Abiola Irele

Francis Abiola Irele (22 May 1936 – 2 July 2017) was a Nigerian literary scholar, critic, professor and one of the leading figures in African literary criticism. He was known for his studies on African literature, oral tradition, Negritude, and the relationship between African cultural expression and modern literary forms. His major works include The African Imagination: Literature in Africa and the Black Diaspora (2001). Quotes It is not, I think, too much to affirm that in the new literature of Africa expressed in the European languages, the correspondence is a direct one between the themes and preoccupations that have governed the direction of the creative imagination and the distinctive aspects of modern African experience. F. Abiola Irele on language and African writing African literature has served both as a direct and objective representation of our modern experience as well as a symbolization of the states of mind induced by that experience. F. Abiola Irele on language and African writing The problem of studying African literature is to see whether the traditional methods of literary analysis developed within Western culture are appropriate to African literature. F. Abiola Irele examining approaches to African literary criticism An important component of this relationship is the question of language, that is, of the modes of perception and of representation that govern the master/slave dialectic. F. Abiola Irele on language and African writing The African writer has had to confront the problem of expressing a modern African reality through languages inherited from colonial history. F. Abiola Irele on language and African writing External links References Category:1936 births Category:2017 deaths Category:Nigerian writers Category:Nigerian literary critics Category:Professors