It is this last question about the diasporic circumstances of African writers and writings that interests me. Whether one is referring to the lived transnationality of African writers or the diasporic nature of their writings, there seems to be a debate among critics about the prospects of reading contemporary African literature as diasporic literature.
This debate became most heated in 2013 when the Nigerian-American writer, Tope Folarin, won the Caine Prize for African writing for his short story, “Miracle”, a story about a Nigerian evangelical church in Texas. Some critics felt that Folarin should not have won the prize because he was not based on the continent and did not write about the experiences of continental Africans. However, the Caine Prize Advisory Board as well as other literary award-giving bodies on the continent have laid this debate to rest by defining an African writer as anyone from any part of the world who is a national of an African country, or who has a parent who is African by birth or nationality.
Truth be told, when one thinks of contemporary African writers, the names that immediately come to mind include the likes of Chimamanda Adichie, Teju Cole, Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, Taiye Selasi, Mbolo Mbue, Maaza Mengiste, Akwaeke Emezi, Noviolet Bulawayo, all of whom are either based in the diaspora or write about Africans living in the diaspora. Maybe this is why one of the foremost African literary critics in contemporary times, Cajetan Iheka, writes about the “transnational and diasporic turn” in African literature.”
- Sakiru Adebayo on the Diasporization of African Literature
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