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Book synopsis

Why do African writers choose to describe pain in their novels, memoirs and travelogues? What purpose could such descriptions serve? And do they fall into the danger of simply re-confirming negative stereotypes about Africa as an inevitably pained continent? Perceiving Pain in African Literature argues that the literary text has a particular role to play in contesting and re-working the personal, social and political meanings of pain. Drawing on fiction and life-writing published in English and French over the last forty years, this book explores the complexities of literature's invitation to imagine pain. Themes such as pain and meaning, literature as testimony, conflict writing, genocide and human rights are explored in relation to primary texts from West Africa, Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Southern Africa. Authors including Yvonne Vera, J.M.Coetzee, Ahmadou Kourouma, Veronique Tadjo and Aminatta Forna are discussed alongside theoretical insights from medical anthropology, cultural theory, postcolonial studies and global literature.

Book details

Book category Books in English Literature & literary studies Literature: history & criticism Literary studies: general

• Full title: Perceiving Pain in African Literature
• Author: Zoe Norridge
• Language: English
• Binding: Hardback
• Number of pages: 239
• EAN: 9780230367425
• ISBN: 0230367429
• ID: 01199598
• Publisher: PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
• Weight: 426 g
• Dimensions: 222 × 144 × 20 mm
• Date of publishing: 29. November 2012

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