ALT 1-4 African Literature Today A Journal of Explanatory Criticism [Paperback]

The intention of the African Literature Today series [ALT] was, and still is, to encourage African writing in any language, whether of fiction, poetry or plays, and also to encourage its criticism. The critic's role, according to Eldred Durosimi Jones in his 1968 Introduction to ALT 1, is to make the work accessible to a wider readership and to help establish literary standards for African literature: The more permissive the publisher's policy is, the more necessary becomes the function of the critic. This book combines the first 4 volumes in the series, which had been published as single volumes between 1968 and 1970, then combined into one volume in 1972. It includes Bernth Lindfors' essay The palm wine with which Achebe's words are eaten , plus early reviews of Elechi Amadi's The Concubine, Aim? C?saire's Une Saison au Congo, Flora Nwapa's Efuru and Ngugi's A Grain of Wheat.The re-issue of archival volumes ALT 1 to ALT 14 makes the complete series available and provides the historical perspective of these early contributions to the literature and its criticism.Editorial Note to ALT - Eldred JonesThe palm oil with which Achebe's words are eaten [Bernth Lindfors]Okigbo understood: A study of two poems [O.R. Dathorne]Cultural nationalism in modern African creative writing [E.N. Obeichina]'Two hands a man has': The poetry of J.P. Clark [John Povey]Reviews of Aim? C?saire, James Ngugi, Olaudah Equiano, Elechi Amadi & Flora Nwapa; Bibliography [Hans Zell]Editorial Note to ALT 2 [Eldred D. Jones]James Ngugi as novelist [Ime Ikiddeh]Camara Laye: Idealist & mystic [A.C. Brench]Africa in Negro American poetry to 1929 [Michael Furay]Wole Soyinka's The Interpreters: reading notes [Eldred D. Jones]Reviews of David Rubadiri, Legson Kayira & Aim? C?saire; Letters; Bibliography [Hans Zell]Editorial Note to ALT 3 [Eldred D. Jones]Cyprian Ekwensi: An African popular novelist [Bernth Lindfors]The problem of language in African creative writing [B.I. Chukwukere]Mongo l)