ABSTRACT
Madhu Krishnan delivers a strong critique of the ways in which African writing tends to be placed under one hat and reminds peoples how complicated it is to talk about African writers and African literature. The colonial influence on Africa was and is vast, and the borders that were drawn between peoples are the responsibility of Western nations, just as the upholding of nations requires the consensus of an international community. The works of Achebe, Gourevitch, Eggers, and Okri on Africa are important for at least three reasons. First, they have explored, successfully, author would claim, ways of writing between cultures. Second, they have done so in close connection to their desire to be inventive as literary works in order to bring about truly transcultural texts. Finally, they voice profound political opinions, not just on the historical events they chronicle, but also on how culture, history, memory, peoples, and individuals are and should be related to each other.
