After Colonialism: African Postmodernism and Magical Realism

by Gerald Gaylard, Gerald Geylard

Africa's imagination has been dominated and informed by pressing social and political issues, and its fiction has reflected this in its commitment to social realism. However, in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, this tendency has been challenged by the rise to prominence of experimental fiction exhibiting postmodern and magical realist characteristics. After African Postmodernism and Magical Realism thoroughly examines this new fiction and its contribution to the liberation of Africa's imagination. It finds, perhaps ironically, that a liberated imagination provides a powerful tool for understanding, and perhaps even resolving, the complex issues of postcolonial Africa.

352 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2006