ABSTRACT
Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina, who recently passed away, acquired international renown with his provocative essay, “How to Write About Africa,” which was a satire of the stereotypical, overgeneralized ways in which the “dark continent” and its citizens have been depicted in Western journalism and literature. He includes comments such as, “make sure you show how Africans have music and rhythm deep in their souls” and avoid mentioning “school-going children who are not suffering from yaws or Ebola fever or female genital mutilation” (Wainaina, 2008).
