Why did the novel take such a long time to emerge in the colonial world? And, what cultural work did it come to perform in societies where subjects were not free and modes of social organization diverged from the European cultural centers where the novel gained its form and audience? Answering these questions and more, Volume 11, The Novel in Africa and the Caribbean since 1950 explores the institutions of cultural production that exerted influence in late colonialism, from missionary schools and metropolitan publishers to universities and small presses. How these structures provoke and respond to the literary trends and social peculiarities of Africa and the Caribbean impacts not only the writing and reading of novels in those regions, but also has a transformative effect on the novel as a global phenomenon.Together, the volume's 32 contributing experts tell a story about the close relationship between the novel and the project of decolonization, and explore the multiple ways in which novels enable readers to imagine communities beyond their own and thus made this form of literature a compelling catalyst for cultural transformation. The authors show that, even as the novel grows in Africa and the Caribbean as a mark of the elites' mastery of European form, it becomes the essential instrument for critiquing colonialism and for articulating the new horizons of cultural nationalism. Within this historical context, the volume examines works by authors such as Chinua Achebe, Nadine Gordimer, George Lamming, Jamaica Kincaid, V.S. Naipaul, Zoe Wicomb, J. M. Coetzee, and many others.

AcknowledgementsList of ContributorsGeneral Editor's PrefaceIntroductionEditorial NotePart I: The Institution of the Novel in Africa and the Carribean1. The Reinvention of the Novel in AfricaSimon Gikandi and Maurice Vambe2. Cultures of Print in the CaribbeanGail Low3. The Novel and Decolonization in AfricaMpalive-Hangson Msiska4. The Novel and Decolonization in the CaribbeanSupriya NairPart II: Geographies of the Novel5. The Novel in African LanguagesAlena Rettov?6. Expatriate WritersSimon Lewis7. The City and the Village: Geographies of Fiction in AfricaJennifer Wenzel8. Geographies of Migration in the CaribbeanJ. Dillon BrownPART III. The Novel and Cultural Politics9. Women Novelists in Africa and the CaribbeanElaine Savory10. Gender and Sexuality in Caribbean FictionAlison Donnell11. Gender and Sexuality and Africa FictionBrenna Munro12. The Novel and ApartheidAndrew van der Vlies13. The Novel and Human RightsJoseph SlaughterPart IV: The Novel, Orality, and Popular Culture14. Popular Fiction in Africa and the CaribbeanJane Bryce15. Oral and Popular Cultures in the African NovelJames Ogude16. Oral and Popular Cultures in the CaribbeanNatasha BarnesPart V. Styles and Genres17. The Novel and History in AfricaEleni Coundrioutis18. The Novel and History in the CaribbeanNana Wilson-Tagoe19. Romance and RealismYogita Goya20. Modernism and Modernist FictionTim Watson21. Autobiography and Autobiographical Fiction in the CaribbeanSandra Pouchet Paquet22. Autobiography in AfricaKgomotso Michael Masemola23. Short Stories in the CaribbeanVictor Ramraj24. Short Stories in AfricaAntonia Kalu25. Detective FictionMatthew ChristensenPart VI: New Frontiers26. African Fiction in a Global ContextPeter Kalliney27. Caribbean Fiction in a Global ContextRaphael Dalleo28. Experimental FictionsEvan Mwangi29. The Novel in TranslationShaden TageldinPart VII: Critical Understandings30. The Novel and the Question of LanguageChantal Zabus31. Criticism of the Novel in the CaribbeanSimon Gikandi32. The Novel in Africa: Theories and DebatesGaurav DesaiComposite BibliographyIndex of Authors and Primary TextsGeneral Index