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THE GLOBAL LITERARY CANON and MINOR AFRICAN LITERATURES DOCTOR of PHILOSOPHY English THE GLOBAL LITERARY CANON AND MINOR AFRICAN LITERATURES By Amatoritsero Ede A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in English Carleton University Winter, 2013 © Amatoritsero Ede Library and Archives Bibliotheque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du 1+1Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-94555-1 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-94555-1 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distrbute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. Canada ABSTRACT Pascale Casanova (World Republic of Letters 2004), invokes Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of a metaphoric literary field (xii) to emphasise the literary world as a ‘material’ and charged political domain where individual writers compete against each other and collectively embody the cultural dominance or subordination of individual countries within an international “literary space” (13). That modem literary space began its formation in 16th century Europe (11) and has since expanded to form a “world republic of letters.” This dissertation examines the global “politics of literature” (Valery Labaurd qtd. in Republic o f Letters 10) as it relates to the struggles of a “dominated” (83) African writing. I investigate global canon-formation as a function of African literature’s marginalisation within a ‘powerful’ Eurocentric global literary canon. I maintain that African writing is minor in global canonical terms even if it might appear more visible due to the prominence of African writers like Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, Ngugi Wa Thiong’o or Ben Okri. I explore the minor status of modem African literature by investigating global literary validating mechanisms and canon-forming processes in relation to a newer corpus of Nigerian writing. I conclude that while Africa represents a “dominated literary space” (83) within the global canon, some contemporary African writers find unique ways to subvert the power dynamics at the centre and become consecrated. My approach is interdisciplinary, encompassing book history and globalisation theory within the tensions of the postcolonial and the postmodern. Lucien Febvre and Marc Bloch’s approach to the reading of history and socio-cultural change emphasises “the role of media production technology, the impact of the printing industry, reading habits, editorial theory and practice, the socio-economic dynamics of publishing, and the survival of books in relation to change in social structure” (Ibironke African Writers and Heinemann Michigan State U: PhD Thesis 2008: 3). An analysis of metropolitan reading practices, local and international editorial processes and global market dynamics will provide answers to the question contained in my initial proposition: why is modem African literature in the global margins? DEDICATION To the memory of my maternal grandmother, Limota Ajibodu; Nicole Ng, Ralph Hillebrandt and Antje Herren for support and to Alero Okoturo-Ede for her patience in all of this ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am forever indebted to my supervisor, Dr. Pius Adesanmi, who inspired me at many doubtful moments in the writing process and provided intellectual nurture in formal and informal capacities. I also owe enormous debts of gratitude to the members of my dissertation committee, Drs. Brian Johnson, Sarah Casteel and Tunji Osinubi, whose diligence and rigour in their feedbacks provided able guidance. Dr. Johnson gave me copious and detailed reports, which made progress swifter even while I appeared to be stuck. Carleton University’s MacOrdum library was very helpful in making unusual allowances and giving me special borrowing privileges. I particularly extend my gratitude to Mr. Mulugeta Gebru on the staff of the library. Colleagues and friends like Nduka Otiono, Akin Adesokan, Maik and Angela Nwosu, Kole-Ade Odutola, Andrena Pierre, and Rina Egbo, gave important moral support and encouragement during the writing process. The friendship and support of Lequanne Collins-Bacchus, my long-suffering informal first reader, was invaluable. I express my gratitude to the Social Sciences and Humanities research Council, whose fellowship award contributed, in large measures, to the successful completion of this dissertation. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 Chapter One Of Canons, Anthropology and Generations------------------------------------------------- 30 Exclusionist Implications of the American Canon Debate------------------------------- 40 The Convergence of Sacral and Literary Canons as Ideology---------------------------48 The Limits of Cultural Capital ----------------------------------------------------------------- 53 The Three Generations of African Writers---------------------------------------------------67 Chapter Two The Global Market in the Local M argin----------------------------------------------------- 77 African Literature and Anthropology----------------------------------------------------------91 Global Canonical Exclusion and Thematic Shifts------------------------------------------ 102 Chapter Three Narrative Moment and the Self-Anthropologising Novel---------------------------------117 War and Child Soldier---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 128 Crime and Corruption--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 143 Tales of Polygamy and the Modem Domestic Realm------------------------------------- 149 Chapter Four The Nigerian Canon and Cultural Identity-------------------------------------------------- 155 The NLNG and Local Literary Politics------------------------------------------------------ 163 The Retrieval Canon------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 175 Local Literary Promotion and Global Canonical Exclusion-------------------------------199 Chapter Five Navigating the Retrieval Canon---------------------------------------------------------------- 208 Escaping Local Retrieval-------------------------------------------------------------------------210 Hidden Texts and Invisible Chapters------------------------------------------------------------ 221 Conclusion--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 240 Bibliography-------------------------------------------------------------------------------243-256 The Global Literary Canon and Minor African Literatures Amatoritsero Ede 8 Introduction [...] I worry that a careless incorporation of “the Other voice” into a literary tradition can, if it is only appendative, function simply as a mechanism of covert marginalization (Gikandi,Maps o f Englishness, 1996: 5). Pascale Casanova (World Republic of Letters 2004), invoking Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of a metaphoric literary field (xii), re-conceptualises the literary world as a ‘material’ and charged political domain, where individual writers compete against each other, and collectively embody the cultural dominance or subordination of individual countries within an international “literary space” (13). According to her that modem literary space began its formation in 16th century Europe (11) and it has since expanded to form a “world republic of letters,” which, I believe, Europe still dominates due to its relatively being the “oldest” (83) tradition in the canon of modem letters in European languages. That dominant tradition has been sustained even as other canons of modem writing develop and orbit that European core1, within even which there have also always been literary historical power shifts amongst competing Western epicentres of literary prestige (10-11; 165). I maintain that global literary visibility and pre-eminence is Euro-centred because, although Casanova says that “the configuration of the contemporary literary space
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