African Identity Today in the Writings of John Maxwell Coetzee and Ben Silver Okri

(Hardback)

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African Identity Today in the Writings of John Maxwell Coetzee and Ben Silver Okri is a comparative study of the writings of the South African author John Maxwell Coetzee and the Nigerian author Ben Silver Okri. It charts the thematic and technical presentation of cultural identity in the literary output of both authors, with special reference to their respective trilogies, namely: Coetzees Scenes from Provincial Life and Okris The Famished Road. Through examining these texts, the book explores the dilemmas faced by many contemporary authors while discussing issues related to the construction of cultural identity in a postcolonial world. Studying Coetzees and Okris texts from a postcolonial perspective reveals how their very different writings share a range of commonalities. Both authors seek to find a middle ground between colonised and colonising cultures as they attempt to deconstruct the stereotypical images of the Other, creating a world purified of racial influences.

Author Bio

Heba Mohamed Abdelaziz is assistant professor of English and comparative literature at the College of Language and Communication in The Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, Cairo.