World Literature, Kampala 1961-1968: Literary Circulation in Transition Erik Falk

Document generated on 09/29/2021 9:55 p.m.

Études littéraires africaines

World literature, Kampala 1961-1968: literary circulation in Transition Erik Falk

Presse et littérature africaines Article abstract Number 48, 2019 This article starts from two premises: that the almost exclusive reliance on the novel in several of the dominant elaborations of world literary models gives a URI: https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1068432ar very partial view of the global circulation of literature and, consequently, that DOI: https://doi.org/10.7202/1068432ar much can be gained through analyses of complementary or alternative media and, secondly, that certain arguments within postcolonial literary studies on the See table of contents circulation and audiences of African literature are inadequately grounded empirically. Taking the literary magazine Transition as an example – and more precisely its first, Ugandan, period –, this article seeks to make a contribution to both fields. Through discussion of the publication’s content and its circulation Publisher(s) pattern, it shows that most of the authors published came from African Association pour l'Étude des Littératures africaines (APELA) countries, but also included British, American and Caribbean contributors; that poetry was its most represented literary genre, even as the magazine published seminal prose material; that the magazine’s readers, many of whom interacted ISSN actively, were found across the African continent and in Europe and the U.S.A.; 0769-4563 (print) and that Transition combined characteristics of « little » and « big » magazines. 2270-0374 (digital) These empirical findings, the article argues, raise questions about key issues in world literary as well as postcolonial literary conceptualization – such as the Explore this journal status of the nation or the national field in world literary studies, the limitations of the notion of « literature » they use, and the relationship between (post-)colonial and « imperial » channels for production and circulation of literary artefacts. Cite this article Falk, E. (2019). World literature, Kampala 1961-1968: literary circulation in Transition. Études littéraires africaines, (48), 55–72. https://doi.org/10.7202/1068432ar

Tous droits réservés © Association pour l'Étude des Littératures africaines This document is protected by copyright law. Use of the services of Érudit (APELA), 2019 (including reproduction) is subject to its terms and conditions, which can be viewed online. https://apropos.erudit.org/en/users/policy-on-use/

This article is disseminated and preserved by Érudit. Érudit is a non-profit inter-university consortium of the Université de Montréal, Université Laval, and the Université du Québec à Montréal. Its mission is to promote and disseminate research. https://www.erudit.org/en/ WORLDLITERATURE,KAMPALA 1961-1968: LITERARY CIRCULATION IN TRANSITION

RÉSUMÉ Un double constatcritiqueest àl’origine de cetarticle.D’une part,l’appuiquasi exclusif sur le romandans plusieurs modèles dominantlechamp de la mondialisation deslittératures ne repose quesur unevision très partielle de la circulation de la littératureà l’échelle globale, d’où l’intérêt d’élargirles terrains d’analyseàdes supportsalternatifs ou complémentaires. D’autrepart, certains arguments avancés dans lesétudeslittérairespostcolonialessur la circulation et lespublics de la littératureafricaine restentinsuffisam- ment fondésempiriquement. En prenantcomme terraind’enquête le magazine littéraire Transition,etplusprécisémentsapremière périodeougandaise, le présentarticle voudrait contribuer auxdeux domaines.Explorantles contenus et lesmodes de circulation de ce périodique, il montreque la plupart desauteur·e·squi s’yvoient publié·e·s viennent de pays africains, quandd’autres contri- buteur·ice·ssont britanniques,américain·e·s et caribéen·ne·s ;que si le magazine publie destextesfondateurs en prose, la poésie reste le genre littéraire le plusreprésenté dans ses colonnes ;que ses lecteurs et lectrices, dont unebonne part interagitactivement, vivent sur le continent africain, mais aussienEurope et auxÉtats- Unis ;etqu’il associe enfincertaines caractéristiquesd’une«petite revue» àd’autres,propres àunmagazinepluscommercial. Ces résultatsempiriques permettent d’interrogerdifférents paramètres au centre desconceptualisationspropres àlamondialisation des littératures et auxapprochespostcoloniales, tels quelestatutdela nation ou du champnational,les limites de la notion de «littéra- ture»telle qu’elle s’yvoitdéfinie, ou lesrelations entredes modes (post-)coloniauxet«impériaux »deproduction et de circulation desobjetslittéraires. Mots-clés : Transition Ŕ mondialisation deslittératures Ŕ Afriquede l’Est Ŕ littératurepostcoloniale Ŕ petiterevue Ŕ culture de l’imprimé.

ABSTRACT This article starts fromtwo premises :thatthe almost exclusive reliance on thenovel in severalofthe dominant elaborationsofworld literarymodels givesavery partial view of theglobalcirculationofliterature and, conse- 56) quently,that much can be gained through analyses of complementary or alternativemedia and, secondly, that certainarguments within postcolonial literary studies on thecirculationand audiencesofAfricanliterature areina- dequately grounded empirically.Takingthe literary magazine Transition as an example Ŕ andmorepreciselyits first, Ugandan,period Ŕ,thisarticle seeks to make acontribution to both fields.Through discussion of thepubli- cation’scontent andits circulation pattern, it showsthat most of theauthors publishedcame fromAfrican countries, butalso includedBritish, American andCaribbean contributors ;thatpoetrywas its most representedliterary genre,evenasthemagazine publishedseminal prosematerial; that the magazine’sreaders,manyofwhominteractedactively, werefound across the African continent andinEurope andthe U.S.A. ;and that Transition combined characteristicsof«little »and «big »magazines. These empirical findings, thearticle argues, raisequestions aboutkey issuesinworld literary as wellaspostcolonial literary conceptualization Ŕ such as thestatusofthe nationorthe national fieldinworld literary studies, thelimitations of the notionof«literature »theyuse,and therelationship between(post-)colonial and«imperial »channels for productionand circulationofliterary artefacts. Keywords : Transition Ŕ World literature Ŕ East Africa Ŕ postcolonial literature Ŕ little magazines Ŕ print culture.

***

Oneofthe ongoingdebates in the studyofAfrican literature concerns its circulation andits audiences. Postcolonialliterary scholars likeGrahamHuggan, Eileen Julien,and Akin Adesokan have argued that, from theperiod precedingdecolonization to the present, afundamentaldivision between the place of literary production (or,alternatively,the geographical originofthe author) and the place of consumption(or the identity of the reader)havein significantwaysinfluencedand continuetoinfluence literary form 1 andthe ways in whichliteratureisread 2. Researchers approachingthe question of audience from more sociologicaland book historical points of departurehaverefuted these arguments,oftenonempirical grounds. SarahBrouillette,

1 JULIEN (Eileen), «The Extroverted AfricanNovel », in : TheNovel :History, Geography,and Culture.Edited by Franco Moretti.Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2006, p. 667-700;ADESOKAN (Akin), «New AfricanWriting andthe Question of Audience », Research in African Literatures,vol.43, n°3, 2012, p. 1-20. 2 HUGGAN (Graham), ThePostcolonial Exotic :Marketingthe Margins.London, NY : Routledge, 2001, 328 p. Worldliterature,Kampala 1961-1968 (57

Caroline Davisand NathanSuhr-Sytsma,for instance,haveinturn demonstrated theimplausibility of positing naïvemetropolitan audiences yearningfor postcolonialauthenticity 3 andshownthe significance of Nigeria andEastAfricaasliterary marketsfor African novels during thecolonial andearly postcolonial eras 4. Thedebate over Africanliterary production andcirculation cen- ters on theoretical perspectivesand research methodswithin the field of postcolonialliterary studies, butitshould also be replaced within the larger contextofwhatStefanHelgesson hasdescribed as the difficult butpotentially fruitfuldialogue betweenthe research fields of world literatureand postcolonialliterary studies 5.Julien’s seminalarticle wasanearly effort to combineemergingworld literary perspectives with postcolonialliterary studiesand wasfirst publishedasachapterinFranco Moretti’s TheNovel (first published as Il Romanzo in 2002) 6,and both Huggan’s(2001) andBrouillette’s (2007) booksare ambitiousattemptstoexplain the conditions which allow postcolonialliteraturetocirculate globally. Whatisatstake in thisexchangeis, in Helgesson’swords, the «elaboration of aglobalframework for literary study»7,and what postcolonialstudies contribute is aknowledge of,and emphasis on, the effectsofcolonial history. Oneofthe omissionsofworldliterary study, as hasbeenarticulated by Franco Moretti andPascale Casanova(andtosomeextent by DavidDamrosch), is the failure to acknowledgethatits conceptofliterature (togetherwith the modes of reading literature)belongs in aEuropean colonialhistory unfolding globally,the consequences of whichproduce atheoryofgloballite- rary space whichisEurocentric andtemporarily skewed.Inhis ana- lysis of Orientalist practiceonthe Indiansubcontinentinthe late 18th and19th centuries, Amir Mufti specifically addressesthis issue, describing the historical andcolonial processes Ŕ what he calls the «philologicalrevolution»8Ŕwhichenabledthe ideaofliterature as

3 BROUILLETTE (Sarah), Postcolonial Writersinthe Global Literary Marketplace.New York :Palgrave Macmillan, 2007, 206 p. 4 SUHR-SYTSMA (Nathan),«TheExtroverted AfricanNovel andLiteraryPubli- shing in theTwenty-firstCentury », JournalofAfrican CulturalStudies,2017, p. 339-355 ;DAVIS (Caroline), Creatingpostcolonial literature.New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2013, 255 p. 5 HELGESSON (Stefan), «Postcolonialism andWorld Literature:Rethinking the Boundaries»,Interventions,vol.16, n°4, 2014, p. 483-500. 6 JULIEN (E.), «The Extroverted AfricanNovel… », art. cit.,p.2. 7HELGESSON (S.), «Postcolonialismand WorldLiterature»,art. cit.,p.484. 8 MUFTI (Amir),«Orientalism andthe Institution of World Literature»,Critical Inquiry,vol. 36, n°3,2010, p. 458-493 ;p.459. 58) used in world literary studytoemerge Ŕ butwhich also brought the Indianregionontothe worldstage of literary circulation. Venkat Mani, researchingthe material conditions of book circulation his- torically,has presented arelated argument, demonstrating thatthe ideaofworld literature Ŕ likethe term itself Ŕ emergedout of concrete processesofselection, collection, andtranslation of written works done by scholars,translators, publishers andlibrariansin the 18th and19th centuriesand carriedout in Europe andbeyond 9. Anarrowerpoint of criticismcan be addedtoMufti’sand Mani’s critical analyses of world literarystudies’ unreflective adoptionofa conceptofliterature: their almost exclusivedependence on the genre of the novelgives averypartialviewofthe globalcirculation of literature(apoint, in fact,madebyJulieninher argument on literary «extroversion » 10). In their analysesofAfrican literary periodicals, for instance, both Helgessonand Eric Bulson have disco- veredpatternsofproduction andcirculation that differmarkedly from those pertainingtothe printedbook 11. Thepresentarticle contributes to this discussion by examining the East Africanliterary magazine Transition.Focusingonthe magazine’s first Ugandan phasebetween 1961 and1968, it raises questions aboutthe literary materialitpublished, its intended readers, and their location. Theexamination showsthatthe literary contentof the magazine andits distributionpatternswerenot thesameasthose of book publishing, even if the two overlap. Moresignificantly, it demonstrates thatmostofthe authors publicizedcamefromAfrican countriesbut also includedBritish, Caribbean andAmericancontri- butors; thatpoetry,perhaps surprisingly,isits most represented literary genre ;and,finally,thatthe magazine’sreadersweretobe found across the Africancontinent as well as in partsofEurope and the U.S.A.These findings,Isuggest, representavaluable contribution to the ongoing conceptualization of world literary space.

The ruptured history of alittlemagazine Before turningtoTransition’scontentand its circulation, andin ordertoexplain my focus on alimited period in themagazine’s

9 MANI (Venkat), RecodingWorldLiterature: Libraries, PrintCultureand Germany’s Pact with Books.New York :Fordham University Press, 2017, 360 p. ;p.22. 10 JULIEN (E.), «The Extroverted AfricanNovel », art. cit. 11 HELGESSON (S.), TransnationalisminSouthernAfrican Literatures: Modernists, Realists, andthe Inequality of PrintCulture.New York :Routledge, 2009, 176 p; BULSON (Eric), LittleMagazine, World Form.New York :Columbia University Press, coll.Modernist latitudes,[2017], XII-333 p. Worldliterature,Kampala 1961-1968 (59 life 12,itwillbeusefultobriefly recapitulate the ruptured publishing history of Transition. Transition wasestablished in Kampalain1961byRajat Neogy, a Ugandan of Indianoriginwho had recentlyreturnedtothe country after studiesinBritain. Neogyremainedthe magazine’seditorin Ugandauntil 1968,whenNeogy and Transition contributorAbu Mayanja, aMemberofParliament andlawyer, were both charged with «sedition »for publishing Mayanja’sarticle on the Obote government’sproposals for anew constitution 13.Neogy was imprisonedfor six months (Mayanja for oneand ahalf-years),and upon hisrelease, he fledtoGhana,which became the newhomeof the magazine. Transition relaunched in its newlocationin1971. After being the editorfor three more years,Neogy handed the editorship over to Wole Soyinka, whohad previously contributedto the magazine.Inaneffort to restartthe magazine,Soyinkachanged its name to Ch’indaba in 1975,and the magazine resumedpublica- tion until 1977.Itfinally foundereddue to financial andmanagerial reasons in 1979.In1991, Soyinkahelpedrevivethe magazine toge- therwithKwame Anthony Appiah andHenry Louis Gates Jr and from this date, it hasbeenissuedfromthe U.S.A.Itiscurrently located at the Hutchins Centrefor Africanand American Research at HarvardUniversity. Ascandal marked Transition’sfirst period.From 1962 onwards the magazine wasfundedbythe Congress for CulturalFreedom (CCF) Ŕ an organizationfounded by anumberofnon-communist left-wing intellectuals, andbased in Paris, butemergingout of American effortstocombatSovietcultural influence across the globe.Moreorlessfromits inception, theCCF Ŕ whichalsofunded the Nigerian MbariWriters Club,Nigeria’s Black Orpheus, TheNew African,and Encounter magazinesinAfricaalongsideanumber of publications across the world Ŕ received financialsupport from the C.I.A. 14.Whenhewas interviewed aboutthe issue in 1967 Ŕ an interview whichfirst appearedinKenya’snewspaper Sunday Nation andwas reprintedinTransition Ŕ Neogyexplained thathis linkwith the CCF had formed through EzekielMphahlele whom he hadmet

12 ThefollowingrecapitulationreliesonBENSON (Peter), BlackOrpheus, Tran- sition,and Modern CulturalAwakening in Africa.Berkeley:University of California Press, 1986, 320 p. ;p.99-288. 13 «Notes in transition»,Transition,n°38, 1971, p. 43-49. 14 ROGERS (Asha),«BlackOrpheus andthe Africanmagazinesofthe Congressof Cultural Freedom », in : CampaigningCultureand theColdWar.Edited by Giles Scott-Smith andCharlotteA.Lerg.London :Palgrave Macmillan,2017, 331p.; p. 243-259. 60) at the Conference of AfricanWriters of English Expression at Makerere in 1962.Heclaimedcompleteignorance of the ties between the CCF andthe C.I.A. andassertedthathehad felt no pressure on editorial andpublishingissuesduring the time the CCF fundedthe magazine 15.Mphahlele latergave hisversion of the process, explaining that, as the director of the Africa programofthe CCF,hehad hadto«bite hislip »after realizing that theC.I.A. had sponsored activitieshehad directed,but maintainedthatthe organi- zation must have remainedunawareofthe magazine since«[t]he C.I.A. cannot possibly believe that it cangivemoney to organiza- tions it hasnomeans of controlling andstill be surethatsomewhere aharvest of intellectualproselytes will be forthcoming»16. How the CCF’scontrol over or manipulation of Transition (and the othermagazinesitsponsored)should be assessed is amatterof debate.EricBulson,for instance, seems to suggestthatthe CCF’s direct impactwas negligible 17,while Andrew Rubinmaintains that the CCFwas able to maintain«controloverpolitical discourse» withoutinterferingdirectly sincethe magazine’sselection of writers wasinlinewiththe ideology of Cold WarAmericanAnti- communist policy 18.The precisenatureofthe CCF’sinfluence over Transition lies outside the scopeofthis article ;whatmatters here is apoint thatbothBulsonand Rubinmakeevenastheyplace the emphasis differently :thatthe magazine belonged to anetwork of publications andindividuals, andplayedasignificantconnective role,and that this role wasatleastpartly enabledbyfunding from the CCF.Bulson attributesthe simultaneouspublication in Black Orpheus and Transition of Nigerian poet Christopher Okigbo’spoetry cycle «The Lament of the Drums»to personalconnections andthe aborted projectoflaunching aWestAfrican editionofTransition ; Rubincites the case of Wole Soyinka, whose work waspublishedby the (CCFsponsored)Mbari Writers Club,reviewedinTransition, andlater promoted in Encounter (anotherpublication supported by the CCF), as an example of howthe CCFenabledthe rapid transla- tion andreplicationoftexts through its publications whichinturn contributed to shapinga«transnationalimaginary »(emphasis in the original) 19.

15 Transition,vol. 32, n°7, 1967,p.45-46. 16 Transition,vol. 34, n°7, 1968,p.5. 17 BULSON (E.), LittleMagazine, World Form, op.cit., p. 203. 18 RUBIN (Andrew.N.), Archives of Authority :Empire, Culture, andthe Cold War. Princeton:PrincetonUniversity Press, 2012, 200 p. ;p.56. 19 RUBIN (A.), Archives of Authority, op.cit., p. 58-59. Worldliterature,Kampala 1961-1968 (61

To Rubin’saccount, it couldbeadded,first,thatthe connective dimension of Africanliterary magazineswas also immediately clear to those involved in making them, and, second, that,for Transition, being part of an Africanand globalnetwork of authors andwriters wasbothastrength andapotentialthreat:merely republishingwith delaymaterial first printedinBlackOrpheus might undermineinte- rest in the publicationasanoriginaland exciting product, whilethe search for newnesscould risk turningitinto aversion of astudent magazine 20.

Locations,literary content,and status Over the course of its first seven-year period, Transition published more than130 pieces of literaryfiction, poetry,drama,and creative non-fiction. Of these, close to ahundred arepoemsand threeare dramatic texts.Demonstrating the magazine’stwin ambitionsof showing both significant andnew writing,the authors featured in the magazine were both establishedand unknownwhentheyappea- red. Severalofthemeventually becameleadingliterary figures. Chinua Achebe,who contributed to the ninth issue in 1963 with an excerpt from the secondchapterofhis novel ArrowofGod,had by thattime alreadypublishedtwo novels in Heinemann’s African WritersSeries,and wasits currenteditor(picture 1). On the other hand when Transition publishedhis short story, «The Return»(n°3, 1962), NgugiwaThiong’o(then JamesNgugi)was still an unknown writer, whose literary output was, apartfromafewarticlesindaily newspapers, oneshort storyinPenpoint,amagazine linked to the English department of Makerere University 21.Ngugi submitted a report from the ConferenceofAfricanWriters of English Expres- sion in alater issue (n°5, 1962). Ngugi’sstory is similar to thatof John Nagenda, who, too, wouldcontribute ashort story (n°2, 1961)with notmuchelse to show thanthe editorship of Penpoint.

20 Acontemporaryreview of Okyeame in Black Orpheus states that «The [literary magazine’s] function is not much to preserveastolink.Often they stand at the very beginning of thedevelopmentoflocal literature, settingupstandardsand providing aliterarymarketfor buyerand seller Ŕ theindigenousreadingpublic andits artist».Grace Ogot earlyonnoted theneed for Transition to avoidbeco- ming «anotherkind of Penpoint » Ŕ thestudent magazine housedatMakerere university. BENSON (P.), BlackOrpheus, Transition,and Modern Cultural Awake- ning in Africa, op.cit.,p.19, p. 113. 21 BEIJJIT (Nourdin), «Heinemann’sAfricanwritersseriesand theriseofJames Ngugi»,in: TheBook in Africa :Critical Debates.Edited by Caroline Davis and David Johnson. Basingstoke, NY :Palgrave Macmillan, 2015, 292 p. ;p.223- 244. 62)

Nagenda also contributed areportfromthe AfricanWriters Confe- rence, andlater hadanother short story published(n°5, 1962 ;n°6- 7, 1962). Less knownthanNgugi,Nagenda went on to have three novels published, oneofwhich, TheSeasons of TomasTebo,by Heinemann in the African WritersSeries. Christopher Okigbo,David Rubadiri, Bessie Head,and TabanLoLiyongwereall at the begin- ningoftheir literary careerswhentheycontributed literaryworks to the magazine 22.

Picture 1 Ŕ Contributions to n°9, 1963included achapter from Chinua Achebe’s ArrowofGod. Many of theemergingwriters presented in Transition did not reachthe literary heights of Achebe, Ngugi,orNadineGordimer who contributed theshort story «SomeMondayfor Sure »inissue

22 Bessie Head contributed theshort story «SorrowFood »inTransition n°30, 1967,ayearbeforethe publicationofher firstnovel ;Taban Lo Liyong had «Two stories»published in n°36, 1968 ;ChristopherOkigbo’spoetry appeared in n°5, 1962 (« TheLimits I-IV ») andn°18, 1965 (« Lamentofthe Drums»); David Rubadiricontributed with poetry in n°20, 1965,two yearsbeforehis Bride Price was published. See relevant entriesinGIKANDI (Simon), TheEncyclopaedia of Afri- can Literature.Londonand NewYork:Routledge, 2003, 645 p.,and, on Okigbo, SUHR-SYTSMA (N.), «ChristopherOkigbo, print,and thepoetry of postcolonial modernity»,Research in African Literatures,vol. 43, n°2, 2012, p. 40-62. Worldliterature,Kampala 1961-1968 (63 n°18,1965.Someofthemcontributed literary writing butwere thenengaged in otherintellectualcommitments.Thisisthe case with RobertSerumaga, who became the presidentofthe Association of Commonwealth Language andLiteratureatMakererefor a period,and AigHigo, who eventuallyfound employment at Heinemann 23.Some, likeRoland Hindmarshand AdrianRowe- Evans, contributed occasional poemsand remained reviewersfor,or collaboratorsto, the magazine.Others,still, appeared in the magazine,but didnot become publicfigures at all. As the examples givenhereindicate, most writers introduced in Transition were African, andtheycamefromarangeofcountries : South Africa (Gordimer andDennisBrutus),Botswana (Head), Nigeria (Achebe, Okigbo), Uganda (Lo Liyong, Rubadiri,Nagenda), Kenya(Ngugiand LeonardKibera)and more. While Transition was an English-languagemagazine,and overwhelminglypublishedtexts by English-languageAfrican writers,there were exceptions to this rule,likeGeraldTchicayaU’Tam’si (whose name can be seen in picture 1), whose poetry wastranslatedfromFrench.AfewBritish writers participated (D.J. Enrightand MichaelThorpe),asdid the American Paul Theroux, whowas deeply involved with the magazine andcontributed poemsand,above all, articles. Therewerealso theoccasionaloutliers :afewIndianpoets likeG.S.SharatChandu andSukhi Singhcontributedpoetry,and the Swedish poetsand writers Thomas Tranströmerand BirgittaTrotzig appeared in the magazine in the period studiedhere. Dependentonbenevolentfunders (howevercontroversial) and catering to advanced readerly tastes, Transition wasinmanyrespects a«little »magazine andseemedtocherish thatstatus 24.Most of what Transition publicizedwas previously unpublishedand themagazine offered an outlet Ŕ perhapsespecially for aliterarygenre such as poetry Ŕ in acontextwhere fewpublishing optionsexisted.Its readership also consisted largelyofintellectualand sophisticated readers. In somerespects, however, Transition hadthe appearance of a«big» commercial magazine.Ithad coversincolor, included

23 BENSON (P.), BlackOrpheus, Transition,and Modern Cultural Awakening in Africa, op.cit., p. 71. 24 BULSON (E.), LittleMagazine,World Form, op.cit.,p.4-5. In an article with obvious self-mirroring referencesone contributor describes themission of the literarymagazine as « keep[ing]someofthe current dissent moving […] maintain[ing]abase forthe newwriterswho maycomealongatany time,and […]uphold[ing]intellectual standardsinanon-intellectual society ». See MACAULEY (Robie), «The LittleMagazines», Transition,vol.3,n°9,1963, p. 24. 64) advertisements from the firstissue,and had acomparably large print-runfor aculturalmagazine,atone point reaching 12 000 copies 25. However,neither«little »nor «big »labelsfully capture Tran- sition’sposition in the literary landscape. Most European Ŕ or Anglophone Ŕ literarymagazinesthatemerged in the early 20th cen- tury, responded, as Bulson hasobserved, to «anincreasingly com- mercialized literary culture »and were «little »intheir defense of artistic autonomyand their positionsonthe small-scale pole of publication Ŕ whichwas possible through their employmentof comparatively cheapprint technology andthe loose organizational structures thatset it apartfromthe publishing industry 26.Their activitiesemerged outofdeveloped national literary fields Ŕ even as theywerepartoftransnational networks 27.This wasnot thecase for little Africanmagazineswhich operated in what were literary «fields-in-formation»28 whose borders were notprimarily national. In the case of Transition,collaboratorsand competitors were notUgandanpublications or publishers,but otherAfrican, British, or American actorslike Présence africaine, Black Orpheus,and, possibly,magazines like Africa Report. Transition’scontributorsweredeeply engagedindebatingliterary value.The extensivecoverageofthe Conference of AfricanWriters of English Expression of 1962 (n°5) offers oneexample of this enga- gement, as does the debate on the languagesofAfrican literature staged in 1963 (n°10) 29.The literary review arguably presents an even more significant mode of literary criticism sincethe selection of authors very clearly outlines the magazine’sliterary circuits. Given Transition’scommitment to literary topics, it mayseemsur- prising thatthe genre is notput to more systematic use :ofthe more than600 texts printedinTransition,around30are reviewsoflite- rary works.The selection of authors reviewed anddebated in the magazine’spages deserves attention, however, becauseitdemons- trates the magazine’scontinentalambitions. Amajority of texts were on Africanwriters,some of whom hadeither contributed

25 BULSON (E.), LittleMagazine, World Form, op.cit.,p.212. 26 BULSON (E.), Little Magazine,World Form, op.cit., p. 194. 27 BULSON (E.), LittleMagazine, World Form, op.cit., p. 38. 28 HELGESSON (S.), TransnationalisminSouthernAfrican Literatures, op.cit., p. 23. 29 WALI (Obiajunwa),«Thedeadend of Africanliterature?», Transition,vol.3, n°10, 1963, p. 13-15 ;MPHAHLELE (Ezekiel), «Africanliteratureand universi- ties :areportontwo conferences to discuss Africanliteratureand theuniversity curriculum », Transition,vol. 3, n°10, 1963,p.16-18 ;OKARA (Gabriel), «Afri- canSpeech…English Words », Transition,vol. 3, n°10, 1963, p. 15-16. Worldliterature,Kampala 1961-1968 (65 articlesorliterary texts to the magazine previously, likeAchebe, Ngugi,Gordimer, andHead.English literaturewas very modestly represented :two of Graham Greene’sAfrican texts, TheBurnt-Out Case and«Convoy to West Africa », arereviewed (issue n°8also features an article on «D.H.Lawrence andSex » 30). France, or at leastthe writer Jean Genet, attracted some attention:BenMkapa contributed an article on «The Blacks »inthe first issue ;Ian Watson oneonGenet’sdramatic universe in 1967 (n°29). Afew yearsinto its existence,and having alreadypublishedanexcerpt from Denis William’s Other Leopards (n°11,1963) andanarticle by KennethRamchand(«DecolonizationinWestIndianLiterature»; n°22,1965),the magazine took an interest in writers from what Paul Gilroy hascalled «The BlackAtlantic ». It reviewed contempo- rary Caribbean writers’ bookslikeEdwardBrathwaite’s Rights of Passage in 1967 (n°32)and V.S. Naipaul’s An AreaofDarkness in 1966 (n°26), anddevoted an issue in 1967 to black American poetry reviewingLeRoi Jones’s Home,RobertHayden’s ABalladofRemem- brance andanumber of Harlem Renaissance poets. It also publisheda contribution by JamesBaldwin (on thepainterBeauford Delaney; n°18,1965).

Transnational circulationand readership Thecontributorsand reviewed authors of Transition came,as demonstrated above, from many locations. What audience did Transition imagine for itself? In the rare editorial statements that addressthe magazine’sreadership, Neogydescribesitas«essentially aimedatthinking people », amagazine for «literate »readersand the«culturalelite » 31.Inthe period coveredhere, themagazine had articleson, respectively, humanrights,violence, andloveinAfrica (n°18,1965; n°21,1965; n°17,1964) ;itofferedanalysesof Nkrumah’sleadership, whiteexpatriates in Africa,and various aspectsofthe East Africanunion (n°26, 1966 ;n°32, 1967 ;n°1, 1961 ;n°3,1962; n°20,1965) ;itexploredthe existence and possibilitiesofAfrican literature(n°10,1963;n°18,1965) ;and it debatedthe newconstitutions in Uganda (n°32, 1967) Ŕ the consequences of which, as notedabove, wasthe imprisonment of Neogy andMayanja.Indeed, as Peter Benson hasremarked, Transition’s

30 Thereviews of Greeneare found in Transition n°1, 1961, p. 41, andn°2,1961, p. 43 ;the article on Lawrence by Peter Nazarethinn°8,1963,p.38-43. 31 NEOGY (Rajat), «DoMagazines Culture?», Transition,n°24, 1966, p. 30-32. 66) ambitionstobeaplatformfor debate were at timesmoreimportant thanits culturaland literary interests 32. Themagazine’snon-editedcontent, suchasadvertisements, casts furtherlight on Transition’sprojected audience. Many of the compa- nieswhich advertised in the magazine remainedthe same throughoutthe period discussedhere. Thepresence of English-based international publishersisperhaps no surprise;Oxford University Press, CambridgeUniversityPress (picture 2), andHeinemann all appeared almost withoutinterruption from 1961 to 1968.Perhaps equally unsurprising arethe advertisements for other magazinesand journalswith Africanfocus, like TheNew African, CentralAfrican Exa- miner, Africa Report,while others,publishedinmoredistantplacesor with slightly differentfoci, appear less self-evident. This canbesaid aboutGerman NeuesAfrika,the Oregon-based Northwest Review,and PoetrySingapore.The CCF-sponsored Black Orpheus placedanadvert in the very first issue of Transition.

Picture 2 Ŕ Publishersand magazines were some of Transition’sstable advertisingcustomers.

32 BENSON (P.), BlackOrpheus, Transition,and Modern Cultural Awakening in Africa, op.cit., p. 132. Worldliterature,Kampala 1961-1968 (67

Otheradvertising mainstaysincludedbanks likeBarclaysBankand Baroda Bank,insurance companieslikeCrusaderInsurance, andcar companieslikeMercedes-Benz (picture3), Peugeotand Toyota.Air lines companies like Sabena appeared afew yearsinto themagazine’s existence.Atendency in the magazine’sadvertising is the disappearance of smaller, local companies, likeWynn’sFriction Proofing,George Tapp Company, andKampala’sCanton restaurant, whichappearinthe first year,infavouroflarger, international corporations andcompanies with activities related to Transition’s.

Picture 3 Ŕ Mercedes-Benz advertised frequently in Transition. 68)

Theintelligent andprivileged readers Transition strove to have did not, in its ownview, reside only in Africa,asistestifiedbythe inclusion in eachissue of alist of currencies whichcould be used to purchasethe magazine.Fromthe first issue, the magazine’sprices aregiven in Ugandan, Kenyan andTanzanianshillings, alongside British, American,and SouthAfrican currencies. After afew years, the publication comeswith an impressivelist of additional currencies in whichthe magazine canbebought: Ghanaian and Nigerian, Ethiopian andFrench, German, Swedish andIndianprices areall listed (picture 4). Theinternational readership is specifically targeted in a1966advertising campaign by theUgandaTourist Board whichaddresses «Transition’sinternationalreaderswho may plantovisit Uganda »(e.g. n°22,1965).

Picture 4 Ŕ Pricelistings of Transition in variouscurrencies. It is difficult to know with precision to what extent the actual readersofTransition matchedits intended audience. Themagazine circulated widely anditcirculated internationally :the figure of 12 000 copies referenced aboveistaken from acelebratory article in TheNew York Times,which wascited alongsideother international newspapers’ praise in Paul Theroux’scolumninthe magazine’sown pages, butthe information is solitary andhas notbeenverified 33.In the absence of reliable data,anestimate of the magazine’sreadership canbemadebyexamining letterstothe editor, as Stephanie Newell hasdonefor West Africancolonialnewspapers.For Newell, the newspapers’ inclusion of thegenre, andthe stream of lettersthat were senttothe newspapers shestudies,servedseveral purposes. It testifiedtothe editors’ willingnesstodialoguewith itsreaders, it functionedasamarketing device,and it servedtobuild provisional

33 BULSON (E.), LittleMagazine, World Form, op.cit., p. 212. Worldliterature,Kampala 1961-1968 (69 communitiesofreaders 34.Several of the lettersprintedinTransition were clearlyused for marketing,afact whichcan probably be explainedbyNeogy’smarketing sense andhis willingnesstostir debate,but Transition seriously intended to converse with its readers.From the beginning,letters to the editor were astanding fea- ture, andtheyweregiven amplespace.Inamagazine whoseissues rantoaround50pages,and several of the articleswerethree or fourpages long, the lettersfilledasmanypages.Onparticularly controversial topics,suchasNkrumah’sstatusand legacy,and white expatriates in Africa,letters carriedonthe debate for consecutive issues, andwereevenreprintedwiththe article 35.Beside marketing andself-praise, the lettersservedotherimportantfunctions. Most of the magazine’sdebates played outthrough letterstothe editor, and the form helped levellingthe playing fieldand allowedthe individual reader to debate on equal termswithmoreprominentorprivileged writers.Thisdemocratizationofdiscussion wasanexplicit objective of Neogy’s, who advocatedaneditorial policyofwhathecalled «aggressivenon-prejudice»36.AnexampleofNeogy’sbeliefinthe importantroleofthe formatcan be seeninthe magazine’scriticism of the Ugandanconstitution.After the publication of Mayanja’sarticle, Neogyasked for, andsubsequently published, aletterof defence by the government,written by Akena-Adoko, chiefadvisor to President Obote 37. As Eric Bulson observes, apartfromestablishing acommunityof contributorsand readers, Transition’sletters section also created continuity andakind of composite presentfor the magazine ;readers couldengageinconversationabout currentculturaland literary events withoutany significant time lag. Time wasindeedpassing between the issues, usuallytwo or three months, butthe back- and-forthhelpedmakewhatwas beingpublished more urgent 38. This community of letter-writers,ithas alreadybeen hinted, were a distinctly international crowd.Inthe period coveredhere, letters reachedthe magazine from Uganda,Kenya,Tanzania, Malawi,

34 NEWELL (Stephanie), «ArticulatingEmpire: NewspaperReaderships in ColonialWest Africa », New Formations,n°73, 2011,p.26-42. 35 BULSON (E.), LittleMagazine, World Form, op.cit., p. 214. 36 NEOGY (R.),«Do MagazinesCulture?», art. cit., p. 31. 37 «Notes in Transition»,Transition,n°38, 1971,p.43. 38 BULSON (E.), LittleMagazine, World Form, op.cit., p. 215. 70)

Canada, the U.S.A., Nigeria,Britain, andSweden, many of them with contact addressesatuniversities. In the first yearsofUgandan independence, Transition established itselfasahighly transnationalEnglish-languagepublication both in terms of the writers it featured andthe readersitimaginedand reached. Its primary literary focus wasonAfrican writing andcriti- cism, butitextended its interest to Britain, to France,the U.S.A. andthe Caribbean.Its readersenteredinto dialogue with the magazine andeachotherfromlocations in the U.S.A., the U.K., Nigeria andSouth Africa amongothers. Importantly, Transition wasalsoits ownsource of literature, publishingmostly originalmaterial, most of which, particularlythe poems, appearstohavebeen exclusive. In the case of Ngugi, Nagenda,Head andRubadiri, for instance, Tran- sition’sreaderswereabletoreadthe writers before theywere publishedbyaBritishpublisher.

***

An examinationofthe activities of aliterary magazine like Tran- sition,this article hassuggested,can contribute valuably to concep- tualizations of world literary space,not leastbycritically ques- tioning paradigmsemergingout of strandsinpostcolonial andworld literary studies. First, as mentionedearlier, some postcolonialliterary scholars, suchasJulien,Hugganand Adesokan, have posited thatAfrican literature, particularlyinEuropean languages, is conditionedbyafun- damental division of labour.African novels in English, theargument goes,are deeply shapedbytheir being producedbyauthors origina- ting in Africa andbeing consumedbyaudiences in Europe andthe U.S.A.Bookhistoricalstudies,asreferenced above, have in several cases dismissed these arguments on empiricalgrounds. Theexami- nation of Transition’spublished literatureand its readership, as made visible in the letterstothe editor, Ihaveargued here,confirmsthe view that there existed an extensive(if also dispersed andhighly exclusive)African readership for literatureproducedinAfricainthe period coveredhere. Second,certain postcolonialliterary scholars mentionedinthis article,suchasHelgesson,Mufti andMani, bringcrucialcritical- historical insights to theorizations of the world literary space Ŕ such as on the term literature,and the idea of the nationalvernacularas the basis for comparativestudy :whatMufti calls «nation- Worldliterature,Kampala 1961-1968 (71 thinking » 39.«Nation-thinking »informsCasanova’smodel to the extent that the nation is seen as theprimary literary field, andfur- therthatexchange andcompetition areseenasoccurring either within or between these national fields 40. Helgessonand Davishave,indifferentways, shownthe limited applicabilityofthe conceptofthe nationalfield in (post)colonial Africansituations, Helgessonbyobservingthatlatecolonialorearly post-colonialAfrican countrieswere«fields-in-formation » 41 rather thanfully-developed literaryfields, Davisbydemonstrating thatlate colonialAfrican literary marketswere«dual »ratherthanstruc- tured accordingtolarge-scale andsmall-scale polesofliterary production. In the case of Transition,itishighlyproblematic to describe the newlyindependent Uganda as aliterary fieldinwhich the magazine operates. Thecontemporary Ugandanpoliticalsituation, andits legalframework, certainly impacted on the magazine,but it positioned itselfnot in relation to Ugandanbut in relation to other African, andpossibly American, publications. Similarly, its contri- butorswerenot primarily positioned nationally butinrelation to otherAfrican,British, andAmericanwriters. Transition’sappearance as ahybrid publication difficult to place alongasmall-scale /large- scaledivision furtheremphasises the difficulty of translating the field-concepttothe currentsetting withoutsubstantialadjustments. Themagazine displayedboth «little »and «big »characteristics, includedadvertisementand hadlarge print runs,atleast tempo- rarily,but also actively soughtout newwriting,and nursed oppo- sitional andprovocative positions. Thirdly,this articleconfirms thatprivileging the genre of the noveland theprintedbookinworldliterary theorization, as Helgessonand Bulson show(andJulienreminds us),prevents us from seeing literary circulation whichistied to othermedia and, consequently, risks giving an unnecessarily partialdescriptionof world literary space. Transition’sborder-crossing activities Ŕ the lite- ratureitpublished, andthe literatureitreviewed anddiscussed Ŕ demonstrates thatwriting,bothoriginal, reproduced, andcommen- ted on,travels in circuits differentfrom, butpartlyoverlapping

39 MUFTI (Amir), Forget English!:Orientalismsand World Literatures.Cambridge, MA :Harvard UniversityPress, 2016, 304 p. ;p.97. 40 «[E]achwriter’spositionmustnecessarily be adouble one,twice deﬁned:each writer is situated once according to theposition he or sheoccupies in anational space,and then once againaccording to theplace that this occupieswithinthe worldspace ». CASANOVA (Pascale), «LiteratureasaWorld », New Left Review, n°31, 2005, p. 71-90;p. 81. 41 HELGESSON (S.), TransnationalisminSouthernAfrican Literatures, op.cit., p. 23. 72) with, those of the noveland the printedbook Ŕ thatisthe literature emanating from thebookindustry.This is exemplifiedbymuchof the poetry publicizedinthe magazine whichcirculated through Transition’sdistribution channelsbut wasnot pickedupby publishing. Fourth, andrelated,ifTransition,likeotherliterary postcolonial magazines, respondedtodecolonization rather thancommercializa- tion, as Bulson concludes,this response must be describedas occurring both within acontinuing hold of colonial structures for culturalproduction anddisseminationand ashift of globalpower to the USA. On the onehand, Transition,aswehaveseen, wasasource of originalliterary writing,but many of the literary textscirculated outside the magazine’sdistribution network when theywere publishedinbookform (before or, more often, after having appeared in Transition) Ŕ whichwas the case with Achebe, Ngugi, Head,Gordimer, Nagendaand others Ŕ andweredrawn into what wasbasically acolonial publishing network. Themagazineinthis wayconstituted abreeding ground forU.K.-based globally active publishers likeHeinemann Educational Publishers andOxford UniversityPress.The inversesignificance of the British publishing industry for the magazine is equally evident:most of the literature discussed andreviewedinthe magazine waspublished by British publishers.Onthe other hand, the presence of Transition readersin the U.S.A.and themagazine’sinterest in (black)Americanwriting show the pull of metropolesbeyondthe colonial.This split attention showsthe co-existence of several culturalcentres Ŕ albeit of an «older »one with a«newer»one Ŕ that contrastswithCasanova’s positing of alineartemporality in whichsingle literarycenters succeed eachothertoact as «Greenwich meridians»42 of literary modernity,endowing symbolic capitaland devising literary standards.

% Erik FALK 43

42 CASANOVA (Pascale), TheWorld Republic of Letters [édition originale 1999]. Translated by M.B.DeBevoise.Cambridge, MA :Harvard University Press, Convergences, 2004, XIII-420p.;p. 88. 43 TheNordicAfrica Institute.