This chapter considers the question of genre in the post-colonial African novel, exploring, among others, the following questions: what is the nature of the African novel? Given that it is a product of the colonial ideological intention of cultural incorporation, to what extent has it really been able to escape the political determination of the moment of its genesis and proceeded to function as a form of counter-hegemony? If so, what is the specifi city of the location of that resistance? As one investigates these questions, it becomes clear that the African novel throws enormous light on issues pertinent to the contemporary formations of genre not only in Africa, but generally.