ISBN 9789956558292
Pages 188
Dimensions 216 x 140 mm
Published 2009
Publisher Langaa RPCIG, Cameroon
Format Paperback

Landscaping Postcoloniality

The Dissemination of Cameroon Anglophone Literature

by Joyce Ashuntantang

This is a foundational text on the production and dissemination of Anglophone Cameroon literature. The Republic of Cameroon is a bilingual country with English and French as the official languages. Ashuntantang shows that the pattern of production and dissemination of Anglophone Cameroon literature is not only framed by the minority status of English and English-speaking Cameroonians within the Republic of Cameroon, but is also a reflection of a postcolonial reality in Africa where mostly African literary texts published by western multi-national corporations are assured wide international accessibility and readership. This book establishes that in spite of these setbacks, Anglophone Cameroon writers have produced a corpus of work that has enriched the genres of prose, poetry and drama, and that these texts deserve a wider readership.

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Reviews

“This text is a very useful supplement to Richard Bjornson's The African Quest for Freedom and Identity, which concentrated primarily on literary texts from Francophone Cameroon. Dr. Ashuntantang, a skilled librarian, bibliographer and literary scholar, deals in depth with the environmental circumstances that have thwarted writers who have chosen to express themselves in English, but she shows how progress nevertheless has been made, particularly in recent years. This is the most comprehensive study of Anglophone Cameroon literature that has been published to date.”

Bernth Lindfors, Professor Emeritus, University of Texas at Austin

“This study affirms the vibrancy of Anglophone Cameroon literature; it proves beyond reasonable doubt that there is a great deal of published work out there, and that its landscape is not only national but equally diasporic. This text is an important milestone in Anglophone scholarship. It should be a required text for scholars with an interest in Anglophone Cameroon/ African Literature.”

Shadrack Ambanasom, Professor of African Literature, E.N.S. Bambili/University of Yaounde I, Cameroon

About the Author

Joyce Ashuntantang

Joyce Ashuntantang (Joyce Ash) is a poet, actress, interdisciplinary scholar and Associate Professor of English at the University of Hartford, Connecticut. A graduate of universities on three continents, Dr. Ashuntantang received a B.A in English with a minor in Theater Arts from the University of Yaoundé, Cameroon, a Master's in Library and Information Science from the University of Aberystwyth, UK, and a Ph.D. in English/African Literature from the City University of New York. She is the author of many scholarly and creative publications, which include Landscaping Postcoloniality: The Dissemination of Cameroon Anglophone Literature (2009) and three poetry collections, Their Champagne Party will End: Poems in Honor of Bate Besong, co-edited (2008), A Basket of Flaming Ashes (2010) and Beautiful Fire (2018). She has appeared as an invited poet in many countries around the world including England, Germany, Nicaragua, Greece, Costa Rica, Colombia, Bangladesh, Cameroon and USA. She has also contributed to several international anthologies of poetry highlighting the plight of  minority groups including, Peace for Afrin, Peace for Kurdistan (2019), Hiraeth-Erzolirzoli: A Wales - Cameroon Anthology (2018), Poems for the Hazara (2014), Reflections: An Anthology of New Work by African Women Poets (2013) and We Have Crossed Many Rivers: New Poetry from Africa (2012). Her poems have been translated into Spanish, Greek, Hebrew, Turkish, Bangla, Arabic and Romanian. Her Awards include Spirit of Detroit Award for Leadership (1987), Ministry of Culture, Cameroon, Award for Outstanding Performance in Theater (1989, 1994), Belle K. Ribicoff Prize for Excellence in Teaching and Scholarship (2012) and Kathrak-Bangladesh Literary Award (2018).

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