Weary Sons of Conrad

Weary Sons of Conrad poses the question, how is Africa represented in some late twentieth-century European and North American fiction written by white men? Its contribution is to unearth a rich treasure of such fiction that opposes imperialism and struggles with patriarchy and gender stereotypes. These writers go to battle against the stranglehold of myths about Africa, its lands, and its people, which are deeply embedded in the language itself. The writers struggle for new tongues and original ways of telling their stories but cannot be totally free of history, family, language, and tradition. Written in a lively, accessible style, this book is of great interest to a broad range of readers in the fields of postcolonial literary theory, gender, and cultural and African studies.

Autorentext

The Author: Brenda Cooper is Professor of African Studies and English at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. She received her Ph.D. in East and West African fiction from the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom. Her previous books include To Lay These Secrets Open: Evaluating African Writing and Magical Realism in West African Fiction: Seeing with a Third Eye. She has published numerous books on African literature for use in high schools, in addition to articles in scholarly journals, book chapters, and entries in encyclopedias.