Edited by an author of many books on African writers and literature,
this encyclopedia covers all aspects of African literature produced in
all of the major languages. Both sub-Saharan and North African
literatures are represented, although for works in Arabic the focus is
on the modern period.
More
than 600 signed articles by academic specialists treat mostly
individual authors, both well known and less established. Longer essays
deal with historical and cultural issues concerning the study of
African literature, including criticism and theory and its development
as a field of scholarship. Essays on Autobiography, Feminist criticism, and Islam in African literature, as well as regional overviews such as Gikuyu literature and West African literature in English,
make this a useful starting point for exploration of African
literature. Because these more general articles are one of the
strengths of the work, it would have been helpful to list them in the
fore matter, as it is a guessing game to find them. Most articles,
including the biographical entries, have a very small list of
references for further reading. Although reasonably up-to-date, these
lists are often a mixture of a few primary and secondary works, not the
most impressive feature of the volume.