A collection of 11 chapters by Nigerian professors, this book covers such issues as the dignity of intellectual labor; how colonial writings on Africa helped Africans decide to become the interpreters of their cultures; what Nigerian playwrights and poets have in common with authors from other parts of the world; the need to write literature in indigenous Nigerian languages; and critical examinations of the themes of victimization, bad governance, and Igbo social behavior as they are handled in select African and Nigerian literary texts. In discussing the issues, the contributors maintain...

Things Fall Apart is the most widely read and influential African novel. Published in 1958, it has sold more than eight million copies and been translated into fifty languages. African culture is not familiar to most American readers however, and this casebook provides a wealth of commentary and original materials that place the novel in its historical, social, and cultural contexts. Ogbaa, an Igbo scholar, has selected a wide variety of historical and firsthand accounts of Igbo history and cultural heritage. These accounts illuminate the historical context and issues relating to...

Nigerians first came to the United States to attend American universities, intending to return home. Successive waves of Nigerian students began to stay, and now Nigerian Americans are the largest African immigrant group in the country. Pursuing education to attain professional careers remains the cornerstone of the new Nigerian American families. This book gives students and general readers a clear view of where these immigrants came from, examining the Nigerian values and way of life that have been adapted to American culture, the inroads they have made economically, their relations with...