FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2005

Okafor, Dubem. The Cycle of Doom: Selected Essays in Discourse & Society

Professor Okafor, for the cover of his book, describes his writings this way:
These essays are "essays," indeed, in the etymological sense of the word, in that they "try out" my ideas on different topics and different texts. As they are developed, they build up to a climactic crescendo of futility, which may be explained, in part, not by the darkening vision of a wizened and aging man, but by the gathering storms, which have tended to becloud the nation-state of Nigeria. ... The milieu from which my essays emerge has not been conducive to any optimistic or celebratory readings of texts and contexts.
What we have here, however, is much more than that.

By taking essays of his that have previously appeared in a wide variety of journals, Dr. Okafor provides a broad-ranging introduction to a number of African, Caribbean, and African-American writers--though with a focus on the influence of the "mother" continent. Dr. Okafor is particularly well-placed as the creator of such a project: a poet himself and originally from Nigeria, he has close Caribbean connections and now lives in the United States, teaching World Literature and Modern Poetry at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania.

The writers Professor Okafor covers are Christopher Okigbo, Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Rudy Wiebe, Ishmael Reed, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Ayi Kwei Armah, andNgugi wa Thiong'o. Also included is a chapter on the connection between the West African West Indian novel, a number of reviews, and other essays and talks that Okafor has presented.

With extensive bibliographical data and a good index, this volume will be extremely useful for anyone wanting an access point for the study of literature of the African diaspora.

Shakespeare's Sister & Lulu.com, 2005.