The Role of Missions in Things Fall Apart and Nervous Conditions

Searle, Alison

doi:10.1093/litthe/frl061

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Widely‐known examples are Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart (Achebe, 1962) and Ngũgĩ wa Thiongo's The River Between (wa Thiong'o, 1965), which both explore the impact of conversion to missionary Christianity, and the resulting cultural conflicts, among the Igbo (South‐East Nigeria) and the Gikuyu (Kenya), respectively (Asamoah‐Gyadu, 2010; Kamau‐Goro, 2010). Tsitsi Dangarembga's novel Nervous Conditions (Dangarembga, 1988) explores similar themes at a more personal and familial level, in the context of a Catholic mission school in Zimbabwe (Searle, 2007). Beyond the theme of missionary activity, more recent developments in the process of ‘Christianising Africa’ (Okyerefo, 2010) are captured in novels such as the earlier mentioned Kintu , with reference to the Anglican Balokole revival in Uganda, We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo (2014) with reference to prophet‐healing churches in Zimbabwe, and Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2014) with reference to Pentecostal‐charismatic churches in Nigeria.…”

Section: Literary Representations Of Religionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Two of the leading journals in this field, Literature and Theology and Religion and Literature , have published incidental articles on African literature. Again, this mostly focuses on texts from South Africa (see the special issue of Literature and Theology , Levey, 1999), although some articles in these journals have engaged texts from other parts of the continent such as by Chinua Achebe, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Uwem Akpan, Tsitsi Dangarembga and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (Bongmba, 2001; Purcell, 2013; Searle, 2007; Stobie, 2010; Vander Weele, 2015). The journal Christianity and Literature had a special issue dedicated to African literature (VanZanten, 2012), with articles focussing on texts by writers such as Thomas Mofolo, Ayi Kwei Armah, Dominic Mulaisho, Uwem Akpan and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Guendouzi, 2012; Lilford, 2012; Purcell, 2012; Szolosi, 2012; Wallace, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Religion in African literature: Representation, critique and imagination

Klinken

2020

Religion Compass

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The study of religion and literature has emerged as a field of considerable academic interest. Although some work has been done on religion and African literature, research in this area tends to be fragmented and dispersed over various fields and disciplines. Reviewing available scholarship in this area, this article explores what engaging with African literary writing brings to the table of the study of religion in Africa. Focussing on postcolonial and contemporary African literature, it identifies a threefold contribution: first, the creative representation of religious traditions and dynamics; second, the critique of religious beliefs and institutions, and third, the imagination of alternative religious possibilities. It illustrates these contributions by specifically focussing on issues of (neo) colonialism, gender and sexuality. Hence the article foregrounds the importance of engaging with religion for interpreting African literary texts, and the significance of literary writing for understanding religion as part of African social and cultural life. 1 | INTRODUCTION The study of religion and literature is a field that has witnessed growing academic interest of scholars working across disciplines such as theology, religious studies, English and literary studies (Felch, 2016; Knight, 2016; Mason, 2015). It is most firmly established in the American and European academy and concerned with literary traditions in these regions. Although some work has been conducted on African literature and its engagement with African religions (indigenous religions, Christianity and Islam), scholarship in this field is not systematically developed. This may be surprising, given Afe Adogame's (2010, p. 3) observation that 'the prose, poetry and drama genres produced by pioneering figures in African literature are overtly suffused with religious and cultural symbolism, meaning,

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