ISBN 9782869781504
Pages 240
Dimensions 229 x 152 mm
Published 2005
Publisher CODESRIA, Senegal
Format Paperback

Kwasi Wiredu and Beyond

The Text, Writing and Thought in Africa

by Sanya Osha

Kwasi Wiredu is one of Africa’s foremost philosophers. His recent work on conceptual decolonisation has broadened the scope of philosophical discourse in Africa. Wiredu has developed the multidisciplinary dimension of the subject, linking up with related discursive practices in history, political science and literature. He has advocated a re-examination of current formulations, in order to subvert unsavoury aspects of tribal cultures, as well as the deconstruction of western epistemologies, found to be unnecessary in African philosophical practices.

Kwasi Wiredu and Beyond monograph addresses some of the implications and limitations of Wiredu’s projects, arguing that Wiredu has not yet been able to grapple with the full consequences of his conceptual decolonisation. Osha suggests that due to the hybridity of postcoloniality, projects seeking to retrieve the precolonial heritage are likely to fall short, and identifies language as a major problem, not addressed by Wiredu’s thesis. To support his arguments, Osha draws on postcolonial theory as advanced by scholars such as Edward Said, Biodun Jeyifo and Abiola Irele.

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Review

‘this study offers a comprehensive exploration of the work of Kwasi Wiredu, arguably Africa’s leading philosopher. It not only provides an insight into the richness of his thought but also the tensions by which it is traversed, both of which contribute to the energy that informs Wiredu’s work’.

Abiola Irele

About the Author

Sanya Osha

Sanya Osha is the author of the critically acclaimed novel, Naked Light and the Blind Eye. His fictional work, Dust, Spittle and Wind won the Association of Nigerian Authors’ prize for prose in 1992. In 2000, he was a recipient of a Prince Claus Award. He lives in South Africa and is currently a South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) fellow at the Institute for Economic Research on Innovation (IERI), Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria; and research fellow at the Africa Institute of South Africa (AISA), Pretoria.

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