On Africa and Africans
How to write about Africa In Granta by Binyavanga Wainaina
I finished reading The Wizard Of The Crow a few weeks ago and can only now really appreciate this essay I think. Everything we in American seem to hear about Africa and Africans comes directly from what he says here. I was really blown away by the portrayal of everyday Africans in that book since I never see that. If you have any interest in Africa, I encourage you to read books by native African authors, you get a completely different sense of the place, as a setting instead of as a character itself like most non-natives seem to want to write.
[tags]africa,africans,writing[/tags]
I finished reading The Wizard Of The Crow a few weeks ago and can only now really appreciate this essay I think. Everything we in American seem to hear about Africa and Africans comes directly from what he says here. I was really blown away by the portrayal of everyday Africans in that book since I never see that. If you have any interest in Africa, I encourage you to read books by native African authors, you get a completely different sense of the place, as a setting instead of as a character itself like most non-natives seem to want to write.
[tags]africa,africans,writing[/tags]