Aime Cesaire is the best known poet in the French Caribbean. In this study Gregson Davis examines Cesaire's extraordinary dual career as writer and elected politician. As one of the most profound critics of colonialism, Cesaire, the acknowledged inventor of the famous term "negritude," has been a hugely influential figure in shaping the contemporary discourse on the postcolonial predicament. Gregson Davis' account of Cesaire's intellectual growth is grounded in a careful reading of the poetry, prose and drama that illustrates the full range and depth of his literary achievement.

This book provides a detailed examination of the writings of Chinua Achebe, Africa's best-known and most widely-read author, shortlisted for the 1987 Booker Prize. Dr Innes studies his writings, lectures and activities chronologically, in the context of Nigerian culture and politics and their interaction with Western cultures and powers. Her analysis goes beyond that of previously published studies, to examine Achebe's short stories, essays and poetry, and his most recent publications, Anthills of the Savannah (1987) and Hopes and Impediments (1988). Particular emphasis is placed on Achebe's...

In this study, which may be used as an introduction as well as by those already familiar with Gordimer's work, Dominic Head discusses each of Nadine Gordimer's novels in detail, examining the texts both as a reflection of events and situations in the real world, and as evidence of her constant rethinking of her craft. Head shows how Gordimer's typical concerns are developed through increasing stress on the politics of textuality; and he considers how her work as a whole contributes to the creation of a literature to challenge apartheid.

Edouard Glissant is an accomplished and influential novelist and poet, and has recently emerged as a major theorist in Caribbean studies and postcolonial literature. In this first full-length study of Glissant's creative and theoretical work J. Michael Dash examines his poems, novels, plays and essays in the context of modern French literary movements and the post-negritude Caribbean situation, providing both a useful introduction to, and a challenging assessment of, Glissant's work to date. Dash shows how Glissant has focused in an unprecedented way on the Caribbean in terms of the diverse...

J. M. Coetzee's work addresses some of the key critical issues of our time: the relationship between postmodernism and postcolonialism, the role of history in the novel, and, repeatedly, how the author can combine a political consciousness with a commitment to the novel as a work of fiction. In this study, which may be used both as an introduction and by those already familiar with Coetzee's work, Dominic Head shows how Coetzee's engagement with the problems facing the postcolonial writer is always enriched by his awareness of a wider literary tradition.

This introductory study offers a critical overview of the major works of V. S. Naipaul from 1950 to the present day. Professor Mustafa's main concern is with literary issues, but historical, political and cultural questions are also addressed, with comparative references to other postcolonial works. In examining the reception of Naipaul's writing, Mustafa introduces general debates about postcolonial literary production and its contemporary interrogation of narrative techniques, language, gender, race and canon formulation.