materials if should welcome increased oppor- tion, unavailable elsewhere, on buyers could obtain information on tunities to publish with indigenous libraries, publishers, the retail book what is available (most publishers in firms. As Mariama 68 put it in con- trade, research, institutions with Africa are not large enough to versation with me in Frankfurt: publishing programs, popular maga- warrant the expense of printing zines, scholarly periodicals, and catalogues) and then overcome the Before when we had to be published major newspapers throughout problems involved in ordering from outside Africa there were some Africa. The second edition has overseas. Thus the imprint service things which did not suit them. added details about the printing was established. Boyd uses a variety Someone does not easily give trade and allied industries in Africa. of methods, including local agents, another human being the gun which The directory has been widely to collect information on what is is going to be used to shoot him in praised as an indispensable tool to published in Africa and to arrange the head. We are more at ease to librarians, publishers, and book- purchasing for his clients outside say what we have to say between sellers. the continent. Africans and even if it is a message which is going to irritate those out- with professional training and aims Africa in the indigenous languages side Africa, it does not matter. The to stimulate development of the and at the same time promote the African publisher will accept such book market in Africa. Such efforts adoption of a single language for the material. As I said, outside Africa have not yet overcome the problems continent of Africa, as an instru- they are not going to put a gun in described in this Report, but an en- ment and symbol of the uni our hands so that we can massacre couraging and significant develop- African peoples everywhere." 1?' Of them. It is important to publish in ment was the successful launching Many African writers are now Africa. Also because we are trying by NEA, a very new publishing to develop. Development has be- house, of the new Senegalese urging their colleagues to curb their tendencies to write for an overseas come a reality in all sectors. lt is hard writer, Mariama B3. to attack everything all at the same market and address themselves to a time, but we must begin with a little The Problem of Language home audience. here and a little there. Development One of the greatest problems of the That there is an enormous market has to be harmonious. 1 believe that book trade in Africa may, ironically for publishing in African languages books are an instrument of that de- enough, be the best means for has already been shown, as Zell velopment, We cannot go forward transcending national boundaries on reports, by the success of the multi- without culture, without saying the continent in the future. The nationals: Longman, for example, what we believe, without commu- enormous number of languages publishes in no less than 17 main nicating with others, without spoken on the continent (estimated languages, 15 or so Kenyan lan- making people think about things. at about 1,000) has been one of the guages, and at least 7 Ugandan lan- Books are a weapon, a peaceful main reasons for adopting the lan- guages. Macmillan's affiliate, the weapon perhaps, but they are a guage of the colonial power as the Northern Nigerian Publishing Com- weapon. Publishing in Africa also official language in most indepen- pany in Zaria, has a particularly allows for the reconstruction of our dent African states. At the same strong Hausa list, and Oxford Uni- history. There are some written time, as Davidson Nicol pointed out versity Press, Heinemann's, and landmarks now, before there were in his speech at the presentation of Thomas Nelson have also published only oral histories. Now books allow the Shanga Award (described be- widely in the African languages us to know what happened. For low): "The fact is that more people example, someone will be able to in the world speak Hausa than all These publishers have mainly been read my book and know what the Scandinavian languages com- tapping the schoolbook market, happened in 7980. We will be able to bined; more people speak Swahili however. Attempts to publish crea- iook and base ourselves on other than Dutch; more people speak tive writing in African languages witnesses and reconstitute the his- Yoruba and Ibo than Italian. Yet we have not been commercially suc- tory of Africa that was. do nct hear of difficulties in pub- cessful. Most people in Africa are lishing books in Sweden, Holland, too poor to buy books. Then there is Serious efforts have been made and Italy." the question of literacy: language policies have varied widely, but in within the African book trade to im- Moreover, many an African lan- the main, only a minority of children prove distribution across national guage group extends over more boundaries. A book fair for French- than one country. Above all, most on the continent are being taught speaking Africa is held annually in Africans are multilingual. In my African languages in school and in Bamako, Mali; for English-speaking travels across West Africa I have very few countries has this been a countries, there is the much larger, observed that most Africans suffer priority. Yet, unknown numbers of more important fair in Ife, Nigeria. no problems in verbal communica- people in Africa who are usually de- The latter is an international gather- tion even when traveling among fined as "illiterates" do read their ing: both the Russians and the several African states. Unfortu- own languages-but in Arabic script.18 The overwhelming domi- Americans participated in 1979 and nately, it is taking a long time to nance of Western culture, however, the Chinese in 1980. The second produce orthographies in these lan- has thus far meant that no major presentation of the Noma Award guages, and there is insufficient effort has been made to tap this will be made in 1981 at the seventh coordination between individual "hidden literacy." annual Ife Book Fair. The Regional projects dealing with the same lan- Centre for Book Development in guage in different countries. l6 In a There are other, more subtle Africa, in Yaounde, Cameroon, has paper read to the African Studies reasons why authors should write in extended its activities to all African Association meeting in 1979, Hans their own languages. Kenyan play- states south of the Sahara. The Zell considered the role of African wright Ngugi wa Thiongo, in an in- center resulted from an International languages and the problems they terview on the BBC African Service, Co-operation Agreement between pose for publishers: put it this way: the government of Cameroon and UNESCO and is to become a coordi- That the future of African literature Literature, as a process of linking nating body which, in cooperation belongs to literature in the African images, utilizes language and grows with the National Book Committees languages is a view that has been upon the collective experience, that of its member countries, will en- voiced by many African writers. It is is history, embodied in that lan- courage the promotion and use of also the opinion of the Union of guage. In writing one should hear all books in the region. The center will Writers of African Peoples, the the whisperings, all the shouting, all also conduct research, and gather organization set up in 1975, whose the crying, all the loving and all the and circulate information and docu- stated policy is "to give special hating of the many voices in the mentation. It will also concern itself encouragement to the literature of past, and those voices will never The fair provided many African writers with their first opportunity to meet other authors from Africa. Ousmane Sembene (withpipe) chatting with new friends.

Germany's African Dialogue The Frankfurt Book Fair's emphasis on Africa was designed to have a cultural as well as a commercial impact on Europe, particularly Ger- many, whose historical links with ~fri~ahave not been as close as elsewhere in Europe or in the United States. As fair spokesman Al lmfeld explained, "up to now almost only churches or solidarity groups such as "issa" or Amnesty lnterr~ational have provided a forum for African writings.. . . What is new is that speak to a writer in a foreign lan- ianguages (for example, Ngugi wa African organizations and exile guage. 19 Thiongo writes only in Kikuyu) and groups in the Federal Republic of There is considerable evidence that try to persuade others to do the Germany and Europe also will re- vernacular publishing may be used same, probably most authors are ceive a place of honor. The rnanage- as a powerful political weapon. like Mariama B8, who writes in ment would like to go a step farther (Although I was unable to confirm French because it is the only written than the printed page, to make it, it was said that opposition groups language she knows. Although as Africa appear alive and real." she poi~tedout in our discussion, in Gambia were, over the past few A number of German organizations months, circulating political tracts in communication with "the masses" formed activities around the focal the rural areas using the two main will depend on the use of national theme. Dieter Riemenschneider, Pro- indigenous languages, Wolof and languages, she is equally concerned fessor of English and American Mandinka, printed in Arabic with the need to communicate in Literature at the University of Frank- script.20) Hans Zell gives some European languages: furt, held a three-day seminar pre- other examples: ceding the fair. Many of the African I believe very deeply that to reach One aspect that seems to favor in- writers who were guests of the Ger- the masses we musr write. When man government participated in the creased African language publishing one writes, it is for everyone. Of is the fact that there is ample evi- seminar discussion on the functions course, first of all, it is for oneself, to of African literature. Interviews with dence that plays presented in the see where we are at, for our own African languages can enjoy huge African writers were broadcast on development. But the masses have German television and, in a unique popularity, as was clearly demon- to be educated. We must write so strated by the phenomenal success experiment, African journalists were that all of the masses are able to asked to write about the Frankfurt of Ngugi wa Thiongo's Ngahiika read the message. The writer Fair for German newspapers. Ndende. So successful in fact that records his ideas so that the masses the government was prompted to are able to read and to reflect. It is Much of the credit for extending the revoke its performing license. vital that the masses be able to read. cultural impact of the African theme Written in Kikuyu, the content of Thus the importance of our own belongs to the Afrika Forum. This this Ngugi pla y reflects the lives and national languages. But if our ideas association of African writers, aspirations of ordinary peasants and for change are to reach outside artists, and scholars living in the workers, and was performed by Africa, we must also express our- Federal Republic of Germany was actors and actresses from a Kenyan selves in international languages. In established about a year ago to urban community. . .. In Sierra this way we can be heard outside, promote and develop better under- Leone, dramatists such as Dele we will not isolate ourselves. Even standing of Africa in Germany. To Charley and especially Pat Maddy here in Senegal, Wolof is not the coincide with the fair, the group now write their plays in Krio, Maddy only language which is spoken. In launched a new periodical, the also developing a socially -com- every African state there is this Afrika Journal, which seeks to ex- mitted theater aiming to raise the problem of many languages. But in tend contact and dialogue between people's consciousness.21 French African countries we were all men and wornen from the world of (Recently in Sierra Leone several under the same colonial rule, we "business, politics, and culture." plays were censored by the govern- communicated in the French lan- Complementing this initiative, the ment and some were banned.) guage. Thus we must not deny the Forum instituted the Shango Prize, importance of this language as a awarded annually to a leading While some African writers now re- means of communication with statesman who promotes such dia- fuse to write in anything but African others. logue. This year it went to WiHy Brandt for his work as chairman of "forgotten about Africa." As jour- offered by church and state institu- the North-South Commission. A nalist Gerd Meuer put it, "We knew tions in the industrial countries. Sierra Leonean, Dr. Davidson Nicol, it would be difficult [to motivate The society noted there were Executive Director of the United Germans to read literature written scarcely any translations from Afri- Nations Institute for Training and by Africans]." Together, they came can languages into German, despite Research, was invited to Frankfurt up with the idea of financing the the existence of a substantial litera- to present the award. The Afrika project, Dialog Afrika, through sub- ture in, for example, Swahili, Forum also helped to organize an scriptions to 16 African novels co- Kikuyu, Hausa, Duala, Wolof, and exhibition of African art at Halle 7 published by Hammer and Walter. Yoruba. They found, moreover, that and at the Deutsche Genossen- Each subscriber paid DM250 and the "apart from the most recent pub- schaftsbank in Frankfurt. In his Protestant churches of Switzerland lishing initiatives, only about 30 speech formally opening the latter gave DM100,OOO to launch the novels by some 20 authors have exhibition, His Excellency Dr. series. So far the group has trans- been published in the Federal Gustav H. K. Deveneaux, Ambas- lated and published 14 titles and has Republic since 1945." sador of Sierra Leone to the Federal plans for 2 more. Nor are the pub- Republic of Germany, reminded the lishing activities of this group limited Realizing that this situation could be distinguished audience of two main to literature: it has translated a his- improved only gradually, the society reasons for the great need to pro- tory of Africa of which 5,000 copies decided to take some "small, mote African culture in Germany have been sold already in Germany. practical, and concrete steps." One and Europe: More recently, Gerd Meuer has step was to produce a brochure The first is that the African conti- translated Apartheid: Power and containing reviews of 102 books by nent over the last three to four hun- Historical Falsification by Marianne African authors which had not yet dred years has experienced a history Cornevin, and it will soon be pub- been translated into German. Each of disasters ranging from the trans- lished for German readers. In review gave details about the atlantic slave trade and internal 1981-82 Dialog Afrika will expand its author, information as to who held confusion to colonialism and neo- interests to include the rest of the translation rights, and where the colonialism from which she can Third World and its name will be relevant African representative extricate herself only with the sup- changed to Dialog. could be found at the fair. The soci- ety also offered its assistance in in- port of the West and justifiably so. Gerd Meuer, who also works for the The second, emanating from the troducing publishers to these repre- Africa Service of the Voice of Ger- sentatives. Initially, the society first, is that to accomplish this, there many, has been involved in another must be an acceptance of the com- decided to concentrate on black effort to give Africa opportunity to African belles-lettres because this mon humanity of the African, the speak. Fifty-two programs of 20 surest foundation for peace and form of literature could be easily minutes each on African literature integrated into the German market. understanding between Africa and have been produced. These pro- the rest of the world. Unfortunately, However, it also selected light grams feature portraits of African reading and spy novels from Africa. our history of the last few centuries authors and include interviews with has left many outsiders with the Out of these activities has grown the many writers and recordings of Third World Book Agency which erroneous impression that we have them reading their work. neither been part of the march of will, in future, act free of charge as a civilization nor can we now make In April 1980, a Society for the Pro- go-between in negotiating rights on our own positive contributions to motion of African, Asian, and Latin behalf of African publishers. the world.. . relations between American Literature was formed by South Africa Divides the Fair peoples cannot only hinge on eco- a group of 20 publishers, journalists, A demonstration against the partici- nomics but must incorporate culture literary critics, and university pation of publishers from South as well to promote mutual under- teachers in Frankfurt. In its press Africa took place on the first full day standing. release the society explained its of the fair, although protests against raison d'etre. The range of exhibits, he said, re- their presence began much earlier and were first made public at the vealed that "African culture, in spite We are acting against the back- of the battering and shocks it has University of Frankfurt three-day ground of the following situation. seminar. Halle 7 was closed on the taken, is remarkably durable, vi- There is virtually no exchange of brant, and varied." following day as a further expression information between publishers and of the position taken by African Dialog Afrika was another important media in Europe on the one hand writers, publishers,' and friends of cultural initiative given further im- and authors and publishers in the Africa against the white-ruled petus by the 1980 Fair. Hammer, an countries of the so-called Third regime, and petitions were circu- old German publishing house with World on the other. The existing lated demanding that South African links to the Protestant church and structures of information transmis- publishers be banned from atten- the German trade union movement, sion function between the industrial dance next year. has been promoting Latin American countries only, or along a one-way literature for several years. About street from north to south. There is This complicated situation reflected three years ago a group of journal- scarcely any reaction in the north to the dilemma of those who believe ists who write on Africa approached the needs of the nations of the so- that economics cannot be separated Hermann Schultz, Hammer's direc- called Third World, apart from the from moral issues. Said Mzee, who tor, and pointed out that he had few and limited opportunities coordinated the African exhibition African writers and publishers together with other friends of Africa occupying the South African stalls in Halle 5. at Frankfurt, noted that the Afri- cans, both writers and publishers, were guests at the fair and had come at the expense of the German government; only a few publishers (mostly Nigerians) had paid their own way. South African publishers had always attended the fair. Ger- man government and commercial involvement in South Africa was also widely known-at least outside Germany. (One had the feeling that for many members of the German public the demonstration and other activities surrounding it provided their first opportunity to learn about James Matthews (below), a South African poet who was allowed to attend the the evils of apartheid and their own fair by the South African government, reading his poetry in HaJle 7. government's complicity in it.) Mzee shared the belief that the Afri- can book trade must take a stand against South African participation. Together with a Tanzanian publisher and a Kenyan writer, he had worked behind the scenes to try to make the fair a platform from which Africans could address this problem. Coordi- nating these activities among many African groups was difficult, how- ever, and initiatives for action against South Africa came from several sources. One petition, circu- lated on the first day, claimed that if the South African exhibition were not immediately closed, all African writers and publishers would go home. The issues, however, were not so clearly cut. Raven Press, a South African publishing company with a difference, was also exhibiting in Halle 7. The company is headed by Peter Randall who, as West Africa magazine reports, "has been har- assed and banned by the South African government largely because his Raven Press published anti- apartheid black writers. The Frank- furt Fair authorities, and the German government, had exerted pressure on the South African government to allow him, in spite of his ban, to come to Frankfurt for the fair and the symposium. He was a little dazed, suddenly being allowed to go to meetings and talk to people after three years of imposed silence. He was in favor of the boycott: it was necessary that the evil of apartheid be publicized." 22 Peter Weidhaas's position on the Another person, overhearing this been going on in small groups for demonstration and the continued interview, interjected the "liberal" years. We have a very small anti- debate is also reported in the same position: "So you would put racism apartheid movement of which / am a editorial: on the top of your list, never mind member. The forum where we can political ideologies, political repres- carry this regularly is the Protestant "If you invite writers to come and sion, and brutality of certain regimes Academies. We have a very highly express their thoughts, you have to around the world? How are you developed system of what you [in listen to what they say," he said. going to pinpoint these?" Mzee the UKI call an open university kind But there was no question of ex- replied that the basic difference of academy all over the country. cluding South Africa, he said. The between such regimes and South Very plush, well-equipped acad- Frankfurt Book Fair could not b y law Africa is the "question of institu- emies, both Catholic and Protestant exercise any sort of censorship or tionalizing and condemning people churches.They have seminars al- exclude anyone. As a passionate in view of the race to which they most every two weeks on South anti-Fascist, he himself had been in- belong.. . . We know that there are Africa and apartheid.. . . The intense volved in an attempt some years ago some countries where human rights link between Germany and South to exclude German Fascist pub- are violated daily, but there is no Africa is always mentioned. That lishers: a court order had prevented other country which says, 'If you are and in the evening high schools, this this.. .he exerted pressure on the born black, you are born inferior.' is where it is happening. South African government to en- That is the crux of the matter.. . . If The demonstration involved at least sure that Peter Randall and two South Africa set up a dictatorship writers, James Matthews and Sipho 300 people who marched to Halle 5 that was not based on race, what I and occupied the 10 South African Sepamia, could leave the country would do there is to demonstrate and come to Frankfurt. stands. The occupation was orderly against the violation of human and participants were reminded not Said Mzee took issue on this alleged rights, but I would not agitate for to touch any of the books. Tele- their exclusion from the fair." absence of censorship. As he vision cameras from many European explained in an interview with me: Although the hypocrisy of excluding countries covered the event at which several writers spoke. Some The Book Fair is unhappy about Taiwan because of German eco- nomic interests which are best of the South Africans slipped away; some of these statements 1 have served by their exclusion did not get others busily collected names from made on TV.. I must repeat here, I . . wide publicity in the press, it was the badges worn by demonstrators- think one must agitate against the taken up by radio and television. It presumably for immigration authori- principle of [South African] partici- will be difficult for the organizers to ties to store in their computers. Still pation. It is just no good to say that appeal to the notion of "no cen- others stayed and listened. Some because this year there is focus on sorship" at another Book Fair. excerpts will give the flavor of the Africa, the South Africans should event.23 One speaker: have been got out of the way and Gerd Meuer analyzed the attitude of brought back next year when the the press: I believe that the solidarity we need Africans are not here. I mean that is to show with Africans the world not good enough. I think I have As far as learning about apartheid, over must come together in con- made myself fairly clear. [ The they had had a unique opportunity, crete form now on behalf of our writers andpublishers who appeared [the German1 people running this oppressed brothers in Namibia and at the press conference] were told hall in hearing about it. But the so-called South Africa. Action can that the Book Fair knows no censor- newspapers have not really given be taken. It is wrong for us to eat at ship and this forced me to make a much attention to the demonstra- the same table with the devils who statement that there is censor- tion or the statements. You must shoot our brothers. Therefore, let us ship.. . . / quoted the example of not forget, business-wise, com- take it as a resolution of this s ympa- people who would like to come here merce-wise, and trade-wise, Ger- thetic gathering that if South Africa and participate in the fair and who many is top, top, top, as far as good is allowed to come here.. .next year, were kept out. . . a political sort of relations with South Africa. So it is no African, no friend of Africa, no solution has been found.. . . Taiwan very difficult to break into the big son of Africa will appear in the is not in the catalogue. . .. If you say German newspapers with anti- Frankfurt Book Fair. apartheid information. It is a very that the Book Fair cannot afford to Another speaker: apply censorship, then my reply to tough job. Even in the so-called left- that is that in one instance they wing liberal daily for which this Can I say a few words here? 1 think must apply censorship and this is in fellow [referring to someone stand- that it would be failing as a Black the case of South Africa.. . . Dis- ing by] and / sometimes work, even South African writer not to say a agreeing about Russia is not the there. You know we might do an few words. I come from a country same thing as disagreeing about article once in a while but it is very which does a whole number of racism. We can argue about social- often being contradicted in the com- things in the name of culture. I come ism, some people will say it is good, mentary. It is not contradicted from a country which prevents some will say it is bad, but we really, just [made] wishy-washy. writers, black and white. . . . If they cannot argue about racism. If you Referring to left-wing activist are white and they express solidarity are saying that the South Africans groups in Germany, he said: with the oppressed people of South must come, then what you are Africa, they are either arrested, put saying, in fact, is that maybe racism For them this was just one occasion in gaol, or they live in exile. There- is good. to use the platform.. .. This has fore, we should take into account that in this supermarket of books, to South Africa. South Africa in my rules do not allow us to exclude the true people of South Africa are view is nonexistent. 1 am talking South Africa from the fair when ill-represented because the govern- rather to those who claim to be our people are dying in South Africa. ment prevents them from even friends and invite to their table, to South Africa is the one country in leaving the country. I have lived their countries, the greatest enemy the world which has consistently abroad for twenty years, not be- of mankind. Some people talk about refused to have dialogue with the cause I choose to live abroad, but communism being the great evil. Africans and with the other races, because the South African govern- Communism is not an evil. Racism is with the other people, ethnic ment made it impossible for me to the worst evil. It is immoral, it is groups, that live in that country. I return to m y country. I cannot even cruel, it is inhuman. Here we have a am probably going to be a very con- be quoted, even if I express a sym- country which is based, which bases troversial person from now on be- pathy with another human being.. . its thinking, its philosophy, on cause / allowed all the Africans to a South African newspaper has to hatred. And here we have it exhibit- come here in the first place. But let ask for permission to quote me.. .. ing the artifacts of culture. This is me say when I was asked to accept That is not a country which should ridiculous. Therefore, we are giving the job, I thought that the Frankfurt come here and pretend it has a notice to those who call themselves Book Fair would provide the Afri- sense of community with people our friends, in the West, if they insist cans with a forum.. . which we who use the words to liberate other in cooperating with South Africa, could use to make our grievances, human beings. The people who the day will come very quickly when the grievances of our brothers in come here in the name of South they will not cooperate with us. South Africa, known. I am leaving it Africa are the kind of people we Thank you very much. to you, the Africans who are here, to judge me. That is all I wish to say. should not have anything to do Said Mzee joined the speakers: with. This is all I wish to say in the "A Liberating Experience of name of South African writers - the I am the coordinator of this event Western Man" true South African writers. and I wish to make a few things While the theme of the 1980 fair was clear. First of all, I would have been And another speaker: "Africa-a continent asserts its very unhappy indeed if the action identity," the irony, according to Can I say a few words? My state- that has been taken today by the Peter Weidhaas, is that "today it is ment is simple. / am not really taking Africans had not been taken. You the Germans, possibly more than part in this demonstration to talk to see, it is not enough to speak about any other people, that suffer from South Africa. I do not want to talk rules, it is not enough to say that our an acute lack of identity."23 He went on to say that, rather than Africans learning from Europeans, "We can learn from Africa.. . . The discovery of the African personality, as it emerges from its literature, should be liberating experience of Western man living in an inhuman world lacking in communication." Quoting the Nigerian sociologist, J.A. Sofala, he said that Africans were "rich in humanity and unspoilt morality." The African personality was "spontaneous friendliness" as well as "moral reservations towards the exploitation of others." Weidhaas said that, leaving regional, linguistic, and ideological differ- ences aside, all African authors share the same basic theme: the search for their own identity as a means of overcoming alienation and repression. One wonders how long it will be before there is a general recognition in the West of the enrichment which would come to our culture through the knowledge which is, in part at least, available through books "Printed and Published in Africa." As Tchicaye U Tam'si, a Congolese

Tchicaye U Tarn'si. writer, pointed out in his address at books from only a small number of in the need to see world develop- the opening of the fair: publishers in relation to the number ment take on a more human form. of books published by an industrial- And in order to achieve that we Inviting Africa to play a full part in ized country.. .. The reasons for our must communicate with one this year's proceedings can be con- small output are various. 1 don't another. We would like to see the sidered without any doubt as an want to go into any of them. Instead peoples, the economies and cultures historical event. That this fair is of I would like to assert that in spite of of the world become more liberated; cultural significance goes without our extreme poverty we are fully we would like them to show a saying. Africa's presence here has aware of being the hope of to- greater respect for the dignity of the widened its scope considerably. 1 morrow's world. Underdeveloped or individual, for his life and his death. wouldlike to think that we are in the lacking the necessary means does The handful of books that you will middle of an intercultural dialogue, not signify uncultured.. .even if our find.. . will tell you this, not just this, the aim of which is to redress the voice is weak and the number of but this is the essence of what they balance between two continents books we produce is small, you have to say. .. . Africa - the cradle of and to establish new relationships must nevertheless listen to what we humanity-might one day be the between them.. . . In a word: you have to say. We have played and cradle of a more human age to have invited the poorest of the still play a supporting role in the come. Third-World countries to this meet- drawing up of strategies by the ing in Frankfurt. They have brought leading nations of the world and in books over with them.. . . Only a few doing so have acquired a firm belief (January 19811

NOTES

1. Mario de Andrade, Reflexoes Sobre 6. Chinua Achebe, "Why Afro-Euro- 13. Ibid. A Politica Nacional Delnforrnacao, 1979, pean dialogue fails," West Africa, translated into English from the Portu- February 25, 1980. 14. In Nigeria many universities have guese by Carlos Nogues. been attempting to impose "interna- 7. Ibid. tional standards" on faculty as far as For a discussion of the development publishing for tenure is concerned. 2. 8. The publicity about the presence of of racism as an ideology and its employ- South Africans at the fair will doubtless While lecturers are urged to support the ment by the imperial powers, see Philip influence some African governments to many indigenous scholarly journals that D. Curtin, The Image of Africa: British refuse permission for their representa- are emerging, the publications that "count" for tenure must be in "inter- Ideas and Action, 1780- 7850 (Madison, tives to participate in future Frankfurt nationally recognized" journals. Wis.: University of Wisconsin Press, Book Fairs. While some may continue to 19641, and Marvin Harris, The Rise of doubt the ability of Africans to present a 15. Because Une si longue lettre has Anthropological Theory (19681, esp. united front against those whose com- chapters 2-4. not yet appeared in English, and few mercial interests continue to flourish readers of AUFS Reports will be aware 3. Said Mzee in his "Introduction" to because of apartheid, the complacency of the significance of the novel, Part II of Printed and Published in Africa, cata- of many must have been shaken by the this Report concentrates on the author's logue of the exhibit in Halle 7 of the events in Halle 7. The challenge was un- ideas and background. Frankfurt Book Fair. ambiguous: "You are either with us or against us." 16. For example, work on the Wolof 4. From an interview distributed to the language is taking place in the Gambia, 9. African Book Publishing Record press by the organizers of the fair. Senegal, and Mali, with potential use- (ABPR),Vol. VI, Nos. 3 & 4, 1980. 5. In 1978 the theme was the child and fulness for several other countries where the book. A seminar on racism was part 10. "Some aspects of the book trade in Wolof is spoken. Limited financial re- of this "focus program" and a book was Ghana," ABPR, op. cit. A great deal of sources, compounded by old colonial published exposing the distorted man- printing of African publications must still language and political barriers, make it ner in which children's literature depicts be carried out elsewhere. Of the books difficult for interested individuals and the non-European world. For similar listed in the catalogue Printed and Pub- groups to coordinate such activities. insights based upon work done at the lished in Africa, it is estimated that See "The Demb Ak Tay Resource University of Wisconsin-Madison, Afri- about 40 percent were actually printed Centre for Children," AUFS Report, can Studies Program, see Evelyn Jones outside Africa. forthcoming. Rich, "Mark my word!" Africa Report 11. As expressed in an editorial in the 17. "Problems of Publishing in African (November-December19761, and Susan Nigerian newspaper, Punch, May 29, Languages," West Africa, June 16, J. Hall, "Tarzan Lives-What do Text- 1980. 1980. books Teach our Children About Africa?" Interracial Books for Children 12. African Book Publishing Record, 18. See "Local Languages and Literacy Bulletin, Vol. 9, No. 1 (1978). op. cit. in West Africa" [BHB-2-'771, AUFS Reports, West Africa Series, Vol. XVII, also printed in Wolof and Mandinka, 23. In quoting from the speeches pre- No. 2 (1977). written in Arabic script. Signs at the sented at the demonstration, I do not Ministry of Works are written in these give names. When writing about African 19. Quoted by Hans Zell, West Africa, two languages as well as in English. politics, one is always aware that one's June 16,1980. Such official recognition suggests there readership is likely to include those who is greater literacy in this script here than are unsympathetic to African liberation 20. Arabic script has been used exten- elsewhere. struggles and who search such literature sively for indigenous languages in the to identify individuals for their own 21. Zell, West Africa, June 16, 1980. Gambia. Money is printed in English, the ulterior motives. official language, but the amounts are 22. WestAfrica, October20, 1980. 24. Guardian, October 8, 1980.