Ernest N. Emenyonu 
ALT 26 War in African Literature Today 

How have African writers addressed the issue of war and its impact across the continent?


Since the second half of the twentieth century, no single phenomenon has marred the image and development of Africa more than senseless fratricidal wars which rapidly followed the political independence of nations. This issue of African Literature Today is devoted to studies of how African writers, as historical witnesses, have handled the recreation of war as a cataclysmic phenomenon in various locations on the continent. The contributors explore the subject from a variety of perspectives: panoramic, regional, national and through comparative studies. War has enriched contemporary African literature, but at what price to human lives, peace and the environment?


ERNESTEMENYONU is Professor of the Department of Africana Studies University of Michigan-Flint. The contributors include: CHIMALUM NWANKWO, CHRISTINE MATZKE, CLEMENT A. OKAFOR, INIBONG I. UKO, OIKE MACHIKO, SOPHIE OGWUDE, MAURICE TAONEZVI VAMBE, ZOE NORRIDGE and ISIDORE DIALA.


Nigeria: HEBN

Table of Content

Editorial article. War in African literature: literary harvests, human tragedies – Ernest N. Emenyonu

The muted index of war in African literature & society – Chimalum Nwankwo

‘Life in the camp of the enemy’: Alemseged Tesfai’s theatre of war – Christine Matzke

Sacrifice & contestation of identity in Chukwuemeka Ike’s
Sunset at Dawn – Clement Okafor

Of war & madness: a symbolic transmutation of the Nigeria-Biafra war in select stories from
The Insider:Stories of War & Peace from Nigeria – Iniobong I. Uko

Becoming a feminist writer: representation of the subaltern in Buchi Emecheta’s
Destination Biafra – Oike Machiko

Politics & human rights in non-fiction prison literature – Sophia O. Ogwude

Problems of representing the Zimbabwean war of liberation in Mutasa’s
The Contract, Samupinda’s
Pawns & Vera’s
The Stone Virgins – Maurice Taonezvi Vambe

The need to go further? Dedication & distance in the war narratives of Alexandra Fuller & Alexander Kanengoni – Zoe Norridge

History, memoir & a soldier’s conscience: Philip Efiong’s
Nigeria & Biafra: My Story – Isidore Diala

Of the versification of pain: Nigerian civil war poetry – Ogaga Okuyade

Reviews – James Gibbs

About the author

Ernest N. Emenyonu is Professor Emeritus of Africana Studies at the University of Michigan-Flint, USA. He is Series Editor of African Literature Today. His publications include A Companion to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2017), Emerging Perspectives on Nawal El Saadawi (2010), and the children’s book Uzoechi: A Story of African Childhood (2012).